BARCELONA........

Barca bound.  Got in about 4 so plenty of time to explore. Dropped my bags and grabbed a map and just went out. Walked around for a few hours saw some pretty cool stuff.  Walked round the many back streets and found some pretty cool stuff. Some pretty amazing little courtyards n stuff. People everywhere. Saw some amazing artists and there inly tools were spray cans, some cardboard shapes, newspaper. This dude spent 10 mins and he made a pic of 3 pyramids, a massive sun behind them and the reflection on the sun in the water at the front. So much talent, if only i could bring a piece back without it getting trashed. Got back to the hostel and dropped my stuff off before heading out for food and to see the magic fountain.  We were told about this fountain on the bus.  It only runs during the summer months and only certain days of the week. Lucky for me it was running. Made my way towards the general direction about 9.30ish. The streets were packed, the nightlife in Barca goes off but it was also the night Barcelona were playing Madrid        in the soccer. The whole town was nuts and the majority of people were dressed in the Barcelona team colors - it was a pretty cool atmosphere to be in. Walked thru the back streets to get to this fountain, looking back I should have stuck to the main road, it was pretty safe just lots of dark side streets and drunk dudes everywhere. It was all ok. I heard the fountain before I saw it, a long time before!  It plays classical pieces. The fountain goes on time with it at the same time it lights up all the colors of the rainbow. It was pretty spectacular. The entire area around the fountain was awesome also. I stayed there for about an hour. Got back to the hostel around 11ish and a girl I met in Amsterdam was there with her friend, they asked me out for Sangria so of course I had to go ;) Spent over an hour just walking and drinking in a square, it was a cool night.  Didn't get into bed till about 2.30 again. Had a bike tour booked for 11am.  All good managed a sleep in.  The bike tour went for 3 hours and we went everywhere and saw so much. Saw where the Olympics village was, old cathedrals, some freaky as buildings,  stopped at the beach for a drink, I had beer mixed with a lemon squash, quite tasty. Got back to the hostel about 3 and had to book my ferry to Ibiza tonight. That was all good, booked and leave at 11.30 tonight. Get in at 8.30 tomorrow morning. Jobs all done, sites all seen now time to hit the beach for a few hours of r n r. Man am I in need of that. It's been mid to high 30's today and I spent 4 hours out in it biking. Beach was awesome, so hot but with a nice sea breeze. Spent 3 hours there. Headed back about 7. Gives me 3 hours to get back, cleaned up and fed. Have to be at the ferry terminal at 10pm. Gonna taxi even though it's just a 15 min walk cause my bags are way to heavy. Hoping the ferry ride will be ok, looking forward to Ibiza now even though it's taken me a bit to get into the swing of it. Up until yesterday I wasn't feeling it but then I spoke to a guide that does Ibiza and now I'm excited. So until Ibiza see ya later ;)

NICE

Well Nice is nice :) Last night we had a Pasta party so for 2€ we had unlimited pasta and red wine, we didn't go to crazy but definitely got our moneys worth. Went next door, mingled and had a few drinks but was in bed again by 12.  Met up with Bec and James( a couple I met in Florence) at 9 in the foyer for our trip back to Eze. Caught the bus back because apparently the scenery is amazing.  It was. Arrived at the base of the hill a bit to early for the bus up to the old village so took a walk down to the beach, more amazing homes, this place just oozes money. Caught the 11am bus up and wandered the streets of the old Medieval town, it was outta this world. Saw a building with the date stamp 1872, 200 years before I was born.  Went and had a close up of the church Bono got married in, stunning. Wandered around shopping and just taking in the views.  Had a tour of the perfumery Fraganards at 2.15. Interesting, best part was at the end when we smelt all the perfumes and spent a small fortune there. Got back to the hostel around 4.30, I went to have a shower but crashed in my bed, didn't wake til about 6, took a walk down towards the beach but stopped at the Gelatto shop on the way and got a Cactus/beer/cola one this time, OMG the flavored were unreal, cactus was nice but freaky, beer was corona and coke just coke. They all tasted so real. I sat at the beach and watched the sunset while listening to a group of drummers just play away for over an hour. It was so nice, it gave me time to write my last 2 blog entries.  I have been a bit slack but now so upto date again. Left the beach about 9 and slowly walked back just watching the people and buskers. It was so beautiful.  Nice is very pretty by night. Next day we took off into Monaco pretty early, this place just oozes money, every second car is either a Maserati, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, Rolls Royce or a Bentley. I mean for gods sake I ever saw a Ferrari Station Wagon. Who is that rich that they get a station wagon for the choice in the Ferrari range. The boats in the harbor were massive, all with spas n gyms on board. It was pretty cool just walking round seeing all the pretty things.  Saw the most amazing necklace in a shop front of Channel I think it was. Spent the best part of the day strolling the streets, saw the Royal Palace and the the casino. It was so hot we had to leave, we needed the beach back in Nice. Got back and spent a bit of time at the beach, sick of the rocks, looking forward to the man made beach in Barcelona if only for the feel of sand between my toes.  Had another Gelatto on the way back this time it was Poppy and one with Jube Lolly's in it. Poppy tasted a bit like strawberries n cream.  Went back and packed didn't even make it out for food, was so tired I just crashed.  Off to Barcelona in the morning.

PISA AND THE DRIVE TO NICE...

Had a nice early start, heading to Nice today via Pisa. Was a little excited to see Pisa, had wanted to see the leaning tower for as long as I can remember. Got off the bus at the tourist bus park and we were over powered by all these darkies selling every cheap, tacky and nasty souvenir you could think of. They were unbelievable!  Walked into the town for about 1 km then our guide said just round the corner we will get our first glimpse of the tower and sure enough we did.  OMG it was amazing and the lean is just freaky. None of my pictures actually do the lean any justice whatsoever.  Everyone was taking the traditional Pisa pic, some new ideas but all pretty normal.  I never realized just how pretty the tower and surrounding buildings were, I thought they were just plain, 1 color but no it's lots of different colors and patterns. Beautiful.  Got back on the bus heading for Nice and the French Riveria.  There are 176 tunnels to go through when driving from Florence to Nice.  It was a beautiful drive once we got to the Riviera.  It was pretty normal until we came upto a corner and as we turned it there was Monaco, OMG so lavish and so much money sitting there right on the water for the world to see.   Saw the palace where the Royal family live, drove the corner where Princess Grace Kelly died in the car crash, saw amazing homes. You couldn't keep ur eyes off the windows.  Came into Eve, saw the church Bono got married in, saw the island Bono owns. On the 40 min drive along the French Riveria you just saw money money and more money. The roads were full of Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, jags, BMW's, Range Rovers, AUDI's, Porsche's, Surburban's, Hummer's - you name it I saw it! I was very impressed with this introduction to Nice :) Arrived into Nice about 5, got my room, chilled then met the group for a walk to the town for Gelatto - mmmmmm my choice this time was Rhubarb and Guava - yummo.......

FLORENCE........

Heard so many good things about Florence and yes they were all right! First night the bus went on a walking tour of Florence which included a dinner at a place called Red Garter. It was authentic Italian but it was still good. After this we went next door to the karaoke bar, that was hilarious. It's funny how people think they can sing so well when drunk.   I didn't have a late one because I had a day horse riding in the Tuscan countryside.  This was so cool, spent about 90 mins just riding through the beautiful vineyards and forest surround the horse ranch. It was so cool being back on a horse again, it's been years. After the ride we were taken to this beautiful pool where we just relaxed and drank wine until lunch was ready. This lunch was awesome, it was your typical Italian feast. Bread, cheeses, tomatoes, olives, olive oil, pasta, panacota, red wine and coffee to finish off.  We spent about 4 hours there just chilling, it was so good. It was now time to go see a medieval castle and have our wine tasting. All up we tried 4 wines. All so good. Had a chance to wander the castle walls and take pictures. It was about a 40 min drive back to Florence. We had the funniest guide. I'm sure he thought he was a DJ he had the disco bus going and all of us singing along. Best 40 min drive I've been on for a while.  Didn't get back to the hostel until about 11pm.  It was such a massive day.   In the morning I went to visit museums and some sites. Got to see the real "David", there r 3 David's in Florence. The other 2 r smaller and one in bronze.  The original David is massive and so beautiful. Hard to imagine that he was made from 1 piece of marble!  After seeing the museums and more of the sites I spent the next 4 hours just walking around getting lost, didn't want to use a map just wanted to explore. Easy to do in Florence and not really get lost as such as its not that big a place. It was amazing and so beautiful. An Italian man tried to pick me up, his rise was to ask me the time and then he went from there. He was charming and cute, it was flattering to see just how far and how charming he was prepared to go.  Walked along   the only bridge in Florence that Hitler spared in the war when he decided to totally aniliate the city. He spared this bridge because it was so beautiful to him. It was pretty but not the prettiest I have ever seen. Got back to my room and decided I needed a hairy desperately so walked down the road booked in and then just chilled. The people in the salon were nice, my hairdresser another charmer. Anyway by now it was almost time for my night time bike tour.  I was looking forward to this even tho I was revisiting most of the sites I had already been to but we were going to 1 that I had deliberately left off - Michael Angelo's lookout, this is a hill above Florence where you get a view overlooking the entire city of Florence, it was amazing. We got there just on dusk and I saw the city another way, so glad I did it.  On the way back we stopped for our gellato, my last in Italy. The gellato here is soooo good, I had Kiwi and mandarin.  Rode back about 10.45 finished packing and pretty much jumped into bed, Florence had wrecked me even though I hadn't spent much of my time here drinking at all, it was all the exploring and the fresh country air. I did love Florence and will be back again one day. <3

RETURN OF MY VOICE.....

Yes finally after 3 weeks I have my voice back to pretty much normal. I'm pretty excited about that. It's been a tuff gig meeting new people with this creepy whisper thing I've had going on lol

SIENA, ITALIA

Well well well here I go again.  Siena! Took off for Siena round 8ish Wednesday morning, had a photo stop at Orvieto, a small little Tuscan town half way to Siena.  This was a pretty little town set high up on a hill, not much going on but had some beautiful Tuscan streets and some pretty amazing views. Also had my first look at a Duomo or cathedral.  Duomos are pretty amazing buildings, built with such detail. The doors on this one would have stood taller than 5 or 6 of me, they were massive. The most impressive building I think I have ever seen. Orvieto is also known for its little piggies, had a very nice pork roll here.  Left here and headed towards Siena. Didn't really do to much for the first 5 hours except chill by the pool.  Went into town to catch the trial of the il Palio with Thor and Jakob, that's a famous horse race run round the tiny square in the middle of Siena between rival contrades, 10 of the 17 Contrades take part. It's a tradition that's been going since 1656 for the July race (honouring Madonna of Provenzano)  but the August race run honouring the Assumption of Mary started in 1701. It was pretty special to be here for that. There were apparently 60,000 people in this square watching it, talk about squished in!  It was pretty amazing watching this. The guys riding these horses are nuts, they go as fast as they can bareback, that in itself has got to hurt! Got a taxi home about 10pm. Was glad to be back and in bed ready for a massive day.  Got up around 9, showers and was ready to go into town again about 11ish to explore.  Had an amazing brekkie of stuffed tomatoes, stuffed zucchini, eggplant parmigiana and some mushroom dish.  It was delish! Walked up to find Sienas Duomo, true to our guides word this one was even more impressive than Orvieto's. So looking forward to the one in Florence now. Looked through the Duomo for about 30 minutes and was just in awe of the interior, it was so special. The pictures certainly do not do it justice!   Anyway me n Thor made our way to find Jakob so we could have a bite to eat then go get ready for the final of il Palio 2012.  It was going to be massive. We had a bit of lunch then made our way to the square and on the way came across 4 of the most enormous bulls you have or will ever see in your life.  They stood so much taller than me, I was actually a little freaked out to be standing so close so didn't hang round for to long.  Took off to find a bottle shop so we could have a few drinks in the square while waiting the 3 hours for the race to start. Our choice of poison was Meloncello,  yummo, we mixed it with a slushie, very nice. Waited and waited for the big race, in actual fact the time went pretty quickly which was perfect, I felt a little claustrophobic though  cause everyone around me was so tall but we all made the best of a bad situation.  Pre-race entertainment started about an hour before the race. The whole experience was worth the wait.  After waiting for what seemed like forever, the race was started.  The crowd went nuts, so excited.  Unfortunately on the 2nd bend of the first lap there was a massive stack, horses and men went everywhere. Out of 10 horses that started only 4 survived the stack. My horse was not one of these :( Well 90 seconds later it was all over red rover, the race was won, the crowd went nuts, it took ages getting out of the crowd, we found a quiet little spot to just chill away from the crowd. We chatted for a while then took off to try find some food. I had kebab and the boys had pizza. Headed to what has come a favorite in the last 24 hours cause they have the most amazing Crema Cappa's - it's a frozen slushie/iced coffee with a touch of whiskey - so nice. Took a taxi back to camp and bed as off to Florence tomorrow. More exploring to do and still excited about doing it. 

ROMA

I know I say this every new city every new country I visit but it's so true of all of them, they are all so amazing and Rome is no exception. A little freaked out with the pick pocketing experience hour 2 being here but all that aside - WOW!!!!  Went into the main tourist area yesterday and started off with Vatican City, didn't really know what to expect but lined up in the line that went for close to 500 meters - it was nuts. It moved pretty quickly tho. Started with the Egyptian section, saw my first mummy - pretty gross actually then for the next 2 hours just walked around 7km's of artwork, sculptures,  artifacts, drawings - you name it,  it was there, my walk ended in the Sistine Chapel, took ages to get there but it was worth the wait. The artwork in this place is just incredible!! It's hard to describe it really, the detail in which it is all done is incredible. It's hard to imagine this was done by hand that many years ago by the 1 person. It blows your mind. The entire Vatican Museum is a place you all have to visit. About 2 I made my way from there and ended up round the back of the city, St Peters Square, just as beautiful and massive. It seems so weird standing in places that such historical things have happened.  Walked past Castal Sant'Angelo then I jumped on a hop on hop off open air bus to sight see, got to stop 4 and jumped off.   Made my way to IL Vitroriano, this place is just beautiful, massive white structure with bronze statues on the roof, just Devine. Makes a nice change to what I've been seeing. Walked round the corner and staring at me was the Colosseum what a sight, it is massive. I got a little excited, always been fascinated with that place. Thanx Russell ;) Making my way to the Colosseum I pass the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, it's massive, just ruin after ruin, it's amazing. I get to the Colosseum and  once inside this place you are in awe of all that happened there all those 1000's of years ago. To see where such atrocities occurred and also such acts of braveness was awesome.  To think that this building is still pretty much un tact and it was built between AD72 by Emperor Vespasain and finished by Titus his son in AD80 Everywhere you look there are ruins.  Made my way to the Pantheon passing famous ruin upon ruin. Was walking down a pretty basic street then as I turn the corner pretty unexpectedly I come across this old building from the back, you just know that this has to be something pretty special and yes it was, it was the back of the Pantheon, wow another breathtaking moment, I quickly make my way to the front and what a  pretty cool place, the square was jam packed with tourists.  Spent about 30 mins there.   Make my way towards the Trevi Fountain and wow another beautiful place, I have no pix of this as both my phone and camera had run out of batteries. Devastated!  Beautiful place, throw in the euro as everyone does, did you know that about 3000€ is thrown into that fountain every single day?  Time to head back now could jump on the bus again but I'm loving getting lost in the streets of Rome.  About half way back to the pick up point I get stuck in the most amazing thunder storm, there is no where to hide so I thought what the hell just enjoy and enjoy I  did, I walked for about an hour back to the bus and was enjoying the beautiful streets, the sites, the buildings & not to mention every Indian man in history try sell me a bloody umbrella, couldn't they tell by looking at me that it was way to late for an umbrella lol. Catch my bus, get back to my room, have a bite to eat and just crash from exhaustion. It has been such an awesome day, one to remember. My first day in 6 weeks that I've been completely on my own and I loved every single second of it. Now tomorrow to just relax by the pool and get ready for the Busabout link again. 

DUBROVNIK TO ROME AND THE ADVENTURES INBETWEEN!

TRAVELING FROM DUBROVNIK TO ROME!!!!!! Well after saying goodbye to another new family it was time to set off for Rome. It's 12pm Saturday afternoon and bear in mind I haven't had more than 2 hours sleep since 8am Friday morning and spent last night partying it up at Revelin.  To say I'm pretty exhausted is an understatement!!! Anyway head off to Dubrovnik International a little early than needed but didn't wanna stress just wanted to get my stuff there check in and just chill for a few hours.  All good get there check in go through to departure gates and just sit at a table with a coffee and a sandwich. Perfect. Board my plane to Athens via Munich, don't ask me why they travel 2 hours up to have to travel another 2 hours across!!!!!  Get into Athens at midnight, had decided to crash at the airport as I had to b back there at 5am for check-in of my flight to Rome.  Well that was the stupidest idea I think I've ever had!!!!  This airport is bright, it's loud and there are no quiet corners to crash in. Spend the night listening to music and surfing the net.  Finally at 4.30 they open the check in, im on this, check in walk thru to the departure gates and try find a spot for a 2 hour power nap, nup nothing!!!!! It's now been like 44 hours and I've had nothing more than a couple of 10-15 min power naps. I'm feeling ok tho. Board plane at 6.30 - yes got 2 hours to sleep - hahaha that didn't happen either. Oh well get to Rome and do the whole public transport thing, Rome had other ideas as they are doing maintenance so had to follow detours everywhere to a half shuttle bus to catch the subway to met up with the bus to take me to my accommodation. All good I survive the dreaded public transport to Cornelia. Wait there for a bus for 30 mins in 34 degree heat, it's only lunch time. Bus comes yay! Get on the back and stand, a nice Sth African girl starts talking to me, we r going to the same place so that's perfect we have each other to get thru the next adventure with. The buses in Rome are shit. We had 2 people being really helpful so we thought cool, had our stuff sorted, we were killing it. Got told to get off at the right stop, the guy made it look like he was getting off to, I make it off in tact but poor Meredith is sort of attacked by this massive guy, not in a bad way just a clumsy falling all over her kinda way, she eventually struggles past him gets off and off we go. We are both thinking to ourselves at this stage that that was a little weird. Anyway nothing said just both looking forward to our rooms and a relax before hitting up Rome. We go to check in Meredith goes first, no wallet anywhere! That fat bastard that attacked her had pick pocketed her!!!!  He took her wallet from her handbag and it had her cash, passport, cards and a new camera. She was in shock, I had no idea what to say or do. Gave her some space to register what's just happened. She called her bf, got her shit together but in the meantime ive got the local polices address and told her we will go down and file a report. Both angry and in shock that we saw what was unfolding but didn't click as to the reality of what he was doing we set off for the cop shop. They do their thing, send her in her way. In the meantime she has nothing, I lend her some cash so she can eat for the next few days, we go book in, get our rooms and agree to met for a drink in an hour. It's now 53 hours and no real good sleep. I open the door of my bungalow and am greeted with an ensuite but best of all an air conditioner and no room mate - YES I've hit pay dirt - finally. I unpack some stuff, have the nicest longest coolest shower with rocking and banging into walls like I had been for the last week use a loo that actually works properly, man I'm in heaven. Anyway I have maybe 10 mins shut eye then Meredith comes up we go off have that drink, chat and just relax by the pool. She then goes off to conquer the Coliseum and I go buy some food and do some washing. Gonna be nice having clean clothes. I wash them all see a guy I met in Athens so have a chat with him while waiting, go back to my room, have a roomy now, young girl from Adelaide so that's all cool, I start to chill and relax, it's now 9.30ish she heads out for a drink and I head to bed, do a little computer stuff then hit the sack, think it was like 10.30 when I turned the lights out, i had pretty much been awake for a solid 62 hours with the exception of maybe 2 hours of little power naps!!!!  I was out before my head hit the pillow but now I'm awake and it's only been 6 hours - arghhhhh. Oh well got up to date with my blog so it's all good. It's now 5.48 so gonna try get a little more sleep before conquering Rome in a day ;) 

DAY 8 - TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO MY CROATIA FAMILY

Sad morning, everyone was so hung over,  no one wanted to get up let alone start packing. It was horrible. Finally everyone got their shit together and got their stuff downstairs we all said our goodbyes, kinda sad again. This is the sucky part about travelling. I know I've said this before but the 23 people on that boat were unreal. Not a single fight until this morning, blaming tiredness and hangovers tho for that. It was ok tho cause it was between 2 best mates so it will blow over. All bye bye over with, kisses n hugs and now everyone is off on new adventures. Thanx so much guys for an awesome week sailing Croatia, it honestly was a pleasure xx. Now off to catch my flight to Athens via Munich then wait 7 hours til my flight to Rome leaves. 

DAY 7 - MLJET TO DUBROVNIK

Well we set sail for Dubrovnik fairly early after another hectic night. I wasnt even up when we took off.  Had the day to just chill, explore and do our own thing. Our crew took off again for the beach. Decided to chill before our big night out for dinner then Gallerie (little bar) before heading off to the Biggest Club in Croatia - Revelin!  The beach was awesome and the weather has been amazing, sorry to say this guys but getting really tired of mid to high 30 degree days - today will be the 23rd day in a row that we haven't seen a temp under 33 degrees, it gets tiring! ;)  Had another great meal, this time mushrooms soup and stuffed chicken - yum. Set off for Gallerie where they sell drinks in buckets. Started off with a Fresh bucket, then had the Thai bucket and finished with the Sex Bucket. Liked the Thai bucket best. Sort of had a red bull n vodka base. Now for the walk to "REVELIN" this place was inside the Old Town walls, we had to climb to the top of this fort looking thing, after gaining entry for free because we all had Mascarade masks on as it was a special event called "The Final Reveal" with resident DJ Ahmaad we walk thru this tunnel like structure to the main stairs up to the club. What a sight. Me and Aria started on the special drinks, so nice, ended up having 3 of them. Danced and danced and danced our arses off, this club went off and cause we had known everyone for a week and knew it was our last night to go nuts. We did just that. I left at about 4ish with Aria and Mate' we caught a taxi back to the ship. Got back, sat around and just talked about out night and the great week we all have had,  not long after everyone started arriving back in dribs n drags. We all pretty much stayed up til the sun came up at least. I think I lay my head down around 6.30ish, kinda sucked cause alarm went off at 7.30 cause I had to pack my stuff and be ready for brekkie and be ready to leave the ship at 9. A lot of emotional dramas to once we got back but all good now I think or hope!

DAY 6 - KORCULA TO MLJET

Mljet has the most beautiful National park, we explored this for a few hours, 1 of those by kayak, Dan was my buddy and man he is a nag lol. Tonight is the night for our Captains Dinner and Pirate Party, just supposed to be a nice in sedate night as we are in a tiny little town with not a lot of night life and our bar closes at midnight and apparently not much stays open late here. YER RIGHT!!!!   Everyone got into the spirt with all their purchases from the previous islands, very impressed. Lots of sounds, everyone played what they liked, Kylie did a few of her party tricks, it was loads of fun, our bar closed so the majority of us went looking for the beach bar, it was pretty dead but half the boats crew joined us for a drink. Think I got home before 2.  Chatted again for a while then took off upstairs. All these late nights are really gonna kill me, I'm 40 and my fellow crew members range from 19 to 27 with the exception of Kylie, she's 41 - YES lol Anyway had a pretty good sleep out on the deck tho cause the cabin was so hot, didn't jump into my bed til about 6am. Just after i went to bed a massive ruckus broke out on the boat, apparently some dude was caught snooping round the boats while everyone was sleeping and Andrew from our boat caught him - yes go Andrew :) All was good and now time for a couple more hours of sleep.

DAY 5 - HVAR TO KORCULA

This is the birthplace of Marco Polo. Yes this was another nice quiet peaceful day, lots of socializing it was quite a walk tho to the main town centre from port and with a dodgy calf muscle it kind of sucked!  Went into town for a bit of shopping with Aria, didnt buy much but went for a swim on the way back. I can honestly say im not impressed with the stones on croatian beaches, i would kill for some nice soft sand.   Got back saw a few of the others so all decided to go in again and have some dinner at a lovely restaurant. I had a yummy chicken pasta dish called Pasta Ana. Went back after dinner, played UNO JENGA for a bit had a couple of drinks and then I think everyone was in bed before midnight which was nice for a change.  All nice n fresh for Mljet. 

DAY 4 - STARI GRAD TO HVAR

OMG what a place. Sick of saying how  beautiful  Croatia is but honestly I can't help it. After seeing this place you can understand why the rich n famous like to visit.  You should have seen the amount of massive luxury cruisers that were floating around the waters around Havr.  One that impressed us all had a full size helicopter sitting on the helipad - it was obscene!  Spent the afternoon with the crew lunching then beaching. After the beach we went and had cocktails in carafes, they were to die for and cost 150 kuna which is about $25 so pretty expensive compared to what we had been paying but the wealthy play here so the drinks are gonna cost ya. On the way to catch up with the rest of the boat to go to the restaurant for dinner we formed a straw line with all the straws we had, it went for about 10 meters, it was hilarious and a pretty awesome human experiment, we made them into a circle at the square and no one dared walk thru our circle and if they did they panicked and quickly got out. Dinner was nice, I even ate mussels, u boys will b so proud of me , had more local shots, they tasted like metho but definitely did the trick.   Went to Kiva Bar and had a tequila boom boom, now that is something different lol

DAY 3 - MAKARSKA TO STARI GRAD

This place was the quietest of the islands so far, very chilled place to be.  Had a relaxed morning before heading off to a winery for a bit of wine tasting.  The wines were beautiful and the setting was amazing.  It was on this little farm with chickens, goats, pigs, donkeys and horses.  There was a baby donkey that was 2 days old, he was so cute!  Got back to the boat had dinner then a bit of happy hour before going out to a cafe for a coffee and the Olympics.  Got back and had our daily Jenga/UNO session. Who would have thought Jenga could be so much fun. Was in bed by midnight which was nice for a change.  I must say to I am really loving all the swim stops we are doing, I'm so proud of me not being affraid of the water.

DAY 2 - OMIS TO MAKARSKA

Had a pretty chilled day exploring the town.  Tried doing the massive cliff climb to the fort but because of my chest infection ended up having a mini panic attack cause i couldnt breath. All was good tho. Came down and just went n relaxed on the boat. I can honestly say im loving the sail. The weather is absolutely awesome and the guys all great.  Took off for Makarska and our massive night. After dinner we went back to the boat to get ready for the big night, on the way to the "Rave Cave" we stopped off at a little bar for a couple, that was pretty cool but nothing compared to what was in store. It was literally a cave right on the water with a massive bar and good sound.    This place was unreal. It was an old storage place for all the artillery.  This club was packed and went so deep into the cliff.  Spent the night dancing and drinking.  So many photos of the night. Some in desperate need of deleting :) Got home about 4am. Fell into bed but up again at 8am ready for the new day. Seriously going to go on a massive detox after this. My body is telling me to settle a bit, had no more than a whisper for a voice since Mykonos so 2 weeks so far. So anyway Makarska made a great impression but was glad to leave port and get ready for the next one, we were promised that it was going to be a quieter night - lets wait n see hey lol

MY CROATIA ADVENTURE STEP BY STEP

DAY 1 - SPLIT TO PUCISCA TO OMIS Boarded the boat after lunch. By the looks of it with an awesome bunch of people yet again. Took off for Omis, had an ocean swim on the way for about 2 hours. We swam for a bit and dived in off the roof of the boat but after a while we all just chilled on the roof top and got to know each other. Went into the little town with Damo our guide, Andrew, Aria & Kylie and I had coffee. Kylie n I went off after that to go search for Pirate costumes for our pirate party on Thursday night. Got back to the boat about 7 where Damo held a pretty cool history talk on Croatia. He finishes it off on Tuesday night I think he said. Had an awesome BBQ dinner cooked by our chef and served by this hot Croatian called Igor, mmmmm yummy. We then played Jenga Uno for a couple of hours, that was so funny,  playing and alcohol makes for some pretty gutsy moves lol. Have a 7.45 brekkie before an hour hike up n back to the top of this cliff to see the fort over looking the town, the dalmation islands and the Adriatic sea. Apparently its tuff!  Off to another island tomorrow, this one has the marble in it that was used  in building the White House, pretty cool.  Party tomorrow night in a bar thats affectionately known as the "Rave Cave" It's 2am now so off to bed, goodnight.

ABOUT TO SET SAIL FROM SPLIT TO DUBROVNIK FOR 8 DAYS.

Arrived in Dubrovnik yesterday and had 5 hours to kill before my flight to Split. Took a taxi into the "Old Town" OMG it was amazing. The walls of the Old Town were built to protect the city from invasion, it runs close to 2kms around the entire city and is constantly climbing up in down. It is so narrow in some parts but the views made the massive effort in 34 degree heat worth every second. This place is just beautiful. My first experience of the city was at the front gates and you look down to the square below and the steps OMFG there would have to be hundreds, it goes for about 500m and straight down, going down was easy but I knew the coming back up was gonna make Birdrock look like a walk in the park especially with the 8 kg backpack I had been carrying around all afternoon. Oh well like I said it was worth every drop of sweat lol. Arrived in Split last night at about 11pm but by the time bags n taxis came i didnt get to my hotel until after midnight and man was it a freaky experience. The taxi driver dropped me off in the middle of this housing estate and said go to the doors that were all light up, I did that he left and there was no one there, anyways after about 10 mins of walking round I eventually found where I had to be, I sort of felt safer to be inside cause the amount of undesireable people milling around the area was quite unsettling. Anyways all good, got my room, sorted out my bags, put together another lot of stuff to send home, so hopefully I can get to a post office before I take off for my sail today, if not it can wait til I get back to Athens, at least its sorted though which was a big issue. Sitting in reception now waiting to go to the harbor, really looking forward to this sail, I heard its not as relaxing as I thought it may have been lol, oh well dam I will just have to cop it on the chin lol. I better get cracking and go wait for this bus, no rush really as only have to be at Port at 11am for check-in start but dont sail til 1pm. Im so glad I decided to come to Croatia, it truly is one of the most beautiful places I have seen so far, The Greek Islands were amazing but this is so different. Its nothing like the pix show, everywhere u turn is just another picture perfect moment. Still Pinching myself as to how truly lucky and blessed I am to have had this opportunity to travel the world. I am missing the boys, mum, dad and everyone tho but I am getting highly compensated with such an awesome experience, A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE, LIVING THE DREAM!!! Anyways off I go, dont stress mum, dad and the boys if you dont hear from me for a little while as I have no idea just how much access to the lovley world of Internet Access I will have while i'm away. But hey you never know we could be lucky. Love and miss u, kisses and hugs Donna xxxxxx

RIP - CHRISTOPHER JAMES KELLY - KILLED DURING THE WAR 19TH APRIL 1941

Im sitting next to the site where Christopher James Kelly my Great Uncle lies, he was killed in the war on 19-4-1941 during the German invasion of Greece. To this day no one in my family has ever been able to visit this site where he now rests in peace. Strangely I feel quite sad to be here, sitting amongst all these brave men and to actually have the privelage of visiting Christopher James Kelly. I've never really been one that has been affected by the whole ANZAC's, but I guess its more ignorance than anything else. I really didnt think that coming here would have this effect on me. Put it down to missing family I guess but this is probably the most emotional I have been this whole trip. I feel so humbled to be sitting here looking out over the most beautiful peaceful cemetery right on the water in Athens. I am here on behalf of all my family that have never had the privelage to come and pay their last respects to a very brave man and to pay respects to thousands of his brothers who are lying here next to him, forever bonded by such a horrible waste of young human life. RIP to all the boys (i say boys because they were all so young, to young to die) that fought for their countries and were never lucky to return home, that goes for now and also back in WW1 and WW2 and every war after. RIP Lance Corporal CJ Kelly, 19th April 1941 aged just 28 years of age. Gone but never forgotten :) I am so honoured to be able to come and visit your last resting place. Love from all of your family.

SANTORINI I LOVE YOU!

Well left Santorini today headed for Athens again. What can I say, Santorini I am in Love. What an amazingly beautiful city. It is my favorite of the Greek Islands I visited. I never knew that it was actually once a volcano that blew its nutter thousands of year ago forming the island as it looks today. You learn something new every day. This is my story of my time in Santorini. We arrived in Santorini on Monday. We got all settled into our rooms, I was rooming with the amazing Timmy. We were given a few hours to explore and do things for ourselves before we had to be ready for dinner and the pub crawl. First thing I did was take my washing to the laundry then headed out shopping. OMG the shopping there was amazing. So many pretty shiny things to see and buy. Got back and then got ready to go out to this restaurant right at the top of the Donkey Trail. You would not believe the views from the tables, this place was amazing. We had 180 degree views of the water and the surrounding town. The pix do not do this place justice. You have to see it to believe it. I ordered the pepper steak cause I was so over seafood and let me tell you I was not disappointed, it was to die for. After dinner we headed to the Highlander Bar and that place is just one massive party with hot bar staff and bouncers everywhere. It was 2 for 1 cocktails and really cheap shots. We stayed there and danced, sang and drank our way into the wee hours of the next day, it wasnt that late a night (2.30am) as we had to be up and ready for the Bucket List trip the next day but it was a night that will go down as a pretty epic one. Now for the bus trip. What a massive day we had in store for us. Started out with a visit to an old monastery on top of the volcano, it was so perfect and pretty. After the stop there we had a nice ride to visit the Black Beach, this place was beautiful, black pebbly sand but the weird thing about it was when you stepped into the water! The ground under you was not soft and sandy it was hard, solid and slippery. This is because the floor is made up of the lava after the volcanic eruption all those many many years ago. It was actually a very strange feeling. I was spoilt there and got an amazing massage from Steve the local massage therapist right there on the beach. I was in heaven!!!!! After a swim, my massage and my very first taste of a Caesar Salad ever (im never ever having another one cause nothing will come close to how awesome it was) we took off in the bus again for the Red Beach. This beach has red/burgandy pebbles and cliffs. This is because in the eruption the rocks and stones were sent shooting up 34 kms into the air and as it came down it cooled in the water at the exact temp and colour as it was as it hit. The explosion from this eruption was heard 2 times around the other side of the world. The Chinese actually documented that they heard a roar twice and had no idea where it actually came from. Pretty freaky really. This beach was a bit of a hike to get to but man it was worth it. Also visited an ancient village that was destroyed 2000BC called Akrotiri. This village was so advanced for its time it had hot and cold running water,they grew special plants to help with every day ailments, toilets, brothels - everything that you would find in a modern city today pretty much. Its hard to imagine that these people that long ago could actually develop a civilisation so advanced. It was actually quite humbling to be walking around and looking a the ruins of something so so so old. A must see let me tell you. On the way back from here we stopped in at Santo Winery and got to taste 3 wines, very nice, not to keen on the dessert wine tho it was soooooo sweet. The views from this place was another mouth opening experience. So many pretty pretty picture opportunities but yes again it does not do it justice. Got back and had a couple of hours to ourselves before our picnic dinner at one of the other towns on Santorini. This is the place where the famous pix you have all seen of Santorini are taken, I was lucky enough to have taken my own picture perfect post card type pix. Everywhere you looked was just another picture moment. Saw Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolies Summer residence :) Looked around this town before heading to the picnic spot. Spent way to much money here again, I have to stop, its getting ridiculous now lol Had the picnic then walked back to the bus for the ride home, headed out again for another night of drinking. Im so over the drinking but definitely not over the partying and the dancing - having so much fun. I think I got in about 2.30 again. Fell into bed only to have to get up and say goodbye to some very special people again. This is the suckiest part of my trip, i hate it. Got to speak to my angels again this morning, that is so special and definitely the highlight of my days. Arrived in Athens and had dinner on the rooftop bar overlooking the Acropolis with the original crew from Mykonos, after dinner we all walked down to Yum....Mee!!!! for the best frozen yoghurt you have ever tasted. Off to bed now, have lots of exploring to do tomorrow before heading off to Croatia for 8 days of sailing - its so tuff :) Night all xxxxx PS pix will be uploaded in a couple of days hopefully xoxoxo