middle name 'adventure': July 2008

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Fisheye update

I've been still snapping away on my fisheye camera and we got three films developed really cheap in Montenegro. There are SO many fun ones but here is just a few of the best ones...

Mel and Ollie in their pad in Clapham

At our house farewell party - Nick, Lachie, Eb's and Sally

In Cornwall at our first campsite

In Seville with Anna and Dalbs lying on the grass in the park before we said goodbye to them

Again in Seville

Some popped balloons in Toledo, Spain after a fiesta of some sort

At a beach just below Barcelona

On La Rambla in Barcelona

On top of Barcelona in Gaudis park with Mealz

A cat caught in the act just above Dali's house in Cadaques, Spain

In Cinque Terre, Italy

The fabulous Duomo in Florence, Italy

Eating pizza and sunbaking by Lagos Trasimeno

Lachie hard at work chilling out in Sicily

Tired and excited to be on the ferry to Athens, Greece

Hello from Mjlet, Croatia. We have had massive withdrawals from Montenegro and the people since we left. It's very strange that two countries that used to be one and the same can now be so different. The people, the type of tourists, the price difference. But we'll push through...
We stayed one night in a large campsite by Dubrovnik before catching a car ferry to a little mostly national park island called Mjlet. There is definitely tumbleweed moments here as it's Very quiet. But beautiful too. This morning we woke up to rain and lots of wind for a change so we've come to a hotel with wifi to catch up on 'admin'. Just a few pics below...
Meeting up with Heather C. tomorrow in Korcula then she'll come back to Mjlet with us for a night or two before we head up to Mostar and Sarejavo in Bosnia. Still 6 weeks of fun ahead of us!

Lying on the rocks at Copacabana beach near Dubrovnik

Pulling into Mjet on the ferry - Can you see the port??

Funny little cars on the island. This one is supposed to be a cat!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Hello from Stoliv

Hello from the deepest Fjord in Southern Europe...It's absolutely spectacular here! From Tirana we went straight to Petrovac in Montenegro. Lying on the beach in the town it felt like we were a part of a very crazy circus! People walking around with monkeys, alligators and deep fried something-or-other-balls. Lachie and Dan had partied hard with the Serbs till the wee hours of the morning. Ahhh...the Serbs. Such friendly people! We are now in a little Stari Grad (old town) near Kotor, right on the water where we haven't been able to bring ourselves to leave for the past 5days! We've been exploring the local area, hiking up to deserted towns in the hills and meeting lots of locals who are so happy to talk, show us around and help in every way. Montenegro is such a beautiful place, huge mountains crashing into crystal water with boats bobbing around in the bays. It should be a must for everyones next trip. Everyday we wake up to the most spectacular views we have ever seen, this is what this trip is about!!

Yummy, funny dinner in Tirana

Showing a bit of love for the biggest bunker in Albania

The 'circus' beach in Petrovac, Montenegro

Sveti Stefan. A deserted island town - once a town, communist base and flashy resort

mmmm...soaking up rays in Sveti Stefan

Sveti Stefan

Looking down over beautiful Kotor, Montenegro

On top of the fortress in Kotor, looking over the spectacular fjord

All sad to say goodbye to Dan

Our new Serbian friends. Having a reiki or 5

The whole happy gang

Lovely old houses on the foreshore of Stoliv

And again...What greeted us every day for a week. Bliss.

Visiting a quirky monastery off Perast

Our view from our campsite at dusk

Friday, July 11, 2008

Shqiperia

Hello from Tirana, Albania! Wow! What a week we've had! We have already been with Dan for almost 7 days. We met him in Athens in the afternoon and went straight into the Acropolis for a spot of stinking hot site seeing. Had a fabulous dinner by the sites and headed back to the campsite for a restless, hot, mosquito frenzied sleep (the norm now). The next morning, bright and early, we sped up to Igoumenitsa where we caught the ferry over to Corfu for 2nights. We rented a boat the one whole day that we were there which was, at first, windy and big swell (scary in a little boat) but by the end of the day we were in total chillout mode. Corfu wasn't what we expected at all. Being an island in Greece we thought it would be barren and lots of white buildings, but it's not at all! It's very wild and lots of forest, sheer cliffs, gorgeous water. We loved it there but have to keep moving as we need to drop off Dan on the 16th in Montenegro. Times a ticking. The next day we caught the ferry back to mainland Greece and then drove up, over the border and into Albania! We've been so hesitant about Albania and we've had the most incredible experience being here. Albania isn't in the EU. It's been a very war torn country for a long time. It's poor and there isn't much infrastructure but the people are the happiest people we've ever experienced. They are so friendly, happy, always waving, smiling. The roads are SHOCKING, HUGE holes and not much paved, but soooo worth it for the scenery and the whole experience of being here. The crazy man who ran this country for 40years built bunkers for 1:4 ratio of people in the whole country and so they are really just part of the scenery. Seems strange to be seeing beautiful beaches, and then bunkers in the same picture but that's just part of the charm. We are really truly charmed by this place. We slept on the beach last night which was absolute magic! Could go on and on but I'm sure you get the picture. We are now in Tiran (the capital of Albania) for the night before moving on tomorrow to Bar -Montenegro. All is well!