Beer time

Today we woke up to flutters of snow. We wandered round town this morning, stopping at the christmas markets for some warming Glüwein, then went to the Augustinerbräu beer halls (fits 1000 people) this afternoon. We had the Christmas brew, served in 0.5 & 1 litre porcelain beer mugs. Very nice.

Snowy park

Beer hall!

More snowiness

The snow this afternoon was awesome and the fortress and mountains invisible. We stopped at some different christmas markets for dinner of potato with garlic sour cream and the biggest chocolate eclair you've ever seen!!

Invisible mountains and fortress

Giant chocolate éclair!

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Location:Salzburg, Austria

Snowy Sunny Salzburg

After a shocking early departure from stansted airport (6:30am departure meant a 3:00am wake up) we arrived in Salzburg to light flurries of snow and the temperature hovering around zero. Bused into town and found our hostel, which is central and close to everything.

Spent our first day wandering around town, getting orientated and enjoying the scenery. By the afternoon the clouds had lifted and we could see the snow capped mountains surrounding town. We climbed up to an old monastery for some good views of the city. Highlight of the first night was finding the Christmas markets and having glüwein and chocolate pretzels for dinner. Rounded off the first night by by watching 'The Sound of Music', which appears to be the only DVD the hostel owns.

Garden from the Sound of Music

View over old town with the Alps and the Fortress behind

Day two started with a late breakfast before catching the funicular up to the fortress. The views of the city and the mountains were spectacular, particularly helped by a nice blue sky day. We spent most of the day exploring the fortress, the state rooms, torture chamber and a random puppet museum before wandering back down the hill to town. Now it's time to hit the Christmas markets again for some dinner.

View from the Fortress

The fortress buildings

View over town

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Location:Lasserstraße,Salzburg,Austria

Old town & New

From Tucepi we drove further down the coast, crossing into Bosnia for about 20km along the way (no stamp in the passports sadly). We arrived in Dubrovnik in time for a quick explore of old town before cooking dinner in our apartment. The apartment was in a fantastic spot looking over old town and out to the many surrounding island.

Us in Bosnia

The view of old town from our apartment

On Sunday we spent a bit of time hiding from the rain but managed a trip to the beach when it cleared up. There's over 400 steps each way to the beach so by the time we made it back up to the apartment we were ready for another swim! Instead we settled for beers on the balcony.

Monday was a beautiful day. In the morning we did the walk around the old city walls. This was a lot of fun and we got some great photos of old town. Next stop was the beach for some much needed refreshment in the beautiful clear water. We returned to the old town for Mels walking tour before returning to the beach for another swim then picked up donuts for afternoon tea. That evening we drove up the hills surrounding dubrovnik to catch the sunset and had dinner in a restaurant overlooking town.

Old town

Sunset over Dubrovnik

Tuesday was adventure day, we met our guide in the next towns ferry terminal before catching a ferry to the island of Lopud. We picked up kayaks here and kayaked to a nearby island with some excellent cliff jumping and an underground cave with an underwater entrance, slightly scary to swim into. Then we kayaked around the island to a tiny fishing village for lunch before paddling to our third island for the day, enjoying a quick dip off the rocks before returning to the start. Made for a huge day out.

Today the plan is to have donuts for breakfast before one last walk around old town. Then we set out for our last stop of the trip, Mlini.

The gorgeous pool at our hotel on the last night in Croatia

Location:Dubrovnik

Relaxing in Tucepi

The Coastal road down to Tucepi was nice and we stopped at various little beaches along the way. Our hotel was really nice, with a great view of the sea. That afternoon we wandered along the seafront promenade then enjoyed dinner on our balcony.

One of the little bays we stopped at along the way to Tucepi

View from our apartment

Friday was supposed to be "lie on the beach day" but instead it decided to rain most of the day. We started with breakfast buffet (donuts!) before managing to squeeze in a wander along the length of the beach and a coffee by the water before the rain really set in. In the afternoon Brad and Ryan went for a drive up a mountain, while Mel and Jenny went out for gelato.

View from half way up the mountain

Saturday morning was glorious blue sky so it was down to the beach for a pre-breakfast swim before tucking into even more doughnuts and chocolate croissants. We then went back to the beach for some sunbathing then departed for Dubrovnik.

The beach

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Location:Croatia

(Slightly) Sunny in Split

Arrived in Split after flying out of Gatwick at the highly uncivilised hour of 6am. Picked up our rental car (aka 'Da Ca') and navigated as close as possible to the city centre (the old town of Split is car free). After several near misses, wandering through several windy alleyways, we found our apartment. In the middle of the old town (UNESCO world heritage site), we had a cool location next to Diocletian's Palace. After wandering round town, the palace & the promenade, we returned for snacks & a nap before trying some Croatian beer. For dinner we ordered the largest pizza of all time ever, before returning to the promenade for a late night wander, catching a random croatian band live. Despite not understanding a single word we thought they were quite enjoyable.



The waterfront promenade

Part of Diocletians Palace

Dinner!

Thursday morning breakfast consisted of leftover pizza and doughnuts from the nearby bakery. Then after a quick wander we were back in the car heading along the coast to our next stop, Tucepi.

Doughnut breakfast

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Location:Split, Croatia

Final tally

The numbers for our last trip.

Flights: 2
Trains: 7
Buses: 2
Ferries: 1
Days: 20

Continents: 2
Countries: 4

Cocktails: many
Days in which cocktails were available: 7

Another great trip!

Location:London

A few days in France

We arrived in Beauvais, a small town about 80km north of Paris on Wednesday night, grabbed the only taxi to be seen and managed to check into our hotel just minutes before it closed for the night. We weren't expecting too much from Beauvais but were pleasantly surprised. We explored the huge cathedral in the centre of town then found a nice little patisserie where we collected our daily quota of croissants and bagettes which we enjoyed for breakfast in the main street of town. We made our way to the train station where we discovered that the next train to Paris was an hour away so we enjoyed a coffee in the sunshine outside a nice little nearby cafe.

Paris was a fairly whirlwind tour for Jill, but it gave her a bit of a chance to practice her French. Thursday afternoon we wandered along the Seine, visited Notre-Dame cathedral, the pantheon and Luxembourg gardens. Thursday night we went out for a nice Parisian dinner.

Friday we had the day to explore. We went to the Eiffel tower, into Musee D'Orsay, the Louvre and attempted to visit a jazz bar at night (they turned out to be much too expensive sadly).

Saturday morning we went up to Sacre Couer before catching the eurostar back to London.



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Location:Beauvais & Paris

Relaxation time

The last few days have been spent doing as little as possible in the Portugese town of Praia de Rocha. We arrived on Saturday after catching a bus and a train from Huelva, Spain.

We checked into our appartment and headed straight out to check out the pool then the beach before going on a mission to find a supermarket to stock up on rum, mint, lemonade (mojito time!) and of course some food.

Sunday we spent the morning at the beach working on our tans and trying to brave the surprisingly chilly ocean. Sunday afternoon consisted of much the same by the pool and Sunday evening we spent drinking cocktails and wandering along the beach.

Monday morning we went for a walk to explore the town fort (which turned out to be a lovely cafe) and along the rocky pier to the lighthouse (well technically it was a channel marker but never mind). Monday afternoon was back to the pool and Monday evening, you guessed it, more mojitos.

Tuesday ,just for a change, we spent the morning at the beach, the afternoon at the pool and the evening drinking cocktails and wandering along the beach.

Today we left Praia de Rocha and caught a train to Faro, a bus to the airport and we are now winging our way over France to Beauvais (a little town just north of Paris).


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Location:Praia de Rocha, Portugal

Sangria in Seville

Arrived in Seville on Tuesday after a three hour bus from Tarifa. Found our hostel, only a block from the Seville cathedral, dumped our bags and went for an explore.

By chance, the spring fair is on at the moment which creates an incredible party atmosphere in the city. Everywhere you look there are women in traditional Spanish floopy dresses and men in fancy suits and wide brimmed hats riding round on horse and carriages. The main festival area is just on the other side of the river. There are thousands of tents set up with tables for tapas and dance floors. Each day the fair kicks off around midday and lasts well into the early hours of the morning. We wandered around the fair, both during the day and at night, experiencing the overload of bright colours and music.

Wednesday evening we caught up with a friend we had met in Morocco and the four of us went out for Tapas. We did surprisingly well considering that we could understand no more than a few words each in the menu. We had some delicious dishes and a good jug of sangria.

Much of the evenings have been spent on the rooftop terrace, admiring our view if the cathedral and drinking mojitos and sangria.

Highlights of the city include the cathedral, plaza de espana, parque de Maria Luisa, the tower where they keep the gold that was 'aquired' from the Americas (torre del oro), the gelato and the riverbank. Yesterday we also spent half a day exploring the royal palace (real alcázar) which was amazing. There was a huge amount of Islamic art, which we understood and appreciated so much more after having been in Morocco. The gardens were spectacular (more like a huge park really) and there were fountains all over the place as well as a little pool with fish in it.

Today we have a few more hours yo explore before we head for the Spanish-portugese border town of Huelva for the night.


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Location:Calle Dos de Mayo,Seville,Spain

Surprise stop in Spain

This morning we got up early to catch the train from Fez to Tangier. We arrived in Tangier at 12.30 and managed to grab a cab to the port, buy tickets, dash through immigration and make it on the 1.15 ferry to Tarifa, Spain.

We arrived in Tarifa at 4pm Spanish time (2pm Morocco time). Our plan was to get a bus to Algecerias and from there to Gibraltar. But first we needed to find Internet to check whether the only hostel in Gibraltar would be able to take us. We wandered around the beautiful little Spanish seaside town and eventually stumbled across the tourist information centre, where we were told to go to bamboo cafe for wifi. Well, we couldn't use their internet without buying something so after a pitcher of sangria and an hour enjoying the sunshine we decided to skip Gibraltar and hang out in Tarifa for the night.

Bamboo cafe - excellent sangria

We found ourselves a very nice hostel and headed to the supermarket so that we could make use of the first kitchen on our trip so far. Chicken salad was on the agenda.

Before dinner we went for a walk along the beautiful beach, admired the hundreds of wind turbines on the hill side and the castle-type fortresses scattered across town. We also enjoyed some delicious gelato before heading back to the hostel.

The beach with the wind turbines on the hill behind

Fortress

Looking back towards Africa

Beautiful town


Tomorrow Jill plans an early morning swim, then free hostel breakfast before we attempt to catch a bus to Seville.

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Location:Tarifa

Two days in Fes

After an 8 hour train journey we arrived in Fes, dodged about 8000 people offering us taxis and started walking to our hotel. Then it rained. A lot. Eventually made it, checked in and ventured out during a break in the rain for a traditional Moroccan dinner of takeaway pizzas, which we enjoyed from the couches of our hotel terrace.

Next day we explored the old town of Fes. Poked around the souks, tried not to get too lost. We had a nice luch on a restaurant terrace, looking down on the bustling medina below. Highlights of the day include the amazing palace walls and the city walls, Brad getting sideswiped by a donkey and Jill getting excited by Astrolabes.

On the way back we stopped at a museum of morrocan culture which had a mixture of art, clothing and instruments. We also peered through the fence of more than one closed park with guards outside to stop us taking photos.

Lowlight of the day was walking across town to find the only supermarket in Fes only to find our instructions were wrong. Found the place eventually and stocked up on food for our epic trip tomorrow. Plan is to catch a train to Tangier, a ferry to Spain then a combination of buses to Gibraltar. Have only the train booked so far, we will see how successful we are tomorrow.

Cool fountain in Fes new town


Stop sign

Gate into the medina


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Location:Fes, Morocco

Morrocan Mountains

Yesterday we went on a day trip excursion to the High Atlas mountains. We were collected from our hostel at 9am and taken into the crazy traffic, through the main square and out onto the open road. The view during the drive was incredible- flat plains in front of us with these huge snow capped mountains in the distance.

Oureka Valley

First stop was a Berber house, nestled in the hillside and made of terracota clay brick. There was a beautiful view of the Oureka valley and we were treated to a traditional Berber breakfast and yet another mint tea ceremony.

Mint tea ceremony

Berber house

From there it was time for our camel ride. We clambered up onto our camels, posed for photos then took them for a walk. Awesome!

Camel ride

Next stop was a dodgy bridge over a river for photos of the mountains then it was off to the waterfall. The walk up the the waterfall was pretty hard going, mainly a result of the huge numbers of tourists trying to do the same thing, but we clambered up and over the rocks and eventually made it. We enjoyed a quiet relax by the waterfall before heading back down and to our lunch stop.

Waterfall


Lunch was at a random resturant in the middle of nowhere. We were seated on a terrace with amazing views up the valley. A huge feast was put on with a morrocan salad starter, couscous, a beef dish and the most amazing chicken tagine, with fresh fruit to finish.

On the way back we had time to "pop in" to see a friend of the tour guide who grew and traded spices. Interesting visit, even if our guide was surprised and disappointed we didn't feel the need to buy anything...

Spice stalls in the Marrakech spice markets

Overall an awesome day, well worth the effort.

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Location:High Atlas Mountains

Made it to Marrakesh

We made it to Marrakesh after a night in the overly orange Easyhotel at the airport and an early morning Ryanair flight. The first thing we were amazed by was the bright terracota airport, followed by some of the slowest immigration officers we've ever encountered.

Our ride to the hostel was waiting for us when we made it through and it was straight into the chaotic Marrakech roads. Brad managed to spot a camel on the way and before we knew it we were drinking mint tea in the courtyard of our hostel.

After a helpful explanation of Marrakesh from the owner (where to go, how much is fair to pay a snake charmer etc) we went out to explore the Medina.

Mosque

Place Jnnaa el Fna is the largest town square in Africa, and was our first stop. It was filled with street market stalls selling fruits and nuts, old ladies doing henna tattoos, snake charmers and the occasional monkey on a chain. After a quick explore we went to the supermarket for food then lay in the sun on our hostels roof top terrace for a few hours.

Markets

One of the many Donkeys

We returned to the Jnnaa el Fna for dinner. At night the square is filled with stalls cooking and selling morrocan food. We shared a Tagine, lamb kebabs and couscous with unidentifed meats. Good food all round.





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Chocolate, Cooking and Cycling in Cambridge

For easter weekend we were lucky enough to have use of Julz and Ollie's appartment in Cambridge. We caught the train up from London on Friday with our bikes and found our way to their appartment. First stop was the nearby ASDA to stock up on ingedients for a weekend of baking (they have an oven and we don't). Friday afternoon/evening was spent making bagels, eating garlic bread and roast lamb.

Saturday we went on a big bike ride through the Cambridge countryside. First we went into town, wandered around the markets, marvelled at the big old buildings of the Cambridge Colleges, and admired the river. Then before we knew it we were out into the country. We made a stop off at the American Cemetary (from world war two), a little village with a church and nothing else, a little village without a pub, and a tiny little village with a pub.

St Marys Church

Narrow streets in Cambridge

The river Cam in Cambridge

Thatched House

The Cambridge countryside

Sunday we went for a ride into town again, and wandered around the pedestrian streets. In the afternoon we cooked up a roast chicken for lunch with some homemade ciabatta bread, and spent the afternoon relaxing and reading our books. We also made chocolate easter bunnies!

Kings College



Easter Bunnies

Today we pottered about in the morning before heading back to London. Back to work tomorrow.

Birthdays, biking & Basel

For Mel's birthday we took an early morning flight to Basel, Switzerland. We arrived to a beautiful, cold blue sky day. After checking into our fancy hotel and collecting our free tram/bus passes we headed to Marktplatz where we saw the incredibly bright red sandstone town hall. We spent the afternoon exploring the town, visiting the Münster (big cathedral) and wandering leisurely along the river Rhine. For Mel's birthday dinner we bought wine, chocolate and kebabs and enjoyed them in our hotel, followed by chocolate birthday cake.

The Rhine

Awesome moving fountain

Saturday we hired bikes and made our way to the French border. After narrowly avoiding the motorway a couple of times we crossed the border into St-Louis where we had a picnic lunch (brad was bitterly dissapointed not to get a stamp when we crossed into the EU). Next up was Germany, which we reached by riding over a bridge over the Rhine. We had afternoon tea in Germany then crossed the border again into Switzerland (still no stamp) and made our way back to the hotel in the snow. For dinner we splashed out and went for Swiss cheese fondue. Yum but soooooo much cheese!

Border crossing: Switzerland to France

Border crossing: France to Germany

Border crossing: Germany to Switzerland

Sunday morning we went to the Anatomy museum at the University. It was quite an impressive exhibition. Following that we went for a walk in the forest that borders Switzerland and Germany, stopping for a picnic lunch by a nice little pond and to skim some stones on the river Weise.

River Weise


Sunday evening we crossed back into France where we stayed in a tiny little village called Blotzheim, close to the airport. The buildings in the village are amazing old stone buildings painted all sorts of bright colours.

Crazy building

All up it was a very relaxing, adventurous and enjoyable birthday weekend.

Budget tip: Hotels.com gets you some amazingly fancy hotels for a very small price.

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Location:Switzerland, France, Germany border