Day 78 - Family Reunion

We woke up this morning and get ready to head downtown with mommy dearest! Is been a while since we've been to the city and we were excited to do some shopping. Zagreb is very beautiful and quite developed, but not too packed with people which is nice. We visited the main square, Ban Jelacic, and got some shopping done. We also walked down a very popular street called Tkalca and sat down for a yummy beer at a local brew pub. Eventually we headed back to the apartment as we had dinner plans with my cousins. I was very excited to see family that I haven't seen in almost ten years! It was so great to see my cousins and my grandma. I feel very special to have such an amazing family, I wish I got to see them way more often. We had the most delicious home-cooked dinner; mushroom risotto, Greek salad, turkey cutlet, creamy tuna pasta, and baked green beans. YUUMMM, one of the best dinners we've had on this trip! After dinner we all sat around and caught up on each others lives but also reminisced about old memories. 

 

<3

Day 77 - Off to Zagreb

On Wednesday morning we packed our bags and caught an early afternoon bus to Zagreb. The bus took about 6.5 hours. Once we arrived we took a cab to my grandmas apartment where my mom awaited us. It was great meeting up with her again and I could tell she was very happy to see us too. We told her all about what we've been up to recently and then hopped into bed as we were tired from out lengthy journey. 

Day 76 - Brela or heaven?

There has been a lot of bad weather/rain happening along the coast the past few days so when we woke up this morning is was raining. We relaxed at the hostel until the skies eventually cleared up by 1:30pm. The hostel owner Greg, drove a bunch of us down to the beach and we all sat down at a little cafe for coffee and cakes. After this we headed towards the famous 'Brela Rock' and settled down on a beach near there. We headed into the water with oh snorkels and couldn't believe our eyes! There were thousands of fish, so many schools of them! The Brela rock had the most amazing ecosystem underneath it. Many sponges and different kinds of corals. We saw a long swordfish looking kinda fish and little electric blue babies. Definitely the best place we have snorkeled so far. We wish we had an underwater camera! Later in the day we once again piled into Greg's car and this time he took us up the mountain in neighboring town, Makarska, to the most beautiful place. It was the restaurant of his good friend with the finest homemade wines and cheeses, and so many animals! There were dogs, donkeys, cows, and wild horses! We were in heaven! Apparently the owner also has 75 of his own domestic horses but then there are a great amount o wild ones that live in the mountains and roam freely around the restaurant. After our great wine and cheese experience we headed back to the hostel and hung out with all our new friends. 

Day 75 - Back 2 Croatia

Monday was another travel day for us. We woke up very early to catch the 6am bus to Brela. On our walk to the bus stop, we spotted a hedgehog crossing a pathway (sooo cute). Once we got to the bus stop, our bus arrived and lets just say our journey wasn't a short one. Our bus took about 9 hours to get to Brela because we had to pass through so many borders on the way. We met an interesting guy on the bus from hollywood who apparently dated Cameron Diaz 8 years ago. He's also in the process of publishing a book so soon enough we'll find out if this is true or not. When we got to our hostel, we were absolutely exhausted. We relaxed for a bit and then headed to the beach. On our way to the beach, we were surrounded by scenic views as well as numerous cafe's and restaurants. We swam and snorkelled in the warm, clear water, took some pictures and then sat at a restaurant right by the port for some dinner. We both ordered mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce, which was accompanied with freshly baked bread. Dinner was delicious and the atmosphere of the town made it that much better. We got back to the hostel, made a few friends and then went to bed fairly early. Our stay so far in Brela has been easy going and very relaxing! 

 Doubles muscles! 

Day 74 - last day

Our last day in Budva was going to be another beach day. This time we walked a little farther away and found a beach that was a little bit nicer. Still very crowded but the water looked much more clean. Very beautiful rocky scenery though, with lots of cliffs to jump off of (into the water of course). For dinner we went out to a restaurant near our hostel with a new Aussie friend. We had some questionable cevapcicis and enjoyed the affordability of the food. You can get a big meal for 3-5 euros anywhere here. After dinner we watched some tv and went to bed pretty early as we had a very early bus to catch the next morning. 

Day 73 - smooth move

This morning we woke up to some bad weather; there was a bit of a thunderstorm rolling in. We decided to make the best of it and made our way towards the center, in the rain, in search for smoothies. Unfortunately all the smoothie stands were closed because they had no electricity... So we circled like vultures until they reopened. Satisfied, smoothies in hand, we made our way towards the old town. Another beautiful site with the nicest little cafes and all sorts of cute shops. Since we were already drenched from the rain we thought why not go for a swim. We heard that montenegros coast was similar toCroatia's  but even more beautiful. Unfortunately this was not the case. Most of the beaches (that were close by at least) were very crowded with dirty and dusty sand. The water seemed pretty clean but was missing the turquoise hue that we were so used to and spoiled with. After swimming we headed back to the hostel and prepared for another night out with our new friends! We met so many great people at this hostel that we spent most of our time in Budva socializing and hanging out in the common room. The night ended once again at Tophill! 

Day 72 - Budvaaaaa

Today we woke up and had brunch at Tipi Hostel, said bye to friends and began our journey to our second hostel in Budva, which was located right in the city. We traveled by bus and hit the cafe at the bus station for some traditional Croatian pastry desserts. After filling our tummies with delicious goodness, we stopped and visited a small zoo-like farm located nearby. One of the fellows that worked there was kind enough to let us in to pet the animals. Bunnies, deer, goats, chickens, swans, turtles, turkey's, and peacocks ran freely among each other in this mini farm. One of the deer that resembled Bambi was so friendly and kept following me and Anya around. The goats were also very friendly. This absolutely made our day. We love animals and there's nothing's more enjoyable then being surrounded by so many happy little creatures. After our visit we walked to our new hostel, got acquainted and relaxed. After a little nap, we grabbed a bite to eat and then hung out with new friends at the hostel. Our Friday night ended up at TopHill, a trendy club that is regarded as Eastern Europe's largest club.

Day 71 - Kotor

We had a quick breakfast on this sunny Thursday morning and then headed to the town of Kotor, not far from the city of Budva. Kotor is a gorgeous city in Montenegro with a remarkable Old Town as well as a fortress located 4.5 km above ground in the mountains. St. John's fortress is the most popular sight here and the view is well worth the 1.5 hour up-hill walk. Anya, our Japanese friend Zine from the hostel and myself prepared with some pre-workout stretches and then began our long walk up. After each kilometre or so, we stopped and admired the view of the city. We were overwhelmed by how beautiful the sea glistened against the bright sun. We were even more taken aback by the mountains that surrounded the city. Once we got to the top, we took a short break and refueled with water and snacks. Zine showed us some of his beautiful artwork and photography that he had on his iPad  (he is a famous artist in Japan and travels the world selling his artwork). After our break, we headed back down and explored the old town and eventually took a bus back to our hostel. We BBQ'd for dinner and spent the evening socializing with friends at the hostel. We called it an early night because of our long eventful day.

Day 70 - hefty travels

Today what we thought was going to be a quick journey to Montenegro turned into a very long one. First of all, our bus was over an hour late and tickets were over sold... So a bunch of people, including Tanya, had to stand/sit in the aisles. There was also a lot of traffic and instead of 3 hours it took about 5 hours to arrive in Budva. For the first two nights we were staying in a hostel just outside of the city because it as much cheaper. As soon as we arrived one of the hostel workers, Frito, greeted us with open arms and made us feel very welcome. We were right in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by goats, cows, and chickens. We weren't so sure of it at first but it quickly became home. We spent our first night here at the hostel, enjoying some drinks and playing some games with everyone who was present. We realized right away that it would be a hard place to leave.

Day 69 - Dubrovnik and Lokrum

We woke up early today because we only had one full day to spend in Dubrovnik. We took a bus to the old city, and it was just as beautiful as I remembered it. It's not very big so it didn't take us very long to walk through most of it. We were thinking about walking the wall but decided against it as it was much too hot and pretty expensive. After the old city we took a quick taxi boat to a nearby island called Lokrum that is covered in peacocks and beautiful waters. Our first stop was the Dead Sea, a small salt water lake with a really cool cave where we swam for a bit. Then after walking through a botanical garden we found another really neat spot to swim. Super clear waters and tons of aquatic life. We found a bright red starfish which we later realized was dead... But cool nonetheless! Eventually we took a boat taxi back to dubrovnik and finally headed back to our place. We warmed up some leftover pasta and ate it on our private balcony overlooking the open sea and magnificent sunset. 

Day 68 - The most beautiful sunset

We spent our Monday travelling from Bol to one of Croatia's most popular cities, Dubrovnik. The first leg of our journey was getting to the ferry that would take us to Makarska. We took a bus to the ferry and then a short ferry ride to Makarska. We then took a 4-hour hour bus from there to Dubrovnik. When we finally arrived we were overwhelmed with the beauty of the city. We caught the gorgeous sun set on the sea and the room we were renting had a gorgeous view of the water and the houses on the hills. That evening, we made a late dinner and settled ourselves into what we would call home for the next two nights. 

 

    Yes, those are meatballs made out of         cevapcici

Day 67 - lazy daze n bbqs

 

Today was a very lazy beach day for the most part. We enjoyed our last day at the nicest beach either of us has ever been to. For dinner our hostel was doing a fun little BBQ. We all bought our own food and the hostel worker, Tommy, cooked it for all of us. It's always great when we stay at very sociable hostels. Everyone bought their own stuff but we all needed up sharing our food with each other. An amazing last night in Bol, making it very difficult to imagine leaving the next day. 

Day 66 - snorkeling

We woke up early Saturday morning and hit the beach. We decided to swim at the less crowded, more rocky part of the beach because we knew it would be perfect for snorkeling... And that it was! We saw several different types of fish as well as many sea urchins, sea cucumbers and crabs. We swam, relaxed and then headed to the local grocery store to pick up some fresh vegetables and chicken to make a healthy, savoury salad. After dinner, we hung out with new friends at the hostel and then partied by the port at the trendy bar, Varadaro. 

Day 65 - FUN in the SUN

We had loads of fun today! We went to the beach with my brother and his girlfriend and got to jump around on a huge inflatable playground. Finally getting to swim in the water was amazing, so fresh and so clean! Most of the day was spent at the beach, swimming and soaking up the sun. Later on, my brother kindly treated us for dinner at his most favorite pizza place in the whole world! It was soooooo yummy! Then afterwards we went for some drinks again at Varadaro and were treated to a very cool live violin performance and a cute surprise proposal. 

Day 64 - Bol

Today we checked out of our hostel and caught a ferry to the island Brac. We were headed to Bol which is my brothers favorite vacation spot, so we were quite excited to arrive. After we checked into or hostel we went straight to the main strip and started walking towards the beach. It's a very tiny island and even smaller town. Not too crowded, with a great balance between easygoing beaches and tasteful night life. We walked to the very tip of the famous beach 'zlatni rat' or in English 'golden cape', and glanced in awe at the mountains behind us, the crashing blue waves, and the magnificent wind surfers. We were in absolute paradise. After this we walked back down the strip and shopped around in all the cute little beachy shops until we got tired. Later that night at our hostel we enjoyed some drinks with some Scottish and Irish friends. We finished our night off at the most 'happenin' bar in bol, called varadaro, where we met my brother and his girlfriend. Love it here! 

Day 63 - Banana SPLIT

Our last full day in Split was spent exploring the scenic town on foot. We started our morning off at a cute little restaurant by the Port. After filling our belly's, we walked down a pathway leading to the rocky beaches. The water was crystal clear with a faint blue and green ombré hue. We didn't spend much of our time at the beaches here because we knew there would be much more gorgeous beaches in Bol. Continuing our walk, we headed to a well known Park located at the top point of the town. We walked for about three hours on a scenic path surrounded by nature and saw the most gorgeous view of Split and some islands nearby. Located near the top of the park is a small church that is no more open to the public but very beautiful and simplistic. After our long walk, we felt it was only fair to treat ourselves to some traditional Croatian cheese pie. We feasted by the water then headed back to our hostel and ended the evening early because we knew we had to wake up early to catch our ferry to Bol. What a calm and relaxing end to a long day. 

Day 62 - Croatia!

We left Mostar quite early this morning because my brother and his girlfriend had an afternoon ferry to catch. We were headed to Split, Croatia, a pretty popular tourist spot. The drive from Mostar was beautiful, surrounded by mountains, and took about 2.5 hours. Upon arrival Tanya and I got some cevapi for lunch, not nearly as good as the ones in Bosnia. We then checked into our hostel, dropped off our bags and went to explore the town some more. Split is located right in Mediterranean basin on the eastern shores of the Adriatic. It's centered around an ancient roman palace and its bay and port. We enjoyed eating some strewn corn on the cob and ice cream while walking up and down the main strip, with cute restaurants on one  side and the beautiful Adriatic Sea on the other. Later at night we went for a few drinks with a few of our room mates from the hostel, an Australian and a Parisian, and once  again indulged in funny and exciting stories of our travels.