Blogs from Dalmatia, Croatia, Europe - page 125

Day 60: Friday July 21: Istanbul We went back into the city of Istanbul today. First stop.. The spice markets. Tons of shops, mostly selling spices, but everything else in between. Turkish Delights and Saffrin were the popular choices. There were pet shops and butchers and souveniers. After the spice markets, we went for a shave.. Yup, all the boys have gone without a shave for almost a week, just to have this opportunity. It was fantastic, the best shave I've ever had, a little nervous at first because its a big long straight razor. It felt great and got really close. They even come along and burn ear hair with a lighter. The aftershave burns a little, but feels so good. After the shave, we headed into the Grand Bazaar.. The Grand Bazaar has over ... read more

I am on the island of Korčula right now. I am exhausted. I am sick. I am crabby as hell. Maybe it's from spending too much time in the sun (although I've been careful to SPF-it and only lie out in the later afternoon when the sun isn't so strong) and not rehydrating enough. Maybe I caught one of those "got it on an airline/ferry/other enclosed method of transportation" sort of bugs. Or maybe, after eight years of university life, the novelty of a passel of inebriated frat boys (or in this case, Aussies) shouting their special rendition of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" at 4-fricking-30 in the morning has finally worn off. (Already sniffling, I had gone to bed at 3). This particular group was in the room next to me at the hostel, but ... read more

The ferry from Split to Korčula was relatively still and non-nausea-inducing. Hooray. on the way, we stopped at the port at Hvar island, and I momentarily thought about getting off there and staying in Hvar for one night. But oh well. The LG guide had said that there was really only one hostel on the island and to look for "a guy wearing a cowboy hat." Upon leaving the boat, I did see a guy wearing a sombrero holding a hostel sign, but I thought that maybe that was the competition preying on innocent, tired backpackers who read LG ;). After a once-around, I asked the sombrero man if he was Zlatko, the hostel owner I had spoken to on the phone. Indeed he was, and he led a group of us all of about 200 ... read more

Despite all the travelling we have done over the recent years our last true summer holiday was our honeymoon in February 2003 so we were very excited at the prospect of twelve days of sun, sea, sand, swimming, seafood, wine and of course icecream! I couldn't wait to feel the warm sun on my shoulders and the salty sea on my skin, and I especially couldn't wait to put some colour back on my pasty-white-post-English-winter limbs. Croatia is constantly listed as one of the world's hottest travel destinations of the moment. And it is none more popular than with Australians, so we were not too surprised to find ourselves surrounded by our country men and women as we arrived at Gatwick airport for our journey down Europe's coast. Before we knew it we were on the ... read more

Sorry guys for no updates, we have been at the resort town of Baska Voda for 4 days with no internet. Its kind of like going to the lake in Canada but with more nightclubs on the beach, no bugs, and topless women everywhere. For serious. Weather was pretty good but it did rain really hard one day. No biggie. We got a killer deal on the Villa we stayed in - 20 euros a night, because renata knew them. Did you know its a Croatian tradition to start the day with a shot of vodka? I know now. I also had an interesting walnut liqueur, and great croatian beer. A huge bottle is about $2, and they were shocked at how expensive it was in canada. We mostly just tanned, ate home made doughnuts, and ... read more