P-A-R-I-S

We spent our two days in Paris exploring the town and getting a grasp of where different sites are and how to use the metro system. Our first day we went on a walking tour with NewParis run by Sandemans i think they're called. it is a company that believes every traveler has the right to a tour of a city so they run free tours and then accept tips at the end. but there is no obligation to tip, if you want to just walk off you can. the tour was quite good, it went for about three hours and covered Notre Dame Cathedral, Pont Neuf which is the oldest bridge in Paris, The Louvre (from of the outside only), the Eiffel Tower, Tuileries Gardens, Arc De Triumphe, Museum de Orsay and lots lots more.After the tour our guide took us to a French bistro for lunch. me and ewen both had Croque Monsieurs which is basically a very expensive ham and cheese toasted sandwich. The only difference is that the order goes like this.., Bread, Cheese, Ham, Cheese, Bread, Cheese. Soooo much cheese!!! After lunch we set off to look for the metro and got the train to the Montmartre district to have a look at the Moulin Rouge building and walk up to the Sacre Coeur Basilica. We spent probably 20 minutes watching a street performer outsisde the Sacre Couer who was doing crazy things with a soccer ball. After this we went for a walk past the oldest vineyard in Paris which is now in a residential area just behind the Sacre Couer and then got the metro to the Latin Quarter just near the Notre Dame. We wandered down towards the Notre Dame but by the time we got there it was 6pm and closed.

Our second and last day in Paris we got up early to be at Notre Dame by 9am which turned out to be a very good idea. we didnt have to line up at all and just walked straight in. the cathedral was huge with lots of stained glass windows. its hard to say if it was more/less impressive than other cathedrals we have seen as they all kind of blend in together by now. we have seen so many! after looking inside we walked around the outside of the cathedral snapping some photos and then went off in seach of a book store we had heard about. It is called Shakespeare and Co and is full of English books. It looks like a second hand book store but it all all new books (well mostly) upstairs is about half full of old vintage books that are not for sale but are only there to be read in the store and they have lots of couches and arm chairs and different nooks for people to sit in and read for as long as you want. they also have a piano that anyone is allowed to play as well as a section of wall that you can write a note on and stick it to the wall. people had written all kinds of random things from recommending books and places in paris to go and see to declaring their love for someone to saying hi mum. They also had a great collection of childrens books and little notes you could write book recommendations on and then hide them in random books for people to find later. We ended up going back to this store twice over the course of the day. annnoyingly i had already got some books at Copenhagen airport so i didnt buy anything but Ewen got himself a book.
After the bookstore we got the metro to the Catacombs and stood in a very very long line for about half an hour, in this whole time it did not move at all. We decided to come back to the catacombs next time we are in paris and got the metro to a shopping street just near the lourve. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking in different shops, i got a new handbag because my old one was falling apart and we got a guidebook for Britain. We headed back to the hostel in the late afternoon to do our washing. while our washing was in the dryer we went to a supermarket/kmart type place to get some snacks for our bus trip the next day and Ewen saw a woman filling her bag with chocolates zipping it up and walking away. Apparently she basically filled the entire thing with chocolates and was not very subtle about it. Weird French kleptomaniacs. We got the metro back into the Latin Quarter for dinner which is where we both tried escargot (SNAILS!) for the first and probably last time. It's not that they taste bad, they just taste like garlic but they are so slippery and chewy. I kept nearly gagging because i couldn't stop picturing snails slithering along the ground. After dinner we went back to the awesome book store and then headed back to the hostel to pack up our stuff ready for Switzerland the next day.
Paris was awesome and i cant wait to go back and see more of it!

The oldest bridge in Paris

The faces on the bridge

On the same bridge from Sex & the City finale where Big told Carrie she was the one

The Louvre

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If you can see the little orange dot well done, you would qualify to be a fire fighter in Paris. All over the Louvre are these little orange stickers showing fire fighters which windows they are allowed to break in the event of a fire

First sighting of the eiffel tower for the day

Yay! Eiffel tower!

A fancy hotel that all the celebrities stay in

Even the lamp posts are fancy in Paris

Sacre Coeur

A crazy street performer at the Sacre Coeur

Ewen paying his respects

Street in Paris

The oldest (and possibly last) vineyard in Paris

The oldest department store in Paris, sadly they had to close it down a few years ago (something to do with fire hazards)

Notre Dame

The worst Hunchback impression EVER

Inside the cathedral

Some fancy pants windows

Notre Dame Cathedral from the back

Statues

Me & Ewen at Notre Dame

Ewen playing outside the cathedral

Ewen running amuck

A very cool building

This was a decorated building on one of the shopping streets we went to...

Escargot

Ewen struggling to get out his garlic slug

Split the second time

We had a bit of a problem with our Split hostel this time, they apparently triple booked our hostel room so after a lot of waiting around we ended up staying in a room in the cleaners apartment on the other side of town. She didn't speak a word of English and kept trying to talk to us in German finally we worked out how much we needed to pay and all got our messages across (we think). The room wasn't too bad, we had our own bathroom and a balcony. Also free wifi so we weren't complaining! By the time we got into our room it was about 12pm so after grabbing a quick lunch and some fresh juice (we discovered Croatia's version of Boost juice and ended up going there every day) and dropping off our laundry i had a nap and we didn't do anything for the rest of the day. That night we went out for dinner with some of the people we met on our boat.

just outside our hostel room

Ewen coming down the stairs that lead to our room

The next day we actually managed to get some sightseeing done. We went to Diocletian's Palace and had a look around there. It is divided into two sides for tourists to go through, the first side was really cool, I'm not entirely sure what it would have been used for back in the day though. I think the actual rooms of the palace (the ones that still remain) are off limits to tourists and some of them the locals live in. The other side of the palace we could look in had a special exhibition at the moment, a kind of Olympics exhibition i guess, they had a sandpit for long jump, javelins, a high jump mat, a sprinting and hurdle area, etc etc. It was kind of strange to see all of these things in the cave like atmosphere of the palace. After seeing the palace we walked around the town going into a few shops (it was Sunday so pretty much all the shops we had originally planned on goinginto were closed). We then set about working out how we were going to get to Krka National Park the next day, we had heard that they have incredible waterfalls you could swim under. After a bit of messing around we finally found a tour we could go on the following day.

The main strip in Split, it was called the Riva.. The building is Diocletian's Palace

I can't remember who this is a statue of, of he has ginormous fingers and it is good luck to rub his toe

The other side of Diocletian's Palace

Our last full day in Split we went to Krka National Park, our tour only had 5 people on it and turned out to be more like very expensive transport than an actual tour. a mini bus drove us the hour and a half to the town nearest the park and then we got a ferry across to the park. The waterfalls were indeed incredible, i couldn't believe how big they were, the two big let downs though were that there were hundreds of other people around and you couldn't actually get very close to the waterfalls, they had half of the pool below the waterfall roped off. But it was still a nice day. We paddled around the river and got as close to the waterfalls as we could, we had a picnic lunch, went for a walk and lay about in the sun.

Car air-conditioning Croatia style

The waterfalls and lots of people

Ewen having a shower in one of the smaller water falls

A freaky clown busker

The next morning we were up before the sun to catch the 6.20am bus to the airport. We got a flight to Copenhagen in Denmark and from there a flight to Paris!!!

Croatia Sailing Trip

Day #1
We checked into our boat (The Petrina) at 11am and at 1pm we set sail for Hvar. On the way we stopped for a swim and then got into Hvar town at about 6pm i think. We were one of the last boats to arrive which meant we were right at the back of the line of boats. Because of this we had to trek across 8 other boats to get to the dock. By the end of the week i was used to this but been the first day and all i was still a bit shaky jumping from one boat to the next.
Our Busabout guide, Isobel took us on a walking tour of the town and then we had a few hours of free time. Me and Ewen got a quick dinner and then climbed up the hill to the Spanjola fortress to check out the views over the town. After this we met up with the rest of our group and went to a bar called Kiva for some free shots and some dancing.

Our room for the next 7 days
The death stairs leading to our room
Coming into Hvar
The fortress above the town of Hvar
Hvar
View on the walk up to the fortress. It's difficult to make out but our boat is the one with the crooked beam on the mast
Ewen on the walk up to the fortress
View from the fortress
Me in the prison in the fortress
Free shots at Kiva Bar
Kiva Bar
Ewen about to do a Tequila Boom Boom
Pretty excited!
You put a helmet on and the bar tender hits you (pretty dam hard) on head a few times with your shot of tequila and then you do the shot

Day #2
Ewen's Birthday!!! Celebrating Ewens birthday was a little difficult as he wouldn't let me tell anyone it was his birthday but i think i did OK. after breakfast he opened all his presents and then we spent a few hours sunbathing, reading and swimming when the boat stopped mid morning. After lunch we arrived in Mljet (which was my favourite place we went to over the week). Mljet is famous for its national park which features two salt water lakes to swim in. We took a smaller boat over to St Marys Island which was in the middle of the larger lake and had a look at the monestry then we got the boat back and went in search of a secluded spot to do some swimming, we ended up finding a great little spot at the smaller lake (even the smaller lake was enormous).
That night we had a Captains Dinner on the boat and then everyone had a pretty quite night. we went and a had a drink at a beach bar with a few people from our boat and then went for a walk to see the sea urchins.

Ewen gazing out to sea on his birthday

Ewen chilling out on the boat

Birthday balloons!

One of the lakes in Mljet

Ewen on the little island with the monestry

Ewen having a swim

Our awesome swimming spot

Having a swim

Action shot

Our Captain, Tony

Day #3
After a mid morning swim in the ocean we arrived into Dubrovnik just after lunch time. After a walking tour from our Busabout guide we had free time until 4.30pm. Me and Ewen had a look through the shops and then sat down by the ocean watching some local kids playing a bizarre form of soccer/tennis and another group playing water polo.
At 4.30pm we did the wall walk with the group from our boat. These walls are the most complete set of fortified walls in the world. the views were incredible! The walls have surrounded Dubrovnik since the 7th century and before 1991 they had successfully repelled all attacks.
We had a group dinner at a seafood restaurant over looking the water. Me and Ewen both got lamb which kind of made going to a sea food restaurant pointless but oh well.
After dinner we all went to a bar where drinks were served to you in buckets. Me and Ewen didnt stay here long, it was so crowded you couldn't even move let alone dance inside and people were spilling out into the alley way making even that hard to walk around in. Our drink was really nice though! We left and went for a walk around the town before catching the public bus back to our boat.

The walls of old town in Dubrovnik

Apparently it is considered good luck to run up to this section of wall, lift your top and press your stomach to the wall and then kiss the wall. only our tour guide was game enough to do this

Kermit

A street in Dubrovnik

View from the walls

View from the wall

One of the greatest inventions on earth

 This is what bars are like in Croatia, all the action happens in the alleyway outside the bar

  Bucket Cocktail

 Our boat, The Petrina

Day #4
Today we went to Marco Polo town otherwise known as Korcula. Marco Polo was supposedly born here, you can even pay to visit his birth place (we didn't do this). In Korcula they have a town that they claim Marco Polo lived in and you can pay to climb up and have a look inside, the odd thing about this is that tower was built 300 years AFTER Marco Polo was born...
After a guided tour around the place we were left to our own devices. We decided to spend our time swimming and looking around the shops. We had another group dinner (although this time only 6 of us turned up) at an Italian restaurant and then had cocktails on top of a castle turret while watching the tail end of the sunset. Once i manage to get some photos uploaded you will see that Croatia is not huge on the whole OH&S issue. On the top of the turret you could sit on kind of bench seating running around the edges. behind you though were large wholes that dropped right down into the ocean with no safety barriers what-so-ever. After our cocktails we went to a different bar, this one with nice safe couches and had a few drinks and did some dancing before heading back to the boat.

This is how they get your drink order up the castle turret

Day #5
Today we sailed to place called Makarska which was full of markets and water sports. After a quick look through the markets (where Ewen got himself a foam sword that squirts water) we decided to go Para-sailing. We got to do a tandem one which was great and we opted for the longest/highest one possible, 400m high and 15 minutes up in the air. The views were incredible but 400m is a very very long way up! The boat looked like a little matchbox boat and in the photos a guy on the boat took of us you cant even see us, all you can is our parachute! It was definitely worth it!
That night we went to a bar for some free shots and some cocktails and then after that we all headed to a club called Deep which is inside a cave, they even have spots where you can go swimming in the ocean if you want to. This was pretty cool, we didn't go swimming but we had a few drinks and then wandered back to our boat.

Ewen about to jump off the side of the boat

A statue you are meant to rub for good luck

All ready to go

up up and away

Club Deep

Day #6
Today we ventured into pirate territory, Omis. The town is famous for being heavily involved in pirate activity 1000 years ago. Omis Pirates ruled the Adriatic Sea for more then three centuries until in the year of 1420 the whole of Dalmatia, except Omis, fell under rule the of Venetian Republic, the most powerful naval force of those times. Surrounded by the enemy and left completely alone, the Pirates of Omis managed to defend themselves for 24 years. In 1444, Omis fell into the hands of Venetia and that year marks the end of piracy on Adriatic Sea.
When the Venetians took over they build a large fortress on top of a hill over looking Omis. Me and Ewen attempted to climb to the top (it takes an hour and is straight up), it was the hardest thing i have ever done in my life and stupidly we didn't really prepare ourselves. we wore proper walking shoes but talk hardly any water and after about 40 minutes we were both wrecked and i started to get dizzy and feel really sick. we sat and rested but i didn't feel any better so turned back, later we found out that we were only 10 minutes from the top which was pretty shattering!
That night was our pirate party where everyone got dressed up and we had some drinks on the boat.

Its a bit hard to make out but the castle is up on that hill. this was taken about half way through the walk

Ewen, Jason & Adam on Pirate night

Arrrrgh

Day #7
We spent the first half of the day in Omis, i used the time to go on the internet while Ewen used the time to sleep. We left at about 11am and then stopped halfway to Split for a swim before lunch. we all took advantage as this was our last swim stop for the cruise. We arrived into Split at about 2pm and Isobel took us on a walking tour of the town. We then came back to pack our bags and sat around on the boat talking before going out for dinner.

Finally i worked up the courage to jump off the boat, i look like I'm doing a dance mid air

Ewen with his dinner

Child's ride Croatian style