We are waiting for our catamaran from an island called Hvar back to Split. Hvar was a nice island that seems to be a hotspot for European tourists. The journey to get here was a long one though: 4.5 hour bus ride from Dubrovnik to Split then a catamaran ride. It's been ~35 degrees here everyday! Really hot! The bad thing about the heat is that it's only bearable to explore in the morning and after 6 pm. The port area here is very lively with lots of restaurants and bars thats attracts a lot of hoiti-toity yachts owners. One of the yachts had a fitness centre staffed with a waiver, cook, etc. Apparently Beyonce and a bunch of other celebrities have come here also but stay on their yachts. It looks like groups of friends come here from close by to spend the weekend. Be fun to come here with a bunch of people but all Adam and I did was go to the beach and eat! It has some of the Dubrovnik feel with the stone buildings and city wall but more of a party scene. We stayed at a B&B/guesthouse called Villa Fio that was very cleans and nice although we would have a sea view if we stayed on the other side of the house - thats what we get for booking an international trip 3 weeks before! The beach was right down the street from where we are staying and the second day we took a "water taxi" to an island that has a sandy beach called Palmazino. Although it was decent, it was way too crowded which is sort of how it's been everywhere in Croatia. June or September are likely much better times to visit as I said that about going back to Italy in those months as well. I won't miss all the smokers here though! I don't know how they don't have raging incidence of Lung cancer here. I feel like we got years worth of second hand smoke just being here. Food report: need to make resos for restaurants here because theybsre all busy in high season! Had a yummy truffled steak at Dalmitino - was recommended by Ali and Zahra and #1 on tripadvisor which is a worthy rating! Ate there twice! Also ate at an authentic Croatian restaurant called Konoba Menego and tried a bunch of local dishes which were tasty. Highly recommend Dalmitino though!
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Island of Hvar
We are waiting for our catamaran from an island called Hvar back to Split. Hvar was a nice island that seems to be a hotspot for European tourists. The journey to get here was a long one though: 4.5 hour bus ride from Dubrovnik to Split then a catamaran ride. It's been ~35 degrees here everyday! Really hot! The bad thing about the heat is that it's only bearable to explore in the morning and after 6 pm. The port area here is very lively with lots of restaurants and bars thats attracts a lot of hoiti-toity yachts owners. One of the yachts had a fitness centre staffed with a waiver, cook, etc. Apparently Beyonce and a bunch of other celebrities have come here also but stay on their yachts. It looks like groups of friends come here from close by to spend the weekend. Be fun to come here with a bunch of people but all Adam and I did was go to the beach and eat! It has some of the Dubrovnik feel with the stone buildings and city wall but more of a party scene. We stayed at a B&B/guesthouse called Villa Fio that was very cleans and nice although we would have a sea view if we stayed on the other side of the house - thats what we get for booking an international trip 3 weeks before! The beach was right down the street from where we are staying and the second day we took a "water taxi" to an island that has a sandy beach called Palmazino. Although it was decent, it was way too crowded which is sort of how it's been everywhere in Croatia. June or September are likely much better times to visit as I said that about going back to Italy in those months as well. I won't miss all the smokers here though! I don't know how they don't have raging incidence of Lung cancer here. I feel like we got years worth of second hand smoke just being here. Food report: need to make resos for restaurants here because theybsre all busy in high season! Had a yummy truffled steak at Dalmitino - was recommended by Ali and Zahra and #1 on tripadvisor which is a worthy rating! Ate there twice! Also ate at an authentic Croatian restaurant called Konoba Menego and tried a bunch of local dishes which were tasty. Highly recommend Dalmitino though!
Saturday, August 10, 2013
30th birthday in Dubrovnik
Old city charm and sea side beauty
Wondering through the canals of Amsterdam
This is my third time to Amsterdam but for the first time, Amsterdam had great weather and only rained the morning we were leaving for Dubrovnik! We were there for a short time but enjoyed roaming the canals and exploring all the different areas of the city! Alizia, Shaila's cousin, whose Canadian but now lives in Amsterdam, took us around one afternoon and gave us the insider scoop on the country and Netherlands culture. People here are extremely friendly! Our 9 hr flight from Calgary literally flew by because we were chatting for 3 hours with a Dutch guy sitting next to us on the plane. Apparently half of Canada's population which is the entire population of the Netherlands lives in the distance between Calgary and Edmonton!
No visit is complete without a walk through the Infamous Red light district. We also visited Anne Franks House for a history reminder of WW2 days and hope to have time to visit the Heineken Museum which is apparently interesting even for non drinkers. We know we will be back another time as its such a great hub to Europe from Calgary. Air transat from yyc to ams was better than we were expecting and cheaper than KLM.
Food report:
Went to Koh I Noor for Indian, as we always seek out an Indian restaurant on vacation lol, Greenwood cafe/restaurant which we wanted to go to for breakfast but it isn't open early enough. Went to Burger Bar for lunch which was goos but appalled that you have to pay nearly 1 Euro for ketchup for your fries. Also went to Indonesian restaurant called Kantjil & de Tijger which was tasty. Since Indonesian was a former Dutch colony, there were a lot of Indonesian restaurants. And Amsterdam wouldn't be complete without some crepes/pancakes or as there called here, Pannenkoekens!
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza City centre which was nice and a very convenient location walking distance from Central Station.
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