Off the Couch and On the Road

The real question is, how many words can you use to describe beautiful seaside towns of stone, with narrow traffic-free alleys and endless steps? Beautiful churches and pebbly beaches? Because I think I have run out. As Positano and Dubrovnik were all of the above, so was the island of Hvar. And yet it didn’t make it any less spectacular or unique.

I left Dubrovnik very carefully, so as not to wake MAPOTP (successfully, thank christ) and spent seven hours on another ferry, just as it started raining, which was fortunate timing. In seven hours I updated my itinerary, budget and created a three-year plan with timings and action points - the group sitting next to me discussed where they would most like to travel and why, and how many years they had been living on less than $10 a day (’When I left Boston in 1964 with $400 in my pocket….’). I was so dissappointed in my lack of creativity and adventure. But no matter, they won’t have a fantastic credit rating, right? Right?

Hvar was stunning, as expected, and the weather hot and sunny, which wasn’t considering the weather in Dubrovnik. I only had two days on the island and spent those walking along the promenade playing a game called ‘which of these ridiculously massive yachts would I buy if I won the lottery?’, swimming and sunbaking.

A continuation of ‘Sarah’s chilled out summer holiday’, really.

-Sarah

PS. Nobody seems to know where I am so I thought I would clarify. I am in Croatia. In Split. I know, the above says I am in Hvar, but it’s slightly delayed, kind of like episodes of ‘Friends’ used to be before they realised we could download them anyway so they may as well put them to air the same time as the US. Ok, so not exactly like that. But kinda. Get me?

There are moments in your life when your heart drops to your feet and you are nothing less than terrified. The last time this happened was in Positano when I witnessed a man in lime green speedos with a gut worthy of a triple bypass wrapped around his waist.

But this time, this time was waking from a blissful, earplugged slumber to sit up and see a middle aged Irish woman staring at me. Apparently waiting for me to wake up because she could not figure out how to turn the shower on. Seriously. Ok, so the tap wasn’t round, and you had to push instead of turn. But she had managed to get herself halfway around the world.

Anyway, after I had regained my pulse and after too many unecessary words (there is a sign in a hotel in Vietnam stating “Silence is a dignity”, I felt she needed a copy) I needed to get out, so caught a ferry to Cavtat, a mainland town about 10km south of Dubrovnik, and spent the day reading, walking, swimming and drinking cappuccinos. Admittedly, there wasn’t much to do or see in Cavtat, but a quiet town was just what I needed.

-Sarah

The following morning I spent on the grey, pebbly beach and the afternoon back in Old Town, before deciding I would have to visit the islands if I was to spend a week here, there not being much else to ... [Continue reading this entry]

Although it was warm, it wasn't nice enough for the beach on my first day in Dubrovnik, so I settled into tourist mode and caught the bus from my leafy suburb of Lapad into Old Town.

Old Town (is that a ... [Continue reading this entry]

It turned out that quite a few of us from the hostel were travelling to Croatia on the same day, so with the abundant lack of signage, unhelpful staff and transport delays that makes Italy so wonderful, we all travelled ... [Continue reading this entry]

I never did end up venturing past the confines of my own paradise. There were churches to see and grottos to explore, different towns with different shops and different beaches.

But having been on the go since early March, I decided ... [Continue reading this entry]

After not doing very much at all, least of all sightseeing, I realised somewhere between a cappuccino and a margherita pizza that my accomodation was only booked for another 3 nights, and from there I didn't quite know where I ... [Continue reading this entry]

Just as eating pizza and watching the world stroll by in Rome was exactly as I'd imagined, Positano was the Amalfi Coast in my mind I'd saved to daydream about when I was stuck in traffic, or listening to a ... [Continue reading this entry]

'Oh, so you've heard about Naples, then?' the British backpacker asked.

Yes, I had. Don't go there, look both ways and watch your back, hang onto your bag, hang onto yourself. But when you're planning your European sojourn a week in ... [Continue reading this entry]

On my fourth day in Rome there was only one thing left to see - the Colosseum. I confidently caught the bus and metro to the site and spent longer than expected within it's ancient walls, imagining exactly where Russell ... [Continue reading this entry]