San Sebastian, Spain

For the last few days, we have been enjoying the beach town of San Sebastian, Spain.  After yet another long travel day, we arrived in the evening and went out for a superb dinner of veal, goat cheese, risotto, and wine.  Exhausted from a day of flights, layovers, and delays, we went to bed early in anticipation of a relaxing few days at the beach.  We woke up the next morning only to discover that it was…RAINING!!!  Thoroughly disappointed in the sudden change in weather, we decided that it was a sign that we should get some exercise and go for a run along the seawall.  We ended up having a great day exploring the coast of this surfing town, stopping occasionally to get a coffee, or into a shop in order to duck out the intermittent rain.  By the evening, the weather was clearing up, so we ventured into the old town for dinner.  We discovered that the only way to eat in San Sebastian was at tapa bars.  Basically, every bar is completely packed during dinnertime (which starts at 8 or 9), and you have to fight your way up to the bar and point at which food displayed on the counter you want to eat for dinner.  Once you receive your plate of snacks, you can hopefully find a corner of a countertop to stand at while you eat.  While on our first night, we found this local style fun and different, by our last night we found it a bit exhausting and stressful.

view of one of the three beaches

view from seaside cafe

The rest of our visit was filled with exploring different beach areas and watching surfers practice their skills on the giant waves.  We also found some nice areas to walk and explore, including hiking up a 12thC fortress with a large statue of Jesus on top of it.  The statue can be seen from everywhere in the town, which gives you the impression that the town is being watched over and protected by some higher power.

statue of Jesus at the top of the fortress

After working on our tans, we are moving on to France to finish up our trip.  We will stop in Bordeaux for a few days before heading to our last European destination: Paris.  Look out for our final La Dolce Vita post later this week!

Wish you were here,

Rose and Sydney

Munich, Germany

After a week of yacht lounging, we were both looking forward to a few days filled with history, museums, galleries and tours.  After a layover in Cologne, and some trouble finding our hotel in 34 degree weather, we finally made it to our hotel in Munich.  Since we had shared such close quarters in Croatia, we were pretty excited about the amenities offered in our hotel such as a full bathroom, regular sized beds, and of course, air conditioning!
We started our first full day in the city with a walking tour of Old Munich.  We visited the old and new town halls at Marienplatz, where we watched the Glockenspiel that happens every day at 11am.

Glockenspiel

Old Town Hall at Marienplatz

We also visited Saint Peter's Church, which after hiking to the top gave us some amazing views of the city!

view from the top of Saint Peter's

After a full day of exploring, we went for a traditional Bavarian meal of schnitzel and spetzel, and of course beer.  We then wandered down to the large outdoor beer garden, which served awesome Augustiner beer.

On our second day, we decided to do a day tour of Salzburg, Austria.  After a beautiful 2 hour train ride, we arrived in the home of Mozart and the Sound of Music.  We first visited a garden where scenes from the Sound of Music were filmed. This was thrilling for us, since we both had been singing all the songs from the movie for the past several days. The building in the background of the second picture which is featured partly in the movie was actually built by the Bishop of Salzburg for his mistress and their 16 children! 

about to re-enact scenes from our favourite movie!

the fountain "Do-Re-Me" scene from The Sound of Music

For lunch we went to an amazing restaurant that claims that it is the oldest restaurant in Europe, having been founded in the year 803!  

enjoying the terrace at the oldest restaurant in Europe!

We spent the rest of the day exploring, learning about the history of Salzburg, and doing a little shopping.  We both loved the city - it was so scenic and charming!

heading into the old town of Salzburg

On the third day we did another walking tour organized by Radius Tours about Hitler and the Third Reich in Munich. The tour was extremely informative and showed us a bit of the darker side of Munich in the time leading up to and during WWII. Because it is against the law in Germany to have memorials or plaques commemorating past Nazi events, our guide showed us many locations around town where important historical events had occurred for Hitler's national socialist party.  

After the tour we went for a tasty lunch to the old public market, where we bought an array of dips, breads and olives to feast on in the public beer garden. Its great because the beer gardens in Germany require all patrons to buy their beer from the beer garden vendors, but you can bring your own lunch with you!

beer garden

testing the beer...

The next day we walked back to a place we saw on the Third Reich tour, which was the Haus Der Kunst. The building was built in the neo-classical style and commissioned by Hitler in 1933 to take the place of the "Glass Palace" which had previously been Munich's main art gallery. The Haus Der Kunst was one of the few buildings to survive WWII, as Hitler had it concealed with camoflaouge nets during the air raids that went on over the city. We saw a great exhibition there called "Histories in Conflict" that documented the building's own history between 1937-1955 and how art was used as Nazi propaganda before and during the war. Once American soldiers marched on Munich in April 1945, the building was then transformed into the American soldiers club house and was the center of the American presence in Munich. 

After this great exhibition, we spent the afternoon in the nearby English Gardens, sun bathing, relaxing and swimming in the near by river.  On our last evening in the city, we met up with our friend from our exchange at CBS, Thassilo, and his friend Ralph.  They showed us a trendy part of Munich where we were able to enjoy some drinks and catch up on our summer adventures since Copenhagen.

river running through the English Garden

Wish you were here,

Rose and Sydney

Croatian Boat Cruise

DAY 1: ARRIVAL IN SPLIT

We arrived down at the docks in the Split Harbour at 11am to find our Topdeck tour boat, the Vrgada, which would be our new home for the week. The port was so busy with tons of other young tourists looking for their tours, as well as vendors selling last minute cruising necessities like blow up water floaties, sailor hats and snacks! Once we were all stocked up, we met everyone on board (who were all from either Australia or New Zealand) and had our first lunch of the trip. Our cabins were surprisingly small and we had to stack our suitcases so we could walk into the room... but we weren't exactly there to spend much time inside anyways so OH WELL! It was also great to finally meet up with Megan and Blair (Sydney's sister and her friend), who were just two cabins down from us below deck.

meeting up with Megan and Blair

We set sail that afternoon from the Split harbour towards Milna, which was our first overnight stop of the trip. We had a great pasta dinner on board (our chef was awesome) and went on a local wine tour once we arrived in Milna. The lady who gave us the wine tour said that the business had been in the family for over 300 years. We were able to taste 3 different wines,  a flavourful grappa and some delicious homemade olive oil. Later that evening everyone wandered down to one of the only bars in the little town and had a few drinks to get to know each other.

300 year old wine cellar in Milna, Croatia

DAY 2: HVAR

We left Milna after breakfast for Hvar.  Hvar is the longest island on the Adriatic sea, and a very popular harbour destination.  After stoping for our daily 'swim stop' in the cool, salty water, we docked at the harbour and started exploring.

harbour of Hvar

We walked along the water to the Hula Hula Beach bar, which was right on the water, and was full of locals and tourists enjoying refreshing cocktails. Mmm mmm!

busy Happy Hour at Hula Hula Bar

That evening we then went out for dinner in the main square of Hvar with the entire group on the boat.  We all had some delicious mediterranean cuisine in a relaxing outdoor setting.  Our tour guide, Jane, then took us on a bit of a nighttime bar tour of the town.  We went to Kiva bar, which was so full, that the entire alleyway entrance became an extension of the bar.  After, a few of the more keen bar-goers went to a bar called Carpe Diem, which was only accessible by water taxi (with a first departure of the night to the bar at 1:50am!).  Luckily, all members of our boat cruise made it back aboard by our 6am departure time!

DAY 3: KORCULA

Early in the morning we departed for the island of Korcula, which is believed to be the birth place of legendary 13th century explorer Marco Polo. The area was part of the Venetian Empire and has lots of beautiful stone buildings looking out over the water. After our daily swim stop, we arrived in the harbour and explored the old town. Our guide Jane took us to a bar called Massimo, which was on top of one of the old 15th century turrets that surrounded the town. Drinks had to be pulled up by a pulley system and there were gorgeous views of the entire area!

view from Korcula 

Megan climbing up the turret

Blair, Syd, Megan and Rose at Massimos

drinks being pulleyed up the turret

After a delicious bbq back on board, our topdeck crew ventured out for some night time fun at a nearby bar which had a huge outdoor patio with live entertainment (a big screen displaying what was going on on the inside dance floor!)

outdoor entertainment from inside the bar... recognize Megan and Blair in the background?

DAY 4: DUBROVNIK

On the fourth day, we arrived at the highly anticipated stop of Dubrovnik.  Before arriving, our captain sailed the boat around the outside of the old walls of Dubrovnik to get a view of the ancient city from the water.  From our view on a boat, we could see how fortified the city was by the tall walls which were 8 meters thick.  These strong walls were what prevented the city from being attacked by passing ships.

view of the city walls from the water

After a swim stop right in the harbour of Dubrovnik, we were all anxious to get off the boat and start exploring. We first went and took the gondola straight to the highest point of the city, which allowed us some incredible views.  We were able to see a panoramic view of the city walls which enclose the old town.  During the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s, this was the approach from which Dubrovnik was attacked. For about 7 months during the 90's, the city was under siege by attackers who came over the mountains and bombed the city.  Dubrovnik has since been completely restored, but evidence of newly constructed buildings can be seen by the newer, brighter bricks of the buildings.

view of the city walls of Dubrovnik from the mountaintop

We also walked around the walls of the city, which is about 2.5 km around.  This tour while extremely hot, was very beautiful with fantastic views.

Stradum - main square of Dubrovnik

In the evening, we went for dinner just off of Stradun, which is the main square and promenade of the city.

DAY 5: MLJET

This stop was the smallest on our tour.  We arrived in the late afternoon, and were told by our tour guide that the only thing worth doing at this stop was a visit to the National Park.  We took a short bus to the park, where we could see the naturally formed, pristine salt lakes.

We were able to take a small boat to an island that sits in the middle of the lake.  The island holds a small chapel from the 12th century with ancient Roman ruins.

view of the island and chapel in the salt lake

After visiting this park, we walked back to our boat where our chef had prepared a huge "Captain's dinner" of fresh mussels, calamari, and a whole fish EACH.  What a feast!

walking trail back to the boat from the lakes

DAY 6: MAKARSKA

On this day our sailing route took us along the Makarska Riviera, one of the most beautiful and popular beach resort areas in the Adriatic. With its beautiful bright blue waters, busy and bustling port and gorgeous rocky beaches we fell in love with this stop instantly. Our boat arrived at Makarska before lunch on this day, which gave us plenty of time to walk around the town, explore the beaches and attempt to find a place to get a pedicure (which we all agreed we desperately needed.) After lunch on the boat, we ventured to one of the rocky beach areas and chilled out for the afternoon.

Blair and Syd swimming at the beach

walking along the beach

the port where we docked for the evening

Our boat went out for a lovely final group dinner with a set menu at a place called Riva and then went back to the boat for happy hour. 

heading out for dinner

There had been a huge themed pirate/sailor party organized for all the other top deck boats,  so our group ventured out all dressed up in our best nautical themed clothing to a cave bar near the beach. It was a very fun evening and everyone had a great time!

ahoy!

most of the Vrgada crew

DAY 7: RETURN TO SPLIT

Our boat left Makarska early this morning to return to Split via Omis. There was an option to go river rafting and meet the boat in the afternoon, which we did and really enjoyed! The water was so refreshing and it was such a beautiful ride we barely noticed how hung over we felt. Our guides were hilarious and made for an entertaining trip through the grade 3 rapids. Once we met up with our boat at the end of the river, we sailed back to Split and had a final chill evening together. Megan, Blair, Rose and Syd went out for a last dinner together in the old town of Split near Diocletian's palace. The evening was filled with organizing our suitcases (which was especially challenging in our 5' x 8' bedrooms). The next morning we said farewell to Megan and Blair and the rest of the boat group and were on our way by train to Zagreb. 

Vrgada route through Croatia 

We spent one night there, which was amazing and then flew off early the next day to Munich. We are so excited to explore this German city neither of us have been to and we will update the blog once we have some exciting stories to share!

Wish you were here,

Sydney and Rose

Cinque Terre, Italy

After an interesting journey on the Italian train system from Genoa, we arrived in the beautiful town of Monterosso. It marks the start of the famous trail between the Five Cities or Hills; which are located on the Western Italian coast each about 2 km apart. The area has been named a UNESCO world heritage site, and must be one of the best things we have done thus far on our trip! The hotel we stayed at was an adorable family run place called “5 Terre” and we would highly recommend staying there if you’re looking to visit in the future.

On our first full day we decided to hit the trail and hiked from Monterosso to the second town of Vernazza. We were surprised with how rigorous the hike was between these two towns, and felt like we did the grouse grind x2!! We reached Vernazza after 1 hour of hiking through the Italian hills and took a break by the beach before carrying on to the third town of Corniglia. We packed swimsuits and a change of clothes, so after another hour-long hike to Corniglia we went for a swim in the beautiful Mediterranean sea. By this point we were feeling quite exhausted and so decided to reward ourselves with a pasta lunch in one of the quaint hilltop town cafes. Mmmm mmm! After lunch we took the train back to Monterosso (a 10 minute ride) and rested up before strolling the streets in the evening for dinner and gelato (our lives pretty much revolve around food).

view from Monterosso of the remaining four towns of Cinque Terre

town of Vernazza

swim time at Corniglia after a hot day of hiking

The next day we got an early start and trained to the fourth town, Manarola, and hiked the 1 km walk towards Riomaggiore. This “hike” was nothing like what we had experienced the day before, as it was paved and completely flat! It surprisingly only took as 20 minutes to finish it but it was a beautiful walk along the coastline. This part of the trail is known as “lovers lane” and was the most “ability friendly” section we had come across. Once we finished exploring the last town Riomaggiore we decided to head back to our town and rent a beach umbrella with some chairs for the afternoon. It was swelteringly hot out again, and cooling off in the sea was a great way to spend the rest of the day!

birds eye view of Vernazza

Manarola postcard shot

our blog's namesake!

Today we left Monterosso (3 trains and 1 bus ride later) and arrived in the Eastern Italian town of Ancona. We will catch a ferry tomorrow morning from the port over to Split, where we will start our Topdeck cruise for a week in Croatia!

Wish you were here,

Rose and Sydney

Farewell to Copenhagen!

The last couple weeks that we spent in Copenhagen were a whirlwind.  Between trying to see a few sights, completing our final projects, and our many social commitments, there was a lot to fit in!  One of the first exciting things to report was that summer finally started in Copenhagen! The sunny and 20+degree weather was perfect for enjoying the city.

Through the social program offered by CBS, we were able to get a tour of the Carlsberg factory.  The tour turned out to be mostly about the history of the family who started the brewery rather than the brewing operations.  Either way, our tour guide was excellent, and a few ice-cold pints of beer were waiting for us at the end of the tour.  No complaints.

During the end of our visit, Rose’s mom was in town, so lots of sightseeing was done.  Tivoli garden visits, hiking to the top of the marble church, and a tour of Rosenberg Castle were all crossed of the tourist ‘to-do’ list.  In the meantime, Sydney took in a Copenhagen FC game, and toured some of the beach areas of Copenhagen by bike.

Copenhagen FC

hotel near Orestad

After having such a fun and social week, we decided that we had procrastinated with our final projects long enough.  We went off to the CBS library, and started writing.  After 30 pages of writing respectively, and ensuring our papers met the VERY SPECIFIC formatting guidelines, we submitted our papers to the international office.  We realized that with handing in our papers that this signified that we had completed not only our summer program at CBS, but also grad school.  An enthusiastic high-five and victory beer followed this realization.

working diligently at the CBS library

The last couple of days in the city were bittersweet.  Even though both of us were getting pretty excited to start travelling, it was a bit sad to leave some of our new friends.  On the last night, the social program put on a party at a club, Café Park, in downtown Copenhagen.  It was a great night, and perfect way to say goodbye and reminisce with many of the friends that we had made over the summer.  We hope that we get the opportunity to stay and touch and maybe even visit with them again.   

Now it is off to Milano.  We have both taken to speaking with a terrible Italian accent and using exaggerated hand gestures when we speak…I’m sure the Italians will just love this.

                                                                                                                      

Wish you were here,

Rose and Sydney

out for some post studying drinks and food

so happy to be finished school