Dubrovnik and Split - Croatia

From Vienna, the four of us flew to Dubrovnik in Croatia. As we we began to land we were all so excited because we could see the sea! Finally we would be able to have our first European swim!

Our taxi dropped us at the entrance of the old town and told us our place was a 5 minute walk through the old town walls. The guy actually had no clue where we were staying. Luckily a very nice restaurant owner called our apartment owner and he came and got us. 

The apartment owner Alberto showed us around our apartment, a bit of the old town and then shouted us all a drink. He took as back to the apartment and as we left Brendan cried "Alberto, when will we see you again?". (He refuses to think this is how it went down but us girls like to believe it happened this way).

Inside the old town walls

We then walked to Banje beach which was just outside of the old town. Now having gone to Greece, I have seen better beaches, but at the time it was amazing. It was still so nice and clear and we were so stoked that this was the first European beach we would swim in.

Banje beach

That night we had pizza for dinner and then all went to the cliff bar Alberto showed us. It was so relaxing AND they have the best cider in Croatia called 'inCider' and it tasted like apple juice. I am DYING to have another one.

Dubrovnik by night

I started the next morning with a nutella and walnut crepe before we caught a crazy bus to a bus station so that we could book a bus to Split for the day after. We then went up a cable car from the old town to the top of the mountain behind us. It gave us beautiful views over the old town and other parts of Dubrovnik. We even had a drink up there :)

As we were just about to catch the cable car back down, we saw that Ness and Christine were there too! (They were on a Croatia sailing tour). So we planned to meet them at the beach because we were sweating like never before.

We spent a nice afternoon at the beach with the girls. Then Bren, Laura and Myself went to walk along the Old town walls. I was blown away by the beauty of the old town and I'm so glad I got to do that!!

Then we took the girls to the cliff bar before dinner. The sun was setting at the time and it was just SO pretty. We then had a family dinner (minus Josh who was living the village life) at a pizza joint because the restauraunts in Dubrovnik old town are literally 95% pizza restaurants! lol. To top off our "traditional" Croatian dinner, we had to get Gelato. The gelato guy was AMAZING! He flipped the icecream in the air and caught it on the cone. It was good gelato too!

After that we chilled in Alberto's apartment with the crew...listening to the choir at the music school next door....living the dream.

The next day we were off to Split!

That next morning we jumped on the bus to split and as soon as we got on, a policeman came onto the bus and asked for passports...we all got our passports out but then realised he was only talking to Bren. I don't know if they thought he was a serial killer or something but he just checked it and left. Too weird. On our bus ride we passed through the borders of Bosnia twice and had to get our passport checked too. It was a very odd bus ride.

We arrived in Split late in the afternoon. After checking in, we went to find some food. I wanted to finally have some traditional Croatian food, so we found a place that had Chevapcici. It was yummy.

Chevapcici

We then went for a walk to explore some of the beaches. The main one called Bacvice beach stays about knee deep for 200m out so there are heaps of people playing ball sports in the water. We saw a few other beaches but they definitely weren't as nice as Dubrovnik.

After we found this awesome bar overlooking the port and drank Incider till our hearts desired. Later we got some donuts and walked back through the old castle walls to home.

Bacvice Beach

View from our favourite bar in Split

Our second and last full day in Split and Croatia in general, was a scorcher. However, instead of hitting the beach first, we decided to do some sightseeing. We walked up to a lookout which gave a view of the whole of Split. There was even a bar when you got to the top! Then we went to see inside the Dolcletian palace which was built in the 4th century!

Random hook statue in Split

View from the lookout

The Dolcletian Palace

After that sweat-fest we finally decided to hit up the beach. After lunch and a few drinks at the bar again on the way home, we awaited Josh's arrival to Split from the village. 

When Josh arrived that night he took us to this place for Burek (a pastry filled with cheese and/or meat). It was soooooo soooooooooo good. I am drooling at the thought and wish I took a picture but I was too hungry at the time. After more food and a few drinks on our balcony, we went to bed ready to get up early for our flight to ITALY!

Vienna - Austria

From Prague we caught a 5 hour bus to Vienna. The train takes just as long to get there and was more expensive. Plus one of the buses there had tv screens and you could pick out of heaps of movies, just like a plane. I was pretty impressed. It was only myself, Jas, Bren and Laura taking the trip to Vienna as Christine and Ness went to Croatia for a sailing tour and Josh went to visit his family in Croatia.

We arrived in Vienna late afternoon and decided to go for a walk into the city and grab something to eat. We were looking for a restaurant called Figlmuller which claims to have the biggest schnitzel in the world. It's definitely the most famous restaurant in Vienna for it's schnitzels. 

They have two restaurants right near each other. The one we went to was the biggest and there was a small line out the front. After only about a 10-15 minute wait, we were seated. The thin, pork schnitzel was BIGGER than the plate...I think Jas wet her pants. They served the schnitzel with a side of potato salad mixed with normal salad. We all vowed to finish it and Bren, Jas and Laura had no trouble. I was 3/4 of the way through and was ready to throw up. But I did it, and I was proud, but also couldn't stand the thought of seeing it again. But it was probably the best schnitzel I've ever had.....

A cathedral in the middle of the city in which Bren's grandpa was the aarchitect

just some food...

The next day Laura and I went to the Schonbrunn palace. Apparently it was the summer residence of Sisi (Empress Elizabeth of Austria - thanks Wiki). It is beautiful, and it is free! Please go and see it if you ever go to Vienna!! It has the most beautiful rose gardens I have ever seen! I felt like I was Alice in Wonderland!! The palace also hosts a zoo (which you must pay for) and a garden maze. 

Later that day we went back into the city to meet Bren and Jas. Bren's grandma (who used to live in Vienna) reccommended a cake shop she loved which was right in the city. I had the famous Sachertorte, a chocolate cake with marmalade it the middle. Too delicious and I want to make it soon!

Then Laura and I walked across the Danube river to find the famous Ferris wheel situated in a cool little amusement park. I read about the Ferris wheel in the book 'The Third Man' which I read in school. The line for it was pretty long so we weren't that keen for it, instead we spotted the Prater Turn! I am pretty scared of heights but I'm glad I did it as it gave us such a beautiful view of the whole city of Vienna in a pretty fun way! 

The Prater Turn

That night the four of us were contemplating our last dinner in Vienna, and surprise surprise we decided on Figlmuller again haha! I didn't finish this time so we had room for some gelato we spotted in a huge gelato store just around the corner. The perfect way to end our time in Vienna....next stop, Croatia!!

Berlin - Germany

I do realise that we flew to Berlin after Amsterdam and then caught a train to Prague. Bit of a mix up but still the same story.

Everyone I know raves about Berlin, and I mean everyone. I wish I could sit here and rave about it. I wish I got that feeling that everyone else got. Don't get me wrong, Berlin was really cool, but I just didn't get that crazy love for it. I think it's probably because I really only had one day to explore the city and I really would love to give Berlin a second chance again next time. I also really want to go to the Berlin zoo.

Anyways, as I said our time in Berlin was pretty tight. We arrived late afternoon on our first day so by the time we dragged our luggage up and down staircases to our hostel (Plus Hostel Berlin - really nice, pretty much like a cheap hotel because we booked private rooms) we were ready for dinner. Someone recommended a delicious burger place and that it was.

The next day we did the Berlin walking tour that everyone also raves about. The amount of history in the one city is just crazy. Some of the things we saw included the Brandenburg Gate, Jewish memorial and check-point Charlie. The tour was good but I think I enjoyed the one in Amsterdam more. We finished the tour at a beautiful cathedral, I was in awe.  

Brandenburg Gate - Napoleon took the statue and took it to France, but it was later returned 

Jewish memorial

 

Berlin Cathedral

East side traffic light man

We then went to the East Side gallery, the remains of the Berlin wall that is covered by some pretty amazing artwork.

 

That night we had the biggest pub crawl of our lives. Triple shot vodka mixers for 5 euro. We ended up at the Matrix bar just across the road from our hostel...pretty convenient I must say...