Germany

So after a very interesting overnight train ride (much like the one on the movie "Euro Trip") where I was stuck in a 6 person room with some scary looking Croatian men, I arrived in Munich at 7am. It was so cold, I didn't leave the train station for a couple of hours. I sat in a cafe, had a coffee, used the wifi and changed into warmer clothes before venturing out into the city. The first day I spent wandering around Munich, and I bought myself a Drindl for Oktoberfest! A Drindl is the traditional Bavarian women's dress that all the women wear to Oktoberfest. Everyone in Munich is so friendly. The girl in the dress shop told me where all the good shopping is and invited me to come back if I had any more questions about Munich.

The next day I went on a tour to Dachau concentration camp. This is one of the first concentration camps, that many others were modeled on. It was horrible imagining all the horrible things that happened in this place. We walked through all the old buildings, which were built by the prisoners, the crematory and even the gas chamber. It's hard to imagine how anyone could treat other, innocent people in this way.

Finally it was time to put on my Drindl and go to Oktoberfest! I happened to meet one of the guys in my water polo team over there and we spent the day in Hoffbrau Haus drinking big steins of beer, eating chicken, making friends with all sorts of people, including some guys in the German Army and watching people standing on tables skulling beer. The music and the atmosphere was amazing. The whole Oktoberfest grounds are awesome. It's like a playground for adults! Rides and roller coasters everywhere, Food stalls that looked like huge gingerbread houses, or covered with decorations, fabricated little people turning a pig an a spit, all selling delicious food - bratwurst, pork knuckles, roast chicken, giant pretzels and all sorts of sweet German treats. But of course, there are the big, grand... beer tents. These things are massive and each one is a work of art. Inside live music is playing, beer wenchs are rushing around, their arms full of fresh beer steins, and almost every table is full of people in traditional Bavarian dress, drinking steins of beer, singing, dancing and eating delicious food.

My second day at Oktoberfest, I went with a Canadian girl I met in my hostel. We started the day by going on the roller coaster which had 5 loops. Good decision to do that at the start of the day before we had any beer I think, I still felt like I was going to fall over afterwards. After having a bratwurst, we went into the Augustiner tent. Supposedly the best beer at Oktoberfest. It was packed, but we managed to squeeze onto the end of a table full of guys from Norway. We planned to stay for a couple of drinks, but we ended up there well into the night, drinking beer, singing songs and we didn't pay for one beer all day. At about 10pm we had a wander around inside all the other tents, and got dragged onto another table with some German guys for a drink where we stood on the benches, singing, dancing and drinking for about an hour until we decided it was time to go to bed. On the way back to the hostel we picked up some candied nuts and chocolate covered fruit skewers for desert, a perfect finish to an amazing day!

 The gate into Dachau Concentration Camp

Awesome buildings!

 Augustiner Brau Horse and Cart

Another beer tent

 Rory, German Army Guys, Me... and crazy strangers in the background

Oktoberfest at night

Me an Megan before our roller coaster ride!

Inside the Augustiner tent

Our new friends from Norway

Beer beer beer!

More Oktoberfest at night

Me and Megan inside Augustiner tent

Croatia

I'm sorry I have been VERY slack on the blogging since I got to Croatia. Obviously I was having far too much fun! And my computer was playing up.

I landed in Dubrovnik where I caught a shuttle bus into the old town. I had booked myself into a bed and breakfast and the owner of the house kindly came and picked me up form the bus station. When we got home, she showed me my cute little room, then sat me down on the outdoor furniture with an ice cream sundae and a glass of juice to explain the bus schedule to me, and show me what there is to see and do in Dubrovnik! "Have you eaten?" She said, I said no, I hadn't so then she brought me out a whole loaf of bread and some cut meat and cheeses to make a sandwich with! I couldn't have asked for more.

Dubrovnik is a beautiful old seaside town. the old town is enclosed in the city walls, which I walked all the way around, looking over the sea and all the terracotta rooftops. For lunch I had some whole squid grilled in butter and garlic, that was interesting! In the afternoon I went up to the top of the hill on a gondola and looked at some of the damage left from the war in 1990. I also went inside the museum up there that is focused on the war. It's hard to believe that there was war here so recently, bombs were fired directly inside the walls of the old town which is a world heritage site. For dinner I had a traditional Mediterranean BBQ, chicken thigh, 2 types of sausages and steak cooked over an open fire. It was delicious.

The next day I started my journey on with sail Croatia. I boarded my ship, Maestral with 42 other guests all around my age. From Dubrovnik, we sailed to Miljet, Korcula, Hvar, Makarska and Split, over 6 days. It was all beautiful, with crystal clear water neighbored by rocky hills and little towns with terracotta roofs. In Korcula we went to a bar on the top of what looked like a castle, where they send the drinks from the bottom to the top of the bar (the roof) on a rope!

A typical day on the boat, the boat would leave port usually about 6am, before anyone was up. We had breakfast on the go, once we got up and helped ourselves to breakfast in the dining room, meat, cheese, bread, or cereal, and watched the beautiful scenery go by as we ate. We would usually get into our next port around 11 or 12 o'clock and have time to explore a little before we came back to the boat for lunch. Lunch varied every day but was usually very good, and always came with bread, which we dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar... yum!! Then more exploring and usually partying at night on the top floor of the boat where we had a bar, music, disco lights and even a smoke machine and bubble machine! Sometimes we would go into town to a bar or Karaoke. In Makarska we had a pirate party and we all dressed up and partied on our boat before going to a club inside a cave! That was very cool.

Our last stop was split, where we said goodbye to all our new friends. Split has some very historical buildings, like Diocletian's Palace, but also feels more modern and new. Lots of nice restaurants and shopping around the main centre, and a huge market selling bags, souvenirs, hats, crafts, paintings, fruit and vegetables...

From Split, I had an interesting train ride to Germany...

 Inside the city walls in Dubrovnik

 Looking down inside the old town in Dubrovnik

 Walking on top of the city walls in Dubrovnik

 Dubrovnik Old Town

 Walking the city walls

 Damage from the war in 1990

 Sailing away!

 Swimming in Miljet with Steph and Marcie

 Maestral in port at Miljet

 Up the bell tower in Korcula

 Mojitos at the roof bar!

 The bar on the roof in Korcula

 The drinks get pulled from the top of the stairs to the top of the roof

 Swim stop!

 Swimming and sunbathing in Makarska

 Makarska

 Pirate Party!

 Party on the boat

South of France

It wasn't a long time, but it was a good time. Five nights in Nice and two nights in Avignon. Nice is a really lovely town with a lot of character. There is so much to see and do around Nice, mainly day trips to places like Monaco - where the famous Monte Carlo Casino is, Cannes, Antibes, Villefranche, Eze, and more. Most of them cute little towns with nice beaches. I spent the first day wandering around Nice, eating almond croissants and strawberry tarts... yum.

The next day, Richie - an old friend from the past, happened to be in Golfe Juan. I caught the train there and he showed me the superyacht he works on! I have never been on a boat that big. It is forty metres long and is absolutely beautiful inside. It has everything without being too over the top. Then we went out to Antibes to meet some of his friends for drinks and had dinner.

The following day I wandered around the perfect and pristine country of Monaco, after catching the bus there. There are lush gardens everywhere, fancy cars, and even elevators from the top of the hills to the bottom!

I had been hoping to go canyoning the whole time I was there, and it came down to my last chance, all the other days had been cancelled. Then my last day in Nice, it poured with rain so it was cancelled because of weather. Very disappointing.

Next stop was lovely little Avignon. I loved Avignon because it was so small and cute. The big stone city walls enclose the old town which is home to the old Pope's palace - from the days when he lived in France, gorgeous little boutique shops, delicious restaurants and lots of beautiful old marble buildings and streets. I stayed in a wonderful hotel on the other side of the Rhône River. I spent half a day wine tasting in Province, and the rest of the time exploring the old town inside the city walls.

I am now in Dubrovnik, and am in love with another city, which I will have to save for another blog.

Nice from the top of the Château

Nice - town centre

Nice - beachfront

It's crazy the people you meet on the other side of the world!

On the beach at Nice with Claire and Jono, friends from my school days

One the boat with Richie!

Monte Carlo Casino, Monaco

Monaco

Avignon, a Vineyard on the top of a building in the middle of the old town?!

Avignon bridge, there is a French nursery rhyme about this bridge

In the Châteaunuef du Pape Vineyard

Drinking Châteauneuf du Pape

Above the Rhône River

Italy

Well, where do I start?! I have been in Italy 10 days and I have done so much! I started in Venice, which was so beautiful, and just as romantic as I imagined. Narrow canals cross crossing all over the main island with gondolas gliding down them one after the other, buildings that rise out of the sea, delicious food and wine, I absolutely loved it. My hostel was on Guidecca, just across the  sea from the main island of Venice. It was right on the water and I could look out to San Marco square across the other side, from my room. I spent most of my time exploring with no map, you can never get lost in Venice, you will always end up at a water bus stop that will take you where you need to go, or back to somewhere you recognise. I did go on a Gondola, but it wasn't quite as romantic as I had imagined, with a family of 3 along with another small group squished on board with me... it was still fun though .

After saying goodbye to Venice, I was off to Rome. The history there is mind blowing. There are so many ancient ruins, huge sculpted fountains, and beautiful churches. The Coliseum is so impressive when you go inside, you can just imagine all the brutal fights that happened there, the trap doors that the tigers emerged from, and all the people cheering in the grandstands. I found it all very tiring though, walking around such a big city with so much to see. I did two walking tours which were great and taught me a lot about the history.

There was no time to rest after Rome though, after three nights there, I was off to Florence. Tuscany! It's so beautiful, all the vineyards, and fields of sunflowers. It's just how I imagined it. The first night we got there (the group on my bus) we all did a walking tour around the town, went to a leather demonstration, had a delicious four course dinner with wine, then did karaoke. It was such a fun night. The next day I did a tour of Tuscany. We went to a little village where the movie 'Gladiator' was filmed, visited the small town of Siena, did some wine tasting (YUM!), along with some olive oil, sweet garlic, balsamic vinegar, truffle oil and honey tasting. Then we went to an old Italian man's house for dinner! The food was delicious, and be even made his own Chianti, which was even more delicious. My last day I visited the statue of David by Michelangelo which is really breath-taking up close. All the detail in the veins and that he carved it from one piece of marble. On our departure from Florence, we made a stop at the leaning tower of Pisa, which is much cleaner and nicer than I expected. And surprise surprise, it was on a lean!

I am now in the beautiful Cinque Terre, five small towns on the coast on the way to the south of France. I feel so at home here, out of the city, by the sea. I have tried to hike to as many towns as I can, and I have done some killer hills! It's totally worth it for the amazing views though. All the tall, colourful houses here, cling side by side to the cliffs on the edge of the sea. It is really pretty. The seafood is amazing, and there are many vineyards, I crossed over some on the walking trails, so the wine is also very good and inexpensive. The water is magnificently clear, I could swim in it all day. I am staying in a little town called Manarola, which is probably my favourite of the five because it is small, less touristy and has the best food and clearest water. Four more days of heaven here, then off to Nice!

The main canal in Venice

 

A gondola navigating a corner in the canal

Looking across the sea to where my hostel was

My gondola ride!

Our gondola approaching a bridge

The pantheon in Rome... with the hole in the roof

The roman forum, so many ancient ruins

Our little busabout group outside the Coliseum

Me throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain

The fountain in Piazza Neveau (I think!) 

Inside the Coliseum

Tuscan vineyards!

This photo needs no explanation.

Dinner at Gianni's house

Gianni... who didn't speak a word of English. He liked my name though!

The replica statue of David

Pisa!

Killer steps in the Cinque Terre

Mmmmmm scampi gnocchi in Manarola

More walking, beautiful views

Monterosso

Manarola, my new home... for 6 nights

Sunset at Manarola, from the hostel