CROATIA - Pula and Dubrovnik

Hi Everybody!
Sorry it's taken me a while to get this blog up! It's all been go go go since we left London! I can't believe I've been away for a month now already...it's crazy...time is really flying by!
Croatia was amazing! I absolutely loved it there! Our first stop was Pula in the north, a reasonably small port town which used to be very important in Roman times. It was really only a quick stop over for us there (it was the cheapest place for us to fly into) so we just spent the day wandering about and exploring the city and enjoying the heat. We saw the ruins of the old Amphitheatre there which was pretty impressive, all made out of local limestone and used to hold 20,000 people! We then started our 15 hour bus ride down the coast to Dubrovnik. The bus trip wasn't all the great (well as great as a 15 hour bus ride can be :)), but, as we were winding our way along the coast roads we had some great views at times.
It was very nice to arrive in Dubrovnik and make our way to our campside by the beach!
Dubrovnik was a beautiful city to explore. The old town was amazing! Since the war the wall which surrounds the city has been restored so we were able to walk the whole way around the city and get some great views! The red tiled rooves of the houses contrasted magnificently with the crystal clear blue of the surrounding sea, very picturesque! The old city itself has been maintained really well and was great to walk around. A lot of the city streets were paved with marble and there were about 8 churches just within the city walls as well as some cool old fountains.
The place where we were camping was pretty nice...just a shot walk down to the 'beach' not quite the type of beaches we are used to...no waves and no sand, all stones and pebbles...but it was beautiful all the same and great to be able to go for a dip, especially as the average temperature was around 36 degrees. I managed to get spiked by a sea urchin on the first day we were there, but all was well and I knew to look out for them after that...they were everywhere and can be quite painful!
On the last afternoon we had in Dubrovnik we went to check out our sailing boat down at the port and meet some of the people we would be sailing with for the next week - 4 Kiwi's (Hayley, Emma, Rob and Bailey) and an English guy (Chris). Then we went out into the old town with them for dinner and drinks. Such a lovely bunch of people! The sailing trip was looking good! :)
Much love to all
xxx Hez
Photos are:
Anna at the beach near our campsite
Me on the wall with the old town of Dubrovnik behind me
The old city of Dubrovnik through a window in the wall
Anna in one of the streets of Pula where we found some personalised graffiti :)
Me enjoying my first Croatian beer in Pula
Part of the old Amphitheatre in Pula
Flying into Pula

LONDON

I made it over to London safe and sound and have had a wonderful week! It has been so awesome to be able to see and catch up with Matt, Deev and Anna! The three of them have done a fantastic job of showing me around and it's been lovely to experience not only the touristy side of London, but to also meet their friends and all of Anna's family and to be welcomed into their homes. On the day I arrived Matt, Deev, Anna and I had a great time walking around town. We walked down Oxford and Carnaby Streets, through Soho (looking at all the swanky shops!) and down to Trafalga Square then to Westminister Abby, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. We then made our way to Anna's cousins place in Wimbledon where Anna and I have been staying. They have the most amazing house which actually looks out over the practice courts of Wimbledon! We all made ourselves at home in their house that night as they were all away at Leeds for Anna's cousin Dan's graduation. We had a few drinks and ate dinner out in the backyard and enjoyed the long summer evening despite wearing almost the same amount of layers I had been back in Sydney last week :) On Wednesday Anna and I headed back into the city and walked along the Thames and across the Millennium bridge to the Tate Modern. I really enjoyed the exhibitions there will definitely try and head back there to see some more when I stop by London on my way back home in November. In the evening I met up with Matt and played frisbee with his summer league team after which we all headed to the local pub for a couple of pints to celebrate the win! It was so nice to hang out with Matt and to meet some of his friends.
On Thursday Anna and I went to the British museum had a very cheesy London experience, catching a red double decker bus down Oxford Street. Deev and Matt then joined us in town that evening for a drink and then just the girls went to see Caberet the mucial at the Lyric Theatre.
On Friday Anna and I headed to Harrods for the shopping extravaganza experience, but it was quite sad, they were in sale mode and so their usually amazing displays had all been dismantled and the whole shop was a bit messy compared to their usual standards, but I did get to experience the wonder of the food halls there! They were absolutely amazing and we couldn't help but splurge on a fresh pastry and a few beautiful chocolates!
That night we went to Anna's other cousins house for dinner and I met Marak and Fiona and their two beautiful kids Megan and Hannah and Anna's aunt Jasha. It was so nice to finally meet all of these guys who I have heard so much about and they were so lovely and warm and friendly and everything that Anna had described them to be! We got a little carried away that night once the kids went off to bed and Marak brought out the polish vodka and things got a bit crazy and very boozy, didn't end up being the quite night I had expected he he he
On Saturday Deev and I caught a ferry down the Thames and went to Greenwich for the day. We of course saw the Greenwich time line and looked through the time museum they have there. Very educational! The ferry down the Thames was great! It was a beautiful London day, the sun wasn't exactly shinning, but it was warm :) Saturday night was Anna's cousins 21st which was a very fun night. We started off at the Earl Spencer Pub where some of his friends who are in a band played a few sets and then at about 12 we headed into town to Brixton - probably the dodgyest area in London to a night club that is a converted crypt - pretty cool, but not really my kind of music, trance and techno...but we had a lot of fun all the same!
On Saturday I met up with Matt again for the last time :( and we went to the Portabello markets in Notting Hill, unfortunately the markets weren't really on, but we had a lovely lìtime just wandering the streets of Notting Hill, such a lovely area!
On Monday I went into the National Gallery on my own. I really enjoyed just getting lost in there and appreciating some very amazing art, some highlights were Van Gough's Sunflowers and some amazing Turner's. I then met up with Deev again very briefly and went along with her to the street cafe where she volunteers handing out food and chatting with the homeless. Awesome work Deev!
And that was London! Loved it and will be back!
Im still having some issues figuring out how to put the photos in properly so they are in order
Matt and I outside Westminster Abby, Deev and I (well our feet) at the Greenwich meridian time line, Anna and the chocolates at Harrods, Me on the ferry to Greenwich with the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in the background, Anna, me and Deev at Trafalgar Square.
Ok thats it for now.
Missing you all lots xoxox Hez :)

5 Days Until Take Off

Hello Everybody!
Ok...so it's now only 5 days until I fly out of Sydney and start out on my adventure in Europe! Woohoo! The first stop is London, where I'll meet up with Anna, then we're off to Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany. Then it's on to Spain and Portugal for a month and a bit with Al and Brad. After that, who knows, we'll have to wait and see where the wind blows us!

I'm going to miss you all lots, so please stay in touch! Hope you all enjoy reading the bits and pieces I put up on this blog! Hasta Luego xx Hez (photo is me and Matty at Dee Why beach on the weekend...oh so lovely! just had to practise adding photos and figuring out how to post :))