We finally made it to Dubrovnik, the main reason Croatia was added to the bucket list! We arrived by plane and were settled in our new place by the late afternoon. By the evening we had decided to make our way to Grad (Old City) which is walled off from the rest of the city and is the main location for Kings Landing in Game of Thrones. Once we entered the main gate and realized what we had walked into, we decided then and there that we needed to get up early the next morning to beat the crowds. It turned out to be a great decision.
Jesuit Stairs – “Shame. Shame.”
Once the hoards of tourists started to descend into Grad, we started making our way through the skinnier paths and climbed the stairs to some less travelled areas. Much to our surprise we walked into a recreation area with 2 basketball hoops.
One of my favourite things about Rome is the free flowing water fountains they have all around the city. Grad has the same perk! All the fountains are fit for filling your water bottles. It’s ridiculous how much joy these fountains bring me.
That afternoon we toured Fort Lovrijenac, which is located adjacent to the western walls of Grad. The fort is the foundation of the Red Keep in Game of Thrones. It offers some great views of the walled Old City. It’s only missing an iron throne.
Grad (left), Fort Lovrijenac (right)
That evening we hiked to a viewpoint to watch the sunset and have a picnic dinner.
The next morning we got up early again to walk around the top of Grad’s outer walls. It took a couple of hours to walk the entire circuit especially after stopping to take pictures.
We have fallen in love with Dubrovnik and all its beauty. It has definitely met our high expectations and has cracked our top 10 lists of must-see locations. Sadly, we must leave this city and continue north along the Dalmatian Coast. Winter is coming.
It seems like quite a while since we left Bohinj and that’s likely because we have seen so many incredible things since we packed up Twiggy, our rental car, and started our journey back to Croatia.
We only had a couple hours drive ahead of us so we decided to visit one last Slovenian jewel for a lunch stop before we crossed the border.
Predjama Castle is built into the side of the mountain and was an impressive sight to behold. We did not go inside because we really just wanted to see the exterior. Fortunately the parking attendant let us park our car unusually close for 10 minutes so we could take some pictures. We were happy to cash in some travel karma and save ourselves the hike and the potential parking cost which seem to run rampant in Eastern Europe.
We didn’t stay longer than allowed because our next stop was Motovun, Croatia! This mountain top town could be seen from miles away. It looked like it was larger than life but surprisingly took no time at all to explore.
We stayed in the neighbouring town but it was only a 30 minute walk from our door to the top of the mountain. It was shocking how fast we made it to the top.
MotovunGrape leaves in the fallHalfway up the hillView at the top
When we got back to our AirBnB our host’s dog, Pico, was there to great us. He was dealing with some health problems so he was wearing a cone of shame. He didn’t want to talk about it so we didn’t press him for information. Poor little guy.
Pico
Motovun has a few things it’s known for. It is the birthplace of Mario Andretti (and his twin brother), is a gastronomy Mecca, and is one of the few places in the world where truffles thrive in Istria’s micro-climate. With that in mind we raced to book ourselves a table to a 4 course meal that evening. The food was spectacular, though we ate way too much, and the view of the sunset over the Moran River Valley was breathtaking.
Scallops on a bed of mushroomsPistachio GazpachoMushroom soupPasta, pan fried with Istrian sausageGluten free truffle pastaFilet mignonCrème brûléeRaspberry panna cotta
The next day we embarked on a truffle hunt! We made our way to Karlić Tartufi, in Paladini where we got to meet the dogs they use for the “hunt”. We learned that female dogs were the preferred dog to use for a hunt because male dogs cannot focus as easily. Neutering is not a common practice in the area so male dogs tend to have the ladies on their minds. We also learned that pigs are no longer used to truffle hunt. The animals are all trained to start digging for the truffles but pigs are harder to call off. If a truffle is scratched at all the value of it can decrease by 90%. There are two types of truffles, black and white. Black truffles will fetch you up to €700/kg while white truffles are valued at €10,000/kg.
We went about a minute down the road to where the truffle treasures were hiding. The dogs would lead, sniffing the ground as they went. Once they start digging in a spot, the hunter would call them off and carefully dig around the area to extract the truffle.
The hunt begins!Dalma and LilyDalma ended up peeing hereLily, post hunt
We went about 3 trees deep before the dogs found something. The hunter immediately dug up a black truffle, but it was not a good one. Too soft, but man was it exciting to find something! DawnO later told me she thought it was set up for the tour. She was probably right.
After the hunt, which only lasted about an hour, we made our way back to the truffle shop where we were treated to a meal of truffle infused dishes. We were invited to watch the owner cook the meals all while teaching us about their family owned and operated business. They ship their truffles all over the world and make quite a profit off the sales. Next to saffron it’s the highest priced food. Though because you need to use more of it while cooking, technically it is the most expensive food per dish.
CharcuterieTruffled scrambled eggsDoughnut holes with truffled Nutella
I can safely say that I’m a truffle fan! We may have bought some truffle powder to put on our Canadian eggs once we are home.
In keeping with our dog theme, next we head to the Dalmatian Coast. First stop, Dubrovnik!
I think it’s fair to say that between the two of us, I have a much shorter list of countries I must see. New Zealand and Jordan (Petra), were on that list. This time, Croatia is the destination of choice. I confess, I’m not a complicated guy. If you were to peruse my list of must-do countries, you’ll likely notice a theme. They all have been featured in some movie or tv show that made an impression on me. Game of Thrones is what cemented Croatia to my list as its beautiful scenery was featured throughout the series. When we booked this trip we also decided to check out the neighbouring country of Slovenia. In our first few days we have visited the Capital cities of each country and I’m pleased to tell you that both are worth the trip.
We touched down in Zagreb, the Croatian capital and only had a couple of days to tour around the city and see what it had to offer. It had a familiar Eastern European feel to it that reminded me of places like Krakow, Budapest and Bratislava. The city feels like it has evolved through the centuries with each era leaving its mark. There are cathedrals, statues of liberators, graffitied murals and what I can only describe as a Soviet aftertaste.
Outdoor chapel
One of the city’s main attractions is to gather near the base of Lotrščak Tower at noon. Every day at precisely 12 o’clock a cannon is fired from the top floor of the medieval defence tower. You can feel the shockwave when it goes off, and if you aren’t covering your ears, they will definitely be ringing until 12:02.
Lotrščak Tower
After visiting the tower, we descended back down to the city centre and happened upon a tunnel that warranted a closer inspection. The entrance was at a dilapidated park that looked like it was transplanted from Chernobyl. We could hear some creepy music coming out of rickety speakers deep inside the tunnel. For some reason both of us were compelled to investigate, though each step we took felt like a mistake.
The Entrance
Once our eyes adjusted to the light we could see something ahead of us, which turned out to be public toilets and a water fountain that had seen better days. Did we turn around? Not a chance…
Eventually we turned a corner and were in the middle of a literal underground art gallery.
We made it out alive and finished off our walking tour before returning to our AirBnB.
The next morning we picked up our rental car (Twiggy), and drove 1.5 hours to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. This city took us by surprise! We spent the entire two days we were there taking photographs of anything and everything. It was the kind of place where you could swing your camera around your head letting it snap away and you’d never get a bad picture.
Our AirBnB in Old TownRefreshment
Nighttime was equally stunning.
Day two had us hiking up to Ljubljana Castle for a bird’s eye view of the Capital. The Castle also has a few attractions like a 4D movie about the Castle’s history, a gallery of medieval weapons, and a puppet museum, which was slightly creepy but ultimately amusing.
Tower StairwellCastle GroundsTower view
That afternoon we walked to an old converted military barracks which is now an Autonomous Cultural Centre. I wasn’t sure what that meant before we went there and I would have never guessed what it actually was. From what we surmised, it was an outdoor venue for nighttime shenanigans. There were posters advertising live music events but we were likely to be in bed long before the fun began.
Both cities were impressive but I have to give Ljubljana the edge for my favourite of the two. We will be seeing more of Slovenia before we head back to Croatia. Stay tuned for Lake Bled and truffle hunting!
Our last few remaining days on the Northern Island of New Zealand were spent in Hamilton, which has a few nearby attractions that are definite must sees. The first is the Waitomo Glowworm Caves which we made sure to visit on our drive up from Taupō. We had booked a tour as it was the only way to get to see the bioluminescent cave dwellers. We lucked out a bit because a big chunk of our tour group was delayed and had to reschedule which meant we had a much smaller group!
When we got near to the cave’s entrance, our guide knelt down by the creek and asked if we wanted to see the eels. As he did, a few eels started swimming right to him and he was handling them like they were domesticated. It was fascinating and creepy all at once. He then gave us the opportunity to feed them some Spam off of a popsicle stick. DawnO felt like she needed to give it a go and I was more than happy to take the pictures from a distance. She got to touch one and said it was slimier than she expected. That validated my decision to hang back.
Next up was the main event! We walked into the cave and once our eyes adjusted to the darkness we could see thousands of glow worms on the ceiling of the cave. Apparently they aren’t worms at all, but maggots. Our guide said that fact doesn’t help sell a lot of tickets so they stick to calling them glowworms instead. They are quite a long creature and just the tip of their tails glow. This light lures their prey into sticky threads that hang down from the cave. Once a bug flies into one of these threads, it’s dinner time!
We eventually made our way to a waterway where we took a raft deeper into the cave with the ceiling lit up with thousands of glowworms. Unfortunately we weren’t able to capture very good images as we would have required a tripod so I have found one from the web that shows what we experienced.
After our tour we continued to Hamilton and got settled in to our new accommodations. The next day we decided to tour Hamilton Gardens, another popular attraction. This was a large park and featured different gardens from around the world. We were both quite impressed with the accuracy of a lot of the countries. We actually felt like we were walking through India, Italy, and Japan. Most plants were authentic, but they did have a few fake ones so they could make it through the New Zealand winters. One of the more fun gardens was the ‘surreal garden’ which drew its inspiration from Alice in Wonderland.
Last on our attractions checklist was a big one for me. We booked ourselves a tour of Hobbiton from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies.
You’ll have to excuse DawnO’s lack of enthusiasm in the above picture. You see we have a bit of history with the Lord of the Rings films. She has trauma from when I force fed her the Extended editions of these movies in the early days of our relationship. She has actually said the following words when asked if she wants to watch a LOTR film, “I would rather jump into Mt Doom and end myself.” So now, if ever I plan a date night that I’m afraid might be a bit lame I’ll give her a choice between that or a movie night featuring Lord of the Rings. It always makes the lame option look a bit more appealing. Anyway, back to Middle Earth…
Hobbiton was originally build in 1999 out of cheap movie set materials and was never meant to be a permanent fixture in the NZ countryside. Once the filming of the first trilogy was completed, the land was returned to its natural hobbitless state. When they rebuilt Hobbiton for the Hobbit trilogy, they realized that they had an opportunity to make some serious tourist dollars so they made the town exactly as before, but with quality materials. They have a full time staff gardening and manicuring the set which pumps hundreds of tourists through a day. Walking through it was really quite cool. I estimate we saw around 30-40 hobbit holes which were just exteriors. The hobbit holes were built to different scales to achieve the forced perspective trickery in the films. (For more information I suggest you watch the 300 million hours of behind the scenes docs that come with the extended editions of the original trilogy. Your significant other will love it).
Bag End
Next we got to go into a hobbit hole which was a relatively new attraction. The interior shots in the movies were not done on this set but they built movie realistic interiors to 2 of their holes. It really added to the tour to get to see the interior.
Lastly we all headed over the bridge past the mill to the Green Dragon Inn for an ale, which was very tasty!
All-in-all, DawnO was happy with the tour. She was even happier we didn’t pay for the extended edition.
On my 47th birthday we left Australia and touched down in Auckland, New Zealand. This happens to be the 47th country I have visited! New Zealand is one of the few countries I have had on my bucket list since the beginning of our travels. I have heard it said that it is like a miniature version of Canada with its vast array of picturesque landscapes. If you have seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies you’ve seen what NZ has to offer.
Auckland didn’t disappoint. We were both quite taken with this laidback city. With most large international cities it’s usually a guarantee that at least one if not all five of your senses will be violated. I think this is one of the few cities to not do that. In fact, DawnO commented right away how lovely the air smelled. Happy birthday to me.
One of the things I like to do on my big day is get myself my free Starbucks drink (last talked about in our Seattle blog). I figured it wouldn’t work over here but DawnO convinced me to at least ask the question. As I feared, the answer was “No,” but was then followed up with “but I can just make you a free drink anyway. What would you like?” Points to Auckland.
We stayed at a lovely AirBnB that was in a kitschy neighbourhood and we were a block from a metro station so we explored near and far. Highlights include hiking up to one of the 53 dormant volcanoes in and around the city, walking around the main harbour, and dining at the Indian/Mexican fusion restaurant in our area for dinner.
Butter Chicken Taco & Paneer Quesadilla
Our last full day in Auckland was Waitangi Day, which is New Zealand’s annual national celebration. We made sure to attend one of the many festivals taking place in parks across the city. Though it wasn’t as flashy as the Australia Day celebration we attended in Sydney, it was still great to enjoy some live music outdoors.
We have rented a car and started our journey across the northern island of NZ, first stopping in Cooks Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula. This small village is close to some must-visit destinations including Cathedral Cove. This morning we got up early to view the sunrise and beat the crowds to the beach. It was definitely worth the 5:50am wake-up call.
Cooks Beach
After the throngs of people started showing up we headed to the next must-see destination ready to dig a hole in the beach! Hot Water Beach is the spot to go if you’re looking to soak in a natural hot tub. All you need to do is start digging in the sand where natural hot springs will seep their way through the sand to fill it. Be careful though, if you pick the wrong spot, you could burn yourself in the 64C water. We spent a lot of time walking through the maze of holes and people digging until we finally found the “Goldilocks” spot that we could lay in.
Tomorrow we pack up our rental car and continue exploring the north island. I can’t wait to see what else NZ has in store.
This week found us on the island of Tasmania, the south eastern island off of mainland Australia. The first order of business was to recall my Scottish lessons of driving on the left hand side of the road. This time there was no stick shift so it would have been a walk in the park. Well, I don’t know if it was just my KIA, or all Australian vehicles, but I immediately found out that the signal light lever and windshield wiper lever are on the opposite sides. As I pulled away from the curb the wipers were awkwardly squealing over the driest pane of glass in the southern hemisphere. This manoeuvre is rumoured to be known as a “Canadian Salute”. I’m glad I can contribute to the stereotype.
Regardless, we were off to Swansea, a small seaside town that had a lot of charm, beautiful beaches and was near Freycinet National Park which is home to Wineglass Bay, which DawnO was excited to hike.
Wineglass Bay was a scenic 4 hour trek that was definitely worth the steps.
We made our way back to Hobart to return our car, but not before I found an iced coffee truck to refuel my weary bones.
We spent a couple of days in the Tasmanian capital, Hobart, and both found we were reminded of Victoria, BC. It is a laidback, artsy city that had a really relaxing vibe to it. Our first night found us at a park where we enjoyed some live music and had our pick of over a dozen local food tents. We even ran into someone we met in Mexico during our day of the dead trip last October. What a small world.
We left Tassie on a jet plane bound for Sydney. Little did we know that it happened to be Australia Day. Imagine our surprise when I looked up “things to do tonight” and a national party was about to be unfolding 3 metro stops away from our hotel.
They were filming a national celebration at the Opera House going out live across the country with bands, aerial displays and fireworks. They even had choreographed water cannons going off in the bay. We were in the middle of it all watching on one of the several big screens they had showing the broadcast. It was quite a spectacle.
The next morning we decided to do a walking tour of the area which included walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. In the afternoon, we took a ferry to Manly Wharf which meant would pass by the Opera House and see it from a different angle.
Today was forecasted to be 39 degrees so we decided to head to Bondi beach to soak up the sun and jump in the South Pacific waters.
Tomorrow we head to Brisbane where we will get to reconnect with a friend who volunteered with us way back when we lived in Guyana!
Fun fact: Before we left Canada 4 days ago, DawnO had visited 10 more countries than I have. However, I have gained some ground and can proudly say that visiting Singapore cuts that number down to 9!
We have begun a 2 month travel extravaganza that will see the bulk of our time split between Australia and New Zealand. But first, we made a quick stopover in Singapore so DawnO could show me a country she thought I would really enjoy. “Asia-lite” she called it. Basically it boasts all the benefits of Asia but adopts a lot of western comforts that I definitely appreciate while traveling. For example, no squat toilets.
After we landed we made our way by subway to our neighbourhood. A sign on posted in the train car catches my eye.
The fact that the authorities share my disdain for Durian means we are off to a good start, Singapore.
If you read DawnO’s blog from when she was here on her own this might look a bit familiar. She took me to all the sites she enjoyed, and we even stayed in the same capsule hotel in Chinatown, only this time we got a capsule big enough for 2.
Our first day included a walk around our area to get our bearings and more importantly, conquer our jet lag. We found a great place to eat called the Maxwell Hawker Centre which checked off the 3 things we look for when deciding where to eat: Reasonable prices, steaming food, and packed with locals.
I also got my first glimpse of the Marina Bay Sands hotel and the Supertree Grove at the Gardens by the Bay.
The next 2 nights were spent at the Gardens where we toured the vast grounds and watched the trees come to life with lights.
All-in-all DawnO was right. I am definitely a fan of Singapore!
We are about to fly to Australia, but first we are waiting at the Singapore airport which has a supermall attached to it with an indoor waterfall, movie theatre and pool area. What a country!
DawnO and I decided to hop a flight to Mexico for the Dia de los Muertos celebration! But a key part of our trip was a layover in Houston to visit my cousin Byron and stop at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Manny’s for a couple of slushie margaritas.
With that pre-game ritual completed, it was time to fly to Oaxaca and get into the thick of the Dia de los Muertos celebrations which were already underway. This festival is technically from October 31- November 2, but we arrived on October 27 to parades, fiestas, and face-painted locos.
We got a recommendation to go to “smoke alley” in one of the markets and decided to test it out as our lunch option. We walked through a smoke filled hall with meat displayed in kiosks on either side of us each with piping hot grills ready to cook the meat. Once we made our choice we were shepherded to the lady who sold the fresh corn tortillas while our meat was on the grill. Then it was off to the tables where we picked our choice of fillings… guacamole, fresh limes and salsa, por favour!
The following day we had arranged to take a bike tour to El Tule, home of the widest tree in the world. This tree is a cypress that is over 2,000 years old. At its widest, it’s 16 meters in diameter. They expect it to continue to grow for another 1,000 years!
The next day DawnO had booked us a temazcal on the outskirts of Oaxaca, so we had to figure out the collectivo (basically a shared taxi) system. We were up to the challenge and made it to our temazcal with time to spare. What is it exactly? It’s basically a sauna that begins with a ceremony and uses natural plants and herbs that is meant to restore your health. After all the Manny’s margaritas, I was due for an upgrade to my immune system.
Sauna pre-hot rocks, humans and steam
I didn’t last for the entire time as I reached my limit before the final round of steam. DawnO, of course, loved every second of it.
That evening we did some people watching and discovered that it was quite normal for kids to dress up, lay down in the middle of the street and play dead, while tourists would fill their Halloween-style pails with pesos.
Today we checked off something from our bucket list. We got our faces painted like skulls and walked around Oaxaca taking pictures with all the colourful backgrounds and murals this city has to offer. We made sure we picked our makeup artists carefully, as there are many lining the streets trying to vie for business. We were more than happy with how it turned out.
Tonight we are back out on the town as the party heats up! We’ve got our makeup on, and we’re ready to blend in with the rest of the dead!
I’m going to try something a bit different with this blog entry. DawnO and I are in Scotland for the next two weeks and starting tomorrow we will be staying at an AirBnB that is above a book shop. We will also be running that bookshop while we stay there. We fly in and out of Edinburgh so in the spirit of the adventure I’d write about Edinburgh twice, but in one blog, “bookending” our trip!
Book/
We landed in Edinburgh yesterday and found our way to our home neighborhood of Portobello by double decker bus. We spent some time getting acquainted with our area which includes a beach!
After fighting some jet lag we decided to go to bed by 8pm and get ready to attack day 2!
We packed our lunch and made our way to a trendy part of town called Stockbridge. We walked through the charming streets and found a coffee-bike at one of the viewpoints. That’s right, it’s a mobile coffee franchise.
We eventually found Stockbridge Market where we were greeted by a tent dedicated to cooking the largest paella we had ever seen!
Our packed lunch didn’t stand a chance…
St. Bernard’s Well
To finish off the afternoon we decided to hike up to the top of Arther’s Seat which provided a stunning view of Edinburgh and the North Sea inlet!
/End
We have returned back to Edinburgh 12 days after leaving it for Wigtown. I managed to return our rental car and get the full deposit back!
This time we stayed a little closer to High Street which is the Main Street in Old Town. At the end of high street you will find Edinburgh Castle, which was sold out for visitors today.
Scott MonumentWaverley BridgeEdinburgh Castle from belowHigh Street/Royal Mile
The second half of our day consisted mostly of sports viewing. We watched the men’s Wimbledon final, DawnO went for another hike near Arthur’s Seat, and then we went to a brewery not too far from our place and watched the EUFA EURO final. Surprisingly, the crowd was split down the middle on who to cheer for even though we had heard that Spain would be the Scottish pick. Regardless, it was a good day for Spain as Alcaraz won the Wimbledon title and Spain were Euro champions!
Tomorrow we make our way home! It has been a great couple of weeks in Scotland, and Edinburgh has definitely been a highlight.
Gather ‘round, my friends, for a tale full of adventure and dare I say, magic? Our main quest was to lay a 21 year old travel regret to rest…
Our journey began on the isle of Mull, where we drove our noble steed “Fifi” the Fiat towards Loch Ness. By lunchtime we had reached our first stop, the burial site of Albus Dumbledore.
Next, we made our way to Glenfinnan where we joined 30 other “Potter Spotters” above the Glenfinnan Viaduct and awaited a steam train bound for platform 9-3/4.
We broke away from the rest of the trainspotting muggles and continued to our AirBnB in Kirkhill to rest our weary heads. In the morning, we would set out to right a travel wrong…
In the year twenty and O-three, a much less seasoned traveller known as “DawnB” ventured to these very same parts of Scotland. Though she was usually quite clever, one fateful day she made a foolish miscalculation. She squandered her daily budget on a tunic instead of paying for passage out into the murky waters of Loch Ness. It was said that a monster inhabited the deep dark waters and DawnB had always wondered if she could have spotted the elusive creature when so few could. This is something that has plagued her memory for 21 years.
The next morning after second breakfast we made our way to the town of Drumnadrochit where we had pre-arranged a voyage into the great loch. With some time to kill we wandered the town and came across some magical creatures.
Majestic hornless unicornNot actually Nessie
The time had arrived. We met our boat captain who was a bit of an odd character. He spoke with a strange but charming diction. He tended to repeat the beginning of his sentence at the end of his sentence. For example, he told us, “It is going to be a great day on the Loch, it is.” Apparently they had to cancel the previous day’s sailings, they did, due to poor weather and rough conditions. We set off on the “Nessie Hunter”, bound and determined to find a monster.
We searched long and hard for a glimpse of the beast. However, our tour came to an end with us coming up empty handed. As we approached the dock, DawnO turned around to take one final shot of the Loch… the following picture has not been altered. We only recently discovered it as we were writing this blog. Here’s what she captured:
