Nice, France September 2nd, 3rd, 4th 2010 Didn’t really explore Nice very much. Walked along the main street a lot to get to/from the beach. I said a while back I preferred sandy beaches. After seeing what real pebble beaches look like, I changed my mind. I think the one in Split was a one-off…
Florence, Italy
Florence, Italy August 31st, September 1st 2010 Who pays €10 just to check out a naked guy? Me. Ok, not just any naked guy, the naked guy in Florence, the statue of David. The Florentine authorities really know how to maximize tourist revenue. Just put a world-famous piece of art in one of the lousiest…
Rome, Italy
Rome, Italy August 28th, 29th, 30th 2010 Didn’t do much the first day. I decided to do laundry and lounge around in the hostel. I have designated a blue t-shirt, purchased in a Paris supermarket, and a 32-inch inseam with 30-inch waist (my dimensions are the other way around), purchased in Poland, to be my…
Penny pinching
So I arrived in Florence and decided to get my ticket to Nice while I’m at the station. I ask for an overnight train to Nice for Sept 2nd and am told the price is €83.50. I gawk at this but pay up anyway. Cognitive dissonance (cheapness or financial savvy, call it what you will)…
Venice, Italy
Venice, Italy August 27th 2010 Not quite what I thought it would be. I had previously imagined the only way to get around was on gondolas and if you walked outside the door, you’d fall right into the water. But in reality, Venice is made out of pedestrian walkways, with canals running through it. Just…
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ljubljana, Slovenia August 26th 2010 Took the 10-hour overnight bus from Split to Ljubljana. Not a very big town. Mostly walked around, checking out the city. Went back to the hostel, took a nap, woke up, headed out for the evening. Some hostel-mates whom I met when I arrived told me that Paco De Lucia,…
Split, Croatia
Split, Croatia August 23rd, 24th 2010 I think Split was the first place I’ve actually spent time lounging on the beach. Three times. Varna didn’t count as I just walked along the beach but after acquiring some serious farmer’s tan on my travels, I had to even it out a little bit. The guy running…
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik, Croatia August 22nd 2010 The Adriatic coastline is stunning. I arrived and couldn’t figure out how to get to an apartment I was staying at for a night, as the directions weren’t very good. I should have borrowed a phone from a pair of travellers I have run into in Belgrade, Sarajevo, and now…
Mostar, BiH
Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina August 21st 2010 (View from the Old Bridge) Mostar is most known for its Old Bridge, a nice little cobble-stone bridge that was completely destroyed in the Balkan War. I got to see a video clip of the actual moment when a rocket fired by the Croatians destroyed the bridge. Tourists are plentiful…
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina Aug 19th, 20th 2010 I used to read about the wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) in the news when I was a kid. I don’t remember much about them but when I decided to do my RTW trip, I had to visit BiH. I thought I’d be walking on the streets of a scarred…