Kotor, Montenegro

Our host in Debrovnik told us that Kotor would be 8 hrs away by bus. When we arrived after 3 hrs, we were surprised and relieved. I don't like buses! Kotor is like a scene from the Lord of the Rings, with a hilltop fort, with walls that stretch down the mountain ridge an hours strenuous walk away to envelop the old town. I took some great shots from the top of the fort after getting up early to miss the heat, then went for a swim in the water to cool off. The bay harbours water as clear as Croatia's, if not as azure-blue. Our next step is north-west, to the Balkans! Should be interesting!!!

Debrovnik

Travelling by bus has to be my least favourite forms of travel. Travelling by bus with my cousin is worse. On our third day together, she lost her lonely planet and camera on a bus. This time, I lost her. After we left Hvar at mid-morning, we arrived in Jelsa, ready for a connection to Securaj, all the way across the island. I had been feeling blessed today, because the travel fairy I have kicked in once again - we found out only that day that the bus only runs twice a week, once on Friday and once on Monday - and it turned out to be a Friday! So we're in Jelsa and Vicki says she needs to get some water. I say "Okay", and start looking for our connecting bus while Vicki goes off to look for water. Having found the connecting bus, I put my bag in and wait for Vicki. Minutes tick by, and no Vicki appears, but the bus driver does. I ask him to wait for a second while I run and find my cousin, and he rolls his eyes and nods. Off I go, looking in every store around town - no Vicki. Despondent, I returned to the bus. The driver raises his eyebrows, and I take my bag out of the bus. "When's the next bus?" I asked him. A real joker, the bus driver checks his watch, snorts, and looks up at me with a peircing stare... "Next bus Monday" he says. Now I'm really worried. I beg him to wait for another few minutes, while I take another run around town. This time, I find Vicki in the checkout queue at one of the stores. I shout "the bus is leaving NOW!" and run out of the store, just as the bus driver starts up the engine. We jumped on just in time - I was so happy we weren't stranded in Jelsa until Monday!

After arriving at Securaj, we took a scenic ferry across to Drevnik on the mainland. After a delay, the bus came to take us to Debrovnik at around 6pm. Arriving at 10pm, we were fed up with travel. It was well past dusk, and we quickly realised that we had only copied down half of the directions to the hostel. Knocking on a likely candidate, we came upon a 70+ year old couple in their bedclothes, who assured us that they did not rent out rooms. The other possible candidate street was on Radnick street. But no-one knew where Radnick Street was, or if it even existed. Luckily, the old lady was poor of hearing, and thought I said Rad-nitch-ka. She gave us directions there, and it turned out to be the right place. We fell into bed, so glad to have a place to sleep for the night.

The next morning, we explored Debrovnik's old town suburb, Pile. Pile has to be the richest place ever seen, with white marble flagstones and beautiful buildings wrought from the same rock. We explored the town for a few hours until we threw it in for an early night.

Split and Hvar - Heaven

Unfortunately, Vicki lost her guide book when we left the apartment in Zadar. Then, in her optimistic way, she said "At least it wasnt my camera". Only seconds later, her next words were "Hey, where is my camera?". She'd left it on the bus. To relieve her depressed emotions, she went out for some retail therapy, and bought a lovely blue and white striped sailor shirt. Transeversely, plans were made to celebrate the first losses of the trip (Vicki is reknowned for them), and Vicki started with a bottle of local Vodka, while I had a delicious lemon radler beer I'd discovered in Zadar. Our hostel in Split is amazing. The friendly owner showed us up to the hostel, where we met Americans and Irish and too many Australians. We got on so well with the Irish that the night started off with lots of dancing in the hotel room, and moved to the only club open on a Monday night, where we only realised there were dancers in lingerie after about three hours. I taught Kate, one of the Irish girls, to dip, and we all danced until the floor was burning. To cool off, we went for a dip in the water, before returning to the dance floor soaking wet for some more, slightly more slippery dancing. After another dip and more dancing, we headed back to sleep. The next night Vicki and I had a quiet one while the Irish went out again. A new Irish girl called Anna joined the Irish conglomerate, and was just as fun as the other two. We all made plans to meet in Hvar the next morning. Unfortunately, one of the Irish girls woke up with a strange allergic reaction that required medical help (apparently it was the Vodka, which tasted horrible, so it might have been true), and couldn't come to Hvar.

Little did we know that they would be on the ferry over the next day. Them being Irish and us being Australian, the night couldnt help turning rowdy, where we danced and drank in our apartment until late in the night. When one of the Irish girls threw up and Vicki passed out, our apartment host threw us out, so we went out on the town. The clubs were a bit dissapointing, however, and after picking up Vicki an hour later, we took a free boat ride to a club called Carpe Diem on a little island near Hvar. It turned out to be quite as bad as the mainland clubs though, so we left before even going in. The Irish girls stayed to party, and came back to the apartment at about 6am. All the Irish went back to theirs to sleep, and Vicki and I continued sleeping.

Hvar itself is amazing. Once you've seen the ocean at Hvar, crystals dont seem so clear anymore. The days are blissful, with weather hot enought that taking dips in the clearer-than-crystal water is compulsory, while at night the lights at the top of the masts on the moored yachts create their own constellations, swaying drunkenly in the night sky. Lavender scents flow to you from the markets in the town centre at all times of day, and theres little else to do but take walks along the beach and go for swims. You can find a beautiful spot on the beach at night, perfect for a midnight dip, and watch the city lights as you dry off.

The buildings in Hvar are an old-age Tuscan style that put the buildings in Italy to shame, with stained shutters and sone walls, while the pavements are made from the same stone. The buildings are all similar, with orange ceramic roofing tiles. While one building looks good, seeing the whole city by day from afar, combined with the crystal clear water, makes a composition that is not to be missed. If you only go to one place in Croatia, make it Hvar!

Croatia - Zadar

Thinking we should see somewhere a tiny bit off the tourist track, we next headed to Zadar after Venice, taking the night train to Zagreb and from thence a bus to Zadar. After not sleeping at all because the customs people kept waking us up hourly in a kind of sleep torture as we passed through multiple countries (but we got stamps!), we didnt get seats on the bus, so I slept on the floor - which is probably the most comfortable way to sleep on a bus, anyway. Contrary to being off the tourist track, this place was well known to Germans, and almost everyone spoke Deutsch, and looked surprised when we didnt know any of it. Everywhere was ridiculously expensive and booked out anyway, and our options were looking thin. Luckily, on a visit to a campsite to see if there were any tents for rent, I met two Chilean women, who were also looking for a place. We buddied up and quickly found an apartment which we shared, which worked out at 15 Euros a night with a kitchen, bathroom, and view of the ocean - deal! We beached it up the first day, and had great fun. We didnt even know there was more to Zadar until the next day, when Vicki and I found a maze of alleyways, as all good European towns have, lined with marble pavestones and buildings. The Pekaras (bakeries) are amazing, and we discovered burek, which is a delicious feta-filled pastry that resembles a quarter of a gigantic pie. Zadar has some great beaches with crystal clear water, as well as a sea-organ, that blows sound generated by the motion of the waves against the shore. It sounds as peaceful as an Enya song, and imbues the shoreline with a magical element. At night, solar panels that have been charging all day unleash their power, transmitting an amazing light show on the ground under your feet.

Cousins reunite - Venice, birthdays, and cocktails

Catching a 3pm train from the eastern side of Italy, I thought "this is a narrow country, surely it wont take long to get to Venice". I was in Venice at 9.30pm - not as short a trip as I had thought, and that's after I had to pay an augmentation to my ticket on the train. Arriving at night, I waited for a bus for an hour, and then found the timetable - the last bus had left at 9.20. It just wasn't my day. Anxious to meet Vicki, I grabbed a taxi. Taxis in Italy are expensive - I watched as the meter rose constantly, and shelled out 20 Euros for a 5 minute cab ride (ouch!). To my consternation, I found out that there was a different bus line that I had accidentally purchased a ticket for that ran to my destination. Oh well. To make the night better, I found a cheap bottle of wine at the campsite where we were staying in Venice and spoke to a nice Australian who was travelling for a few months. She gave me tips on going to Croatia and Hungary which were great, and a half an hour later my cousin walked in. It was so good to see a familiar face after more than a month meeting new people but no old ones.

Vicki took part in the drinking of the wine, while we had a quick dinner of cucumber, tomato, and focaccia bread. We talked late on into the night, catching up on all our latest thoughts on society, politics, philosophy, the whole deal - Vicki and I think so similarly that its great to compare notes on all our most recent thoughts. The next day we woke up at a reasonable hour, excited to see Venice. It has to be the best of the Italian cities; it has such charm in the narrow alleyways webbed throughout the city, and the canals interspersed with pathways. Getting lost is a must, and we did it as much as we could, not bothering with maps or anything. On my last day there, a call to my parents informed me that there were arrows on top of the buildings pointing to the main bridge, which would have been useful to know earlier on!

The next day, it was my birthday! My 22nd, and the first where I didnt get depressed for days before hand for being old. I figure there's no point now, as I definitely am old, so might as well just enjoy birthdays. After talking to my family and girlfriend, Vicki and I found a cute cafe, where we had cocktails - I tried a coffee kahlua something and a Vodka martini and Vicki had various fruity things. Vicki spilt the best part of both my drinks, so we decided to move on, and I decided to keep a close hold on my drinks. We found a wine bar later, where I had a couple of glasses of Pinot Grigio and we shared a cheese and olive and salami platter, which was far too big considering we were supposed to be having a two course meal for dinner. After looking around for a nice restaurant for a while, we found a place that looked decent and sat down. Vicki had camembert with walnuts and honey for primi piatti, and I the smoked ricotta and seafood Gnocci, and for secondi piatti, Vicki had a vegetable pizza loaded with vegies, while I had a platter loaded with seafood - far too much for my now shrunken stomach to hold! A great night, topped off with getting lost again. A friendly Russian-sounding family showed us the way to the bus station, and we got home very late and so full we both exploded and died.

Cinque terre - ultimate beach paradise

I decided to make things hard from myself from the outset, and set off from La Spezia train station, intending to walk to Cinque terre on the other side of the peninsula. After walking in the wrong direction (straight down, instead of across, the peninsula) for two hours, I started again, taking a path that threatened wild boars in the area. It was worth the risk of goring by wild boars, because at the top of the mountain (halfway to Cinque terre, 3-4 hours walk from the train station) there is a town called Campiglia nestled amongst the hills, that you wouldnt know existed without a strenous hours-long walk uphill. I have no idea how the residents get there.

After another 3-4 hour long walk, I arrived in Riomaggiore, the first town in Cinque terre with feet with worn-out soles at 3pm. After a snack of local lemon tart (exquisite!) I jumped in the warm, warm water. Cinque terre is a paradise, with brightly coloured buildings rising up out of a sharp cliff valley from the clear, clear water. Bright coloured sailing boats laden with nets cruise around, garnishing the sparkling sea and providing the final magical touch on the perfect beach. Nearby there is the Via Della Amour, (the way of love) to the second town. Along the walk halfway down a sheer rock cliff, locks enscribed with lover's names are suspended from nets on the cliff.

Agerola and the best of the Amalfi Coast

For a small town, the citizens of San Lazzaro in Agerola, overlooking the Amalfi Coast, sure know how to party. Every night I was there, something fun was on, starting with a birthday party for the owner - with fireworks! Italians know how to party, and the festivities dont even usually kick off until 10pm or so. Dinner is consumed at around 11, and drinks and dancing happens sometime after Cinderella has already lost her shoe. The next night, it was a festival in Agerola town centre, with a famous Italian singer up on the big stage, and corny carnival rides and cheap plastic toys everywhere. God I hate carnivals, they represent everything thats cheap and tacky in the world... I would love to see a proper fete like they would have had before horrible carnival rides and chinese toys were invented, with hay and boiled corn and animal shows. The night after, the hostel had a hot dogs and beer party. Initially I didnt join in, I didnt really feel like hot dogs and ate salad instead, but after an hour or so, the hostelier came in and offered us all free beer - they had a keg outside, so I couldnt say no. The last night I was in San Lazzaro, there was a star watching conference on the summit of the highest hill overlooking the town, with telescopes pointed at milky spots. I dont know what they are, but everyone was very excited about them, so I will have to look them up sometime in the future. After the stargazing, as I was walking down the hill I heard a few acoustic guitars and Italian singing, so I went to check it out. On the piazza below, a concert of an Italian singer was taking place... it was great, and such a lovely night, almost a full moon. I missed Bec a lot as I was standing on the balcony overlooking the concert, with the moonlight night making the view of the sea look even better than in the daylight.

So the nights were filled with fun, but that didnt make the days any less active. On the first day, I made friends with all the guests at the hostel - it was a particularly social one. Everyone was fun. There were two Canadians, one who had recently sustained a perforated eardrum from cliff jumping in Croatia, so he was initially a bit quiet. There was a dutch guy, who was always having fun, as well as two English girls who had been held up at gun-point in Naples, another English woman, and an Australian girl. This crowd just grew as the days went on, being augmented by extra Americans and Australians. The first day, all the guys decided to climb down the 3000 steps to the beach on the Amalfi Coast. The day was absolutely sunkist - after the climb, we took a boat to a grotto on the beach, where there was a rock arch to jump from into the water, and a cave that a Roman fellow cliff jumping girl told us was called the Lovers cave. Anyone can guess what goes on in there. Afterwards, we drank beer on the beach and sunbaked on the sun-warmed rocks. After a perfect day, for some reason we elected to climb the 3000 steps back up... not an easy accomplishment, but we beat the bus back to the hostel and were drenched in sweat and sunscreen. We definitely earned our dinner that night!

The next day, the Canadians, the English woman and I visited Pompei, which wasnt particularly impressive, apart from the awesome brothel, with a la carte sexual positions painted on the wall. Another day on the beach and it was sadly time to head up north again, to Bologna.

When I arrived in Bologna, I immediately was not impressed. After a mosquito-armageddon night in the out-of-the-way hostel, I decided to head to Pisa again instead of staying longer in boring Bologna. I didnt even get to eat a bolognese there, although my roommate Australian did, and said that it was horrible. No points for Bologna. Now that I am in Pisa, I intend to get up early the next two days and see Cinque Terre.