Josh and Karen's Gap Year

Italy 15/09/16 - 16/10/16

joshandkaren — Wed, 2 Nov 2016 07:32:00 GMT

Our Italian adventure started slowly with our overnight ferry pulling into Brindisi port 2 hours late. Our workaway host was very generous and offered to pick us up from the port but once on the ferry we had no way to contact him to let him know of the delay. So much for making a good first impression! David, our host was very understanding and we were soon on our way to our home for the next couple of weeks.

The property was located in the Puglia region just outside the town of Ostuni. Our hosts were David and Leonie, an English couple who had established a holiday retreat for artists in a restored ancient olive grove. They had featured on the program, "Grand Designs" - watching it gave us a real appreciation for what they had accomplished in building their guest accommodation in the old Roman style. In return for working for a few hours a day, we had a simple chalet surrounded by ancient olive trees to live in and were provided with food. The work was simple enough: clean up jobs after a flash flood, gardening work like laying gravel on paths that had been washed away, cleaning guests rooms and waiting on their guests at dinner time. We were lucky enough to get some of our meals cooked by Leonie too - she's a fabulous cook and has really embraced Italian-style cooking. We didn't need much dinner after our three course lunches! We were also lucky to have use of the van and bikes so we could explore the old town of Ostuni with its twisting cobbled lanes and whitewashed buildings and the nearby beaches.

It was hard to leave the masseria but we said our goodbyes and headed to Naples with Flixbus, a much cheaper option than the train at only 5 euro. We had nice views over the city from our hotel, but soon discovered that Naples looks better from a distance - the streets were dirty and overrun with traffic. We had heard that Naples was the home of the best pizza in the world so we braved the streets and dodged all the eight year olds on scooters to find a nice little restaurant. The pizza was really good, but the best in the world....???? I don't know.... We spent the remainder of the evening walking the narrow streets and exploring some of the plazas and churches. I'm sure Naples has a lot more to offer but we were content with our one evening here.

The next morning we headed off on a short train ride to Herculaneum, a Roman town similar to Pompeii that had also been well preserved after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius 2000 years ago. We had always planned to visit Pompeii but had never even heard of Herculaneum until our workaway hosts told us about it. After some quick research thanks to google images we decided it was definitely worth making time for. We could see a lot of the town for free from the elevated walkway that leads you to the ticket office so we had a quick think about whether or not the admission price was worth it. We decided to stop being stingy for once and are glad we did, the town was small but beautifully preserved, with lots of still-whole buildings that you can walk through with beautiful frescos on the walls.

We then headed forth to Pompeii, where we tried to cram the second site into the same day. Probably a bad choice because we were pressed for time to see the whole site, which was massive, before it got dark. One of the big drawcards for us and one thing that Herculaneum didn't have was the casts of the human victims, a bit morbid but something we were really interested in seeing. We used Rick Steve's audio guide to make our way around the site but a few of the highlights were closed for maintenance and the casts of the bodies had since been moved to a different location. We spent lots of time walking in circles trying to find alternative routes around all the fenced off areas, but the light was fading and we still couldn't find the bodies. After finally finding someone that spoke a little English we found out that the display of the bodies is actually right at one of the exits of the site, a long way from where we were. It was getting darker and darker and we were jogging through the ancient streets of Pompeii, not being able to properly take in this whole other section of the site that we realised we had missed. We finally found the glass display rooms but it was dark and the lights were not switched on so we could only view the casts using the light from our phones. It then started pissing down rain, making it even more difficult. Defeated, we left and hid from the rain in the Maccas across the road. Then as we were walking back past Pompeii on the way home, we noticed the lights had been turned on and the gates left open so we snuck back in for a better look. And we're glad we did. The bodies were eerily preserved in the residents' final moments of life, you could clearly see the expressions on their faces as they held their arms out in an attempt to shield themselves. It was a macabre but fascinating sight. We had to cut it short and high tail it out of there when we saw the guards returning though!

Our next stop was Minori, on the Amalfi Coast, which we reached by train and public bus. We spent a lovely couple of days there, enjoying the scenery, lovely pasta and wine in a beach side cafe and a hike to nearby towns Ravello and Amalfi. The walk was tough, up steep stairs most of the way, but rewarded us with fantastic views over the coast and lemon tree terraces. Amalfi itself had a beautiful church but was completely overrun with cruise ship tourists, which made us thankful of our choice to stay in the quieter Minori. The third day the plan was to catch the 10:15 am bus back from Minori to Salerno, from where we had booked a Flixbus to Rome. Easy right? We got to the bus stop which was directly outside our hotel but the bus we were supposed to catch drove straight past us. Apparently when the buses are full they don't bother stopping. This was a bit of an issue since they only come every hour and the ferries were cancelled today due to weather, so the buses were going to be full all day. After another bus driving straight by us we eventually decided to go the wrong way, into Amalfi, to catch the bus at the starting point. This was also not as easy at it sounded, the bus yet again drove past us full, but stopped a little way down the road apparently feeling sorry for us out in the rain. It was a tight squeeze but some of the kind locals helped us get our bags on and did the best they could to make room for us. By this stage we had well and truly missed our connecting bus to Rome and couldn't get another one until 6pm. So all up, a 6 hour delay but we got there in the end.

In Rome, we had been lucky to find a couchsurfing host. Rob is a 60 year old Aussie who had decided to move back to his parents' home country. He was a fun and generous host, sharing all his favorite places to eat with us. At Ristorante Josef we enjoyed a selection of fried vegetables and seafoods for entre and a veal dish and a pasta for main. At another of Rob's favorites, we ate "raw" (vegan, sugar free) gelati (almond and banana were my choices). He also took us to Cafe Pannalini where we had their signature coffee.

On our first day in Rome, we headed to the Vatican where we ignored the "skip the line" touts, offering expensive guided tours which allowed you to enter the museum or the church without waiting in line. We made our way to St Peter's Basilica first as it was closing at 1pm and lined up for an hour to get in, which we didn't think was too bad considering some stories we had heard. It was a huge and grand church decorated extravagantly with works of art including Michelangelo's sculpture 'Pieta'. Afterwards we headed to the Vatican Museums to see the Sistine Chapel, took one look at the line and realised we should have been more organized in booking our tickets online. THREE AND A HALF HOURS LATER we finally got to the front of the line and just snuck in before the 4pm cut off. It was like wandering through an ornately decorated palace with amazing works of art including sculptures, wall tapestries, old maps and of course paintings by the likes of Raphael. There is no moving at your own pace in this museum, you move as fast or as slow as the hoards of people let you. The Sistine Chapel was the climax with Michelangelo's amazing recently restored colorful paintings covering the walls and roof. The art was incredible but feeling like cattle being pressed in and herded through the narrow corridors with the crowds did make it a less than relaxing visit. By the time we got out, we had unfortunately missed the beer fest we had been invited to with Rob, so instead enjoyed a delicious dinner at his local pub, the Yellow Bar and went for a walk to check out the Colesseum by night. It took us longer to find than it should have, we walked around for a little while near where we knew it was located thinking, "how could we possibly not find this thing!" We eventually rounded a corner and stumbled across this wonder of the world and took a seat on a nearby bridge to take it in. We returned home exhausted and feeling guilty because it took longer than expected and Rob was waiting for us.

The next day we bought our pass for the Colesseum, Roman Forum and Palentino Hill. The line for the tickets was about 1 hour long but we were used to this by now. The line to get into the Colosseum was enormous but it didn't matter too much as our tickets were valid for two days. We decided to see the Roman Forum and Palentino Hill first since the line was a lot shorter and come back early the next morning for the Colesseum. The forum itself was quite large and interesting, with the arches, buildings, statues and streets still in pretty good nick. Palentino was nothing too special after seeing Pompeii and the forum and anyway, the main houses were closed for restoration. With some extra time up our sleeve after skipping the Colosseum we visited a couple of churches, Saint Peter in Chains (his actual chains and Michelangelo's Moses were here) and the Bascilica of Saint John in Lateran (a massive, imposing church like St Peter's).

The next morning we got back to the Colosseum 30 minutes before it opened and only had a handful of people in front of us. When we finally entered we were impressed by how well preserved it is and were happy to tick another wonder of the world off the list (only the Great Wall to go). It was also nice to be in there with a lot less tourists than I'm sure there normally is in the middle of the day.

We also spent time wandering through different areas of Rome with Rob and were particularly impressed by Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon as well as the views from on top of the Vittorio Emanuele II monument. There was a plethora of beautiful plazas, grand churches and Roman ruins to choose from and we saw a nice selection.

Upon our arrival in Florence, we immediately loved the more "small town" feel, the romantic streets and the Renaissance art that was literally bursting from everywhere. There were enough museums to fill a month long holiday If you had deep enough pockets but we chose only a few: the renowned Uffizi gallery with its works by the likes of Michelangelo, Bottecelli, Raphael and Da Vinci, the Accedemia with Michelangelo's David and the Palazzo Pitti with its lavishly decorated palatial rooms and art collection. The streets were amazing to wander and we loved the colorful Duomo, the loggia with its statue collection and the Ponte Veccio bridge. The view of sunset over the city from Piazalle Michelangelo was incredible and walking back at night through the lantern-lined streets had a real ambiance. The gelato at Marco Ottaviano was to die for and the streets and plazas had a lovely vibe, with live music in some places and lots of markets. We tore ourselves away from Florence to do a quick morning trip out to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which was, as promised, at an unbelievable angle. It was definitely worth the one hour train ride to see something so completely different.

Our next destination was Padua, a town near Venice but with much cheaper accommodation and some friendly airbnb hosts to chat with. We did a day trip to Venice by train (only 27 minutes) but didn't have the best weather to enjoy the atmosphere of romance that it is famous for. The gondolas weren't running and the musicians must have been hiding somewhere dry. We did a wet boat ride along the Grand Canal by Vaporetta ferry with good old Rick Steves giving us a running commentary of the sights. We got off at famous St Mark's Square, where we sheltered from the rain under the porch of the Doge's Palace. St Mark's itself was also warm and dry as well as being incredibly beautiful with its interesting mix of architectural styles. We consisted getting a coffee as another means of finding shelter, but at 9 euro a pop, decided to brave the rainy lanes with jackets and umbrella. The narrow winding streets, plazas featuring churches and canals spanned by arching bridges made the city uniquely picturesque. We loved the quirky little bookshop, Agua Alta with its staircase made of books and the Murano glass sold in the gift stores. Venice by night on this particular day was a bit quiet and gloomy and the steady rain turned into a drenching downpour that quickly flooded the streets and soaked us through. There were elevated walkways set up because apparently flooding is a very regular problem here. A unique and special place to visit but we both decided we couldn't live here.

Or final stop in Italy was a quick overnighter in Milan, which may be a shopper's mecca but for us was just another city, albeit one with a stunning Gothic cathedral.
Italy was a gastronomic and historic delight and even uncultured beings such as ourselves could appreciate the incredible art and architecture on display.

Photos: Italy

joshandkaren — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 02:58:00 GMT

Greece 04/08/16 - 07/08/16 & 04/09/16 - 14/09/16

joshandkaren — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 03:55:00 GMT

Our time in Greece was spent in two stages. Our final stop in Bulgaria before heading to Istanbul was Sofia, which meant Thessaloniki in Greece was basically on the way, so we decided to drop by for a few nights before catching our overnight bus to Turkey.

Thessaloniki was an interesting city with loads of historical sites. During our two and a half days here, we saw churches galore, including Agios Dimitrios, Agia Sofia and the Rotunda. The Rotunda throughout history had been a palace, a church and a mosque at different stages, there was evidence of each of these eras with Roman ruins, marvelous mosaics and a minaret. We also visited the Vlatadon Monastery that marked the place where Paul preached to the Thessalonians. We had missed the opening hours for the Monastery but seeing as someone left one of the gates open we snuck in and had a quick look around.

The White Tower and fortress walls were interesting landmarks of the city's former defences, the museum inside the tower was not something we were really interested in but since it was included in our museum pass we thought we would check it out. It was a hot day outside and inside the tower was ten times worse, with 100 percent humidity thrown in for good measure. The tiny holes in the walls that barely passed as windows offered no respite as every inch was blocked up with tourists attempting to get some relief from the humidity. We didn't last too long in there but managed to get up to the roof for some decent views of the city.

We also went to the Olympic museum (which we visited on the first day of the games in Rio), the Archeological Museum and the Museum of Byzantine Culture, all of which had interesting exhibits. Then of course there were the Roman ruins like the Roman Forum and the Arch and Palace of Galerius. So much history of so many eras and all in one place! The cultural tour route offered by the public bus service for 2 euro was a great way to get around to all of these sights without walking in the heat for hours.

There was a handful of companies offering free sunset cruises as long as you purchased a drink from their onboard bar. Seemed like a good deal...... We picked one that apparently also had a "buy 1 beer get 1 free" offer, however, after buying our beers we were charged full price and given a voucher for a "buy 1 get 1 free" that we could only use the next night after buying another beer. Although it was still cheap for a sunset cruise with drinks we were a bit pissed off at what we thought was a fairly dishonest sales pitch.

We re-entered Greece by flying from Dalaman, Turkey to Athens. We had three days to spend here. We were excited to see all the historical sites so purchased the 30 Euro combined pass for the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora, the Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's library, Kerimikos Acropolis site and Aristotle's Lyceum. While it seemed to be OK value for money, we soon realized that apart from the Acropolis you could see basically every site just as well from outside the fences and some of the places were really just 'fillers' to make it seem like more was included. The most disappointing part was discovering the Acropolis, which we thought would be the highlight of our Greece trip, was covered in scaffolding and surrounded by machinery for maintenance. This has happened a few times this year but as Rick Steves has informed us lots of these amazing sites around the world wouldn't still be standing if it wasn't for the enormous amount of work that goes into maintaining them.

In other sites, the changing of the guard at the Parliament building was comical and fun, the national gardens were free and restful and the view from Lykavitos Hill was amazing. The first stadium of the modern Olympic games was cool to see, this time we checked if we could see it through the fence without paying and what do you know...... just saved ourselves 10 euro!

We have hit the point where we can't face any more museums unless they are earth-shatteringly amazing so we gave those a miss and had lots of incredibly tasty coffees instead. Adrianou Street was an atmospheric place to eat and we had an amazing meat platter here. It came highly recommended by the waiter and we were told we would not finish it. Challenge accepted! The platter came out and I couldn't believe the mountain of food that has risen up before me, but after some time and a severe case of the meat sweats we ate our way through and proceeded to hate ourselves for the remainder of the evening..... A bit of a downer was all the homeless people and beggars - not sure if it's worse than it used to be because of the financial crisis, but was very sad to see. For tourists, prices are still reasonable here but not as cheap as Easten Europe and Turkey.

Have you ever arrived somewhere and thought, "Now this is where I belong"? In Nafplio, Greece's first capital, now a romantic little town, I definitely had that feeling. We stayed in the heart of the old town, where narrow pedestrian streets were filled with cafes and had balconies that draped flowers. We had a roof top apartment through Airbnb with great views over the town, fortresses and coast. Eating out was surprisingly affordable, but we also made the most of having our own kitchen and prepared some nice home cooked meals as well. We had planned to use this town as a base for exploring the peninsula and local ruins but loved it so much that we couldn't bring ourselves to leave. We instead spent our time strolling through the lanes, drinking delicious coffes, swimming in the beaches, exploring forts, cycling along coastal and country paths and relaxing at the apartment. No museums or churches! Divine.

Our next stop was Meteora, where 6 monastries have lasted the test of time and are perched upon pinnacles of rock. We arrived around dinner time and proceeded to heat up our leftover spaghetti bolognese that we had stored in snap lock bags, I have never felt more like a backpacker. The next morning we bussed to the furthest monastery then spent the day walking from one to another and then back downhill into Kalambaka. The monastries were an awesome sight from the outside, and should have been peaceful, spiritual oases from the inside, but the tourist busses and bustle of people did detract from the serenity. Still a unique experience though.

Our last stop in Greece was mostly just for ease of public transport but turned out to be a surprise gem. We had booked an Airbnb in the university city of Ioannina and our host, Leonadis, a retired butcher, went above and beyond in hosting us. He spent a couple of days showing us the sights: Pamvotida Lake, Its Kale Citadel, the castle, the Perama Cave with its multitude of impressive stalagmite and stalactites and shopping districts. We enjoyed a coffee with a view at Frontzous, souvlaki at his favorite place and a Greek history lesson at Vrellis wax museum as well as learning about Greek culture and the crisis from Leonadis himself. He and his lovely wife even had us over for a sumptuous lunch of traditional foods. We're now Facebook friends for life and hope we can return the hospitality in Adelaide one day.

From Ioannina we caught a short bus to Igoumenitsa, where we waited for our delayed but cheap overnight ferry to Brindisi, from where we'd start our workaway in Italy. We were curious as to why everybody was racing to get on the ferry because we all had booked seats. We discovered as we were making our way to our uncomfortable airline type seating that lots of other people had claimed the comfortable couches in the lounge areas. A good lesson for next time as Josh spent the night sleeping on the lino floor and I attempted my best contortionist impression on the 2 seats in my row.

So although we didn't have the time or budget to enjoy the islands that Greece is famous for, we still enjoyed the sun, history, food and fun that make Greece an unmissable destination.

Photos: Greece

joshandkaren — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 01:46:00 GMT

Turkey 08/08/16 - 04/09/16

joshandkaren — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 07:08:00 GMT

We caught an overnight bus from Thessaloniki and arrived in Istanbul at 5am the next morning. We were second guessing our decision to travel to Turkey after realising there was only one other person on the bus.... We had been hearing about all the recent troubles in this country with the airport bombing and the military coup but it wasn't until this bus ride with a severe lack of passengers that we started to think we had made the wrong decision. It was too late to back out now.

The bus was originally due to arrive in Istanbul at 7am which was already an annoying time to try to check into our guest house, so when we arrived two hours early this threw a bit of a spanner in the works. Getting from the Otogar (coach stain) to the Sultanahmet district was surprisingly easy between the helpful people and free metro (a perk of the celebration period after the government defeated the military in the coup). We were delighted at how friendly everyone was, especially after coming from Eastern Europe where as a general rule everybody hates you. On the way to our guest house we walked through the Sultan Ahmet park with Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. It was pretty special to see these in the dawn light with no one else around.

Since our 24/7 guest house was not yet open, we found another place that was open for breakfast and bag storage before doing a more thorough exploration of the area. We used an outline for a walking tour that we found online since we had read that it is best to avoid crowds with the threat of further terrorist attacks.

We started at the old Roman Hippodrome where we checked out the 3 obelisks and the German fountain before entering the Blue Mosque, where I got scarfed up and we both de-shoed for a visit between prayer times. The sheer space inside, the domes covered in blue tiles and the stained glass windows made for very impressive viewing. Next came the Bascilica Cistern. We weren't sure if it was worth the money to go in or not but were really glad we decided to. What looked like just a small house on the surface was a massive underground cavern filled with water and with hundreds of Roman pillars supporting the roof. Naturally after an overnight bus ride we were starting to feel the lack of sleep and made our way back to the guest house hoping to check in. Unfortunately our room was still not ready so we made use of the comfortable couches in the rooftop bar and had an afternoon nap.

Later we invested in a museum pass (not cheap at 85 TL but it allowed us to visit most of the sights in the old town). Using that, our first stop (after my roasted sweet corn lunch from a street vendor) was Hagia Sophia, one of the most famous places of worship in the world. It was built as a church about 1500 years ago and later converted to a mosque before becoming the museum that it is today. It is eye catching from the outside with its pale pink facade, huge domes and tall minarets, but unfortunately the inside was under renovation. However we could still appreciate the vastness of the gold and black interior as well as the mixture of Islamic and Christian elements, like the Arabic medellians and the mosaics of Christ.

To make the most of the museum pass, we also visited the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, with its beautiful old Korans and the Mosaic Museum, which was strangely located in a bazaar because that's where the mosaics were discovered. It had well preserved tiled mosaics from Constantine's palace in the 5th century. The pictures were an interesting mixture of religious art, mythical beings and daily life.

Worn out, we stopped for kebabs at a small local restaurant accompanied by a yogurt drink and a dessert of hot fried cheese which was oddly sweet. Strange but delicious! The food was good and cheap and the staff were really friendly. The restaurant was basically empty due to a lack of tourism so our waiter came over and had a long chat with us which we really enjoyed. On the way home, we got talked into visiting a guy's carpet shop where we were roped into a 20 minute talk on the symbols used in the rugs. You'd think we'd be better at avoiding tourist traps like this by now! He said he didn't care if we didn't buy anything, he was just really bored and wanted someone to talk to.

Tokapi Palace took up half the next day, with its huge grounds, 4 courtyards surrounded by buildings filled with treasures like the sword of David, Moses' staff and Mohammed's tooth. The harem where the sultan lived had lots of elaborately tiled rooms and a concubine's corridor for all of his "aquaintences". They sure don't build them like they used to.

The views over the Marmara Sea from the final courtyard were beautiful and inspired us to take a Bosphorus cruise through there that afternoon. We stopped by the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar on the way, but neither liking masses of annoying tourists or looking for souvenirs we quickly found the exits and made our way to the water front for our cruise.

Our day concluded with a walk through the Beyoglu suburb to see the modern part of town, with the Istiklal mall street, Taksim Square and Galata Tower. After arriving home exhausted, we checked the fitbit to see why and discovered we had walked 25 km today.

Our final morning in Istanbul we checked out the archeological museum, which was actually four buildings packed with over 1 million artifacts, everything from Babylonian art from the time of King Nebekednezzar to Roman statues, to pottery from Troy to Egyptian sacophaguses (sarcophagi?) to Islamic tiles and vases. We were a bit museumed out by this point, so probably didn't do it justice, spending less than 2 hours there.

We could easily have spent more than 2 and a half days in Istanbul and actually found it to be a really welcoming place, but due to the risk factor we kept moving on to Cannakale, a base from which to explore Troy and Gallipoli.

We were lucky enough to find a kind couch surfing host, Emrullah, who put us up in his apartment for three nights. We had been warned not to get our hopes up about Troy and that advice was sound. While it had such a fascinating history and we enjoyed the movie and the story of the Trojan war, there wasn't too much left of the ruins. There were over 9 layers excavated to see and a wooden horse you could climb inside. Not really enough to fill the 3 hours between busses though. Back at the waterfront in Cannakale you could see the horse from the 2004 Brad Pitt movie which was given as a gift to the city once filming concluded.

The following day we did a tour of the Gallipoli peninsula with Crowded House tours.They took us across the ferry to Ecebat for a provided lunch of skewered meat before they took us to visit Brighton Beach (the intended landing site), Beach Cemetery, ANZAC cove (the actual landing site), Ariburnu Cemetery, the ANZAC Commemorative Site (where the dawn services are held), Mehmetcik Statue, Lone Pine Australian Memorial, Johnson's Jolly (trenches and tunnels), a Turkish cemetery, the Nek (where four waves of light horse regiments were wiped out) and Chunuk Bair New Zealand Memorial (the high ground which the Anzacs spent nine months trying to capture). Our tour group was small, only eight Aussies, and most of the sites we had to ourselves, which was lucky because the day before, August 10, was a big day for locals to celebrate the victory of the Turkish. I found the peninsula to be a strangely peaceful place, with its quiet, respectful atmosphere and pine forests. At the same time, I couldn't help but feel a deep sadness for the pointless waste of life and at all the ways that the battle could have gone differently for our men if better decisions had been made. The touching words of Mustafa Kehmal, first president of Turkey, are a fitting send off or all the brave soldiers who lost their lives here:

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours ... You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."

Our next stop was Ayvalik, a pretty little harbor town surrounded by hills and islands where lots of ferries and cruises leave from. Being a popular weekend getaway spot, accommodation was a bit pricey but the long sandy beach at Sarimsakli and nearby picturesque Cunda island made it a place worth visiting. On Cunda island we had heard that we had to try the seafood so we sat down at a restaurant and asked to see a menu. There was no menu so we picked something at random off the board at the front (papalina) that the waiter said was fish and salad. It turned out to be a plate of lots of whole little fish, deep fried! The tails were a bit hard to get used to but it actually wasn't bad. The tradition of friendly Turks continued, with a uni student stopping to introduce herself on the beach and practice her English with us and two little old ladies at a bus stop trying to talk to me in Turkish, then switching to German when that failed. My high school German was a bit rusty but I did my best. It's lovely to feel so welcome here.

Another bus brought us to Selcuk, famous for being home to Ephesus. We were excited to check into our $30 a night accommodation and see that our room was big and came with its own bathroom that actually had a real shower, not just a shower head over the toilet. It even had a jacuzzi and a balcony. A nice place to stay for our 11 year anniversary (thanks Facebook for reminding us). If our marriage can survive 24 hours a day together through sometimes stressful situations like being stuck in the middle of no where with no transport or nights on busses with no sleep, sometimes combined with heat and gastro, hopefully it can survive anything. And we even still like each other's company most of the time!

Anyway, for its size, Selcuk packs a punch. We visited the ruins of St John's Bascilica, where the apostle John wrote his gospel and was buried. We also visited Isa Bey Mosque, Roman aquaducts, the meager remains of the Temple of Artemis, the Efes Museum and of course, Ephesus, which had seen many groups of inhabitants since thousands of years BC but which is most famous for the remains of the library building. Ephesus was surprisingly large so we spent hours wandering around the Roman streets, through the amphitheater, past fountains, city gates and the terrace houses. It was nice to be there at the end of the day when the crowds had thinned out and tourist free photos were possible. On the way home we walked past the apostle Luke's fake grave and a statue of The Virgin Mary because she is thought to have lived her last few years of life in a house up the hill. We also stopped by the grotto of the seven sleepers, where some early Christians supposedly hid from persecution, feel asleep and woke up hundreds of years later in safer times.

The next day we explored Selcuk's surrounds by catching a dolmus (mini bus) to Sirince, a tiny mountain town famous for its Greek heritage, fruit wines and local produce including olive oil hand creams. It was touristy but quaint and we spent a couple hours shopping in the local markets, strolling the cobble stoned streets, sampling produce and lunching. In the evening we caught another dolmus to Pamucak beach. We weren't expecting a lot, so the big uncrowded, sandy, clean beach away from all towns was a welcome surprise and a good chance to relax in a place that wasn't swarming with tourists.

Next up was Pammukale, a place I had been looking forward to after seeing so many beautiful photos of the white calcium terraces. It didn't disappoint, although many of the pools are currently empty. While we had two days here relaxing around the hotel pool, it only took an afternoon/evening to paddle up through the travertines filled with water and to explore the ancient Greek Hierapolis at the top. We stayed to watch the sun set over this interesting landscape, alongside seven happy couples getting their wedding photos taken in front of the sunset!

It was then time to begin our two week stretch volunteering on a couple's farm in the mountains outside Gocek. This was to be our first workaway experience. Quite a good setup where people offer work to travellers, in exchange providing food and accommodation. Even though you work for 4 - 5 hours a day it still feels like a break and is nice to stop in one place for an extended period.

The property is in a tiny village 20 minutes drive from the nearest town. No wifi, traffic or neighbours made for a very peaceful stay. Our days were spent watering fig trees, feeding animals, clearing paths, cooking and helping on a building project. Our host, Tayip, was a real character and great fun.

While we did originally have some concerns about persevering with our travel to Turkey, it ended up being one of our favourite countries with its welcoming people, fascinating history and stunning natural environments.

Photos: Turkey

joshandkaren — Sat, 24 Sep 2016 00:36:00 GMT

Photos: Bulgaria

joshandkaren — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 19:05:00 GMT

Bulgaria 27/07/16 - 04/08/16

joshandkaren — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 19:03:00 GMT

We purchased our train tickets from Bucharest to Veliko Tarnovo, but found out in very broken English that we would need to change trains in a town called Oryahovitsa which was only 15 minutes from our destination. The tickets were in Bulgarian and there were no times or platform numbers for our second train, the lady behind the desk was no help as her English was about as good as our Bulgarian. We boarded our first train which was suprisingly right on time and made our way to our seats, which happened to be in the middle of a bunch of other tourists who we hit it off with straight away. There were 2 girls from America who were living in Istanbul, a couple from the Netherlands and an older guy from Korea. The border crossing took forever but we enjoyed swapping travel stories and tips with our fellow travellers which made the journey seem quicker. We arrived at our connecting station very late (after another passenger had troubles with the passport police at the border) and were worried we would miss our next train, but after showing our tickets we were quickly escorted to another platform where our train was waiting for us.

There were no taxis available at the station in Veliko Tarnovo which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, and while there wasn't a very direct route to walk to our guest house we worked out it wasn't too far and could get there quite easily. I decided to take over the navigation and give Kaz a break for a bit, how hard could it be...... I took us to where my map showed me there was a bridge to cross the river to get into town but realised something wasn't quite right when we got there and the bridge was about 50m below us down a cliff. I decided it was time to hand the navigation back over to Kaz but it seemed there was no easy way to get across without walking a long way in either direction. After about 1 hour and in the fading light we eventually made it to our guest house hot, sweaty and not really speaking to each other. We quickly learned that English is not so widely spoken in Bulgaria and some modern conveniences, like ATMs, are not so convenient! But it definitely had a certain charm and it felt like we were well and truly off the tourist trail. We spent our one full day there exploring the Tsarevets Fortress, museums and the windy cobblestone streets lined with colourful old buildings that really made you feel as though you had stepped back in time. For some reason the day we were there all of the museums were free, so we made the most of it and basically went to all of them just because we could.

We had no plans for our next destination, and after having had a rather hectic few weeks decided to head to the Black Sea coast for some rest and relaxation. This travelling business can be hard work too you know. We stayed clear of the rather touristy beachside town of Varna and opted for the smaller, quieter town of Pomorie, just north of Burgas. Since the Internet in our hotel was down, we really did have to disconnect from the world and relax on the sandy beaches working on our pathetic tans. I did have to make a trip to a cafe with internet on one of the days to listen to my football team play. I don't think the waiter was too impressed that I sat there for over 2 hours using their internet after only having ordered a cheap omelette, but then again we are in Eastern Europe where no one ever seems impressed with us.... The only real activity we did while here was go to the Visitor's Centre that overlooked Pomorie Lake. The guide there pointed out heaps of different species of birds through his telescope and we also had a bit of a chuckle at all the oldies who were slathering themselves in the healing mud on the lake's edge. Not that Kaz hasn't done it before in the Dead Sea.

After slowing down the pace for a bit in Pomorie we got on another hot, airless bus that took us to Plovdiv. Well it was supposed to anyway until the unpleasant driver left us and some other travelers behind at a stop on route! Thankfully some young backpackers realised what had happened and made a phone call to get the bus to stop while we all chased it down! I wish I could say this was the first time this had happened to us. We're now too scared to get off at any scheduled stop and are undergoing some serious bladder training on long rides.

While Plovdiv is quite a big city, the old part feels like a small town and has so much history as it's apparently one of the oldest cities in the world. We got a taste of history at Nebet Tepe ruins, which had been home to Thracians, Romans, Byzantins and more. We got more history and culture at the ethnographic museum, an antique house and old mosques and churches. It was fascinating the way that history mingled with everyday life, with Roman ruins buried under shopping malls and marble pillars lying in the streets. Our hostel overlooked yet another set of ruins, amongst which local kids were playing cops and robbers. A highlight was a huge dinner of a traditional hot clay plate of mixed grilled meats and vegetables at a nice pub overlooking the city. We had cats to keep us company while we ate, as is the case in many eastern European restaurants.

Our last stop in Bulgaria was the capital, Sofia. We were only here for one night but after having a fight over a taxi I decided to spend my very short time here sulking in my room watching netflix while Kaz was out seeing the city. She did her own whirlwind tour to check out important landmarks like the Holy Nedelya church (which was blown up by the communists in 1925 in an assassination attempt), the archeological museum with its treasures from Thracian tombs, the royal palace, Saint Sofia church (the oldest in the city and how the capital got its name), and Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (built in memorial of the Russian soldiers who lost their lives fighting against the Turks for Bulgaria's independence). She arrived back to the room late in the afternoon and, after we both ate some humble pie, told me how amazing this city was and that I need to get out and see it. Kaz put on her tour guide cap and whisked me around the city showing me all the must sees and explaining everything along the way, I think we found a new profession for her. I was very impressed with what we were able to see in such a short time and wished we could have spent longer here. The next morning we exited Sofia via their very modern bus terminal en route to Thessaloniki in Greece.

Romania 20/07/16 - 27/07/16

joshandkaren — Tue, 6 Sep 2016 04:34:00 GMT

We arrived in Romania via a sleeper train from Budapest to Brasov. While it was not cheap at 65 euro per person, the four of us (Josh, Kan, Leah and I) had a good sleep in our own private compartment. We arrived in Brasov at about 10 am and were met by Dan, our obliging airbnb host.

We had a quick tour of the apartment then headed out to explore and grab some lunch. We soon realised that there wasn't really much in walking distance from the apartment but found a nice little local restaurant and were delighted by the prices. I had the set menu, which was a sour vegetable soup, meatballs and mashed potato and an apple pie for desert, all for 15 lei, or AUD $5. We decided sightseeing was too much hard work so headed back to the apartment and spent the afternoon and evening relaxing and enjoying the mountain views from the balcony.

The next morning we went our seperate ways. Kan and Leah hired our AirBnb host as a private driver for the day but we preferred to go the cheaper option with public buses. We caught a bus out to visit Bran castle, also known as Dracula's castle because of its links with Vlad the Impaler. We walked the streets surrounding the castle for a while checking out all the cafe's and souvenir markets. The locals are really trying to milk this whole Dracula myth for all it's worth with their mugs, t shirts, masks, keyrings, bottle openers, magnets and anything else they can possibly fit a Dracula face on. We may or may not have bought a Dracula magnet...... I'm so ashamed..... It was a really picturesque castle, with its fairytale turrents and its location overlooking hills, villages and pine forests. Inside it was decked out with antiques from lots of different eras. There was also a bunch of portraits, weapons, armour, torture devices and all the other cool stuff that you would hope to find in a castle. As the day went on the passageways seemed to get narrower and narrower as the number of tourists grew and grew. Luckily we had almost finished by the apparant "peak" tourist time and found our way back out to fresh air. We spent some more time exploring the gardens around the castle and made our way to where we hoped the bus was coming back to.

On the way home we stopped in cute little Rasnov, and visited a fortress high on the hill there. We were struck by how stuck in the nineties eastern Europe still is in some ways when we saw them selling mood rings, chokers that look like patterned tattoos and those gunpowder balls. Not to mention the nineties music that is played everywhere - it seems boy bands are back! After exploring the fort we were a little early for our bus back to Brasov so we stopped for a beer in what seemed like a nice little quiet cafe. The owner must have thought we looked like the type of people who enjoy a good rave because as soon as our drinks were brought out the speakers behind us exploded with what I assume was some kind of music. It was one of those songs that just repeats itself over and over and never seems to end. We didn't order a second beer....

A trip to Brasov wouldn't be complete without time spent in the old town, so we made sure to enjoy some time there, wandering the cobbled streets, watching traditional dancing in the town square, eating outside in the many cafes that line the streets and taking in sights like the Black Church and the watch towers with their excellent views. We also caught a public bus out to Poiana Brasov, a nearby ski town with pine forests where we intended to do some hiking. We accidentally stopped at a cafe and bought a beer, and then another. Before we knew it we didn't really feel like hiking anymore so we went to a different restaurant for hamburgers and more beer. On the way back to the bus we took a 5 minute detour through some pine forest so we could tell ourselves we had done some hiking.

Our next stop in Romania was medieval Sighisoara, Dracula's birthplace. We loved this little town and started our time here with a goodbye lunch with Kan and Leah at Casa Dracula, the house that Vlad was brought up in. We both enjoyed some Romanian food, Josh with a big soup inside a loaf of crusty bread and me with minced meat inside cabbage leaves with polenta and a sauce of sour cream (sarmale). After lunch Josh quickly raced off to go listen to the Crows game while I spent the afternoon with the girls before their train to Bucharest. We had 3 nights here and spent our time wandering through the citadel, another old town inside protective stone walls complete with churches, watch towers, a bell tower, museums, cafes and souvenir shops. It was a beautiful town with the friendliest people we had come across so far in Eastern Europe. I don't think we got yelled at once! Win! We didn't really need three days here but enjoyed the chance to relax and for Josh, the chance to recover from a dose of the man flu.

Our train from Sighisoara to Bucharest was pretty much what you'd expect from the stereotypical eastern European train - delayed by 2 hours, graffitied and with a cracked windscreen. But it got us there safely and after checking into our hostel we did our own evening walking tour of the city, taking in the sights of the old town (which wasn't nearly as old as in other places and was much more grand) and enjoying the happening cafe vibe, even on a weeknight. Like lots of eastern European cities, the city centre was really nice and well preserved, but walk a little bit further and you'll be surrounded by Soviet style buildings. The main highlight for us here was a tour of the extravagant Palace of the Parliament, the world's second biggest building in volume, after the Pentagon. We found one night here to be enough.

So Romania, and Transylvania in particular, proved to be a dreamy place steeped in history and natural beauty and well worth traveling through. With its cheap prices, we could afford to eat out and enjoy more of the wonderful food it had on offer, which made a nice change from cereal, 2 minute soups and vegemite sandwiches!

Photos: Romania

joshandkaren — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 04:29:00 GMT

Slovenia and Hungary 14/7/16 - 19/7/16

joshandkaren — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 19:28:00 GMT

We arrived in Slovenia by bus from Zagreb to Bled. We immediately noticed the change from Croatia. Slovenia seemed more like Austria or Switzerland with its snow capped alps, green pastures, summer flowers and cute historical villages. We stepped off the bus and for the first time in months we felt cold, but as the girls were reaching for their jackets I was soaking in the chilly breeze and enjoying the short relief from the heat.

We stayed in Zasip, a tiny picturesque village 3 km from the resort town of Bled. Our Air BnB host was kind enough to pick us up from the main bus station and drive us out to the accommodation, but he may have underestimated how much luggage 4 people would have when he arrived in his tiny Charade. After a quick game of tetris with the bags we managed to squeeze in but must have looked like clowns in a circus act when we got out of the tiny car with all of our stuff at the house. We wanted to make the most of the day with the cooler weather so we walked to the nearby Vintgar Gorge for a hike. There was a bit of a walk to actually get to the gorge and after a couple of wrong turns we found ourselves not on a trail anymore in what seemed to me like prime bear country. After a bit of good old aussie bush bashing led by Karen, we found the track again and continued down to the gorge. It was a beautiful walk along the river with some of the bluest water you could ever see and some amazing scenery. The one pub in town served tasty food but since Slovenia uses euros, it wasn't as cheap as in other parts of Eastern Europe (mains at around E 10). Interestingly wine was charged by the 100 mL so it wasn't as cheap as it first appeared on the menu when they automatically pour you a double. Nice wine though and still reasonably priced.

The next day we walked the 3km into Bled where we enjoyed a coffee in one of the many cafes overlooking the lake and castle. We went for a walk around the lake and hired a row boat for an hour to go across to the little island that had a monastery on it. It was a lot cheaper than paying for the bigger boats that make the trip but the strong head winds made for an extremely exhausting workout. After about 30 minutes of intense rowing with the girls relaxing in the back of the boat like ladies of leisure we docked at the island in the middle of the lake. We only had 10 minutes to look around the Monastery as we didn't want to pay for an extra hour of boat hire, but this seemed to be enough time on the tiny island. We made it back in record time with a good tail wind and a bit more experience under my belt. We walked up to the castle on the way home and checked out the stunning St Martin church and local art market.

On the way home Karen was looking for a toilet but there seemed to be a lack of facilities short of paying for a drink in a restaurant for the privilege. As the search continued the situation was getting critical and after a lot of dancing on the spot she got to the point where she just needed to find somewhere, anywhere... we came to a driveway that looked very unused with just enough weeds for a bit of modesty and to Karen's relief no-one happened to walk by while the deed was being done. There was a noticeable spring in her step after that for the rest of the way home.

The next day we caught one of the hourly buses that go between Bled and Ljubljana where we bought our tickets to Budapest for the following day at the station. Not all tickets are available online so sometimes it's easiest to just go into the station. We were shocked at the price of an overnight train (E143 with a change of train in Salzburg) so decided to leave by bus the following afternoon a few hours earlier than intended instead (a more respectable E23).

We then settled into our AirBnB accommodation before walking up to the Ljubljana Castle for a look around and dinner at the restaurant for Kan's birthday. Kaz and I both had the much talked about Slovenian sausage in a broth and local red wine and we shared grape brandy shots. It was a lovely restaurant in an amazing setting with very good service (not always a given in this part of the world despite the expectation to tip) with surprisingly reasonable prices. After a few drinks and feeling quite cheery we started the long walk home, stopping by a wine shop where the girls indulged in some tastings while I was more amused by the accordian playing bear in the window.

The next morning we saw the sights of Ljubljana. The old part of town was charming with its location along the river, the pastel painted buildings, fountains, churches, Dragon bridge and of course the castle overlooking it all. Being a Sunday, the town was pretty sleepy so we weren't too rushed in seeing the highlights before our 3 pm bus to Budapest, Hungary.

The bus journey didn't go as smoothly as it could have, with the bus arriving 45 minutes late and 2 long border crossings (back into Croatia before entering Hungary) meaning we arrived in Budapest 2 hours late at 12:30 am. The taxis at the bus station were running a scam, trying to charge unsuspecting tourists E25 to get the 5km into the town centre but luckily a bus came along that we noticed everyone else getting on and hoped it would take us closer to where we needed to go. For a nice change the bus driver was really friendly and still let us on even though we didn't have quite enough for 2 tickets. You need to learn to cherish these moments while travelling in Eastern Europe.

The first day in Budapest was a frustrating one spent running around trying to organize train or bus tickets to Brasov and moving accommodation into a place big enough for the four of us since Kan and Leah joined us there a day later. The evening was good though, as we made it to see the stunning Parliament House and enjoyed dinner of goulash soup at a nice restaurant in Pest looking over the river at the sights on the Buda side of town.

The next day we walked past the impressive St Stephen Bascilica on our way to explore more of Buda, walking over a bridge, through the Royal Palace where Leah and Kaz tried their hands at archery and up to the fairytale Fisherman's Bastion and colorful Matthias church. While Leah went off to drive a tank, Kaz and I walked up Gellert Hill where there was a fort with an interesting history, a liberty statue and markets. The views over the city from there were spectacular!

Crossing back to Pest we strolled across the Chain Bridge, picked up our bags and caught a Metro to the Keleti train station where we boarded our overnight sleeper train to Brasov. We opted for a 6 berth cabin rather than 4 to save some money but were lucky enough to have the whole cabin to ourselves anyway. The border crossing was quick and smooth, we didn't even have to get off the train which was a nice change from our previous border crossings on a bus. We all had a suprisingly good night sleep with the gentle rocking of the train.

While our time in these countries was a bit rushed due to time constraints, they were worth doing and remain on our lists to revisit one day.

Photos: Slovenia & Hungary

joshandkaren — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 01:55:00 GMT

Croatia 4/7/16 - 14/7/16

joshandkaren — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 07:36:00 GMT

We arrived into Dubrovnik on a short 50 minute flight from Belgrade. Our German-speaking cab driver dropped us as close as he could get to our brand new AirBnB accommodation just outside the old town. Even the 5 minute walk the rest of the way to the house had us sweating like pigs and dying of thirst. The heat was intense. The streets were really narrow with lots of steep staircases leading down, presumably built before the days of cars. Scooters seemed to be the main mode of transport here but occasionally a car would come along which would mean all pedestrians had to hug the nearest wall to allow room. After meeting our hosts and dropping off our stuff we wandered into the old city.

We strolled around on the car-free streets admiring the historical buildings, the docks and the many cafes set up to cater for the enormous amount of tourists. We stopped for some local food at the strangely named Taj Mahal and enjoyed the burek (pie). Prices in this part of Croatia were a lot more expensive than in Serbia (mains were about AUD $20). On the way home we stopped to buy some cheap 500 ml cans of beer ($1) and cider ($2).

The following morning the girls and I caught a local bus out to Trsteno where there was an arboretum used in the filming of Game of Thrones (the King's Landing garden scenes with Lady Olenna, Margery and Sansa). The views over the Adriatic Sea with its many islands are spectacular and the garden is beautiful with its villa, old oil press, fountain, aqueduct, chapel, pavilion, maze and, of course, many plants.

Back in Dubrovnik I collected Josh and we hiked up to the top of Mt Srd. The chairlift looked oh so tempting but our general rule is, if we can walk it, we walk it. The summit offered amazing views over the old city and some nearby islands and after a long hike in the heat we took our time taking it all in. Time got away from us a bit and we realised we were going to be late for our evening boat cruise. Our descent turned into a jog down the side of the mountain over the loose gravel and then through the tiny streets back to our accommodation. Usually just walking in this heat was enough to break a sweat so you can imagine what we looked like after our run. We made it back in record time and even had a few minutes spare for quick showers.

Our evening activity was a Game of Thrones tour since most of the King's Landing scenes were filmed in Dubrovnik. The tour started with a one hour boat cruise on the Karaka, a ship that was often filmed in the harbour in the series. We enjoyed a dragon's blood cocktail, views of the city from the coast and dressing up as characters while they explained what was filmed where. On arrival in the port, we did a walking tour with one of the costume designers and she gave us her impressions of the actors and some goss about them while she walked us around to different filming locations. We saw the stairs from Cercei's shame walk, the place where Joffery got stuff thrown at him and the gates where Jamie re-entered the city after losing his hand. We couldn't see any places from Season 1 since that was actually filmed in Malta but we did see the beach that is Blackwater Bay. We hung around for a little bit to see the old city by lantern light before heading back for drinks on the balcony (because no one can afford a drink in the old city).

The next day we headed back into the old city to walk the walls, which was a cool experience, if you could handle fighting your way through the millions of tourists. We then spent more time strolling through the alley ways and finding other Game of Thrones locations like the brothel that Oberyn visited and Fort Lovrijenac where Joffrey's name day celebration was filmed. We then collected our bags for a 5 hour evening bus ride to Split. Our 2 and a bit days was just enough time to see the major attractions in Dubrovnik but we definitely could have spent longer in this charming place.

In Split we had another nice apartment with a balcony from which we could enjoy city and coast views. The first day we had a sleep in and then walked the 10 minutes into town to have a look at the harbour, shop in the souvenir and food markets and to explore the Diocletian Palace, a Roman city that is still in good nick and is now a thriving hub of cafes and shops. It was also the location of some of Daenerys scenes in Game of Thrones. Kan and I climbed the bell tower of Saint Duje's Cathedral to take in the views over the city and coast and we all went down into the underground passageway off Peristil square. It looked like this might have been where Daenerys locked up her dragons.
The following day we caught the catamaran to Hvar for a day trip. We explored the old city and walked up to the old fort on top of the hill. A lot of the old city walls were still intact and it was a lovely town to chill in for the day, eating too much ice cream, drinking too many ciders and swimming at the pebbly beaches.

We arrived in Zadar in the late afternoon after another bus ride and despite our good intentions to explore the old town, we just had an afternoon in. Zadar was named the 2016 European destination of the year. It had a nice feel to it, having beautiful coast line, a walled old city, Roman ruins and lots of nearby islands, but with fewer tourists than Dubrovnik or Split. The sea organ and light show at the harbour were quite unique and the Island of Uglijan was peaceful and worth a half-day trip via ferry. With three nights here, we had plenty of downtime which is always very welcome.

Plitvice Lakes National Park was a lovely day trip from Zadar on our way to Zagreb. After a two hour bus ride turned into a three hour bus ride because of a breakdown, we arrived at entrance 1, stored our bags and paid the exorbitant 180 kuna ($36) entrance fee. The views were stunning with a large system of crystal clear lakes flowing into one another through a series of waterfalls. Unfortunately this UNESCO world heritage site seems to be a very popular spot for all tourists and when all those tourists stop to take selfies every 2 steps on the tiny boardwalks it makes for a very slow moving day. Another bus later that evening took us to Zagreb, the capital city and our final stop in Croatia.

Zagreb didn't strike me as an immediately 'pretty' city with its big concrete apartment buildings and graffiti. One day was more than enough time to explore the upper and lower towns that made up the city center. The main square, Trg Bana Josipa Jelacica, had nice architecture and cafes, and the nearby Cathedral and Dulac market were worth a look. There were some quirky museums including the Museum of Broken Relationships and the Mushroom Museum as well as the world's smallest funicular, leading to the upper town with St Mark's church, a stone gate, and some nice views. There was plenty of time for shopping in their department store, Kama (I upgraded my backpack for a suitcase, and got ready to send my pack home with friends), drinking local wine in a café and enjoying some pizza for dinner.

We then said a sad goodbye to sunny Croatia as we caught a morning bus to Bled in Slovenia.

Photos: Croatia

joshandkaren — Thu, 4 Aug 2016 06:04:00 GMT

Serbia 30/6/16 - 4/6/16

joshandkaren — Wed, 3 Aug 2016 05:15:00 GMT

We thought we would never get there but we finally arrived in Belgrade. Our flight from Toronto to Halifax went smoothly, but then we had a 30 hour delay in Halifax, an 8 hour stop over in Frankfurt followed by another few hours flying on to Serbia. We landed at about 10:30pm so once we got out of the airport and found the right bus to get to our area it was already pushing midnight. Both feeling tired and grumpy we found the street that our hostel was located on thinking the finish line was in sight, but even though we knew the street number for the hostel the numbers on the buildings seemed to be in no apparent order..... we needed 23, but 21 and 22 were at one end of the street while the rest of the 20's we found 2km up the road. No 23 anywhere. After another hour of tears, sweat and some yelling at eachother we finally found the little A4 piece of paper that was the sign for the hostel. Our original plan of 5 nights here had been cut to 3 after our delay but we still found this to be enough time. It was a place that we had never really thought about visiting, so if it wasn't for Kaz's friend wanting to go there for a cosplay convention we may never have given it a chance. While all the guide books say this is still an up and coming tourist destination we found plenty to fill our time with and were intrigued by the history of the area.
We met our friends from back home, Kan and Leah, at the hostel after they had similar delays to us leaving Australia. Leah rushed off to her Japanism cosplay convention while the rest of us caught up on some sleep. That night we headed to the lovely Skardalja district for dinner at a nice restaurant that translates to 'The Hat'. We were relieved to discover that most people spoke English and things are cheap, which was a wonderful change from our last 2 weeks spent in New York and Canada. We enjoyed a shared dinner of mixed meat and local beer/grape brandy.

The following morning we headed to the Kalemegdan citadel, a fortress that is one of Belgrade's main attractions and is also free, which puts it in my price range. The fortress itself was interesting, the views over the city and rivers were great and there was a beautiful little café at the top of it.

On the way back we wandered through Knez Mihailova mall before bussing out to Ada Ciganjila, a man made island in the middle of the river. We enjoyed bevvies in a beachside cafe while soaking up the beach vibe, watching hundreds of people cram themselves onto the small stretch of pebbly shore to get some sun or enjoy a dip. We thought we had left the iconic massive slices of pizza back in New York but they seem to be just as big here in Eastern Europe. So for an easy dinner we grabbed a slice and a beer and enjoyed some live music back in the mall in town.
The next day we caught a bus to Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city, to meet up with one of Leah's new friends from Japanism, Bojan. He took us hiking in nearby Fruska Gora National Park where we were eaten alive by mosquitos. When I say we, I mean Karen. The heat was also a factor but we were rewarded with stunning views from a lookout which always makes it all worthwhile. Bojan then showed us the sites of his city, which was rather subdued after an attack by a crazed gunman in a nightclub the previous night. The town centre was gorgeous with its pastel painted buildings, churches, cathedrals, cafe-lined streets, street lanterns with flower pots and botanic gardens. There was another imposing fortress on the opposite river bank. There was also a war memorial commemorating the innocent people who had been thrown into the frozen river and left to die under the ice during World War II. This coupled with the bombed buildings we saw in Belgrade (media buildings that were attacked during the war in the 1990s) were reminders about the region's sad history.

We enjoyed hamburgers for lunch that came highly recommended by Bojan, he didn't let us down. We followed this up with a gelati and then a coffee at a local cafe, so quite the indulgent afternoon. Safe to say the going was pretty slow after this. We stopped by a supermarket where Bojan was excited to help Leah stock up on local chocolates and sweets to take back home for her kids, I also found a brand of chips called "Josh" which I was very excited about. Small things....
Back in Belgrade we saw more of the city by night, including the famous Saint Sava Cathedral and the House of National Assembly before catching a flight to Dubrovnik the next day.
Definitely a fascinating place worth a visit, even if we only just scratched the surface.

Photos: Serbia

joshandkaren — Tue, 2 Aug 2016 23:16:00 GMT

Canada 17/6/16 - 28/6/16

joshandkaren — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 00:52:00 GMT

We arrived in Montreal on an overnight bus that brought us from New York. It was a fairly smooth 8 hour journey but we didn't get a lot of sleep so we were excited to be able to check in to our AirBnB condo in Saint Henri early and have a chill day. The place was amazing - with the owner away, we had the whole condo to ourselves and enjoyed the balcony, Netflix and even a bath, plus the opportunity to wash some clothes and have some home cooked meals. All the comforts of home for under $40 a night! We immediately contacted the owner and requested an extra night making it 4 nights total. In our 6 months of travelling to this point it was very rare for us to stay in one place for this long, so we were looking forward to a bit of a rest and relaxation.

The next day we dragged ourselves back into gear and went to explore Montreal. With its well planned metro system, it is an easy city to get around. We started with the old city, which had a very European feel and lots of amazing places to eat out, if you had the budget for such things. We then soaked up some sun at the old port, enjoying the markets, parks and live music there and wandered through the mall looking for gifts.

Our third day we caught the metro out to Mont Royal to do some hiking. We arrived at the parklands at the base of the mountain and realised that we had stumbled across some sort of mass hippie gathering. There were blankets laid out everywhere with people selling all their handmade bits and pieces and lots of old shirtless men gyrating to the beat of some tribal drums. We found a nice little patch of grass and just people watched for a while before we began our ascent up Mont Royal. It was only a short hike but the heat and humidity were intense, but we were rewarded with beautiful views over the city from the top. We took a different route on the way down and came across a lovely lake which seems to be the local hotspot for sunbathers. After a bit of a rest here we made our way back to the metro and got off a couple of stops before home to check out the Atwater markets. We straight away regretted our decision to do our shoppong at the local supermarket the previous day because the food looked amazing. We walked the rest of the way home along the Lachine Canal which ran right behind our accommodation.

Our final day we caught the metro under the river to Saint Helen Island. After having done a lot of walking the past couple of days we decided to take it pretty easy today with regular stops to relax in the beautiful gardens on this island. We stopped by the Biosphere but after seeing the admission prices we were more than happy to just admire this museum from the outside. While walking around we came across what we thought might be a beaver. I have never seen Karen so excited, chasing this little animal all over going crazy with the camera. It wasn't until a few days later that we found out that it was a groundhog which is a lot less exciting.

While in Canada we wanted to get out of the cities and see a bit more of what this country had to offer, so we hired a car for a couple of days for a quick trip to Mont Tremblant National Park in the Laurentian mountains. It took some time to adjust to sitting on the wrong side of the car and driving on the wrong side of the road, couple this with having no idea where the hell we were going and you're in for an interesting few hours. We arrived early afternoon (after getting a bit lost in the overpasses) and went to Tremblant resort, a cute little ski village by a lake at the base of a mountain. We enjoyed a short walk there with nice views, chipmunks and a giant red chair. A scenic drive and a stop for supplies took us back to our self-contained apartment with balcony and forest views.

The next day we drove into the Diable sector of the national park, stopping for several short walks through maple, birch and pine forests which had views of lakes, valleys and waterfalls. It was absolutely beautiful and just what we imagined Canada would look like. It would have been a perfect day if it wasn't for all of the bugs. They were relentless! Despite her insect repellant, Kaz came home covered head to toe in insect bites so I should have been happy with just having 2 bites but I still complained. As we parked the car for our first hike of the day we could see the cloud of bugs slowly grow larger and larger outside the windows. We tried not to let this stop us but our hikes turned into more of a light jog while flailing our arms in the air. Our planned outdoor picnic lunch turned into a front seat of the car picnic lunch and our plans for a relaxing kayak on the lake were quickly forgotten.
On one of our walks we heard some rustling in the bushes. After having seen some signs for bears and wolves you can't imagine my relief to see a little deer emerge. It was the best case scenario. The deer sightings along with a number of squirrels and chipmunks were the highlights in a day which didn't quite go to plan. We look back on this day now and have a chuckle so at least it was good for that.

Our next day was a transport day, driving back to Montreal then hopping on a bus to Toronto with Megabus. As we neared the halfway point of the journey our driver informed us that there would be a break coming up where we would get a different driver and a chance to go to the toilet and get something to eat. After only a few minutes the new driver jumped in the driver seat and just started driving, without some of the passengers. One lady was missing 3 members of her family and another girl was missing her friend. At first we just thought the driver was unaware of the missing people but even when the old lady was hysterically screaming up the front of the bus he refused to stop. We were literally driving down the main road when he finally gave in and let the passengers that were running along beside the bus back on. This guy broke the mould of the stereotypical kind and polite Canadian that I had grown up believing in, what a letdown. The rest of the journey to Toronto was quite boring in comparison.....

In Toronto that evening we caught up with Kulsam, a friend who we had met in Africa a few years ago. She took us out to her favorite burger place and then gave us our first poutine experience. It was basically just a tray of chips heavily lathered in cheese and a number of different sauces. Very filling, especially after our burgers. She showed us the downtown area of the city by night which was amazing and so much easier than trying to navigate our own way around a foreign city. We stayed at the Toronto Travelers Home (disorganized and simple but cheap and in an excellent location).
The next day we explored more of Toronto, including Kensington market, the University buildings with their nice architecture, Yonge-Douglas square, St Lawrence market, the trendy Distillery district and the waterfront.

We caught an afternoon bus to Niagra falls where we checked in to the Scottish Inn (neat, clean and close to the Clifton Hill district and falls). We were surprised at how happening it was - sort of like a mini Vegas, all lit up and with lots of attractions like wax museums, a ferris wheel, mini golf, casino and loads of restaurants. The falls themselves were amazing and were able to be viewed for free from a long pathway, a nice change from other major waterfalls we'd been to. They also put on a free light and fireworks show which was short but very sweet. The next morning we spent more time taking in the falls before lunch with another friend, Erwin, who we had met in Jordan. His friendly new wife, Maria joined us as well and we spent a lovely couple of hours catching up at Elements restaurant which had delicious food, reasonable prices and great views over Horseshoe falls. We could have spent longer there but unfortunately had a bus back to Toronto in the late arvo.

The next day in Toronto we took in some summer celebrations with a family street festival, another walk through downtown and then a ferry trip to Centre Island, from which we had great views over the city skyline and time to relax in the parks with books and in the terrace of a pub with a beer/sangria.
We then headed 40 minutes out of the city to Missisauga for our first couchsurfing experience with Pierre and Sargam. They were very friendly hosts and we had a lot in common. They welcomed us into their condo and even let us use the facilities, which included gym, pool and rooftop garden. It was another good chance to relax for a couple of days. We have both loved the condo living experience and may have to look at moving house when we get back.

We took an uber to the airport - a great new way to travel - and our first flight to Halifax went smoothly. Unfortunately our connecting flight had mechanical issues (the plane was turning when it wasn't supposed to) so we were delayed overnight. This didn't bother me at all, I'm a nervous flyer at the best of times so if a plane has "mechanical issues" you couldn't pay me enough to get on it. The delay didn't bother us too much, we have a very flexible schedule, one of the perks of long term travel. After hours of waiting in the airport, they took us to a nice hotel where we eventually got news of our flight - leaving at midnight the following day. So we made the most of the opportunity to live it up in some nice accommodation with cable tv, room service and a luxurious bathroom.

So not the best ending to our time in Canada, but an awesome country nonetheless and one that we'll definitely have to come back to in order to explore more of its rugged natural beauty.

Photos: Canada

joshandkaren — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 05:56:00 GMT

Photos: New York

joshandkaren — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 06:00:00 GMT

New York 12/6/16 - 16/6/16

joshandkaren — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 22:39:00 GMT

We only had a few days in New York as part of a stopover on the way from South America to Europe but we made the most of them.

Day 1: slept at an AirBnB in Newark after arriving late in the airport. Lovely place with Danielle as our host.

Day 2: caught the Path train to Christopher Street, where our Australian friends, Simon and Emily, who we met in Africa, now live. Impressed by their charming neighborhood and how much it looks like a movie set, we retrieved their spare key and drpped our bags off in their surprisingly spacious 5th floor apartment. We met their French Bulldog puppy, Mr Pickles and discovered that the Friend's apartment building and Carrie's place from Sex and the City were nearby. We then wandered up 7th Avenue, stopping at Madison Square Garden for Josh to do a tour of the stadium and Karen to do some shopping at nearby H&M. We then walked through Times Square and up Broadway until Central Park, where we chilled for a bit and people watched before walking back. That night we were reunited with Simon and Emily over a few beers at a very funny stand up comedy show (Colin Quinn) followed by tacos.

Day 3: more wanderings, this time south along the Hudson to the Twin Towers memorial and then the Staten Island ferry. The free ferry awarded nice views of the Manhatten skyline and the Statue of Liberty. We popped into the museum of Indigenous Americans before checking out Wall Street, Town Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge before walking back through the trendy area of Soho to the apartment. We went out for dinner to their local pub that had delicious burgers and cheap beer by American standards.

Day 4: caught the subway to Times Square then visited Simon at work in one of the Rockefeller buildings, so that we could get a nice view of the skyscrapers out of his 16th story window. We then popped into Central Station where we went to the Oyster Bar to have lunch. However, since we only ordered soup, we were kicked out of the restaurant and sent to the take away part, which we hadn't actually seen. New Yorkers - not backwards in coming forwards! Our strolling then took us past the UN building and back up to the Times Square area where we checked out the pub that inspired How I Met Your Mother, McGee's (underwhelming). We then ended up back in Central Park and at the Met Museum where we guiltily snuck in without paying, since they have a pay what you can afford policy and that's not much! We were impressed with the sheer size of the art gallery and the number of exhibits. They even had a reconstructed Egyptian temple! We returned, exhausted, to Simon and Emily's apartment for a night in.

Day 5: we dragged our aching feet out for one more day of pounding the pavement in NYC. We started by walking along the High Line, a raised railway track that had been converted into a linear park. We then stopped by the public library, that was in a very impressive building but was rather lacking in books. We grabbed some pizza at Little Italy then took the scenic route home through Madison Square Park, Union Square Park and Washington Square Park. That night we caught an overnight bus to Montreal, Canada.

As someone who isn't really a big city person and who had never had NYC on her list, I must say I actually really loved this place. It was great to catch up with friends and experience their hospitality, as well as to benefit from their local knowledge. The people watching was fascinating - such cultural diversity and big personalities, and there were so many landmarks and free things to see. People performing everywhere and everything - from busking to ballet to comedy to a mostly naked lady getting people to paint her. NY had an amazing energy and something going on everywhere you looked. But of course, someone waiting for a tip everywhere you looked too.