Europe – But first let's travel

November 22, 2015November 26, 2015

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A history lesson in Bosnia

In the early 90’s the city of Sarajevo was under attack, something I remember studying at high school. Farouk, our guide through Bosnia, is the same age and couldn’t go to high school as his home city of Sarajevo was under attack.

Evidence of the war is everywhere in Bosnia, from the shelled, but still standing, buildings, to the political nightmare that now required three of each position- one Bosnian Muslim, one Orthodox and one Catholic. There are also many areas of Bosnia that are still very much Serbian.

We joined Sarajevo Funky Tours for two tours – the first a day trip from Dubrovnik to Sarajevo, and the second an in-depth tour of Sarajevo – the Sarajevo Total Siege Tour. Our two guides were incredibly knowledgable and happy to share so many insights into their country’s past. I can’t recommend them enough!

Sadly it seems much of what we learnt at school about the Seige of Sarajevo (and was in the media at the time) was based on the misguided belief that this was a civil war between equal groups of locals, when in reality the Serbs were attacking a largely unarmed (at least in the beginning) civilian group of Muslim locals. And for a long time the rest of the world stood back and watched. In case you think I might have been unduly influenced by our guides, this has been backed up by many reports since with even the UN admitting they got it wrong at the time. Kofi Annan noted ‘the Serbs central aim was to create a geographically contiguous and ethically pure territory’.

Bosnia was a fascinating three days and I wish we had longer there to explore further.

Dubrovnik to Sarajevo

We were picked up early from our hotel by a local driver and taken across the border into Bosnia where we could meet our tour guide. Despite Croatia and Bosnia supposedly now getting along, Croatia still won’t let Bosnian guides pick up tour guests from inside Croatia!

Once with our guide we drove through the hills of Bosnia taking in small villages and vineyards.

Farouk explained that many of these towns were destroyed by Serb soldiers who killed all that they found. Some managed to escape into the hills and made the long walk to Croatia for safety.

Our first stop was Positj a small village where we climbed up to an old fort for a beautiful view.

Next stop was Medjugorje the site of a supposed Catholic miracle. Frankly looked like a great opportunity to sell plastic religious icons mass produced in China. Not somewhere I would recommend!

Then we were onto the source of the Buna river a relaxing spot complete with a whirling dervish house. We took a quick tour into a cave from which the river begins. The water is always 3C no matter how hot outside and despite many explorations into the cave by divers the source of the river has never been found.

Time for lunch. We were told the restaurant beside the cave was ‘the place’ for trout so we ordered some and a ‘simple’ meat platter. And this is what arrived. Just for 5 of us!!! Was amazing and one of many delicious meals in Bosnia.

Our third stop was Mostar, the cutest town in Bosnia with a beautiful bridge. The bridge was destroyed when the Croats invaded and bombed the city. Thankfully the locals have rebuilt the bridge and there are experts (and crazy tourists) that jump off it regularly.

We entered a Mosque close by and climbed the many stairs up into the minaret to get the postcard-perfect shot of the bridge.

The bridge

The minaret we climbed

Finally we made it to Sarajevo after a few hours driving through the countryside. Although raining we took a quick walking tour through the city, seeing where Franz Ferdinand was shot (starting WWI), many churches and the market area. Thankfully we had another day to explore the city!

Sarajevo

This morning we joined Sarajevo Funky Tours again for a war tour of the city. Our guide Skender (also the owner of the company) talked from the minute we met him, with a fascinating overview of the history and the war- including many stories of how the war had affected him, his family and friends. It’s incredible to look around the city and think that everyone my age or older went through this experience.

Map showing how surrounded Sarajevo was

We took off along ‘sniper alley’, so named as the Serbians were able to sit on the hills surrounding the city and clearly see (and shoot) the localsas they ran the gauntlet along this main street. Scary when you stand there and can see how close they were.
As we drove round the city Skender filled us in on how he war started and how much of a shock it was to the locals. The Serbs had passed off the amassing of tanks and soldiers as standard military training to protect the residents of Sarajevo, then turned on them with devastating consequences.

After an hour of fascinating history, we arrived at the entry to the Sarajevo Tunnel, the lifeline of the locals during the siege. The tunnel ran from the centre of the city under the airport to the small area not controlled by the Serbs- for the first time allowing women, elderly and children to leave the city and vital food and weapon supplies to get in. Until the tunnel was completed the locals had had to run across the runway- risking their lives as they were in clear sight of the Serbs.

The tunnel entrance is in a pock-marked house accompanied by a small museum which gives a sense of what life was like during the siege.

You can also take a short walk through a section of the tunnel.

After that we headed up to the hills where the Serbs attacked from – scary to see how close they got to the city, and how clearly you can see people going about their business on the streets below.

A ‘tank hotel’ up on the hill

Prior to the war, Sarajevo had been the host of the Winter Olympics and many of the structures from these are still visible. As a break from the war stories we walked along the old luge track in the woods.

Despite its recent history, Sarajevo is a thriving, fun city. We had a great night out at the many pubs and bars and there are fantastic markets and loads of cute restaurants. It’s also a lot cheaper than most places in Europe.

We made our own way back to Croatia taking the bus to Mostar for a night. Surrounding the Mostar bridge are loads of cute shops and restaurants and whilst we were there the tower on the bridge had an interesting photographic exhibition from the war.

Mostar bridge from above

Bosnia was such an interesting place and so different from what we had experienced elsewhere. Skender and the team at Sarajevo Funky Tours were amazing – they answered so many random questions from me promptly and were so friendly and accommodating. They even helped book our Sarajevo accommodation (which was brilliant). And their commentary and knowledge was what really made the trip special.

Europe

November 12, 2015December 6, 2015

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A month in Croatia : Dubrovnik

Wow, how do so many people fit into such a small space? We visited Dubrovnik in the shoulder-season, and could barely see the city through the throngs of people, I can’t imagine what it would be like in the height of tourist season. It was a bit of a shock coming from the blissful peace of Lopud and the Croatian islands, but once settled in we began to fall in love with this city.

Our week in Dubrovnik began with a ferry trip from our last island stay, the beautiful Lopud. On the way we passed Eclipse, Roman Abramovich’s boat, which manages to make our ferry look small it is so large. A little googling later on notes it is the second largest super yacht in the world (163 metres) and cost a cool $500M USD! It turns out Abramovich has a place around here and the boat is often seen around the shores of Croatia and Montenegro.

Arriving at the port it was a 2KM walk to the old town, which was a bit of a struggle as it turned out to be 1KM up a hill, and thankfully 1KM down the hill in the mid-day sun, but there were many incredible views to stop and look at. And then we were at the Pile Gate, the main entrance to Dubrovnik (along with what seemed like a million other tourists and equal amounts of tour guides touting their wares!). I can only say, get through the gate as quickly as possible, and come back early morning or late at night to view it properly.

We really struck gold on our AirBNB here. Apparently most people opt to stay in hotels outside of the Old Town, but our accommodation was at the heart of Dubrovnik mid-way down the Stradun, the main street. And to top it off we had massive windows to look down and watch the chaos below. Although a little noisy at night, I can’t recommend staying in the Old Town highly enough – popping out to get a drink, browsing the shops, or just take photos at all hours of the day was great.

The highlight of our trip to Dubrovnik was without a doubt walking along the walls of the city. The walls stretch for approximately 2KM around the city, and it is possible to walk right the way around. There are A LOT of steps, and there’s not a lot of shade – I can’t even imagine trying this in the heat of summer. We were lucky to have a spectacular day, sunny and clear, but not too hot. Everywhere you look there is another photo opportunity!

The low light of the week here was something I had really been looking forward to – the Game of Thrones tour. Being a recent convert to the show, and with Dubrovnik being perhaps the most well known site for shooting (King’s Landing!) I was expecting great things. But unfortunately not. It wasn’t a terrible tour, but unfortunately felt like they didn’t need to try – a half-hearted guide and an hour and a half tour – and it was one of the more expensive walking tours we’ve done. Save yourself the money and watch an episode, then walk around on your own. On the plus side we did go to Fort Lovrijenac on the tour which had some great views.

We were lucky to have great weather for most of our stay, with a giant storm thrown in for amusement – at least it was amusing for us from our perch on the Stradun. The skies opened, the streets flooded and everyone rushed for cover, emptying the streets in seconds. Lightening and thunder cracked througout the day providing a great show. In one of the breaks we hustled to a pub, then got stuck there (shame) as the skies opened again – at one point a river a few inches deep was running past the door!

Montenegro

Unfortunately being ‘stuck’ at the pub meant a few more drinks than planned, and we woke more than a little rusty – for our day trip to Montenegro. Sitting on a bus did not sound like fun. We boarded the bus and thankfully the weather started to clear on the drive. A beautiful drive along the coast and the bay of Kotor and a few stops for photos.

The day included two stops – Kotor and Budva, then a short ferry ride back across the bay and drive back to Dubrovnik.

Kotor

Not sure what I was expecting, but Kotor is even more touristy than Dubrovnik. Cruise boats stop here regularly and on the day we visited there were two in town – to say it was crowded was an understatement. It’s a cute little town, and if we were here longer it would have been great to walk up the stairs along the city walls to the fort above the city, but unfortunately we didn’t have time. Kotor is a cute old town with pretty buildings, and many nice shops – but an hour was enough.

Budva

Further along the coast we arrived at Budva. Entering the town it doesn’t impress with loads of ugly buildings (which was explained as ‘corruption is sadly rife here – money talks’). However, further in we reached the promenade and the old town. Compared to Kotor the Old Town was so quiet, and much nicer to walk around. Many restaurants and bars and a pleasant spot for a few hours.

All-in-all, Montenegro was nice for a day trip – but not something I would recommend as a ‘must-do’.

Back in Dubrovnik we spent our last day climbing to the top of Mount Srd for an amazing view, and a little exercise. The walking path is a bit hard to find the start of, and then it is seemingly endless switchbacks but good fun. You can also take the cable car up. The views are actually best from along the switch-backs rather than at the top – so definitely recommend walking at least one direction, From up here is where the Dubrovnik was attacked by the Serbs in their fight for independence.

Europe

October 8, 2015December 6, 2015

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A month in Croatia – island hopping

All this travelling is pretty tiring (ha). Just as well we’ve got 3 weeks visiting 4 of Croatia’s islands for some beach time. Island hopping is pretty easy with regular ferry services and being later in the season we didn’t even need to book most in advance (although the ferry to and from Hvar to Dubrovnik can sell out pretty often).

Vis

Our first island is one of the furthest from the mainland, Vis. It’s a small waterfront stretch consisting of some bars and restaurants and a few shops. There are quite a few Konoba’s (restaurants serving traditional Dalmation food) and we were lucky enough one night to get inside one right on the waterfront just before a massive storm hit taking out all power for the island for an hour or so – luckily we had wine and candles, so sat back and enjoyed the lightening show.

The beaches closest to the town had an abundance of kina making for some painful attempts to get in and out of the water, but we found a little beach about an hour walk from our accommodation which was thankfully kina-free. Most Croatian beaches are stony not sandy,which means amazing visibility. We were swimming out to 4-5 metres depth and could see the bottom perfectly.

The view from the bar above our favourite Vis beach

Until the breakdown of Yugoslavia, this island was a military base – even having secret submarine bunkers.

Beautiful clear waters of Vis

Brac

Next up was Brac, the largest island in Croatia, and with a larger main centre. Unfortunately Brac was also where Scott got food poisoning, so it was a pretty quiet visit here! Luckily he started feeling better with a few days to spare, and we managed to explore.

A great view after a steep climb

Enjoying a beer waiting for the sunset

A beautiful sunset

Hvar

Known as the party island, I was expecting it to be a bit over-priced and pretentious – but it wasn’t and ended up being a highlight of the island hopping. Hvar has the biggest centre of the islands we visited, so as well as the great beaches there was much more to do here – and a much bigger buzz at night, so a few good nights out were had.

The main square

Climbing up to the castle

The view from the castle

An easy 30 minute walk from the town brings you to another stunning beach and bar.

Hvar at night

Less than an hour on a small boat and we were in the Pakleni Islands, and yet another beautiful beach and bar (basically our whole trip to the islands can be summed up as ‘beach and bar’).

Lopud

Our final island caused a lot of debate. Should we stay in Korcula? Should we stay in the nationa park in Miljet? Should we stay on the mainland? We just couldn’t decide. We ended up settling on Lopud almost by default given it was so close to Dubrovnik – and it turned out to be my favourite spot! We stayed at the Glavovic Hotel which although nothing overly flash, was positioned about 5 metres from the beach in the heart of the town and managed by the mostly lovely woman and her son – making us feel incredibly welcome.

The view from our bedroom window

The beaches were amazing, and the locals were the most friendly we’ve met on our travels yet. The Rugby World Cup opening game was on whilst we were there and in a football mad country we didn’t like our chances of finding it on a television anywhere. However, one little cafe had the channel and happily turned it over to the game. We settled in with a bunch of English and other tourists, and then many of the locals pulled up chairs to watch and learn how rugby is played! A great night.

Probably the best restaurants of our time in Croatia too, with the Glavovic and La Villa offering delicious fresh seafood and the local pizza restaurant being pretty tasty too!

Beautiful sunset

On our final day we went for a run around the tiny island and climbed up to some ruins in the centre of the island for a great view.

Next stop Dubrovnik/ King’s Landing.

Europe

October 7, 2015December 6, 2015

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A month in Croatia – Zagreb & Split

Despite my knowledge of Croatia being limited to some pretty superficial information (amazing islands and a filming location for Game of Thrones) I was looking forward to a month exploring the country – and it didn’t disapoint.

Zagreb

Our first stop was Zagreb, the capital, and a 6 hour trip from Budapest by train. Zagreb is a cute little city, with a heart that can easily be walked around, and many good coffee shops. Turns out a lot of Croatian culture revolves around relaxing with friends and family and drinking coffee. A Croatian I met said they would think there was something seriously wrong if you ever pulled out a laptop or did work whilst in a coffee shop!

With a fleeting visit only, we joined Blue Bike Tours for a 2 hour tour of the city on wheels, which turned out to be just the two of us and a great guide! As well as learning about the city, our guide gave an interesting overview of the history (and warring) between the neighbouring Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia and the breakdown of Yugoslavia. Whilst on the surface all three are now ‘friendly’ there is clearly still a lot of tension and memories of war atrocities between them.

Highlights of Zagreb

The main square, and the many piazzas with coffee shops and restaurants
The ‘sun’ sculpture, a great big ball of copper that is in the centre of town. A later sculptor also created the other planets to scale, and placed them around the city the correct (scaled) distance from the sun sculpture
The old town on top of the hill, and the many beautiful churches and buildings up there
The canon that goes off at mid-day, deafening everyone near it
Whiling away the hours with a few drinks and dinner in the many bars and restaurants on buzzing Tkalciceva street

The Croatians often copied the Austrian style and colour for their buildings

Many of the beautiful buildings are on a square block in the centre of the city, with gardens in between – making it perfect for cycling around.

One of the many churches in the city

Split

Another train trip and we were at the coastal town of Split – clearly a hub for tourists, it was packed. The town is incredibly old, centring on the Diocletian’s House, which was built in 305 and is remarkably well preserved.

Incredibly old and slippery paving stones

The Roman Emperor was apparently quite fascinated by the Egyptians, importing a number of sphinx that are still on display on the streets (not sure why the Santa is there though).

The city walls and the large statue at the gate – you can rub the toe for good luck

Hidden inside the walls is a small church – you can reach it by taking the first right through the gates and climbing some stairs. Only a few people can fit inside at once.

We also happened upon a very cool wine bar and restaurant for a tasting of Croatian wines.

Next stop – exploring the islands…

Europe

September 28, 2015November 12, 2015

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The catch up post part 3 : Budapest

As we were wondering where to go after Vienna, we realised St Stephen’s Day (Hungary’s National Day) was coming up, and we could get to Budapest in time to experience it. St Stephen’s Day is a massive celebration in Budapest, with markets along the waterfront on the Buda side of the river, and one of the largest fireworks displays worldwide.

Markets on the river

Crowds begin to gather for the fireworks

We booked onto a dinner cruise on the Danube and had a great night. Even without the fireworks, I’d recommend this – great fun and good food.

A few slightly blurry fireworks shots

We’d originally only booked a few days in Budapest, but loved it so much we decided to extend to a week. As usual we joined a walking tour, and as usual it was great – but Budapest is one of those cities you don’t need to ‘do’ anything in particular. It is a great city to walk around with interesting buildings and views in every direction. There are great bars and restaurants and loads of areas where you can sit and people watch. Here are some of the MANY photos I took – none of them seem to quite do it justice though, it really is beautiful.

The castle from the river

Food and drink comes in giant size only

Fisherman’s Bastion

Loads of Churches

And a random selection of others

Europe

September 21, 2015November 12, 2015

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The catch up post part 2 : Bratislava

Travelling anywhere internationally as a Kiwi requires a minimum of three hours on a plane (plus 2 hours of waiting at the airport and the obligatory customs routine), so it always amazes me how easy and quick it is to travel between countries in Europe. My sister recommending Bratislava as one of her favourite spots, and at only 1 hour from Vienna on the train (and 16 Euro return) we had the perfect excuse for a a “Day trip to Slovakia!”

The weather didn’t quite play ball, and the GPS went on the blink leading to a pretty dismal start. The area around the train station in Bratislava is a little more communist-era than pretty city, and wandering aimlessly in drizzling rain wasn’t quite how we had imagined the day.

More by good luck than anything, we stumbled on the tourist centre and from there we were set. We headed into the old town and even the rain decided to hold off. Success!

The old town of Bratislava is gorgeous. It’s now clearly on the tourist map with loads of souvenir shops and the telltale signs of the English Stag-do/ Hen’s parties (1 euro shots heavily advertised) but thankfully it retains all its charm during the day.

So what do you do on a day in Bratislava?

Wander the Old Town…

Keep an eye out for Bratislava’s statues

Check out the beautiful buildings, and maybe a few shops.

Walk through Michael’s Gate and stop for Goulash at one of the many restaurants lining the streets.

Climb the hill to Bratislava Castle for a great view over the city and the old town.

Visit the Blue Church

Wave goodbye to Bratislava, and jump on the train back to Vienna.

Europe

September 14, 2015November 12, 2015

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The catch up post part 1: Vienna

Two things were inevitable when travelling for this long, a random assortment of ailments would befall us, and the blog would get neglected, sorry!

In between broken teeth, colds and migraines we’ve also explored Vienna, made a quick day trip to Bratislava, fell in love with Budapest and most recently, landed in Croatia. Here’s a quick recap of Vienna.

Vienna is such an easy and pleasant city to walk around, and up until we hit Budapest, this was leading as one of my favourite cities in Europe. Our apartment was also one street away from the main shopping street in Vienna! Luckily it was also close to a very lovely dentist fluent in English (who even recommended a dentist he knew in Wellington when I get home – small world!)

As has been the theme in most cities we’ve visited, we joined a city tour, this time on 2 wheels. Vienna is perfect for biking!

The tour started at the Austrian Art School which twice denied Adolf Hitler entry as his portfolio was not good enough. This apparently led to him giving up art and instead heading into politics. As our guide dryly noted “I think the world could have better coped with another below-average artist”.

This memorial looks like a slightly strange art installation until you learn the background. While I can’t do it justice, the key things I remember are that the walls are books representing the 65,000 Austrian Jews killed in the Holocaust. The books are placed with the spines/names on the inside so that they can’t be read, symbolizing the overwhelming number of people killed. The books are shut tight, the stories of victims’ lives cut short and stories never told. The doors are carved in the concrete but can not be opened with the emptiness inside forever. A very moving monument.

As well the usual city exploring we managed to time our visit with the Vienna Music Film Festival, so of course we had to “soak up the atmosphere” (read: eat pretzels as big as our heads, indulge in the local beer, cocktails and range of skrummy foods!). This might have been my favourite spot in Vienna!

Europe

August 21, 2015December 6, 2015

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5 surprises hiking in Austria

After almost a month in Italy and having consumed our body weights in pizza, pasta and wine, it was time for something new. So without a lot of thought, we booked a week hiking in the Wachau Valley, Austria.

About an hour from Vienna is the town of Krems on the Danube river, the first of many cute towns we would visit on this hike. Rather than carrying our packs (call us lazy if you will), we opted for the glamping route, joining the Eurohike self-guided “Walking in Wachau” tour. They organised the accommodation and transported our bags from location to location and provided detailed maps of where we were to walk.

5 surprises of hiking in Austria

Now when I think of Austria, I picture cute little towns (normally covered by snow) and a peaceful, safe place. So there were a few surprises on our trip.

It can get to 36C in Austria and this will make your hike ever so slightly more difficult. Spending most of our lives in cities where 36C does nothappen, and humidity isn’t an issue either, to say we were unprepared for how much harder this makes hiking is an understatement. The heat wave we’d felt in Italy continued for our week in the Wachau, with temperatures reaching 36C or higher every day. A lot of water was needed, plenty of ‘photo breaks’ and the cold beer at the end of each day never tasted so good!
Heat waves will allow normally small and manageable wasp colonies to nest for longer, causing an unprecedented outbreak. I’ve never been stung by a wasp or a bee and that’s something I’d like to continue throughout my life if possible. Put simply, wasps freak me out. A lot. Whilst the Austrians might be able to sit outside and enjoy a glass of beer and a meal whilst a million wasps swarm around them, I can not. And when a wasp decides to take a drink in my half full beer I am officially done and it is time to go inside and firmly shut all doors and windows.
One tree looks much like another. Now I’m not blaming Eurohike entirely (I’ll admit following directions isn’t exactly a strong suit) but it appears trees can grow and change very quickly, and that on a small black and white photo, one tree is not always completely distinguishable from another. This may have led us (ok me) to miss a turn off and as a result a few hours of bush whacking through the Austrian hillside.
Austria has snakes. On our first day as we hiked a forest road we saw some interesting roadkill. “That looks like a snake”…. “Surely Austria doesn’t have snakes, maybe it’s a lizard and you just can’t see the feet as they are underneath?” (said hopefully). That night a quick Google search delivered the bad news. Not just any snakes, but a plethora of different snakes including one of the most poisonous inhabit this little bit of paradise. Still, it’s unlikely we’ll see a live one right? On the last day of walking (thankfully after that incident of bush-whacking) I was off in my own little dreamword, meandering down a track when less than a metre away sat a coiled snake. I’d like to say I was calm and collected, but no. I screamed, the snake left quickly, and I spent the rest of the day following carefully in Scott’s footprints. Thankfully no more snakes seen.
The Wachau is beautiful. From the quaint little towns we stopped at each night, to the green vineyards we strolled through, the deer spotted along the way, and even the seriously steep hills we climbed, this area is gorgeous. And at each town we found friendly hotel staff, great meals and a pint to refresh us – perfect.

Looking refreshed and ready to start, on our first day in Krems

Isn’t the view amazing? (I need to rest, let’s take some photos)

A castle fit for a king (King Richard I was held captive here)

Transport across the Danube

Let’s start early today I want to see the moon and the vines

Weißenkirchen

We’ve just climbed a massive hill, how bout we climb this thing?

Yup the view’s pretty impressive

To Spitz

Final day, final hill, final castle

We made it!

And back the easy way, by boat

Europe

August 16, 2015November 12, 2015

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Venice to Rome

For 2 weeks my mum joined us for a whirlwind tour of Italy’s many sights – Venice, Florence, Sienna and Rome. With so much to see, it was a busy trip, so here are just a few of the highlights.

The Venetian lanes and canals

Arriving in Venice is breathtaking. All of sudden there are houses rising right out of the water, and tiny alleyways need to be navigated, along with plenty of bridges. We arrived by train and opted to walk the 2 km to our accommodation. Even with heavy bags and crossing over 10 bridges in 36C heat, the walk was a great entry to the city. Buzzing crowds and little shops, bars and restaurants everywhere.

Over the next few days we got lost plenty of times, found countless eateries and shops and marveled at the gondoliers drifting slowly down the canals.

Free Walking tour Venice

Free walking tours continued to be a hit, with a 3 hour tour of Venice taking us off the tourist path and providing some insights into the history of Venice, and the residents. We found Marco Polo’s house, learned about the beautiful Venetian masks seen in all the stores, and saw the thinnest house/ island in Venice, all the while entertained by our incredibly knowledgeable guide.

Murano

There’s no denying that Murano is touristy, however a visit is still a great way to spent an afternoon. The main canal is lined with glass shops offering the option to purchase anything from small trinkets and jewelry through to massive intricate chandeliers – we opted for the former! We’d read mixed reviews of the many tours of Murano, so instead chose to catch the ferry and meander ourselves – and it was a great idea. We weren’t hassled to buy anywhere, met friendly shop keepers and with few people around it made for a nice break from the hustle and bustle of Venice.

St Mark’s Square and the Doge’s Palace

The Doge’s were the rulers of Venice and their incredible residence is right in the heart of Venice, at St Mark’s Square. We opted for a skip the line tour, which was another great win. Walking past all the people queuing in the heat and going straight in was worth it alone, and the commentary was pretty interesting too.

The palace is connected to the Dungeon by the Bridge of Sighs one of the most photographed spots in Venice.

These two look at home in the Dungeon…

Rugby in an Irish Pub in Florence

We arrived in Florence all of 2 hours before the All Blacks were due to kick off against South Africa, and weren’t that hopeful of being able to watch the game. But of course every city has an Irish pub, and Irish pubs tend to play live rugby, and we were in luck. Finnegan’s was just around the corner from our apartment! A very pleasant afternoon spent watching the ABs win over a few ice cold Magners.

Wandering Sienna

A few days in Sienna gave us plenty of time to experience the relaxed side of Italy – shopping, eating and drinking featured heavily! We arrived just before the Palio, the horse race which sees the Sienna districts compete by racing around the Piazza Del Compo in the centre of town (below). Fiercely competitive neighbours in each district hung flags of their area around creating a carnival feel.

We also visited the Duomo di Sienna, a beautiful cathedral in town which also houses an old library with ornately decorated books, and the accompanying museum.

Tuscany wine tour

No visit to Tuscany would be complete without visiting some vineyards. We opted for a full day tour encompassing the beautiful towns of San Gimignano, Monteriggioni and Montalcino, as well as visiting two vineyards for copious tastings of delicious wines.

Italian cooking class

The host at our Sienna accommodation recommended a wonderful cooking class in the home of an Italian Contessa. The home and host were both beautiful, and the meal was fantastic. A feast of 6 courses had us rolling back to our accommodation many hours later.

The Vatican

We took a 3 hour tour covering the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica. The art work is incredible and hearing about how long much of it took to do, and the hidden stories in many of the pieces is fascinating. The area at the front of the Basilica is also beautiful and at night is far less crowded than during the day, making for some great photos.

A note on Airbnb: For most of the trip we found our accommodation through Airbnb and stayed at some great apartments with lovely hosts that shared information about their local neighbourhoods. In Florence we had a 4th floor apartment looking directly out at the cathedral, in Sienna our apartment included hidden tunnels that used to connect the whole city, and in Rome we had a wonderful home less than 10 minutes walk from the Vatican. A great way to stay and really experience a city.

Europe

August 9, 2015September 21, 2015

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On the hunt for Mr Clooney

Lake Como has one very well known resident and almost every travel guide you read mentions that George Clooney has a house in Bellagio. In fact the first restaurant we visited even had a mini shrine to George, with pictures of him and his house in a cabinet! Unfortunately, although we spotted the house, we didn’t get to meet the man himself, but that didn’t stop us from having a good time in Como.

The town of Como is at the base of Lake Como, Italy, and easily reached via train from Milan. It’s a small town – easy to walk around in a day with a beautiful cathedral, and many quaint streets.

The highlight of Como though is getting out on the water and visiting the many little towns dotted around the lake. We caught the slow ferry up to Bellagio, which takes just over 2 hours and stops at close to 20 little towns on the way.

Bellagio is the most touristy and busy of the lakeside villages, but still very pretty. Loads of restaurants dot the waterfront, but the alleyways leading up the hill house more authentic restaurants and little shops.

An easy walk along the waterfront from Como takes you to the Funicular, the easiest way to get up the hill to the town of Brunate. There’s not a lot there aside from tourist shops, but there is a walk another 1.5KM up the hill to the light-house for a stunning view.

On our final day we visited the small village of Lenno – hoping to see inside the Villa del Balbianello, a stunning house that featured in Casino Royale. Unfortunately, the villa wasn’t open the day we went – so we meandered through the little town instead.

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