Off to Alicante, Spain… AGAIN!

// June 30th, 2008 // 196No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/30/off-to-alicante-spain-again/Off+to+Alicante%2C+Spain...+AGAIN%212008-06-30+14%3A19%3A55Ryan // Spain, Travel

Yep, back to Alicante, Spain! If you’ve been keeping up to date with my travels since I began my euro trip back in April you should remember Alicante quite well. Alicante is not only the first place that I have ever CouchSurfed, but it was also the first country that I visited in Europe not counting Ireland of course! Not only did I enjoy the meeting a bunch of great people in Alicante but I also fell in love with the atmosphere and the amazing scenery that surrounds this beautiful coastal city.

Last night Liz headed off to take a “nap” at around 8:30PM and didn’t wake until about 11:30. She woke up, packed really quick and then fell back asleep again. I think the weekend in Galway really beat her up. I ended up getting some writing done for my website while I watched the EuroCup Final football match between Spain and Germany. Once Spain came out victorious I headed upstairs to pack some things before getting some much needed rest. If we were only heading to Spain one day earlier, we could have been involved in the chaos that went down after Spain won the match!

Our RyanAir flight from Dublin to Alicante was scheduled to leave at 1:30PM so we dragged ourselves out of bed and I ran downstairs and us some Irish bacon and toast. We jumped on the bus to Dublin Airport at around 10:30AM and when we arrived we checked our one bag for the both of us with no issues at all. Luckily we were only four ounces over weight, because RyanAir has really strict weight restrictions on checked baggage! They only allow 15 Kg’s per person. If you’re over weight, you pay 15 Euro per kilogram after that. The woman in front of us in line had to pay 180 Euro at the check in desk because she was 12 kilograms over weight. Yikes!

We got through security with no issues and made the 15 to 20 minute walk all the way down to gate D75 on the opposite end of the airport. We spent about an hour waiting to board the plane and once we finally got on, we got to sit right in the front row. It was perfect! There was plenty of leg room, and we were happy to be able to be first off the plane once we landed. Sweet! The flight was a little less than two and a half hours we actually arrived a little early. The same thing happened on my last flight to Alicante. RyanAir is known to be one of the most on time airlines in Europe!

When we stepped off of the plane it was about 28 degrees Celcius (approx. 82 F), with a beautiful breeze! Ahh, I love Spain! We took the C6 Bus from the airport right into the city where our hotel was awaiting us. I had a feeling that our hotel was close to the esplanade, but not this close! The location of this place is unreal! It’s literally on the esplanade!

There’s restaurants, and supermarkets within a one minute walk and the beach (Playa de Postiguet) is just three minutes away!

Our room is on the 14th floor and it faces the beautiful port of Alicante where all of the multi-million dollar yachts are parked up for the summer.

After we checked in and dropped our bags we headed off to a restaurant that I had been to when I was in Alicante the last time which was called Foster’s Hollywood Restaurant. An American restaurant of course! Last time I was here I had a great burger, and I was really looking forward to another one. The food was great as usual and we had a great time eating on the outdoor patio that overlooks the port of Alicante.

After dinner we walked along the boardwalk of the port until we reached the beach and the Melia Hotel. We looked around for a bit and then headed to a bar called Desden that I had been to quite a few times during my last visit to Alicante.

Desden is the spot if you’re looking for cheap drinks in a chilled out and relaxed atmosphere. They used to serve 1 Euro Pints of Budweiser but now they’ve changed over to a beer called Sam Miguel. Either way, a pint for 1 Euro (approx. $1.55 USD) is quite a deal. Liz got some sort of pink mixed drink and they were only 2 Euro so we spent about $4.65 USD for 2 drinks. You’d be hard pressed to even find a deal like that at home.

We each had a drink and then headed off and did some more walking along the esplanade which is all illuminated at night and filled with illegal street vendors trying to sell sunglasses, purses and more. Afterwards we had a little photo shoot at the colorful fountains across the street from the Melia Hotel.

We headed back to the hotel around midnight and headed to bed. Tomorrow we’ll probably spend a couple of hours on the beach and then take things as they come.

Adios!

Off to Galway for the weekend!

// June 29th, 2008 // 1951 Comment »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/29/off-to-galway-for-the-weekend/Off+to+Galway+for+the+weekend%212008-06-29+19%3A50%3A23Ryan // Ireland, Travel

Friday [6/27/08]:

This morning was an early one. We were up at 5:30AM to pack some last minute things before taking the 7:10AM train from Dublin (Heuston Station) to Galway for the weekend. We purchased the train tickets the day before so it was nice to not have to wait in line for tickets the morning of the train. Shockingly enough a round trip train ticket from Dublin to Galway set us back 47 Euro each (approx. $75 USD each). That makes for a pretty expensive weekend already!

Once we grabbed some seats for ourselves the train we both threw on our iPod’s and shut our eyes while the train whisked us off to Galway. Just as we passed the last stop before our final destination we heard a loud bang as we crossed a railroad crossing. Within a couple of minutes we were stopped dead on the tracks with no train stations in sight. Since we were seated in the last train car I ran to the back of the train to take a look out of the windows. Down the tracks in the distance I could see something but it was hardly visible due to the fog. Within ten minutes the conductor came on apologizing for the delay and that there was a minor accident on our rail. After about a half hour we found out that our train actually clipped a car while passing through a railroad crossing. Pretty scary! Our train was scheduled to arrive in Galway at 10:00AM but we ended up spending about an extra hour or so sitting on the tracks so we didn’t end up arriving in Galway until about quarter past eleven.

As we arrived my uncle was there to pick us up. We jumped in the car and headed off to his house in Ballinistack where we hung out, chatted and had a great traditional irish breakfast that my aunt cooked for us. After spending a few hours there we headed off to my cousin Michelle’s apartment which is located about five or ten minutes drive from Galway city center. Once we arrived Liz and I headed up for a nap because we had been up since 5AM this morning and we knew that we’d have a long night ahead of us. Friday and Saturday nights in Galway usually end up in starting to drink at around 7 or 8PM, heading out to the bars around midnight and staying out until about 3 or 4AM. I warned Liz ahead of time!

After our nap we woke up and got dressed for the night. We headed downstairs to the living room where my cousin Michelle, and Colin were hanging out. They picked up some liquor so we had a few drinks before we headed out for the night to a bar called the Rosheen? It was packed! You could hardly move in the place. Colin and Michelle insisted on buying us round after round of drinks. Before we knew it we had put down Vodka Redbulls, Jagerbombs, Rum and Cokes and more. I don’t know how they do it!

After the Rosheen we stopped into a chipper (take out restaurant that sells fries, and other fast food) and grabbed ourselves some of the worst french fries that Liz and I had ever experienced in our lives. Colin insisted that we try his favorite type of fries which were called Garlic Cheese Chips. Once we got home and opened the box we were horrified. They were french fries that were covered with cheese and garlic mayonnaise. YUCK! Needless to say we ended up having a few before handing them over to Colin.

We headed to bed around 3:30AM and didn’t wake until 11:30 the next morning. Neither Liz or I are used to this craziness back home!

Saturday [6/28/08]:

This morning Michelle, Colin, Liz and I headed into town to grab some lunch because breakfast was far over at this point. Colin decided to take us to an Italian restaurant called Milano’s in Galway and what a great choice it was. We had a great meal there before heading off to Connemara for the day.

Michelle was nice enough to take us along in her car down to a town called Roundstone.

On the way there was much scenery to be seen. The ride was filled with green hills, windy roads, rivers, ravines and random sheep roaming the streets.

At one point we jumped out of the car to try to take a picture with the sheep but they ran off quickly. It didn’t help that Liz was trying to call them by screaming BAHHHHHHHHHHHH over and over either. We laughed and laughed on the rest of our way to Roundstone.

Once we got to the tiny town of Roundstone we stopped into a pub called Ryan’s where we had a few sodas and cappuccino’s.

The word around town was that Jennifer Anniston and Owen Wilson were actually in town shooting a movie. We weren’t sure how true it was until we overheard someone talking about Owen Wilson being in a little book store that was right next to the pub that we were sitting at. Liz and I were really curious so we headed down to this closet sized book store. In the photo below you can barely see a person sitting in a chair through the door way, that’s Owen Wilson himself. As you can tell, Liz made a valiant effort on this one to take a quick paparazzi-like photo of him.

As soon as we walked in Owen Wilson was right in front of us. He looked up quickly and then proceeded to get back to what ever he was reading. Liz and I pretty much just acted like we were looking at books while we scooted by Owen a couple times. We thought about asking him for a picture but decided we wouldn’t bother him. It was a pretty cool experience, although I would have died to have the opportunity to meet my girl Jennifer Anniston! Within 25 minutes or so Owen headed off with a few people and our day in Roundstone pretty much ended too.

We headed back to my cousins place where we once again took a nap so that we could rest up before a big night out in the city. When we awoke Michelle and Colin were downstairs with a few friends. We hung out and had some drinks and some food while laughing, joking, and watching some really funny video clips on YouTube.

At around midnight we headed out to Halo a very popular nightclub in Galway. So popular that we waited about 20 minutes in line to get in before we were turned away due to the club being full to capacity. The night wasn’t over just yet though. We all headed off to a club called Karma which is located just down the street from Halo. Once we entered you could feel the heat wave from all of the bodies in the place. It was so packed that everyone was stepping on each other and you would simply expect to be pushed around every few seconds or so. We had a lot of fun and danced the night away until about 2:30AM.

After Karma we headed to Supermac’s where we grabbed some food before getting a taxi back to Michelle’s apartment.

Sunday [6/29/08]:

This morning we woke up around 11:00AM and Michelle dropped Liz and I down to the Galway train station so that we could catch the 1:20PM train back to Dublin. We took the earlier train because we wanted to get back to Dublin to pack for our trip to Spain tomorrow afternoon. Plus the EuroCup Final football match between Spain and Germany was on so I wanted to get back, relax and watch the game.

After our 3 hour train ride back to Dublin we finally arrived back home to my uncles house. We were relieved and starving! My aunt was nice enough to cook us a chicken for when we got back. We got right to it, and chomped on half of it before filling our stomachs. We did some last minute laundry and Liz headed up to bed for a nap while I worked on my website for a bit. As I was working I was also watching the EuroCup Final football match between Spain and Germany and Spain WON! I have a feeling Spain is going to be one fun place over these next few days and we’re going to be right in the middle of it! I can’t wait for the fun, and the sun in Alicante. Off to Spain tomorrow afternoon, will post again soon…

Adios!

Dubrovnik, Croatia – Day 7 & 8!

// June 25th, 2008 // 1941 Comment »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/25/dubrovnik-croatia-day-7-8/Dubrovnik%2C+Croatia+-+Day+7+%26+8%212008-06-25+16%3A57%3A29Ryan // Croatia, Ireland, Travel

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Day 7:

This morning we slept in quite late after spending most of our day yesterday in the blazing hot sun. We were both so tired! We woke up had some breakfast and simply planned on just relaxing and spending our day down at the water at Buza.

We walked down to Buza around noon time and the weather was pretty much the same as it has been for the last week now. Sunny, hot, and beautiful! We jumped into the water as soon as we got there, and as you’ll see below I jumped from the highest cliff at Buza right off the bat. Thanks to Liz for the amazing photography skills! This is one of the craziest photos that I’ve seen in a while!

We stayed at Buza and swam around for a couple hours before heading back to the apartment. It got a little too hot and we had basically just spent a straight week in the sun so we were sort of tired of it at this point. We headed back to our beautiful air conditioned apartment and froze for a few hours while we cooked dinner and chatted about how great our vacation had been so far.

Later on we headed down to Old Town for one last gelato. We strolled the streets of Dubrovnik while we inhaled our gelati. After doing a bit of walking around town we headed home and called it a night. Tomorrow we’ll wake up early to make sure that we have everything packed for our flight back to Dublin, Ireland!

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Day 8:

This morning we woke up around 8:45AM to get all of our stuff together and make sure that the apartment was in the same state as when we first arrived. We did most of the cleaning and most of our packing yesterday evening but still had a few things to do before our flight back to Dublin.

The owner of the apartment picked us up at 10:30AM and took us straight to the airport for our 12:40PM flight to Dublin. We hung out in the airport for a while and had a sandwich before we boarded the plane. Unfortunately we were sitting on the runway for about twenty minutes longer that we should have been due to some air restrictions but finally around 1:15PM we took off and we were on our way.

We landed in Dublin around 3:15PM and as much as we were sad about leaving Dubrovnik, we were both excited about getting back to Dublin. Even I was excited because I’ve been on the road for three weeks now and sometimes it’s just nice to get back to your home base even if it’s only for a few days.

Liz is heading back home to the states on July 6th so we’ve tried our best to jam pack as much as possible into this next coming week and a half. We’re spending tonight and tomorrow in Dublin and then on Friday we will head to the west coast of Ireland to Galway where we will meet up with some of my family and friends. On Sunday we’ll leave Galway and travel back to Dublin to spend the night before our flight to Alicante, Spain on Monday June 30th. We’ll be staying in Alicante, Spain until Friday July 4th.

All in all, we’ve had a great time so far. Croatia is a place not to be missed! Dubrovnik was one of my favorite cities so far. Now I’ll be showing Liz around Dublin and Galway for the next few days before we head back to another one of my favorites Alicante, Spain!

Til next time…

Dubrovnik to Montenegro – Day 6!

// June 23rd, 2008 // 193No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/23/dubrovnik-to-montenegro-day-6/Dubrovnik+to+Montenegro+-+Day+6%212008-06-24+04%3A44%3A34Ryan // Montenegro, Travel

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Day 6:

This morning was an early one! We had to be up and ready at around 7:15AM in order to head down to the meeting point for our day trip to Montenegro!

Montenegro is known as “the world’s newest country” according to my LonelyPlanet “Europe on a shoestring 2008″ guide book and most people that I’ve met have never even heard of it! This small country lies just south east of Croatia and in May of 2006 it finally gained it’s independence from the union of Serbia for the first time since 1916!

Our tour driver picked us up at around 7:45AM in front of the Dubrovnik fire station and we made a quick loop around the hill side to pick up a few others. Luckily just before we picked up the last few people Liz reminded me that I needed my passport! Thank god she reminded me because I would have been sitting at the border of Croatia and Montenegro all day while everyone else spent the day in Montenegro! I let the driver know that I had forgotten my passport and he let me run back up to the apartment real quick before we headed off for the day.

Once we picked everyone up we headed for the border. On our way the terrain started to slowly change and the views were getting more and more beautiful. We finally arrived at the border of Croatia and Montenegro and everything went smoothly. Within 15 minutes or so we were off, and on our way to our first stop of the day, the city of Kotor.

Before reaching Kotor we made a quick pit stop and everyone jumped out of the van for a small break and a photo opportunity. In front of us was the beautiful Bay of Kotor! It was surrounded by mountains, flowers, and a somewhat dry landscape. The bay itself was absolutely huge!

After our short break and after everyone got a good look at the Bay of Kotor, we all were really looking forward to seeing the city of Kotor. When we finally arrived we couldn’t help but see the similarities of the city of Kotor to Old Town Dubrovnik. Like Dubrovnik, the city is surrounded by castle walls for protection. The walls lead all the way up the sides of the mountains. It’s pretty impressive! The Old City of Kotor was very small compared to Dubrovnik though.

There was not too much to see, so as soon as we entered Kotor Liz and I headed straight for a restaurant called La Pasteria. La Pasteria was named one of the best places to eat in Kotor so we wanted to see if it lived up to it’s reputation.

We sat down and had a great meal and the prices were right on track with what my guide book said so we were happy, and full by the time we were finished. After lunch we went for a small walk around the old city and pretty much saw everything that was to be seen.

Before meeting back with our driver we took a stroll through the old market that lies outside of the castle walls and got ourselves a couple cheap drinks before heading to our final destination, Budva! Budva is a city in Montenegro that is known for its historic old town, and beautiful sandy beaches!

The sky was clear, the sun was boiling and we were on our way to Budva. Liz swore that she saw a sign while we were driving that said it was 41.5 C (106.7 F) outside but I didn’t believe her. There was just no way that when we stepped out of the van that it would be nearly 107 degrees out. Once we arrived in Budva we realized that the sign that Liz saw on our way to Budva was correct! At this point it was 42 C (107.6) degrees out and we ran straight for the beach. I couldn’t wait to get into the water!

We walked and walked until we found a place to change into our bathing suits then we headed off to the nearest empty spot on the beach. We laid our towels out and as soon as I took my shirt off I could feel the rays of the sun beaming down on my back. We jumped in the water and swam around for a bit but we weren’t too impressed with the surroundings of Budva. The edge of the beach almost reminded me of an old run down camp ground. There were all sorts of junk souvenir shops, and a mobile home park that basically lied on the edge of the beach. The water itself didn’t appear to be the cleanest either but we made the best of it. We laid out for a bit longer before heading back to take a stroll through the old town of Budva.

We took a short walk around the old town but once again there wasn’t too much to see.

There were some shops and places to buy souvenirs but no real sights. All in all, I wasn’t impressed with Montenegro at all. There are definite efforts in place at the moment to build beautiful resorts and hotels in the area. There is a massive resort in the making right now in Budva right next to Old Town. Budva might possibly be the future of Montegnegro, but it’s far from that at this point.

Unfortunately I only got to see two cities today, so I can’t say that Montenegro as a whole was bad but from what I saw today I wouldn’t recommend anybody taking a day trip there nevermind staying in Kotor or Budva. Truly disappointing!

Everyone met back at our meeting spot at around 4:15PM and we headed back to Dubrovnik. Once we got back Liz and I ran straight for the apartment and we left the air conditioner on this morning so by the time we got back the apartment was freezing. Perfect!

We cooked some dinner and headed to bed early after a long day in the blazing hot sun. Today was the hottest day on my trip by far…

P.S. – Sorry, no worthy photos of Budva… Just wasn’t too much of a picturesque place.

Dubrovnik, Croatia – Day 4 & 5!

// June 22nd, 2008 // 191No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/22/dubrovnik-croatia-day-4-5/Dubrovnik%2C+Croatia+-+Day+4+%26+5%212008-06-22+15%3A48%3A49Ryan // Croatia, Travel

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Day 4:

Last night I made reservations for Liz & I to go sea kayaking and snorkeling in Dubrovnik with a company called Adventure Dalmatia (www.adventuredalmatia.com). A half day kayaking and snorkeling tour with Adventure Dalmatia included: Kayaking & Snorkeling Gear, Instructors/Guides, Sandwiches & Water, and Insurance. The total price was 230 Kn/Person (approx: $49.67 USD/person).

We made our way down to the meeting point which was located right down along side the coast near Pile Gate. When we arrived we were met by the promoter of the company and he instructed us to hang out for a few while the others arrived.

We took all of our belongings (clothes, camera, wallets, etc) and threw them in a waterproof bucket that came along with us on the kayak. Once our pockets were empty we got ourselves all geared up and ready to go!

Liz and I had never kayaked before but we were assured by our guide that these kayaks are very hard to capsize due to the wide body and the fact that you didn’t have to put your legs inside of the kayak, they laid out on the top of it as you sat back in your seat comfortably. The kayaks were made for two people, which I didn’t even know existed. I was under the assumption that a kayak was pretty much just made for one person. Guess not!

We jumped into our sweet new ride for the day and Liz jumped in front seat because factually it’s easier to paddle if you sit in the front. The back seat was left for me, and little did I know that I was going to have a lot of work ahead of me! Just kidding Liz!

There was a small group of maybe six kayaks and then two guides, one who rode ahead, and one who stayed behind the pack in case anybody had any issues. One of the guides was really cool and he was chatting to Liz and I while we cruised across the sea. We were determined to be in the front of the group most of the time. There were times that we stayed back a bit, but for the most part we were cruising! At times we’d be sailing so fast that we would end up rear ending the people in front of us. It was too funny!

After we cruised around the castle walls of Dubrovnik we headed for the Island of Lokrum. We made a big loop around the island and stopped at a cave on Lokrum island for a 10 minute break. Liz and I were ready to go, and since we were first in to the cave, everyone had to turn around and that meant we would be last out of the cave. That didn’t last too long though. We showed what team work was all about and we paddled like true professionals as we cut a few kayaks off and laughed our way to the number one spot.

Next we headed to a beach called Cave Beach which is located about a 10 minute walk down from our apartment on the hill side. The only problem is that Cave Beach isn’t accessible by the public, there’s no way to get down to the beach unless you swim from another point on the shore, or get there by boat. As we pulled up on shore of this small beach we parked our kayaks and had lunch which was included in our tour price. The lunch was a dalmatian ham and cheese sandwich. Basically a slice of ham, and a slice of cheese on a sub roll. It wasn’t too filling or tasty, but it did the job.

After eating we threw on our gear and attempted to do some snorkeling. Unfortunately the both of us kept accidentally swallowing salt water so that didn’t last too long. We gave up and decided to just swim around in the beautiful clear water.

Once everyone finished their lunch we jumped back into our kayaks and rode along the Dubrovnik coast line, across the old port, and then back around the castle walls to the finish. We made sure that we were first back, we even passed our own instructor this time!

The whole kayaking and snorkeling journey lasted around two and a half to three hours. We had a great time and would really recommend it to anybody that wants to do something a little different during their stay in Dubrovnik. Another thing that was great about this activity was that you don’t need any previous kayaking experience. It was really safe, the guides really looked out for everyone along the way. Everyone came back alive, and all seemed to have a really good time.

After our kayaking adventure we headed back to the apartment and cooked a nice lunch for ourselves. Once we finished lunch Liz laid out on our balcony for a while while I did some writing for the website.

Later on we mixed a few drinks and got dressed up before heading down to take a stroll through Old Town Dubrovnik. The Old Town is a great place to go at night if you want to do some people watching as you walk through the spotlessly clean streets of Dubrovnik.

Before heading home for the night we stopped at a small restaurant that served burgers, pizza, and other typical american food and we shared a nice burger and some pizza. Mmm!

Tomorrow we’re planning on walking along the top of the castle walls of Old Town Dubrovnik and then we’ll probably lay out and catch some rays as usual!

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Day 5:

This morning we slept in until about 10:30AM before rolling out of bed and heading out to explore the highest point in Old Town Dubrovnik, the Gradske Zidine (City Walls). We walked down to the Ploce Gate entrance to get to the one of two access points to the top of the city walls.

Here we paid an admission price of 50 Kn/Person (approx: $10.80 USD/Person) which I thought was sort of pricey, but I guess it’s one of the few main sights of Dubrovnik after all. After walking up the stairs to the top, I realized why they charge so much to tour the old city walls. The views were unbelievable!

The full loop around the walls is about 2 Kilometers (1.2 Miles). Some of the walls reach up to 25 meters (82 ft) in height, and up to 12 meters (40ft) wide in some places! The weather was absolutely beautiful, but the sun was baking hot and we were up high so it made the walk seem even longer than it really was. We were sweating about 10 minutes into it! It was great though, we really enjoyed the beautiful views of the Old Town, and the views of the blue green sea below. We got a lot of really great photos during our walk along the walls (see below).

After walking the city walls we decided we were in desperate need of a swim! We headed down to Buza (cliff side cafe) where there are spots to lay out, swim, and even cliff jump if you’re a thrill seeker! As soon as we got down to the bottom we instantly jumped right in. I have another cliff jumping video coming soon! This one is from a lot higher this time! It was a great time, and the water was so refreshing. Unlike the other day, there were a lot of people swimming today and we chatted with a few of them while we hung out at the edge of the water.

Our next stop before heading back to the apartment was the Adriatic Explore travel agency (www.adriatic-explore.com) located in Old Town. We stopped in and reserved two spots for the full day trip to Montenegro that leaves tomorrow morning at 8AM and arrives back in Dubrovnik around 6:30PM. We’re both really looking forward to seeing Montenegro, the photos in the brochure look beautiful!

Tonight we’re just going to take it easy, like we haven’t been taking it easy in the first place. We’re on vacation! We’ll probably cook some dinner and lounge on our balcony before heading to bed early so that we can be up bright and early to head to Montenegro…

Cool Fact: Montenegro will be the 14th country that I’ve visited on my trip so far!

Dubrovnik, Croatia – Day 2 & 3!

// June 20th, 2008 // 189No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/20/dubrovnik-croatia-day-2-3/Dubrovnik%2C+Croatia+-+Day+2+%26+3%212008-06-20+13%3A24%3A36Ryan // Croatia, Travel

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Day 2:

This morning we woke up fairly early so that we could catch the 9:00AM boat to the Island of Lokrum which is located just off the coast of Dubrovnik.

There is no need for reservations as many other activities in Dubrovnik need to be reserved at least one day ahead. With this boat ride to Lokrum, you simply walk down to the Old Port of Dubrovnik, find the Lokrum Island boat stand and purchase your 40 Kn ($8.63) round trip ticket. Boats depart from the Old Port of Dubrovnik to Lokrum every hour so you pretty much never have to worry about being stranded on the Island for too long. If you’d like more information please visit the official website of Lokrum

It took about 15 minutes to get to Lokrum, and the boat goes really slow so you have plenty of time to snap some photos of the Old Town of Dubrovnik as you’re leaving the port, the hill side where our apartment is, and the Island of Lokrum as you sail closer and closer to it.

Once we arrived on the island we walked straight to the Mrtvo More (Dead Sea) a natural saltwater pool that is fed by the sea that surrounds Lokrum. We dropped our bags and I had to coax Liz into getting into the water because she has a fear of cold water. Not really, but you’d think she did at least. In reality the sea here isn’t cold at all. It’s probably 20 degrees warmer than any water on any beach in Massachusetts, but she still thinks it’s too cold to swim. We swam around in the Dead Sea for a few minutes and Liz took a few cool photos of me messing around in the water.

After exploring the Dead Sea, we headed off to the cliff side of Lokrum where we found an amazing photo opportunity! It was basically a hole cut out of the rock with a view of the Adriatic Sea in the background. One of the most amazing photos I’ve taken to date on this trip so far. That was definitely one of the main highlights of Lokrum.

Afterwards we strolled along the cliffs and took a few photos of each other…

The next highlight was the Nudist Beach on Lokrum. Well maybe I’m lying about the “highlight” part. As usual, I seem to find the nude beaches that have all of the elderly sunbathing on them (ex. the topless beach I visited in Benidorm, Spain). As soon as we arrived we saw a few creepy old men lying out and they were staring at us as we walked as far down the beach as possible. We finally arrived at a spot on the rocks where we thought we would be safe and once again I jumped in the water (fully clothed) and swam for about 25 minutes or so while Liz caught some rays. Unfortunately, or fortunately there were no photos allowed on the beach. Lucky you!

We departed from Lokrum Island around noon time and headed back to Dubrovnik. Once we arrived at the port we decided we would go to Buza (Cold Drinks), a cafe that lies outside of the castle walls of Dubrovnik. Once we got down to the bottom Liz wanted to lie out for a little longer so I wasted no time and did my first cliff jump in Dubrovnik! Of course I scoped out the landing again before jumping. The water had to be at least 75 feet deep in one spot so it was a perfect place to land. (Video coming soon!)

It was now approaching dinner time and Liz and I were starving! We stopped at the supermarket on the way back to our apartment to pick up some food and drinks. Once we got back Liz got right to cooking and I spent some time cleaning up the apartment. For dinner we had Spaghetti, and sauce with chicken mixed through it. We set up the table outside on our balcony that overlooks the Old Town of Dubrovnik.

After dinner we headed back down to Old Town to have a drink on another cafe that lies outside of the castle walls of Dubrovnik. Unfortunately I don’t know the name of it! It’s located just around the corner from the other cafe (Buza). We sat down and had a vodka and cranberry as the sun set over Dubrovnik and the weather was amazing. What a great end to our second night in Croatia!

—
Day 3:

This morning we slept in until around 10:00AM and I was surprised that Liz slept that long because I know myself how hard it is to adapt to the time difference here in Europe. We’re six hours ahead of Boston and it’s usually really difficult to adapt during the first few days after you arrive. We didn’t really have much planned for the day other than to find the Tourist Information and search for some day trips that we can take from Dubrovnik at some of the travel agencies in town.

We headed down to Old Town and finally found Tourist Information! It’s taken us a couple days to find the place! When we finally arrived we picked ourselves up a map and a few brochures that looked interesting. Once we finished there we headed off to a travel agency called Adriatic Explore. They have all sorts of day trips so we sat down with the travel agent and got more information on some of the trips that we were interested in. We decided to think a little more before making any decisions and we grabbed a brochure on our way out.

After leaving we decided to head off to Banje Beach, the beach that spit up a rock that hit me directly in the forehead on the first day I arrived here. The difference between today and our first day here was that the ocean was much more calm. After taking a swim at Banje Beach today I realized how insane I was going into the water on the first day in the first place. It was crazy!

We swam around in the shallow, rocky water and then laid out for a few before heading back for a late lunch. Velveeta, and chicken! Mmm! Liz actually brought Velveeta to Europe for me, because she knows how much I love it. Unfortunately you can’t find Velveeta here in Europe. Not that I know of at least. All I know is that it was so good!

We both took showers to rinse off all of the salt from our bodies and got dressed before heading down to Fresh, a small bar/cafe down in Old Town that offers free Wi-Fi Internet, and has all sorts of cheap alcoholic drinks. Once there I uploaded some new photos to the site, and made a few phone calls back home. We sat there and had a few drinks before heading back up to the apartment to drop my laptop off before we went out for the night.

At around 8:45PM we headed down to Old Town to watch the big European football match (Croatia vs. Turkey). The crowds were crazy, and everyone was dressed in the Croatian team colors (Red & White Checkers). There was a giant projector screen that was mounted up on the wall near the bell tower in Old Town that was showing the game. Liz and I got a front row seat in the Stradun (main street in Old Town Dubrovnik) and we watched the game as the crowd went crazy!

Neither team scored all game until Croatia scored with less than two minutes left! Everyone went absolutely nuts! There were fireworks going off in the city, people lighting torches, blowing air horns and more. Within 30 seconds Turkey came back and scored to tie the game. Nobody could believe it! This meant that the game would be decided on penalty kicks. Croatia was up first and they missed their first kick. It was pretty much over from this point on. Turkey scored on most, if not all of their penalty kicks (can’t remember) and Croatia missed all but one! It was an unfortunate end to the night, the crowd quieted, and everyone seemed to scatter home in disgust. Fortunately for Liz and I we had a great time and would’ve liked to see Croatia win but there were no hard feelings due to us just supporting the team where were vacationing!

Once the game finished we grabbed some gelato before heading back up to our apartment. Tomorrow we’re planning on doing a half day kayaking tour on the Adriatic Sea! Should be pretty exciting!

Cliff Jumping in Ischia, Italy!

// June 19th, 2008 // 188No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/19/cliff-jumping-in-ischia-italy/Cliff+Jumping+in+Ischia%2C+Italy%212008-06-19+14%3A51%3A14Ryan // Italy, Travel

Bari, Italy to Dubrovnik, Croatia!

// June 18th, 2008 // 1871 Comment »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/18/ptm-bari-italy-to-dubrovnik-croatia/Bari%2C+Italy+to+Dubrovnik%2C+Croatia%212008-06-18+19%3A14%3A15Ryan // Croatia, Travel

Well, I’ll start off by saying that the 8.5 hour overnight ferry from Bari to Italy was almost worse than being on a bus for 3 weeks straight. I purchased a deck ticket for the journey which cost 46 Euro. If I was to purchase a cabin ticket, which included a bed, shower, and a private bathroom of my own the prices would have been astronomical! The deck pass simply gave you the option to either sleep out on the deck of the ferry, or go inside to the common areas which had tables, chairs and restaurant styles to find a place to sleep. At first I laid outside on the deck but then decided to head into the common area so that I could find myself a nice restaurant style booth to set up camp at.

Once I scoped out a vacant table I took my two bags and locked them up to the leg of the table so that I wouldn’t have to worry about people stealing anything as I slept. It worked out pretty well. The sleep part didn’t work out too well though. After you lie on these booth seats which have cushioning that is paper thin you realize that you’re really just sleeping on a piece of wood. It was a long ride, and all I wanted to do was sleep until the sun came up in Croatia.

At first I had the booth to myself but at one point during my tossing and turning I glanced over across the booth and found an older man sitting on the other side. I opened my eyes for a few seconds but was too tired to even say Hi. I was using my jacket as a pillow, and had no blanket. The worst part about it was that the air conditioning on the ship was blaring the whole night. Theres pro’s and con’s to everything. You could go outside and sleep on the deck of the boat on some wooden benches, and be warm because the weather was beautiful all night, or you could go inside where it was a tiny bit more comfortable and freeze to death from the A/C. I chose to sleep inside and by the time I realized how cold I was, I was too tired to move, nevermind unlock my bags and drag them outside with me. I simply just dealt with the cold, and tossed and turned the rest of the night while enduring the most uncomfortable sleep to date.

Finally the sun came up and we arrived at the port of Dubrovnik! I was so excited to finally be on land again.

I jogged off of the ferry as it docked and ran across the street to the ATM so that I could withdraw some Croatian currency (Croatian Kuna) for the bus to Old Town Dubrovnik from the port. Once I withdrew some money I jumped on the next bus to Old Town. After arriving I had to navigate my way to the apartment that Liz and I rented for the week. All I really knew was that it was situated in the foothills of the mountains here in Dubrovnik and it overlooked the Adriatic Sea and Old Town. It was 7:30AM. Here I am with no directions to my accommodations and I’m a walking zombie who’s carrying two backpacks with a total weight of nearly 40lbs on my shoulders. God, help me find this apartment so that I can just drop these bags! After taking a few correct turns I asked a few people if they knew the address that I had scribbled on a piece of paper. Each person that I asked led me a little closer and closer to my final destination. At last I arrived at my apartment. I checked in, and immediately threw my bags down. It was such a relief to finally be here. Now all I had to do was unpack some of my clothes, run to the nearest supermarket to grab some food and R-E-L-A-X!

The owner of the apartment had planned to pick Liz up at the Dubrovnik airport at 11:30AM so I went along for the ride with him. We arrived and waited for Liz to get her bags off of the plane and off again back to the apartment. It was so great to finally see someone from home. Who would’ve thought that I’d have visitors in Europe? Poor Liz had to take two seperate flights to get here, one from Boston to Dublin, and then another about two hours later from Dublin to Dubrovnik. The funniest part is that she traveled nearly 9 hours to get here from Boston, yet all I did was take a ferry directly across the Adriatic Sea from Bari to Dubrovnik and it took me nearly the same amount of time. How crazy is that?

Once we settled into our new home for the week we headed off to explore the Old Town of Dubrovnik. We spent quite a bit of time searching for the Tourist Information Center and in the end just gave up and spent the rest of the time seeing different sights, beautiful views from the castle walls, and more.

We even came across the popular, yet somewhat “secret spot” in Old Town which is a bar that lies on the outer edge of the castle walls and overlooks the sea.

I had read many articles and tips about this place in the past when researching Dubrovnik and I now know why everyone had so many good things to say about it. If you’re ever in the Old Town of Dubrovnik take a stroll around the walls that face the sea, and you’ll be sure to find it. The only way to know when you’re in the right place is when you see a wooden sign that says “COLD DRINKS ——->”. If you see that, follow the arrow and head through the door way. Be prepared to be amazed by the views and the opportunity to sit outside the castle walls of Dubrovnik while you sip on a beer or some wine.

After exploring Old Town we had some dinner at a nice restaurant called Arsenal. It’s a nice place with good food and has outdoor seating that overlooks the port. After our meal we headed back to our home for the week but not before making a quick stop into the supermarket on the way back to pick up some liquor. We got back to the house and immediately jumped into our bathing suits so that we could take a late afternoon swim at Banje Beach which is located below our apartment.

We arrived and realized that unfortunately Croatia isn’t the best place to find a sandy beach. I couldn’t understand why the locals called it a “Pebble Beach” when there were no pebbles, it was all rocks! I couldn’t resist the aqua colored water so I jumped right in. The waves were crazy! The only problem was that there were rocks the whole way out, no matter how far you swam out. Finally a big wave came and I thought I’d be cool and try to ride it into shore a bit. Well that didn’t work out too well. I ended up getting thrashed in the wave, flipped upside down and a rock which was also picked up by this giant wave cracked me in the forehead. I came out of the water stumbling and that was the last of Banje Beach for the day. Now I have a swollen lump on my head and it’s only my first day here!

After the beach we went back up to the apartment and took showers before heading out for the night. We met up with two roommates of mine that I had met in Naples about a week ago. They were here for one last night so we met up with them at this place called Gil’s which is located on the port. Gil’s is an unbelievable spot here in Dubrovnik. You can choose to sit on the ground level which is really modern and high end or head upstairs to the lounge where we went to lounge on giant bean bags on a patio that overlooks the sea.

It was quite the spot, if you can afford it that is. The drinks were really expensive compared to most places and since the girls that we met up with were finishing their last drink we decided to just hang out and grab a drink at the next spot that we would head to. We finished up at Gil’s and headed for a club/bar called Fuego which is located just outside of the Pile Gate entrance to the Old Town of Dubrovnik. It was a really chill spot and our waiter was really cool. He was giving us free shots throughout the night and even taking shots with us. We all had a great time and a good laugh. Once 11:00PM hit, we headed downstairs to the night club at Fuego. There was really nobody there so we had a drink and then Liz and I headed home to catch up on some much needed sleep after all of the traveling the both of us did in the past 24 hours.

Tomorrow we plan to head to the Island of Lokrum which is located about 15 minutes away by boat from Dubrovnik Old Port. Supposedly there’s a nude beach, a cove, some caves, and hiking trails on the island so we’re going to go check that out.

Until next time…

Grotte di Castellana & Polignano, Italy!

// June 16th, 2008 // 186No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/16/ptm-grotte-di-castellana-polignano-italy/Grotte+di+Castellana+%26+Polignano%2C+Italy%212008-06-16+10%3A32%3A15Ryan // Italy, Travel

This morning I woke up early and headed down to Bari Central Station so that I could catch the train to Grotte di Castellana, I had planned on trying to make the 11:00 Long Tour (in English) of the Caves of Castellana but when I arrived at the train station I realized that the next train wasn’t departing until 10:53AM. Unfortunately I missed the 11:00 Long tour but I had a back up plan! The back up plan was to take the 1:00PM Short tour of the caves if I ended up missing the long tour.

To make a long story short I arrived at Grotte di Castellana around noon time and as I walked off of the train I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere. There were no signs, just a field with some dead grass, some trees and a few cars placed here and there.

I decided to try to walk through what I thought looked like a desolate car park and after asking a random man who passed me where the Grotte di Castellana was, he pointed me in the right direction.

Once I arrived at the Grotte I purchased my 1:00PM ticket for the Short tour of the caves and pretty much laid out on a bench in the sun for a little less than an hour. Once 1PM hit, I got in a line which included maybe 6 or 7 people and myself. I was surprised that it was empty, but then again it was a Monday afternoon at 1PM.

We met our guide Christina who walked us down into the first cave and informed us that we were allowed to take photos and videos in this part of the cave only.

There were no photos or video allowed during the rest of the tour of the caves due to “copyright infringement”. I was pretty disappointed because I love to show my website viewers the in’s and out’s of everywhere that I visit on this trip. Unfortunately this time I couldn’t even sneak any photos or videos because they had a guide at the front speaking about the caves, and then another guide joined us at the back of the group.

I do have quite a few amazing photos of the first cave though here’s some more…

After the 45 minute walk through the caves we arrived back at the end and took an elevator back up to the exit. Overall I would say the trip to the caves was worth it’s 10 Euro admission price. It’s definitely a really cool thing to see if you’re in the Puglia region, or anywhere near Bari, Italy. It’s only an hour train ride from Bari, and I’d recommend you take the Long Tour instead of the Short tour I took if possible. Supposedly the long tour takes you to a cave called the White Cave which is supposed to be amazing. Unfortunately for me the train times screwed me up. Maybe next time!

Once I arrived back at Marina’s house I jumped in the shower and relaxed for a while before dinner. Marina’s mother cooked us pasta with REAL Ragu sauce and I’ll explain to you why I say “REAL” in this side note below.

Side note: Last night I was telling Marina about our version of “Italian” food back home. More like American-Italian food I guess. I was explaining to her that when we make pasta back home we buy pre made sauce from the store (ex. Prego, Ragu, etc). She couldn’t believe that we bought pre made sauce. Here in Italy, most if not all people make their tomato sauce from scratch if they are going to cook pasta. Marina also couldn’t believe that there was a brand called “Ragu” but yet it came in a traditional version that was just plain sauce with nothing else in it. Here, the word Ragu means “Tomato and meat sauce” and she found it so funny that there was a sauce called Ragu and it didn’t even have meat in it! I think it’s almost offensive to the Italians to hear these sort of things. She also couldn’t believe that there was a sauce called “Prego” either. She said why is the sauce called Prego? The meaning of Prego has absolutely nothing to do with tomato sauce at all! We had quite a few laughs about it.

Back to dinner, it was unbelievable as most Italian food has been so far here in Italy. Marina has showed me all sorts of new ways to cook pasta and I cannot wait to get home and try some of the recipe’s that she’s given me. Her mother served us up a traditional type of pasta that is used here in Bari which is called “Orecchiette”, and it was covered with Ragu sauce, the REAL Ragu sauce! The sauce was made with tomatoes, meat, mushrooms, and onions. Along with dinner we had some really strong red wine, and a glass of Limoncello (a traditional after dinner alcohol made with real lemons).

After dinner Marina took me to a city which is south of Bari called Polignano. She had been wanting to take me there for a few days now, but each night we were either busy doing something else, or too tired to make the trek. Tonight we made it down to Polignano and I was so happy that we did.

Once we arrived in Polignano it was sort of an issue to try to find parking but after a few minutes we ended up getting a really nice spot right near the entrance of the feast that was going on! I had never been to an Italian feast before, but I had heard of them in the past. They are basically just big celebrations in the streets full of people, lights, food, street vendors, alcohol and entertainment. Sweet! Here’s a photo as we walked through the entrance of the feast!

As we walked down the main street into Polignano, the edges of the road were crammed with street vendors that were selling the same old stuff, (fake purses, sunglasses, toys, wallets, wrist watches, and more). It’s pretty interesting to see, but at the same time after you walk a mile and see the same stuff being sold over and over it gets sort of boring. We split off down another road that led us to the Old Town of Polignano and I was amazed to see how clean the old town actually was. It was built with all white stone and it was just absolutely beautiful!

After walking through the Old Town of Polignano we arrived at the cliff side views of the sea. They were amazing. There were a few different view points that we visited. Here’s a few photos of the views from the cliffs.

Tonight is the last night that I’ll spend at Marina’s comfortable home in Bari. I’m excited to go to Croatia, yet sad that I have to leave already. It’s been a great 4 nights here in Bari and I hope to be back to visit again soon. I have to say that the Puglia region of Italy is one of my favorite parts of Italy so far. It’s so beautiful here, and the views of the sea on the coasts of some of many cities that lie along the Adriatic are simply unbelievable. Bari, and the Puglia region is somewhere that I would love to come back to. Thank you Marina!

A day in Capitolo, Italy!

// June 15th, 2008 // 185No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/15/ptm-a-day-in-capitolo-italy/A+day+in+Capitolo%2C+Italy%212008-06-15+20%3A11%3A39Ryan // Italy, Travel

This morning I awoke around 8:15AM after getting quite a bit of sleep. I felt good yet at the same time somewhat tired. I think that when I sleep for too many hours that I’m even more tired when I awake sometimes. I jumped online to check my emails, had another nice breakfast with Marina and we headed off to Capitolo.

When we arrived in Capitolo we were met by Marina’s two friends Luciana, and Lidia. They were really friendly girls that were quick to tell me that they had studied English in the past but have forgotten most of it due to the lack of speaking the language over the last few years. I laughed and Marina explained to them that I don’t know much if any Italian either, so I guess that meant that Marina would be our personal translator for the day!

We all walked down to the beach that is right across the street from Luciana’s house in Capitolo. The beach was absolutely beautiful! The water was clear at the edge, and it then faded out to green and then blue in the distance. I couldn’t wait to jump in! I laid out on my towel for a few minutes before finding the water absolutely irresistible! I swam around in the water for about 25 minutes or so before heading back to my towel.

It was so refreshing, and so great to think that here I am on the east coast of Italy swimming in the Adriatic Sea, soaking up the sun and relaxing while “reality” awaits at home. Why am I so lucky? I don’t want this to end!

After spending a couple of hours at the beach, we headed back to Luciana’s house for lunch. In Italy most people tend to have a nice sized breakfast, a big lunch, and a smaller sized dinner. Today I realized what it was like to eat an Italian lunch! Luciana was a great host and she served up two courses of food for us on the outdoor patio of her house.

The first course was pasta of course! Not your typical pasta and tomato sauce though, it was bow-tie pasta with a creamy alfredo sauce and it had small chunks of ham mixed through it. It was great! Next up was a somewhat typical meal from back home which was roasted chicken breast with roasted potatoes that tasted like they were soaked in the juices from the chicken. Once again, the food was so GOOD!

During lunch we were entertained by Luciana’s brother Giuseppe who spent most of the lunch making jokes about how much he loved food, women, and his muscles. It was too funny. His warped perception of the ideal “hot american woman” was Pamela Anderson. He did not speak English but the one thing he could say in English was “Bay Watch”. I laughed hysterically and informed him that his girl Pam Anderson is actually viewed as trashy these days. He seemed to be disappointed in my statement about his girl but we all had a great laugh!

After our meal we went for a walk down to the beach again to attempt to walk off all of the food that we had just devoured and of course I had to grab a gelato before we headed back to the house. Marina and I headed back to Bari around 4:45PM and arrived back at her home around 5:30 just in time to meet all of her relatives that were visiting today. It was a great time even though I was surrounded by 10 or 12 of Marina’s relatives as they stared and spoke in Italian. Quite intimidating, but they ended up chatting up a storm with me and used poor Marina as the translator once again.

All in all, today was a great day. Another great day in Bari, and another great day on this amazing trip of mine. I’m one more day closer to reuniting with Liz in Croatia, and I couldn’t be more excited to see someone from home again! It’s been about 2 months now and I’m feigning to hang out with someone that I’ve spent months laughing with, joking with, dining out with, and just enjoying life with back home.

Tomorrow I will try to make it out to a town called Castellana Grotte in which there are these amazing caves that you can take a tours of. Until next time…

Bari & Torre a Mare, Italy!

// June 14th, 2008 // 184No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/14/ptm-bari-torre-a-mare/Bari+%26+Torre+a+Mare%2C+Italy%212008-06-14+19%3A40%3A29Ryan // Italy, Travel

This morning I awoke to a really nice breakfast that Marina went out of her way to set up for me. She has been following my website over the past couple of months and feared that I would write a negative post about her breakfast because of some of the posts that I’ve written about the horrendous breakfasts that I’ve had here so far in Europe. Please understand that I don’t believe that all breakfasts are trash in Europe, I’ve had many great breakfasts actually! And breakfast with Marina was one of the best! She pretty much grabbed everything possible from her kitchen cabinets and placed it on the table for us to eat. It was great. There was cereal, fruit, biscuits, yogurt, and more! It was even better that we got to eat breakfast outside on her front porch with a view of the Adriatic Sea. The breeze was like no other and the sun was shining so bright. It was only 9:30AM. Paradise!

After breakfast I set out to get a closer look at the city of Bari. I took the #12 bus from just outside Marina’s house right down to the city center of Bari. From there I just explored the main shopping streets and even walked down to Old Town where I walked along the old castle walls of Bari. The views of the sea were really nice.

Unfortunately due to the time of day that I visited the city center of Bari most of the shops were closed. Most shops, restaurants, and other services close here from 1:30 to 5:30PM each day. It’s quite similar to a siesta in Spain really. After I explored the city a little bit I walked along the beach on my way back to the bus station.

Once I got back to Marina’s I took a siesta of my own. It was the first time that I’ve actually taken a nap during the day through out my whole trip so far! Put it this way, I’ve been very productive in Europe! I ended up napping for about two hours before waking up to my left over panzerotti from last night. Mmm! A panzerotti is flat bread folded in half stuffed with tomato sauce and mozzarella and can be baked or fried. I had Marina’s favorite type of Panzerotti which is the baked type. It was so GOOD! It’s like a pizza really, but Marina claims that “it’s not, it’s different”!

After dinner Marina was nice enough to take me to another coastal town south of her city called Torre a Mare which means Tower on the Sea. It’s a place where many people go on a nice warm night to hang out in it’s small square filled with restaurants, gelaterias, and more. It was a beautiful night, the town was illuminated and the lights were reflecting off of the water where many boats, and yachts were parked up for the night.

After visiting Torre a Mare, we headed back to Marina’s house and fell asleep quite early. We are planning on meeting two of Marina’s friends this morning one of which owns a beach house in Capitolo another coastal town south of Bari.

Naples to Bari, italy

// June 13th, 2008 // 1831 Comment »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/13/ptm-naples-to-bari-italy/Naples+to+Bari%2C+italy2008-06-13+22%3A16%3A57Ryan // Italy, Travel

Well, my stop over to Naples wasn’t too exciting to say the least. As soon as I walked off the ferry I wanted to turn around and walk back on. As I stepped on to the dock I could already smell the city. You know when you walk in to a real grimy city and you can almost smell the trash in the air? Well, in this case the trash was literally in the air, and all over the ground.

I had heard stories from fellow travelers that I’ve met along the way about Naples. Each and every one of them described it somewhat the same way. It was dirty, sketchy, and how else can you explain it, TRASHY! I had been warned, but I tend not to believe anything until I see it and that’s exactly what I did once I stepped off the boat at the port of Naples.

I ran across the street with my luggage trying to dodge the scooters and maniac drivers. I walked about 2 blocks took a left and as I turned the corner, there was my hostel! (Bella Capri Hotel/Hostel)! I had to pay 5 cents to use the elevator to get up to the sixth floor. Yes, you really do pay for everything in Europe. Toilets, and even elevators in some cities! Unbelievable right? I arrived at the sixth floor where the reception for Bella Capri Hostel/Hotel is located and checked in. I dropped my bags and headed upstairs to the lounge where they had free WIFI (another surprise) and I was really impressed with the conditions of this place. The lounge was really nice, it also served as the breakfast area. It had 3 PC’s, with internet, a flat panel tv on the wall with full cable TV, a common refridgerator, tables, chairs and more.

I jumped on the internet for a few to check some emails and then headed around the corner to grab some pizza. Naples is the birthplace of pizza and if you know me well you’d know that pizza is one of my favorite things to eat! They say some of the best pizza in the world is made in Naples. I wouldn’t totally agree with that, but it was pretty good!

After dinner I headed off for a walk down a few main streets near the port which had all sorts of shopping, and seedy watch shops, “looky, looky men” and trash EVERYWHERE. If you haven’t heard, Naples is undergoing a major and I mean MAJOR trash crisis. Check out an article about the crisis here. After walking around for a few and not being able to stomach the 5 to 6 foot piles of trash in the streets and the smell of wet garbage that is weeks old I decided to head back to my hostel and hibernate for the night.

I got back and hung out in my room with a few people and my three roommates. One guy was from Sweden, and the other 2 girls were originally from New Jersey but both went to school in Massachusetts. One of the girls actually lives in Medford currently so we ended up hanging out and chatting for a while before bed. She is traveling with her younger sister who is a student at UMass Amherst and is currently studying abroad in Spain. They were both really cool, and it was definitely refreshing to meet some people from back home.

This morning we headed to breakfast which included a croissant. Mmmm! I haven’t had a croissant since my Contiki Trip. That was a change! After breakfast we just hung out in our room until check out time. I headed on the tram down to the train/bus station and bought my bus ticket to Bari while my roommates headed off to the Ring Hostel in Ischia, where I had been 3 days previous to coming to Naples. After buying my bus ticket I grabbed a quick slice of pizza and walked around a bit. It was really sketchy around the train station. There was trash piled everywhere, and many people were approaching me from all sorts of directions trying to sell me laptops, iPhones, belts, hats, you name it! All fake of course… And what happens if you say no? They offer you all sorts of other junk products that you have no interest in. Sometimes they even offer you Hash, Cocaine, Ecstasy, and more. Well, that’s what happened to me at least. I was so over Naples, and couldn’t wait to get out of there.

The bus finally arrived and it was a three hour journey to Bari. When I arrived in Bari, I met up with my host Marina who I have been speaking with through CouchSurfing and Hospitality Club for a while now. I’ve been excited to meet her and she’s everything I had originally expected. We took the bus back to her house which is located on the Adriatic Sea here in Bari. It’s simply amazing!

I was shown to my room, or shall I say my own FLOOR of the house (the downstairs) which is finished and includes, a couch, a kitchen table, oven, microwave, refridgerator, bathroom with a shower, and more. Marina was also nice enough to feed me her mothers own home cooked Lasagna, but the difference was that this was not your typical Lasagna! It was mozzarella, broccoli, bacon, and some special sauce that was mixed together and made into Lasagna. At first I cringed at the idea of the four ingredients above, but after I tasted it I ended up chowing down two huge slices of it! It was the best! Now if I can only get the recipe!

After eating we headed up to the roof deck on top of her house. It was unreal! You could see for miles over the coast line of the Adriatic Sea as the sun was setting over Bari. I was in heaven! The roof deck of Marina’s house is now my favorite thing! We don’t have anything like this back at home. It seems to be quite the norm here in most houses in Italy. I like the idea of coming up to the roof deck on a sunny day to lay out, or even when the sun is setting and the cool breeze is blowing off of the sea. It’s so relaxing here. I’m really looking forward to chilling out here for the next few days.

Tomorrow I’ll be heading into the city of Bari to have a look around. I’ll hopefully get to explore the old city, and maybe even do a little shopping. We’ll see!

Ciao!

Ischia, Italy – Day 3

// June 11th, 2008 // 1811 Comment »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/11/ptm-ischia-italy-day-3/Ischia%2C+Italy+-+Day+32008-06-11+17%3A55%3A47Ryan // Italy, Travel

Another late morning! I woke up around 9:30 which is late compared to what I’ve been used to on this trip so far. Most mornings I’ve been up at 7:30, 8:00AM. Coming to Ischia was one of the best decisions I’ve made so far on this trip. It’s been such a refreshing get away for me. I’ve done nothing but lie in the sun, swim in the ocean, hang out in the hammocks on the roof deck, and take in every inch of the beautiful scenery around me. It’s the most relaxed I’ve been on the whole trip. It feels GREAT!

This morning I hung out with my Cali friends before they headed off to Naples. A little later on I decided to rent a bicycle from the hostel for 5 Euro. I headed off and cruised around Forio. I took a spin down to the beach, the cliffs, and stopped to grab some dinner before heading back to the hostel. It was fun, and it was cool to get back on a bike again. I haven’t ridden a bike since I cruised through the valleys of Hopfgarten, Austria a few weeks ago.

When I arrived back at the hostel I ate while I did some research on where I’ll be heading next. My original plan was to stay here in Forio (Ischia) at the Ring Hostel until Friday morning and then take off to Bari, Italy. Instead I’ve decided to jump on the ferry tomorrow morning to Naples and stay on the coast of Naples for a night before taking the train to Bari, Italy.

I found a brochure of a hostel in Naples here at the front desk of the Ring Hostel called Bella/Capri Hostel & Hotel. It looks like a really nice place. I asked the receptionist what she thought about it and she said she stayed there for 3 nights recently and really liked it. She said it was in a good location and also fairly cheap. I checked out the website a bit more and made a reservation for tomorrow night so I’m all set and ready to go!

Tonight I’m just going to hang out here and relax on the roof deck with a couple of beers. Theres really nobody else here, two canadian girls just showed up but that’s about it! This hostel is a ghost town at the moment, and I like it that way!

Ciao!

Ischia, Italy – Day 2

// June 10th, 2008 // 179No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/10/ptm-ischia-italy-day-2/Ischia%2C+Italy+-+Day+22008-06-10+12%3A40%3A57Ryan // Italy, Travel

Today I decided to sleep in a bit. I woke up around 10:00AM with no real set plans for the day for once. I figured that I’d spend some time doing a little research on where I’m off to next, and how I’m getting there (ferry, bus, train). I asked around whether I’d be better off taking a bus from Naples to Bari or a train. I was advised the train would be a better decision. So I think that’s what I’ll do.

After researching and updating my website I decided to take off to the beach for a swim. I had heard that there was some cliffs that you could jump off of about 15 minutes walk from the port of Forio so I took off on a mission to find them. I invited my two new friends from California, Rebecca and Kristen. We all headed off down to the port and then walked along the sidewalk for a bit before walking down to the waters edge until we saw the “cliffs” in the distance. The cliffs weren’t really cliffs, they were just giant sandstone type of rocks sticking out of the water. They were really cool though!

We finally arrived at the rocks and headed down the stairs to get to the beach level. We walked across quite a few huge boulders to get out to where we wanted to be. I found a big flat rock for us to lay our towels out on and it was right at the waters edge so it was a perfect spot. I threw my stuff down and jumped in to the water so that I could go get a better view of where I would land if I jumped off the big boulders or “cliffs”. There were no locals there jumping so I obviously had to have a look for myself of the landing area. I swam out to where I thought you would land and went under water to check out if there were any rocks in the way. It was clear, there were a few rocks on the right side but other than that it was really deep in this one spot and wide open so it was definitely safe enough to jump.

I swam over to the edge and climbed up on top of the big boulder and I’m really glad that Kristen and Rebecca were there because I would have no photos to prove it! That’s the one benefit of traveling with someone, the photos you can get of yourself without holding the camera in your own hand and taking photos of yourself. At first I jumped from a lower spot on the rock just to make sure it was safe enough. The next time I went up I ran and jumped from the top. It was sick! It wasn’t as high as other cliffs/bridges that I’ve jumped off in the past but it was a really good time. Who would have thought that I’d be on an island right now off of the coast of Italy jumping off cliffs into the ocean? This is crazy!

After jumping for the second time I instructed Rebecca on where to jump and land so that she could do it also. With no hesitation, she made the jump! I was pretty impressed. We hung out in the water for a bit and then swam through this crack in this huge boulder in the water, you could swim all the way through the center of the rock. It was amazing. The rock was so big, and if I knew where a good landing spot was, I would’ve jumped from it. But, unfortunately it was a little too far to swim out to find out where to land.

We swam back to the rock and laid out in the sun for a couple of hours, it was so relaxing. The sun was slowly setting and the temperature was absolutely perfect.

Today was one of the best days I’ve had in a while. Out of all of the places that I’ve visited in Italy so far, Ischia is surely one of the best places I’ve been to. Although there isn’t a whole lot to do on the island, the weather, the fairly reasonable prices, the scenery, and the somewhat courteous people make this island a great place. Also, it’s great for a real relaxing vacation in the sun. What makes Ischia even more appealing is the fact that you mostly see locals from the island. There are hardly any tourists here! The island of Capri is a totally different story!

Tonight I plan on having a beer or two on the roof deck of the hostel and heading to bed. No set plans for tomorrow, probably a little more research and then maybe I’ll take off to check out another part of this island.

Sorrento to Ischia, Italy!

// June 9th, 2008 // 1781 Comment »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/06/09/ptm-sorrento-to-ischia-italy/Sorrento+to+Ischia%2C+Italy%212008-06-09+09%3A15%3A45Ryan // Italy, Travel

This morning I had to wake up at 7AM so that I could jump in the shower, and get ready to check out of my hotel. The ferry that I needed to catch was leaving from the Port of Sorrento at 9:30, and there’s only one ferry daily from Sorrento to Ischia so I couldn’t be late!

I threw my backpack on my back and headed down to the train station. It took about 15 minutes to get to the station. I bought my ticket and headed 1 stop down to Sorrento. From there I made the walk down to the port to buy my ticket for the ferry. A one way ticket from Sorrento to Ischia on the only available ferry (Jet Boat) was 18.50 Euro. Sort of pricey if you ask me.

The ferry took about 45-50 minutes to get over to Ischia, I slept most of the way due to being so tired from the night before. When I arrived I immediately hopped off of the boat and headed straight to the bus ticket window. All I wanted to do is drop my backpack and see the island while the weather was nice. I bought a bus ticket for 1.20 Euro, and headed off on the #1 Bus to the port of Forio (Forio is an area on the west coast of Ischia) where my hostel is located.

I found directions to the Ring Hostel on their website the night before arriving and the directions were pretty spot on. I didn’t have any trouble finding it so that was comforting. After about a 15 minute walk from the Port of Forio, I finally arrived. When I walked in I felt like I was in a ghost town, there was one woman at reception that checked me in and the rest of the hostel was empty. When I was shown my room (the Blue Room) I walked through the dorm room and I was glad to see that there were a few backpacks and clothes under a few beds as I walked to the back to find my bed. It was nice to see that there actually were people staying here!

After picking my bed I changed into my bathing suit and planned on heading out to the Baia di Sorgeto (Natural Hot Springs) here in Ischia. I walked down to the Port of Forio and took the CS Bus to Panza where the Baia di Sorgeto is located. Unfortunately I missed the stop originally and had to take another short bus ride back to the Sorgeto stop but it wasn’t a big deal. Once I got off I had to walk about 15 minutes downhill until I reached the top edge of the cove (as you’ll see below).

From there I walked down 228 stairs to get to the bottom. At this point I was already envisioning the walk back up. Once I reached the bottom I dropped my bags underneath this little cave type of thing that is along the shore (as you’ll see below).

I couldn’t wait to get into the water! As you walk into the water it feels like an actual jacuzzi. You have to be very careful though because if you step or jump in the wrong spot of the water or you will literally burn yourself. That is how hot some of the spots are! I was told before I went there that I should only go into the spots of the water that people were already lying in because at least you know it’s not boiling in those areas.

I laid down in the shallow water up rested my head on a rock as the cool tide came in and swept the hot water from the shore edge back out towards me. It was an amazing feeling! I spent about 45 minutes lying in the water taking in the sun and relaxing. It was such a good time.

After spending some time at the Baia di Sorgeto I decided to head back to the hostel to shower and relax for a few hours before dinner. I took the bus back to the hostel, took a cold shower (no hot water here). Figures!

At 8PM a few of us met in the lobby of the hostel and headed on a crazy roller coaster type of car ride from the hostel to the owners restaurant which was located about 5-10 minutes away. Dinner was good, I sat with two girls from California (Rebecca & Kristen) that are staying with me at the Ring Hostel. I had Gnocchi and I also ordered a cheese pizza to go.

I was dead tired from the previous night so I headed to bed around 1AM. Tomorrow I’ll sleep in for a while and then head off to explore the island a little bit.