for some unknown reason, croatia has always been a place i have wanted to visit. there is something about the country that implies undiscovered, mysterious, breathtaking. breathtakingly beautiful it is, but undiscovered it is not. considering the situation in the early 1990s, it is incredible that the country is not only safe to visit, but has rebuilt its tourist industry completely!
after two days in the jewel of dubrovnik, i boarded a ferry, and began my tour of the croatian islands. first stop: korcula. a typical medieval dalmation town, it is claimed to be the birth place of marco polo. considering the lack of evidence, i think it is more of a joke they are playing on tourists to scam them of more money! for one euro, you can climb the tower where he was 'born'. the old walled town is designed to protect the inhabitants from the winds circulating around the peninsula, and it is filled with an abundance of pizzerias, cafes and jewellery stores. in croatia, accomodation is not something that you organize ahead of time. after getting off the ferry, residents offering private accomodation are standing there, ready to greet you. a free-for-all, the tourists compete for the best priced accomodation in prime locations. it is quite difficult to find rooms for only one person at reasonable prices, but i have lucked in on each stop. in korcula, i stayed with a little italian woman, who spoke absolutely no english, and kept pointing at my tan saying, 'morte, morte'! slightly eccentric, she hugged me every five minutes, and filled my room with dolls from circa 1952. she took our picture, and has promised to send it to me in canada! lucky me. on my second day in korcula, i took a bus to a small town nearby which promised to have the best beaches on the island. i had been previously warned that croatia was NOT the place to go for sand beaches. but in lombarda, i found a sand beach to top all sand beaches! (thank you lonely planet!) as it squished through my toes, filled my bag and stuck to my skin, i had never been happier.
at 6AM this morning, my catamaran embarked for hvar. what is wrong with croatians? why do they feel the need to wake up so early? SIX AM? anyone who knows me, knows this was a difficult task for me. as per usual, at 5:45, i woke up in a panic, jumped out of bed, and ran to the harbour in under 30 seconds flat! hvar is stylish. with traffic-free marble streets and promenades full of gorgeous european tourists, sexy cocktail bars and gorgeous rocky beaches, a backpacker feels slightly out of their league! however, my room has been the most inexpensive yet, the beaches feel uncrowded and the locals are friendly and down to earth. i spent six hours today soaking up the sun, and several more writing in my journal in a cafe. tough life.
i have decided to stay in hvar for an extra night of perfection. the only thing i am lacking is company, so if anyone is bored -- come on over!
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
what about sarah?
i am a blogging failure. as i do with most new initiatives, i started out with my sights set high, that i would be able to update regularly, aiming for one post from every new city. well. scratch that.
as i got farther behind in blogging, sitting down to update you all on a full month of adventures seemed like a task too big to handle! feeling like a guilty student who avoids essays once they are already late, i avoided it completely. but over the past 24 hours, i have come to peace with my absence. is it not the intention of this trip to be experiencing europe, living it, and not sitting in an internet cafe, spending money that i do not have? i am back on the blogging train, and i will do my best to update when i can. but this time, i make no promises!
my last month has been incredibly full. in summary:
-travelled with kristin and carolynn for a beer, bratwurst and pretzel-filled time in munich.
-had a sobering day at the former dachau concentration camp.
-stayed two nights in an american military base in germany with some friends i made on the cruise, getting a taste of the very different life they live in.
-visited the old towns of rothenberg and nuremburg.
-drank wine and stayed in a beautiful b & b with carolynn in the rhine valley.
-travelled to berlin for world cup madness!
-trekked to sweden and denmark to visit erin for a brief 24 hours at her cisv camp.
-backtracked down to prague for a ridonculous weekend with jeff gulley and tim jebb in prague. most would have never survived it.
-tim and i continued on for a week, visiting the charming village of cesky krumluv in the south of the czech republic. toughest activity was floating down the lazy river in an inner tube, beer in hand!
-trained to vienna, where tim was stuck in bed with food poisoning, but i explored the city on my own.
-began the last leg of my trip, on my own, in budapest, fuelling my love of eastern europe.
-on the advice of another backpacker, went over to slovenia for three days, leisurely exploring ljublijana and the only island in the country, in bled.
and with that, i got on a hellishly long bus ride (17 hours!), and made it to croatia, where i am now. spent two days tanning in dubrovnik, and have now spent two more days sunning on the island of korcula. i am safe, happy, well-rested, and living up the last few weeks of my trip.
miss you all!
as i got farther behind in blogging, sitting down to update you all on a full month of adventures seemed like a task too big to handle! feeling like a guilty student who avoids essays once they are already late, i avoided it completely. but over the past 24 hours, i have come to peace with my absence. is it not the intention of this trip to be experiencing europe, living it, and not sitting in an internet cafe, spending money that i do not have? i am back on the blogging train, and i will do my best to update when i can. but this time, i make no promises!
my last month has been incredibly full. in summary:
-travelled with kristin and carolynn for a beer, bratwurst and pretzel-filled time in munich.
-had a sobering day at the former dachau concentration camp.
-stayed two nights in an american military base in germany with some friends i made on the cruise, getting a taste of the very different life they live in.
-visited the old towns of rothenberg and nuremburg.
-drank wine and stayed in a beautiful b & b with carolynn in the rhine valley.
-travelled to berlin for world cup madness!
-trekked to sweden and denmark to visit erin for a brief 24 hours at her cisv camp.
-backtracked down to prague for a ridonculous weekend with jeff gulley and tim jebb in prague. most would have never survived it.
-tim and i continued on for a week, visiting the charming village of cesky krumluv in the south of the czech republic. toughest activity was floating down the lazy river in an inner tube, beer in hand!
-trained to vienna, where tim was stuck in bed with food poisoning, but i explored the city on my own.
-began the last leg of my trip, on my own, in budapest, fuelling my love of eastern europe.
-on the advice of another backpacker, went over to slovenia for three days, leisurely exploring ljublijana and the only island in the country, in bled.
and with that, i got on a hellishly long bus ride (17 hours!), and made it to croatia, where i am now. spent two days tanning in dubrovnik, and have now spent two more days sunning on the island of korcula. i am safe, happy, well-rested, and living up the last few weeks of my trip.
miss you all!
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
backpacker revolution.
have you ever heard of a flashbacker?
a new word to describe high maintenance backpackers who bring laptops, high quality electronic devices, rolling suitcases, hair straighteners and the like on so-called backpacking trips through europe. now this got me to thinking. do you have to be carrying a backpack to be considered a backpacker?
the notion of backpacking, to me, has always implied slightly grubby clothes, small amounts of luggage, and a tight budget; not high heels, blow dryers, ipods and copious amounts of makeup. in many ways i shouldn't be talking: i brought more than enough clothes, five pairs of footwear, and a fairly decent memory card and digital camera. but hostels with wireless internet? it seems like young people, more and more, can't live without luxury.
there is definitely a backpacking revolution taking place. comments welcome!
a new word to describe high maintenance backpackers who bring laptops, high quality electronic devices, rolling suitcases, hair straighteners and the like on so-called backpacking trips through europe. now this got me to thinking. do you have to be carrying a backpack to be considered a backpacker?
the notion of backpacking, to me, has always implied slightly grubby clothes, small amounts of luggage, and a tight budget; not high heels, blow dryers, ipods and copious amounts of makeup. in many ways i shouldn't be talking: i brought more than enough clothes, five pairs of footwear, and a fairly decent memory card and digital camera. but hostels with wireless internet? it seems like young people, more and more, can't live without luxury.
there is definitely a backpacking revolution taking place. comments welcome!
summer camp.
where: interlaken, switzerland. balmer's hostel, aka. the frat house.
what: outdoor adventure and extreme sport capital of europe.
when: june 29 - july 1, 2006.
who: myself, kristin and carolynn. three stylish, outdoorsy chickitas ready for a mountain vaycay.
why: to celebrate carolynn's birthday in style.
interlaken is between two glacial lakes, and surrounded completely by the alps. skiing, hiking, swimming, sky diving, canyoning... pretty much any risk you have ever had the urge to take is available for the hordes of young backpackers who come though the city every day. interlaken is the kind of place where you plan to spend a day, and a few bucks, but end up leaving a week later with a rather large dent in your wallet.
if there was ever any doubt, switzerland is damn expensive. staying for more than a few days means that your budget temporarily is thrown out of the window. i met up with kristin and carolynn at our hostel - so nice to be reunited with home friends in europe! for a nice change, we stayed at the campy balmers hostel, in a three bedroom room. that's right: no snorers, early-risers or strangers stumbling in late at night! balmers is the oldest privately owned hostel in switzerland, and it runs like a well-oiled machine. bars, activities, a late night club (meat market), restaurant, internet... and full of rich american tourists.
the first day, we headed up to the mountains to go hiking. there are dozens of hiking paths in the interlaken area, but we decided to hike up to a glacier. challenging, rainy, chilly, but also absolutely stunning and motivating, the hike was worth every effort. when we got to the top, we ate our ham and cheese sandwiches in a cabin overlooking the glacier, with some sort of rescue movie being shot in the background. not an everyday sight!
on the second day, carolynn's birthday, we took a walk to one of the glacial likes for frigid swimming, champagne and sun tanning. then, in the afternoon, we took to the skies for a parasailing adventure! there is nothing like flying as high as the birds for 40 minutes. floating, spinning, taking photographs and relaxing above the trees, we definitely were witness to the most spectacular views in the area. we capped off the evening with a traditional swiss dinner of cheese fondue, white wine and toblerone for a dessert.
unfortunately, interlaken is the only place in switzerland that i will have time to visit. the land of delicious chocolate, home of swiss army knives, and frustratingly still on their own currency, switzerland should be every camp kid's vacation destination.
what: outdoor adventure and extreme sport capital of europe.
when: june 29 - july 1, 2006.
who: myself, kristin and carolynn. three stylish, outdoorsy chickitas ready for a mountain vaycay.
why: to celebrate carolynn's birthday in style.
interlaken is between two glacial lakes, and surrounded completely by the alps. skiing, hiking, swimming, sky diving, canyoning... pretty much any risk you have ever had the urge to take is available for the hordes of young backpackers who come though the city every day. interlaken is the kind of place where you plan to spend a day, and a few bucks, but end up leaving a week later with a rather large dent in your wallet.
if there was ever any doubt, switzerland is damn expensive. staying for more than a few days means that your budget temporarily is thrown out of the window. i met up with kristin and carolynn at our hostel - so nice to be reunited with home friends in europe! for a nice change, we stayed at the campy balmers hostel, in a three bedroom room. that's right: no snorers, early-risers or strangers stumbling in late at night! balmers is the oldest privately owned hostel in switzerland, and it runs like a well-oiled machine. bars, activities, a late night club (meat market), restaurant, internet... and full of rich american tourists.
the first day, we headed up to the mountains to go hiking. there are dozens of hiking paths in the interlaken area, but we decided to hike up to a glacier. challenging, rainy, chilly, but also absolutely stunning and motivating, the hike was worth every effort. when we got to the top, we ate our ham and cheese sandwiches in a cabin overlooking the glacier, with some sort of rescue movie being shot in the background. not an everyday sight!
on the second day, carolynn's birthday, we took a walk to one of the glacial likes for frigid swimming, champagne and sun tanning. then, in the afternoon, we took to the skies for a parasailing adventure! there is nothing like flying as high as the birds for 40 minutes. floating, spinning, taking photographs and relaxing above the trees, we definitely were witness to the most spectacular views in the area. we capped off the evening with a traditional swiss dinner of cheese fondue, white wine and toblerone for a dessert.
unfortunately, interlaken is the only place in switzerland that i will have time to visit. the land of delicious chocolate, home of swiss army knives, and frustratingly still on their own currency, switzerland should be every camp kid's vacation destination.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)