South American adventure

Happy holidays everyone!

We arrived in Santiago on Xmas day so as you can imagine, there wasn't a lot open especially near our hotel, Marriott Santiago. Our hotel is in the Las Condes area which is a business area where a lot of richer people live and is close to a nice mall and park called Parque arauco but it's far from the major tourist areas (metro ride away). The first evening we explored the Bellavista area and ate at a local Chilean restaurant called Galindo. A cool area of restaurants and cafes is called Patio Bellavista. Besides empanadas, we haven't have the best luck with Chilean food so far. There were 2 women that were very nice and started a conversation with us at dinner when they saw us unsure what to do with one of the local dishes we ordered. In general, we have found Chilean people to be very genuinely friendly without an ulterior motive for a tip, selling you something, etc. 

The second day we explored the downtown/tourist area including plaza des armes, Santa Lucia market, main cathedral, and climbed to the top of Santa Lucia hill for nice views of the city and mountains in the backdrop. We reserved some of the sightseeing for when Arif and Shy arrive on Dec 30. We had dinner at Astrid y Gaston (Providentia area) which is a restaurant that was famous in Lima and I had regretted not going to it when we were in Peru because we were on a backpackers budget. It was definitely fine dining but very tasty including a random dessert of crispy bananas with Quinoa, passion fruit honey, ice cream etc with incredible presentation!

We took a day trip to Cajon del Maipo which is a volcano in the Andes mountain range. Although what we actually saw including the waterfalls, canon, mountains, condors, etc weren't very impressive to us compared to what we have in Alberta or New Zealand, it was overall a nice day trip getting to chat with 4 other fellow travellers from Argentina, U.S and a guy whose studying in the US but from Saudi Arabia. Our guide was also fantastic and had such a humble perspective on the world. 

We went through a company called AndoAndes - although the trip was overpriced for what is was, we had a good time. 

Adam and I haven't taken a vacation in a long time where there weren't a lot of people who spoke English. Someone should make a movie on what tourists looks like trying to explain or ask for something using the few words they know in a particular language mixed with a lot of sign language. It would be hilarious! Even when we are using the correct words, we are often not understood because we don't have the Spanish accent. For example, the guy at Starbucks wrote Adams name as "Aron" on his cup. 

Overall, Santiago is a great city that is totally liveable as its modern, feels very safe but has a lot of culture. Although I wouldn't put it in my top 5 cities to visit or anything, it's a nice place to visit. It's a lot like Calgary in sown ways: cold in the winter, hot in the summer but with cool summer nights and close proximity to the mountains and nature. There is a lot of American influence in terms of restaurants, fast food and cafes (I.e. Pf Changs, subway, KFC, Dunkin donuts, etc.) It's far more organized and orderly than I was expecting compared to Peru and Ecuador.  Santiago isn't a cheap city. In fact very comparable to Canada with a few exceptions. Metro tickets and taxis are a bit cheaper and tipping at restaurants is 10% (automatically put on but you can chose to keep it or not). 

Next stop Valparaiso/vina del mar then back to Santiago! 

A Taste of the Czech Republic

Prague has always been a city I wanted to visit as it know for its architecture and heritage! Upon recommendation from friends, we started off our first day with a walking tour that started in the Old town square, called Sandemans walking tour. It was a great way to learn about the city and got us well acquainted to explore later on. The highlights of the city for me was the Charles Bridge, views if the Palace and just the Old town square area. A famous landmark was the astronomical clock In the middle of Old town square. We also walked through the Jewish quarter, the area of the famous 1988 revolution where communism fell, etc. The palace was far more grand from far - you could probably skip the visit to the roam through the Palace. There is an entrance for a short or long tour but I'm glad we did the short tour. 

If you have a chance, the E bikes and the Segways looked like an awesome way to tour the city especially since there is a good amount of sights to see! I'm hoping to try those in another big city on a future trip!

We weren't that adventurous with food in Prague because we just wanted some yummy tasty comfort food. Our first meal we searched out an Indian restaurant called La Qila which we ended up going to twice in 4 days because it was so good. The waitress was a Canadian girl from Toronto which was so random. In retrospect, we should have been having Goolash, meat and potatoes which is what a lot of Czech food is. Adam was reunited with his Gloria Jean lattes and international brands that you come to expect on vacation. 

This trip wouldn't have been the same without the Tripadvisor off lines aps for Amsterdam and Prague. You download them but when once they are on your phone, you can use them without wifi/data and they will lead you in The direction you need to go. This is great for finding places to eat at that are actually well rated when you're hungry and haven't necessarily planned your next meal or finding exactly where you need to go once you get off the subway/tram without having to ask around as much. It's best you verify the address of some of the locations before you go because it led us in the wrong direction once but every other time, it was accurate and very convenient. I'd highly recommend them but they are only made for some of the most popular cities in the world. 

Last days in Croatia

We had a very short time in Split as it was more of a transit point for us before we left for Prague. Although we were there for a short time, it was a pleasant little place. Almost all the action is again in the City Walls or Diocletian Palace. It is filled with restaurants, shops and of course a lot of travel agencies. 

We stayed at an apartment within the walls. Although very basis with no frills, it was in a great location amongst the Palace and we were walking distance for where we needed to go. The owner was a younger guy, Baldo, who was super friendly and helpful! Baldo recommended that we dine outside the city walls and we are glad that we did. Split apparently has some nice beaches and a beautiful waterfall close by that some other American tourists told us to see on our catamaran ride in from Hvar but we didn't have enough time. 

The Main Street along the water was a lively place in the evening with lots of patios, food vendors, etc. We ate a "fishermans plate" at another   "Konoba" or Croatian kitchen but Adam and I are obviously all fished out and need some Indian/Thai food to restimulate our palates! We stumbled upon a Bosnian sandwich place that was really yummy and worth the long line up!

Unfortunately we didn't do much shopping in Croatia although they do have some of the typical international stores like Zara etc. I imagine Zagreb, the capital city, would be a better place for that! 

Overall, I enjoyed Croatia quite a bit but Dubrovnik is by far the highlight! Friendly people and great weather (too hot at this time of the year) to top it off! It was a refreshing change to not be bombarded with American chains although you really didn't know if you were going to find a good coffee or not which is an important thing for Adam - no Starbucks, KFC, etc. There is only 1 McDonalds in all 3 places we went to and that was in Split. 

 

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!

30th birthday in Dubrovnik

Couldn't have asked for a nicer 30th birthday! Thank you everyone for the birthday messages! We spent the day relaxing in the sun at our hotel with frequent dips in the sea to cool off. The water is so clear and the ocean was essentially our pool! I then had a massage and sea salt exfoliation treatment at the Royal Rixos Spa as our hotel which was really relaxing and had a great facility. Adam had made reservations for dinner at Villa Ruza, a seaside restaurant on an island called Kolocep, a short boat/ferry ride from Dubrovnik. It had great surroundings, fresh seafood and really good service! The Shrimp tempura was divine! Saw a beautiful subset on the water as we travelled back to to say goodbye to Dubrovnik Old city which I was very sad about. Old town is such a lively place. I would have loved to stay longer to dine at more restaurants and explore more alleyways of the Old town. We finally found our way to Buza bar/cafe - a random patio overlooking the sea that is built off the city wall with amazing views. The only thing I won't miss is how a soft drink is ~$5 almost everywhere you go - robbery lol. We are off to Hvar today, which is a popular island a boat ride from Split, which is frequented by many celebrities apparently.

Old city charm and sea side beauty

Currently writing this post from our new hotel called the Rixos in dubronvik! Aleena is probably laughing because all along she told me to stay here but we didn't book it because it was over our budget. However our original hotel, although okay (Argosy Hotel) was decent but not for the price we were paying, so we upgraded and moved hotels for 1 night (because it wasnt available before) and seriously trying to see if we can stay one more night and cut one night out of our next city/island, Hvar. Loving our new hotel and have a spa treatment booked later today! We definitely wish we had left more days for Croatia - at least 10 days instead of 7 but hindsight is always 20/20! Dubrovnik does live up to its hype! When you arrive at the old city of Dubrovnik, you get the feeling you do you see Machu Piccu in Peru for the first time or other comparable sights, for those of you who have been. Walking along the old city walls was definitely a highlight to see it from above! There are still people living in the Old city and there are tonneau of shops and restaurants. As Dubrovnik is along the Adriatic Sea and is right at the Bosnian border, its city walls were damaged during a war with former Yugoslavia but you barely even notice. UNESCO has named it a world heritage sight and rightfully so. Dubrovnik is a port city for cruise ships also and is just crawling with tourists like us! It's also super hot so we have spent the daytime at the beach and/or pool and then go to old town in the evening when it cools down a bit. Adam and I can handle heat very well and even we are sweating walking the stairs in old town to get around. All the alley ways of the old town have "patio" restaurants like the alleyways in some areas of Instanbul. Since we couldnt squeeze in a day trip to Bosnia or to Montenegro, we wanted to try Bosnian food and it was also highly rated on our travel bible, Tripadvisor! The restaurant was called Taj Mahal, which you would think is an Indian restaurant. It was good to try, similar to Turkish food, but tiffin ribs/east african is still the best food in the world lol! We also went to Dubruvka on the first night which is just outside the old town, recommended by Ali and Zahra, who just came back from Croatia 2 weeks ago. Really nice view and good food too! For anyone who goes to Croatia in the near future, I'd recommend purchasing the 1 day dubrovnik pass or longer if you have time to see the other sights because it pays for itself for stuff you will definitely be doing anyway.

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.