Dubrovnik

One of my favourite places so far. Yes its touristy, and yes its getting pricey, but theres something about the place which I think is above that.

The old town is set right on the water, and a highlight of the stay there was a walk around the city walls, which cost about 5 pounds, and was truly worth it. You not only get amazing views of the city, but of small Lokrum Island close by and the rest of the coastline. It took about an hour to walk around, and a sign of my complete lack of fitness, was when I suffered crippling cramps in my quads on the descent. Too many kebabs and not enough exercise on this trip.

The night life was interesting. We hit a Latin Club, Fuego, which didn't seem to have anything Latin in it, but was fun for a laugh all the same. Being served some weird liquor that was 80 percent alcohol is something I wont soon forget. The club was filled with Contiki people too, which on this occasion was not a good thing.

I copped probably the most cutting rejection of my life on approaching two Irish girls at the club..."You are not Owen Wilson!" apparently Owen Wilson had been in the club the night before, and these two didn't wanna know about anyone else. Ouch!

Lokrum Island was pretty cool. Theres an old tower that was bombed back in 91 that has been left as scrap, which gives you a good idea of how this town was hit during that war. Theres also a naturist beach....if you are into that kind of thing.

Met a good group of people at Dubrovnik which had a lot to do with the set up of the Hostel, as it had a good outdoor communal area, which also doubled as the breakfast dining area. Within ěé minutes of arriving I had found a fun group of people to drink with and talk to, which ensured for 4 good nights.

that'ss about the only good thing I will say about the hostel though, which does happen to be the only one in town. The 3am curfew is a pain the butt, but can be overcome with somelaterall thinking....The breakfast was also very ordinary, and Ill bedammedd if the breakkie ladywasn'tt the most miserable woman in the world!

There were someawesomee beaches in Dubrovnik, none with sand of course!

We happened to be there at the time of a film festival with the most perfect setting I have ever seen - the tower of the old town walls. It made up for the crappy movie (13 about a guy being forced into a Russian Roulette contest....).

One thing I noticed in Dubrovnik, was that there were a lot of Irish around, and a couple of half decent Irish Bars. On one night, we went along to one of these with some people from the hostel, including two Irish Lads. The place was a little quiet, so with a little coaxing, we got one of the lads to start singing some traditional Irish songs, something he does professionally. The rest of the Irish in the place started joining in, and then making requests, and despite the owners turning the lights off to try and get us to leave, the singing kept going. Gotta love that.

A funny thing that happened while in Dubrovnik, a couple, also Irish, put a notice on the board in the hostel trying to sell their 95 Volvo which they had driven from Ireland to Dubrovnik. The price.... 1 Euro - or nearest offer! Texas lad Steve took them up on this, and after buying them a round of drinks, he had himself a new car, which he drove back to his current residence of Germany.

My final thoughts on Dubrovnik though are that if anyone gets a chance, they should give it a try, as its simply a stunning place.

Split

Heading further down the Croatian coast, I came to Split. Split is actually quite a large city, and while there are a lot of tourists around, there are also plenty of locals, which give it that authentic feel.

I couldn't find a hostel in Split, so I did what lonely plant suggested and went with the private accommodation. What this involves, is basically getting off the bus, then trying to get the best deal for a room from the dozens of old lady's that rent out one or more of their bedrooms. The place that I ended up going to had three rooms being rented out, while the owner and her daughter slept in the lounge room. It was quite costly at 15 pounds a night, but to get my own very nice room was good for a change, even if the middle man who sold me the room thought I was from Austria.

The palace was just a minute walk from my apartment, so it was very convenient. While its called a palace, its very similar to some other walled old towns throughout Europe, but seemed to be kept in good condition.

I realised how much of a Brit I have turned into when I found a bar one night showing a champions league match between Dynamo Zagreb and Aresenal. It was good though, to see things are the same in every country, with the locals from Split wanting Zagreb to lose, which they did.

Split has one of the weirdest beaches I have seen on my trip so far. Its not sand, its not pebbles...its almost dirt. The water is also very shallow out to about 100 metres out, which I guess is good for kids.

The night life seems to be solid, with everyone getting very dressed up and hitting the fashionable cafes and bars along the shore. Didn't get to experience much of it, but it looked like fun.

Zadar
After several nights in Pula, Dan headed back to Slovenia to get some hiking done, while me, being the lazy bastard, decided to head further down the Croatian coast to Zadar, a 5 hour bus ride away.

Zadar was somewhat quieter then I expected from a reasonable size city, but the old town was quite impressive.

The hostel was out towards the tourist colony of Birek about 10 minutes on the bus from town. The people who ran the hostel were very nice and due to the place being almost empty, I ended up with a 6 bed dorm, with bathroom all to myself. Score. The only problem with this hostel was that on the first night I was there, there was almost nobody who spoke English. This resulted in me sitting by myself watching Major Pain....oh the fun. The second evening was far livelier however. As I returned from seeing the town I saw a Contiki bus outside of the hostel, so at least I had people to talk to.

I spent much of my time in Zadar on the beach enjoying the sun. There was a beach and restaurant complex near the hostel that you have to pay to go in. Having snuck in a back way all I can say is the free beaches are infinitely better, so theres no need to waste any money.

Pula
The next stop on the trip was meant to be Zadar in Croatia, however due to lack of planning, Dan and I couldn't get a bus or train there until the day after we needed, so we found a town in the north of Croatia, Pula, to head to instead. Greg decided to head inland to Zagreb, while I was looking forward to hitting the coast, after 7 months in Scotland.

As would become typical on our trip, we got lost finding the hostel, but when we got there it was worth it. It was the HI hostel listed in the lonely planet, and it has a good set up. It has a nice outdoor bar, reasonable rooms and even camping room for those on extreme budgets. It also has a pebble beach just metres from the bar which is so very convenient.

In the town of Pula there is a first century amphitheatre which is every bit as impressive as the far more famous Roman coliseum, but that is pretty much it as far as sights. The night was a little hard to find, however the club we found which turned out to be near the hostel was very lively and didn't seem to have many tourists which is good.

Lake Bled

A day trip from Ljubljana is Lake Bled, just an hour or two on the bus from town. There isnt a lot to do there, but the lake itself is amazing. Theres an island in the middle with an old church type building, while the castle overlooks the lake from a hilltop.

Now this would be an incredibly romantic setting for anyone, but unfortunately I was stuck there with Greg and Dan. Not exactly my cup of tea!

The place was clearly a favourite among the Brits, as there was a very traditional Slovenian pub there called, er.....the George Best Bar.

I could see this being a place to come and relax for a few days, but dont expect too much excitement!

Ljubljana
The first stop on my Eastern European trip was the capital of Slovenia and it was a very beautiful city, although the four nights that I stayed there may have overdone the stay a touch. I was joined there by Dan and Greg who I met in Edinburgh.

I stayed at Hostel Celicia which is a former prison, and in a dodgey looking area of town, but it was a very class type of hostel. It cost around 17 euro a night, but it included an all you can eat type breakkie which ran until 11am.

It is also very close to a series of bars that weren't actually open when we visited, as they only run from Thursday to Saturday. One of the highlights had to be though, the guy asleep in the car without wheels sitting on the nature strip.

Ljubljana Castle is probably the worlds worst castle, partially due to the 70s cafe near the top, however the view from the tower over the city is quite impressive.

Slovenian prices aren't as cheap as you expect either, and are probably somewhere between Eastern and Western Europe in many regards.

Edinburgh During the World Cup

Having recently gotten into "the world game" living in the UK, I was really looking forward to being in the UK for its biggest showpeice, the World Cup.

I warmed up by watching a lot of matches on TV, including my newly adoped favourite team Middlesborough FC in the English Premier League. When they played in the UEFA Cup, I watched them in both the quarter finals and semi finals come back from 3 goal defecits to win games in spectacular fashion. From then I was hooked.

With Australia in the world cup this time round, it would also give added spice to my viewing.

My flatmate and I headed out to the home of Hibernians (Scottish Premier League team) to watch a warm up match between South Korea and Ghana, which really got us in the World Cup spirit.

When Australia's first match came around, I took the afternoon off work, and headed to the Globe where we sat with a small crowd (most people were at the walkabout) to watch Australias come from behind win over Japan. What an amazing 10 minutes of sport. Until Cahil scored that goal I was thinking "well ok, we have done well to be here" but after that little spurt I started to think, we DESERVE to be here.

After the Brazil hiccup, which I actually watched in Ireland, the Croatia match was shaping as the decider as to whether we made the next round. Again I headed for the Globe, which being a night game, this time was pumping full of Aussies and other backpackers. That was the good thing about living in a backpacker community during the cup, as we pretty much knew someone from every country taking part, so every night there was a reason to head out...made for an interesting month at work!

The Croatia match was one of the most bizzare football matches I have ever seen. From Kalic's poor effort, to the Croation guy getting booked three times, but in the end, Harry's goal sent us into the next round, and we partied....HARD!

The match against Italy was probably Australia's biggest sporting moment of all time. And that decision...ok he shouldnt have gone off his feet....but that wasnt a penalty. Lucas Neil we dont blame ya! That has to be about as upset as I have been after a sporting loss, and in Edinburgh we drowned our sorrows.

From then on, we death rode the Italians, which of course didnt work - damn Zidane!!

In spite of the controversy, I will admit, it was by far my favourite world cup of all time. I only hope SAF 2010 delivers as much!

Edinburgh - Things to Do, places to Drink

I will admit, I'm a terrible tourist. There are two things people generally do when in Edinburgh - The Castle, and Arthurs Seat. I once went half way up Arthurs Seat (we had a picnic and I couldnt be bothered going the rest of the way) but never even got close to doing the castle.

If there is one thing Edinburgh isnt short of, its places to drink, and this was responsible for much of my time in the city.

Grassmarket
Area right behind the castle with several pubs generally aimed at tourists, including the huge stag and hens night trade. Bar Salsa was among the first places I went to in this area as most of the staff lived at the Castle Rock. It looked dingey and nasty and was always far too hot, but the drinks were cheap (3 quid for a double JD and coke) just dont drink the beer!

Just up the street was a club we visited too many times, Espionage. The reason for this was that there were five floors, it was open till 3 and there was no cover, but this never seemed to make up for the fact the drinks are over priced and its a sausage fest. Not a place I would recomend.

Whistle Binkies was a semi decent place, but only on weekends when the 4 quid cover doesnt apply. We had SOME good nights there, but mostly bad ones. Can really depend on what the live music is like. Open mike nights can be good, but again, on the whole it was overpriced.

The Cowgate
A little further along from the Grassmarket is the Cowgate with more pubs and clubs, but tend to be even seadier. The Three Sisters is possibly the most fanous place in town, and when a good crowd is in it provides good atmostphere with its large beer garden, but again the drinks are a little much.
Siglo is another peice of fools gold. Open late with no cover but just plain wrong! Friends of mine (not naming names!) have had incidents there involving one girl with dark brown teeth, while another chatted to one lass for a long time thinking he was going well until it was pointed out to him (by yours truly) that the lady in question was at least 6-7 months pregnant. That place was since blacklisted. Do not go there.
Dropkick Murphys - not a bad Irish Bar behind the Cowgate which we frequented for a few months. Reasonable drink prices and a good crowd sort of helped overcome the bad music.

Rose Street
In the new town, Rose street is a strip of 3 blocks which has no less than 18 places to get a drink. On one night in my final week we decided to do the "Rose Street Challenge" and attempt to drink at least one drink in each pub....we failed miserably and many of us - including myself had to work the next day. Points for trying though hey?

Others
The Globe - Backpacker Bar that had plenty of cheap drinks and some good weeknight fun. A quality Quiz on Monday nights, Team drinking challenge Tuesday nights and Karaoke Thursday Nights. This was probably our most frequented establishment in my time, but really not for weekends.
Walkabout - Like any other "Aussie" bar, we tended to try and stay clear, but on some occassions, like Aussie day and Anzac Day it was the place to be.
Tron - Overheated and crowded but on a Wednesday night its drinks for 1 pound.

Edinburgh

After everyone else went back to London or other places after Hogmanay, I set about finding a job and somewhere to live here in Edinburgh. For the first three weeks, I continued to stay at the Castle Rock Hostel, where we had stayed for Hogmanay. If I was ever going to live in a hostel, this would be it, as it is set up perfectly for part timers, and the large lounges make it easy to meet new people, something awesome when travelling by yourself.

I did however want to get a place of my own, so I hit the Gum Tree and searched the listings. Eventually I found a place that looked promising and despite its VERY small size, I decided to move in. I had one flatmate who was English, while the other was Scottish, and both students. It turned out to be a great place to live, as both flatmates were great people, both AS flatmates and as drinking partners. And also because it was so small (lets face it, it was a cupboard!) it was also cheap, enabling me to save money for my future travels.

Once that was lined up, I also managed to get myself a job, with a company called Mellon European Funds Management, which basically dealt in Investment Products on behalf of all the major financial institutions in the UK. While I was assured it was not a call centre I was going into, that was the only way one could describe my job. And do you think I could handle all the different Brittish accents over the phone? Eventually my three months contract there expired and it was looking like I needed to find a new job, but at the last minute was asked if I wanted to join the complaints team downstairs for a while. Once assured this was NOT a job where I would have to speak to ANYONE on the phone, I said yes, and stayed in that position until the end of July, when I eventually left Edinburgh.

I met a lot of really cool people in Edinburgh. While you dont go to the other side of the world to hang out with people from around the corner, its kinda cool when it happens. Many of my good friends were from Melbourne, while there were plenty of other Aussies and Kiwis. After that though, by far the biggest group was actually Canadians, be it Quebecers or otherwise. I organised to travel through Eastern Europe with Dan and Greg, while made plans to catch up with Kim when I move to Ireland next year. I also hope to see all of the Canadians when I head over there in 2008.