Day 355 - The Ultimate Maastricht Day

  

While Maastricht was home for the year, we often took it for granted because it was always there. The weekend trips were 'destinations', worth touristy trips and photos, Maastricht was a 'base'. But in our last week there Nakita and I finally made good on a promise to make the most of Maas for a day. We spent a whole day, more than 14 hours, exploring our home city like the good little tourists we were. Nothing was too cheesey and, of course, there was a to do list involved. Throughout the year we'd noted things we 'always meant' to do in Maastricht but never had the time. On the other hand, there were also favourite things we wanted to experience one last time. So for any of you who may consider a trip to this little city 'o ours, here's a rought itinerary to get you started...

9am to 9.30am- HEMA (a cross between Target's wares and IKEA's cafeteria) for 1 euro breakfast - can't start such an epic day on an empty stomach!


10am to 11am - off to UCM for one last look around, to hand in our LAST ever UCM assignments ... and to finally have a crack at immitating that darned statue!

    

11am to noon - wandering the back blocks of UCM, one last look at the animal farm ove the river and some more interactions with statues including the infamous Bear

  

 

noon to 2pm: FINALLY we climbed the Red Church (Rood Kerk) in the Vrijtof

   

2pm to about 4pm: wander around trying to find somewhere for lunch (including through the main shopping drag and stomping in the water fountain), start with a drink in the Onze Liewe Vrouwe Plein, in the rain no less, (a favourite spot of Andre Rieu's) before settling for lunch in the first street off the Vrijtof (Schnitzel and Maastricht-style rabbit, both met frites met mayo - very regional cuisine)

 

 

5pm: finally took the Maas river boat trip we'd wanted to since our first week in town

 

6pm to 6.45pm: muck about taking more touristy photos, including with more statues

 

 

About 7pm: Bus home to get ready for dinner at David's, a restaurant we girls frequented, with the BEST Apple Pie cocktails :) :) Home before midnight to end the best day ever :P

Days 358 to 364 - "When I was in Croatia..."

As most of you know, I've actually been home for quite some time now but in the world of the blogosphere my tale has been in limbo somehwere between a tiny Greek island and a long flight home. The title of this post, about my last trip in Europe before heading home, is a nod to the problems one faces when one returns from a trip that no one else went on and everything back home prompts a memory from abroad. This results in the unfortunate "when I was in (insert envious location here)" disorder... for the first few weeks I was back my darling mother would pick up on every time I said something like this in conversation. So this one's for you Mum!

Day 358 (Sat) - "When I was in Croatia... it was hot! After many many months of mediocre weather I was to have my final blast of Euro-Summer spending 8 nights 'on a boat' sailing down the Dalmatian coast off Croatia. Our Top Deck boat tour took us from Split south to Dubrovnik, stopping in a new island destination each night along the way. I'd booked the trip months earlier after planning it with Matty, a mate whom I met 'on another boat' 2 years before and who is now living in London (and still living the dream, so he reminds me at regular intervals!). So the pair of us arrived in Split harbour after a VERY eary morning flight from London, sweating like pigs wearing clothes meant for London morning air, and checked in with the boat operator. "Novak!" the young Croatian woman barks at me, "that is Croatian name yes?". "Um..." I shrug at her. During my year in Europe my heritage was claimed by many an Eastern European... so what was one more.

The view from our boat as it left Split harbour



Indeed, the Croatian people were a source of much confusion for me. Their attitudes took a bit of getting used to - certainly not rude... but quite blunt... even more so than the Dutch, and that's saying something. Their sense of humour is so dry it dehydrates its victims (and that's without all the alcohol they regularly force upon you). And misunderstand them ... and the defenses go right up. The men are of few words, but not so much the women. It can be mildly confronting if you're not expecting it. Having said that, we were foreigners... given time to get to know some of the locals we met, particularly the blokes on the boat, they can warm up considerably :)

Generally Croatia is certainly no nanny state. Rules are... bendy, to say the least. You can drink everywhere and in fact many of the most popular bars are situated inches from the water... or far far above the water as with the cliff bar we visited in Dubrovnik where one can saunter to the edge of the rocks with a beverage in hand, pop it down, bomb dive into the water (at any level of inebriation) and surface to retrieve said beverage! Australia is far too sensible for such nonsense and as a result... there's far more fun to be had in Croatia.

Dubrovnik cliff bar

The scenery is spectacular. Everywhere there are giant mountains or cliffs. We noticed them from the first day when we got on the bus from Split airport, huge imposing things, all grey and speckeled with dry bushes. They're particularly amazing in Dubrovnik where the city was bombarded from on top of the hills and just looking up and imagining being under seige from their imposing height is quite a threatening experience. The islands and harbours we visited were all very pictureqsue - at least on par with Greece and in some cases even prettier. There is a distinctly Italian feel in Croatia which is different from the Mediterranean looks of Greece. The Croatian look seems to be stone buildings, red tile rooves, vines climbing up walls and winding alleyways. The Italian influence is also found in the food - risottos, pannacotta, gnocci and slow cooked meats, and the most amazing steak I had all year. Good wine too!.


THE steak


Typical alleyway/walls

More typical architecture

Our boat however had a distinctly Down Under feel. EVERY single person on board was an Aussie ... except for our guide, who was a Scot. Everyone got along and everyone was nice and there was a girl on board who'd just done an exchange in Sweden and another about to go on one in London, so there was plenty to talk about. There were 2 couples, 2 sets of cousins and a set and a half of twins! (one of the blokes in a couple had an identical twin brother at home).

Our first day took in lunch and a swim before porting in Starigrad where we watched the sunset and ate pasta on the boat before wandering through the alleys of the town for a spot of wine tasting, some impromptu street music and a visit to the coolest gllery exhibition I saw all year - http://runninginheels.co.uk/articles/fantazam-gallery-hvar/ . All the while, with those big hills staring down at us.


Starigrad harbour

...And in the evening

Day 359 (Sun) - Our accommodation on the boat was ... modest to say the least. Basically, mine and Matty's room consisted of a set of bunk beds JUST long enough for me to almost stretch out fully (Matty had enough room of course!), a cupboard in the corner and a sink behind the door, which you couldn't really open all the way before it hit the bed. Showers were at deck level, along with indoor and outdoor eating areas and then an upper deck for sunning etc.

On this second day we made our way to the port of Hvar (on the island of Hvar, the same island which is home to Starigrad, our first stop), stopping for the obligatory swim stop along the way. Once in Hvar we climbed a massive hill to a fort with a spectacular view. That night our guide Fi took us on a bit of a cocktail crawl, to the Hula Hula bar on the beach front, and another apparently famous for her mojitos. Tonight was the night of the most amazine steak of my life. Good fuel for our next adventure - hopping in a tiny boat crammed with drunk people to venture off to an island off the port, looming in the darkness (doesn't really sound like a good idea I know, but it was toatlly worth it). The Island bar was literally the only thing on the island, with disco balls hanging from the trees and couches set up in the sand. We boogeyed until it was time to catch the pumpkin coach/dinghy back to port and squeeze in to our school camp size beds.


disco balls in the trees at the Hvar club

View from the Fort

Day 360 (Mon) – Off to Vis. After a big night, this was a very chilled day. Before porting to explore the area surrounding the port in STINKING heat we made a stop at the blue caves. These were stunning, the clearest brightest blue water I've seen - an effect created as light from outside the caves comes in but from underwater, shining in below the water line where the cave walls stop (they didn't go all the way to the sea floor). It was quite an effort getting in there though. The opening was really quite tiny and the tide coming in and out reduced the gap, then opened it, then reduced it again very unpredictably! That night our group dined picnic style on a pebble beach (not quite as comfortable as sand but at least nothing gets in your food). We'd bought Dalmatian procuito and home made cheeses from this adorable market guy who spoke less than no Enlglish and I tried a Croatian beer with half the letters of my last name in it!


Inside the blue caves


entrance to the caves - eek!

The aforementioned beer and pebble beach

Day 361 (Tues) – Next stop Vela Luka where again we schlepped up a giant hill for an amazing view and this time a visit to a cave. While the cave was all prehistoric and mossy what was even more fascinating was the guy who runs the joint. Fi had warned us he's fond of the ladies but it seems he only likes blondes. And boy does he like them! One of the girls in our group caught his attention and it was all Fi could do to stop thi bloke from following us back to our boat. Apparently he asked for her number because he was 'going to be in Australia soon...' That night was pizza night on the boat with a pirate theme. I learnt some cool new drinking games and must give Matty props for his costume ingenuity...

View from the cave



Matty's pirate 'costume'

Day 362 (Wed) – Next on the tour agenda; Korcula. A funny, and ironic, thing happened this morning... after the pirate party the night before, the engine on our boat failed... and we had to be towed part of the way by a nearby ship ... that looked a lot like a pirate ship! Once we ported in Korcula it was off to explore the town, looking in some beautiful but too expensive jewellery stores, I bought a couple of paintings and discovered the Croatian version of a Calippo. We swam at a teeny pebble beach where one of the women on our tour stepped on a sea urchin (but she handled it admirably). Later we visited the only sand beach of the trip - very dark brown sand, very rich and smooth. But I did notice afterwards how annoying the sand stuck to me was... maybe there's something to these pebble beaches after all...? That evening we made our way to a cocktail tower ... literrally a turrety kind of tower where you drink cocktails. On the way though... I bumped in to my cousin, Kelly. One minute I'm walking along, the next thing I see a recognisable face sitting at a table on the side of the road. Turns out she was going to the cocktail tower as well... so we did as Shores do and shared a drink! Dinner that night, unfortunately, was terrible. The staff completely stuffed up our orders to a laughable degree and the food was mediocre at best. The upside they gave us a part refund which Fi used to shout us all drinks at the next bar. Unfortunately, the night didn't get much better for me there - one of the many Aussie beefcake blokes holidaying in a pepetual muscle singlet picked a fight with a girl I was talking to, calling her a bitch, and I ended up bailing like Cinderella around midnight. The highlight of the night before I left though..? Watching the boys on our tour group (far more gentlemanly despite what's coming...) pole dancing in their undies. Yes, there were pictures. No, I don't have any.


Our pirate tow boat

Kelly and I


The cocktail tower

Day 363 (Thurs) – Today's island Mljet is home to a great little national park. Although it was a really hot day, the island is very lush and there are 2 inland salt lakes that made for great swimming. We also popped on a boat and went over to a little church on an island in the lake that's on the island(!) and later hired bikes and cycled around the lake that housed the island... just for a different view. It was nice to be riding a bike again but it was no Jaffa.. all the bits were in the wrong positions and I kind of felt like I was cheating. The best part about Mljet was the kind of jet stream swimming tunnel between the two lakes. The water pressure between them made a kind of rip which went in one direction under a bridge, like a horizontal water slide. It was great fun! On the boat that night we all got a tad fancy for the captain's dinner, 3 course meal and plenty of drinks :)

The "rip"


Cycling, with the island Church in the background

Day 364 (Fri) – The last dy of the trip. We pulled in to Dubrovnik and the difference was instantly noticeable. From the first sleepy port of Starigrad to the cruise ship mecca of Dubrovnik. There were hundreds of boats moored and these cruise liners were bigger than anything I've ever seen close up. The port was also on the main road and the traffic of trucks and buses passing was a bit of a shock after our serene days on the ocean. The port was some way from the centre of town so we had to catch local buses in and out but they were easy enough. Fi gave us a bit of a guided tour which took in (among other things) the infamous city walls of Dubrovnik. They are about as imposing as the ever present hills but it was just too hot to contemplate walking along them with the sun beating down (especially considering the tourist operations up there meant you could only walk in one direction and you could only get off at two points around the circuit of the walls...). Instead we kept wandering until we ended up at the cliffs bar I mentioned earlier. The view was truly spectacular and the cider was cold ... what more could you ask for.


The cliff bar in Dubrovnik


Dubrovnik city walls


Dubrovnik stair/alley ways

That night we had dinner in an open cobbled square where I had the second best steak of the year washed down with some great red wine, Plavac, that was served chilled (which was acceptable in the heat). Later we visited a tiny bar down a very skinny alleyway which ascened in sets of stairs up the base of one of the ever present hills. Apparently the next stop for the night was a bar inside the city walls... but I must admit I nerded out and went home around 1am because I had to be up at 6am that morning to start my horrendously long and arduous journey home.... as a teaser, I'll let you know it consisted of a loooong wait in Dubrovnik airport, a two hour flight to Dusseldorf, a 3 hour train to Maastricht, a 2.5 hour train to Amsterdam and about 20 hours of flying home, split by an 18 hour layover in Kuala Lumpur. But for the details of that little treat, you'll have to tune in next time....