Blogs from Croatia, Europe - page 182

First things first: I apologise for the blatant alliteration in the title - that's just a corny, clichéd crack at comedy. So, from Budapest I took a train ride to Zagreb. I really don't know what i was thinking when i thought I'd just jump on the train at 5pm. I didn't know exactly how long the trip would take, but i knew it wasn't going to be a convenient arrival time to Croatia's capital. Nevertheless, i jumped on the train, and rocked up to Zagreb at the ungodly hour of 12 midnight. Naturally, everything was closed - I've had enough travelling experience to expect this anyway. Luckily i wasn't the only one without the initiative (or a credit card in my case) to pre-book accommodation. I found two Scottish girls who also didn't really think ... read more

Land of Beaches, Mountains and Tourists…Nope, It’s Not California Driving through most of Croatia, especially the Dalmatian Coast (yup, that’s right, this is where Dalmatians come from), you get the feeling that you are driving through a weird mixture of Italy and southern California. From tall craggy mountains lined with evergreens to cliff side villages filled with sunshine, you feel like you may turn the corner and see tall blond people drinking coffee at a nearby Starbucks. It just feels like California with a few differences. Much more like Italy, the major form of construction is bougainvillea houses with gleaming red tile roofs. Other than the still-being-built major highways, most of the roads throughout the country are windy two lane deals that vary in speed limit every 5 kilometers or so. People are much more ... read more

After leaving the busy, busy Dubrovnik we wanted to chill back and enjoy some quiet times, so we ended up on the island of Korchula. It is the biggest island in the Adriatic and it has a long history behind it. It was first named "Melania Korkya" (dark forest) by the ancient Greeks , because of the lush vegetation covering the whole island. It was part of the Venetian Republic, and as such it was heavily fortified for defence against Turks and the Genovese. The town is sourronded by towers and walls on all sides, with houses and palaces nestled tightly in between them. Unlike Dubrovnik, almost every house is inhibited by locals, and it is at times mind boggling that we were sleeping in a room that was built 600 years ago. Entrances to houses ... read more

Hey guys, Sorry about the delay. After I finished my summer language course, I went traveling with some friends of mine from the program. During that time I didn't have my laptop and was just checking email out of internet cafes. I'm back in Munich now, and I'll attempt to fill you guys in on my more or less five week trip through Eastern Europe. My first stop was Croatia. Matt, Mark, Kris, and I took a train from Munich to Zagreb (the capital of Croatia). That night we hung out in town and ended up sleeping in the airport to save money. The following day we flew to Split, a tourist town in the middle of the country, and then took a bus to Brela. Brela is a small town on the beautiful Adriatic coast ... read more

Well, we finally headed off for our honeymoon 6 weeks after the big day!! But it was well worth the wait....Dubrovnik, Croatia really blew us away. Having a fantastic apartment with a sensational view really helped! Our 'Angelic Apartment' was no more than a 10 minute walk into the Old Town, and even closer to the beach - perfect! Plus, we had a huge terrace that overlooked the water and the Old Town....and here we sipped wine & beer well into the twilight before heading into town for a seafood dinner. The days we spent lazing on the beach in the morning, before wandering into town for lunch and exploring. On one of the days we went sea kayaking out to the nearby island, Lokrum, where we had lunch and went snorkelling in small rock cove. ... read more