Sweetheart Dubrovnik

We had a long winter this year. We were so sick of it in Holland that we booked a good week where we could be guaranteed some sun. It didn't happen. No one could calculate the accuracy with which a spell of bad weather and our holiday would collide. Oh well, what can you do?

We flew into Split on May 22nd and decided to jump on a bus straight to Dubrovnik. We seriously underestimated our travel time on the bus. 3 hours stretched to a very tedious 5.45 hours. But it didn't matter. We got to our little apartment in Lapad, got changed and asked our landlord, Mattheus to order a taxi into the old town. Mattheus refused. We took the bus.

The first thing we saw when we reached the old town centre of Dubrovnik were its walls. Katie estimated a good two hours to walk the whole way around and we grabbed our chance once we saw the sun popping out from behind the clouds. It was a good moment too as other tourists didn't want to risk getting soaked. Long story short, it was 45 minutes even with the hundreds of photographs we managed to take. The view was stunning. On one side you have all the red roofs of the city and the other you have the Adriatic Sea and the islands. It's jaw dropping. Mind you, it costs about 12EUR to do it and at the wrong times you'll feel like herded cattle going one-way only around a wall.

After the walls, wine tasting is the next most important must-do in Croatia. A friend recommended we go to a wine bar called D'Vino off the main street of Dubrovnik where we could taste some local wine. We chose to take a set menu of three small glasses of white from three different regions of Croatia. Fantastic. I won't try to describe the wines because I am no expert. We went on to taste the red, but of course. Fast forward a couple of hours and we are best friends with middle-aged couple Jude and Nige from Wales and hanging out of a pole in the Fuego nightclub outside the main city gate. But that's not included in the set wine menu.


Dubrovnik is set in a very special spot. Just off it's coast there are many beautiful islands to admire and visit and down the coast you can see the mountains of Montenegro. Taking the cable car to the top is well worth the 10EUR - so long as high winds don't cancel the service like it did for us. After the wine tasting the night before we were in fragile shape and I won't lie when I say I was relieved that it wasn't running.  But herself found a solution. She got talking to a taxi man who was out spotting an opportunity. For the same price as the cable car fare he would drive us up to the top and give us a little tour lasting an hour. The only catch was that we had to find at least 2 more people which was easily achieved. Tom, the taxi man, was very nice, took us to the top and gave us a perspective into what it was like to be living in Dubrovnik during the war. He showed us old barracks that were used by Croats and destroyed by the Yugoslavs. He pointed out the Bosnian mountains in the background and where soldiers died. He told us to look down on Dubrovnik and that every orange coloured roof was a roof that survived the war, and there weren't too many of them. He also told us we wouldn't reach Hvar town the next day. And so we rang Mattheus and see if he'd keep us another night. Grand.

Actually, here's a virtual version of Dubrovnik's Cable Car.

Not to bring the tone down but when your biggest problems in the world growing up are what to wear to the next teenage disco in town it's hard to imagine what living through a war really means. The War Photo Museum is not for the sensitive but I think every now and then we should be reminded that terrible things happen in the world and we need to be good to each other. We didn't know too much about what had happened in this part of the world (to be honest it's still not clear). But the war photo museum brought the fear and anxiety it to life for us. At only 4EUR entry fee it's worth every cent to take a look.

I could go on and on here about Dubrovnik. I've decided that our time in Split and Montenegro deserve their own posts. How and ever, in a nutshell here are some other things to take a look at in this fabulous city:

• Some scenes of Game of Thrones was filmed here. See if you can spot some of the backdrops!
• Listen to jazz at Troubadour Jazz Cafe. 
• Eat some amazing fresh sea food from any of the restaurants. 
• Go to the Cave Bar out in Lapad. 
• Check out some beautiful places of worship. 
• Take a day trip to Lokrum Island. 

What would I do if I go back? Basically a lot of island hopping. We were robbed of reliable warm weather and if we were to go back anytime soon we would visit Hvar, Lokrum Island, the Elaphite Islands and Korcula where Marco Polo was born. I'd also like to go exploring the oyster farms on the coast and the vineyards. What I won't be doing is hanging out of a pole again in the Fuego nightclub outside the city walls in Dubrovnik.

Or so I say.

My Alternative Travel Bucket List (Part 2)

I'm back again with my little list of destinations associated with legends and fairytales. I think the below have a little more meat where the story is concerned. Well, that's my opinion at least.

Douarnenez, France

Another location I am just learning about now, this seaside town in France is associated with two legends. You can imagine my excitement with this 'discovery'.  Douarnenenz is a small fishing town that is now declining in population. However, it has strong associations not only with the legendary city of Ys that is believed to lie beneath Douarnenez Bay but also the story of Tristan and Iseult.
Ys. The Plot:
Well, a King builds a city unwittingly below sea level on the coast of France with a dike to protect it from the waves. His spoiled daughter comes to influence the city. She turns out to be a nightmare, organising orgies and killing her lovers come morning time. There are many versions of the story but in short, the devil visits her, convinces her to steal the key of the city from her father, open the gates and flood the city beneath the sea. The princess is turned into a mermaid and her good father the King survives by taking his magical horse to his new city on a hill. Magical horses are the best.
Tristan & Iseult. The Plot:
Just off the coast of Douarnenez lies the island of Tristan. To be completely honest, I am not entirely sure why. It could be the French claim to the legend for all I know. All the same it has been an important island through local history despite its tiny size (450m x 250m). In the version that I'm familiar with, Tristan was a noble from Cornwall and Iseult an Irish Princess. Tristan, charged with brining Iseult back to marry his Uncle Mark falls madly in love with her, as she does him. In some versions this is because of a love potion and the work of some tricky people. Anyway, as you can imagine, madness ensues. This legend has been cited as the predecessor for the Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere love triangle so it has to be good.

Loftus Hall, Wexford, Ireland
This could be a blog post all of it's own. Let's be clear, I'm not easily scared and have an obsession with the weird and wacky because I know they are stories. But there is something not quite right with this house. What's the plot? Back in the 18th Century a stranger turns up at the house gates. He is welcomed in and over the following days, the young, lonely daughter of the house falls in love with the stranger. They play games one night and after the young lady drops her cards on the floor, she finds that the strangers feet are actually cloven hooves. The stranger transforms into a demon and flies out through the roof. And so the young lady goes mad from grief and shock and is locked in her room from there on. People who have stayed in her room throughout the centuries have reported horrible poltergeist experiences and animals have refused to enter the room. The hole in the roof where the demon escaped is still there (or reportedly still there since there are claims the house was levelled and rebuilt in the early 19th Century). Another version of the story places the girl as falling pregnant out of wedlock and is locked in her room. Subsequently a baby's body was reported to have been found sealed into the wall of her room. Other strange going's on would include three deaths occurring spontaneously and separately on the same back stairs for no apparent reason. I visited the house less than a year ago as it is now open to the public for viewings. I didn't like it. But then again, I grew up with the story. Being stereotypically Irish, safe to say my parents and grandparents were less than happy with me.... holy water at the ready!

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

This is less of a fantasy destination as it isn't directly related to any legends, more a murder mystery. Although, I admit there are reports that it was the inspiration for Disney's iconic castle. Easy to see why. But back to the murder mystery. The castle was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria. The King had a couple of nicknames, most notably 'The Swan King', 'The Fairytale King', and less complimentary 'The Mad King'. You know you are on to a winner when you find someone called 'The Mad King'.  Ludwig financed Wagner who went on to produce one of his most famous pieces 'Tristan and Isolde' - it's all connected ;). Ludwig's story doesn't end well. He was a known 'eccentric' who had struggles with his sexuality. He was paranoid and began to spend all the Kingdom's money building extravagant castles like Neuschwanstein. His death is shrouded in mystery. He was reported as having drowned in waist deep water but an autopsy stated there was no water in his lungs. His companion had blows to his head and marks round his neck. How and ever, official reports were released stating that Ludwig murdered his companion and then killed himself by drowning. Yeah right.

That's it for now. I think the above three are now my favourite legend inspired destinations but the list is growing fairly fast. More to follow while I count down the days to my 6 month adventure.

Canal Cruising

Yesterday was spent cruising along Amsterdams famous canals in a boat. I cannot think of a better way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon. I am paying for it today with one of the worst hangovers in history. That's a story for another day.

We rented a fairly big boat for the afternoon to celebrate a colleagues birthday, getting on at Rokin. I won't describe the route because I can't remember but we did a good round of the city canals ending up with a jaunt down the Amstel which was glorious in the sun.

What I will tell you is that on the boat there were two Irish girls, a few Dutch, a handful of Americans, two kiwi couples and a Chinese mom and son combo. Too much fun cruising around, making cocktails, blaring loud music and shouting at other boats. 

A canal boat cruise is mandatory in Amsterdam when the sun is out. Let's be honest, it doesn't happen very often.