Our hotel (Pucic Palace) in Dubrovnik was in the middle of Old Town which is a UNESCO heritage listed and protected area. The hotel was built in the 18th century and was home to the Dubrovnik noble family Pucić, and still includes the original doors, furniture and fittings. Old Town doesn’t allow any vehicles in and we needed to walk to the Polce Gate to … Continue reading Day 26 – Getting to Athens
We stayed overnight on the boat at Dubrovnik and disembarked for the final time this morning. Thomas went around and said good bye to his favourite deck hand – who coincidentally had been working in Baku last year during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and had showed him some videos from the event. We left the boat and took a bus to the cable car which … Continue reading Day 25 – Pearl of the Adriatic
Today is our last full day on the cruise and we had an early-ish start as we rocked in Mljet. Mljet National Park is a stunning natural sanctuary on the northwest part of Mljet Island, featuring two deep saltwater lakes, lush green pine forests, and lots of cycling tracks. Founded on November 11, 1960, it is the oldest marine protected area in the Mediterranean. Once … Continue reading Day 24 – Trstenik to Dubrovnik via Mljet (Cruise Day 3)
We departed from Hvar right before breakfast and as our rooms are on the lower deck it is incredibly loud when the engines kick in. I can see why the boat stays docked in one location all night rather than cruising along. We had a “Swim Stop” scheduled in the morning where the boat anchors near the shore and we can hop in the water … Continue reading Day 23 – Hvar to Trstenik via Peljesac (Cruise Day 2)
After all the walking we did yesterday we had the chance to sleep in this morning. The kids were very excited as the hotel room had their beds in a little alcove – and it felt like they were camping. We went down for breakfast which included a live pianist who played a lot of the pop classics. It was a bit of a weird … Continue reading Day 22 – Split to Hvar (Cruise Day 1)
I don’t have enough superlatives to describe our experience today. We had an early start out of Zagreb and drove to the Plitvice Lakes National Park which was a couple of hours drive. It is one of the oldest and largest national parks in Croatia and is famous for its travertine barriers and waterfalls. The vast majority of the water in the park comes from … Continue reading Day 21 – Incredible, Fantastic, Amazing….
Our guide picked us up from the hotel and we headed out to the town of Varazdin. Varazdin is known as Croatia’s “Baroque Capital” and “Little Vienna”. It briefly served as the nation’s capital from 1767 to 1776 but lost the title to Zagreb after a devastating city fire that started at the blacksmiths shop – which ironically still stands. We started at The Church … Continue reading Day 20 – Experiences in Varazdin
We were up and out of the hotel in Amsterdam by 8 this morning to catch our flight to Zagreb for the penultimate leg of our trip. Amsterdam airport is quite spread out and our check in gates were almost in a little annex. After security, our boarding gates were in the furthest end of one of the terminals and was a good 20 minute … Continue reading Day 19 – Travel to Croatia
It’s our last day in Amsterdam and we had a tour booked to take us out to a traditional Dutch village with windmills. We met the tour guide near our hotel and then headed out of Amsterdam. We visited a town called Zaanse Schans which was created as a tourist destination. They transported traditional windmills from all over the country to this location. Some of … Continue reading Day 18 – Classic Holland
We started the day with a Dutch pancake making course. I had misread the tour titled and assumed we would be doing the course in a Dutch Canal Boat while meandering through, however it was just in a house that overlooked the canal. It was weird but the kids loved it. We were in someones house who runs these classes for tourists and we cooked … Continue reading Day 17 – Dutch Experiences
We drove down to Oostvoorne after breakfast to spend the day with Ishani and her family (Mark and Mia). I think the last time we saw Ishani Ben was around Thomas’s age and it has been a while. It was a lot easier driving out of Amsterdam this morning and before long we were on the freeway. Holland is a very flat country and there … Continue reading Day 16 – Road trip to Oostvoorne
One of the things that I really wanted to do was to drive across international borders and the trip from Brussels to Amsterdam seemed like the perfect opportunity. We checked out and took an Uber to the Brussels South train station to collect our rental car. Fortunately we have been provided with a Volvo almost exactly the same as the one at home which made … Continue reading Day 15 – Driving to Holland
We started the day with a tour of a chocolate museum. Spread over 2 floors this museum showcased how chocolate was first discovered and how it’s produced. It was very interactive and the kids had a number of exhibits that they could touch and play with. I learnt that cocoa beans were used as legal tender in some countries centuries ago. We followed this up … Continue reading Day 14 – Chocolate, Fries and Beer – a Belgian Culinary Experience
The one thing I have been really looking forward to is doing the Tintin tour while in Belgium. Our guide met us in our hotel at 10 and we headed out through the Bourse Palace, which was the central stock exchange, but has been converted into a Beer Museum. We walked to the Grand Place which is the location for the Kings House – a … Continue reading Day 13 – Tintin, Trains and Mussels
We had a few hours to kill after breakfast before our car was to take us to the airport. We went for a final walk through the town of Salzburg and especially to their famous Christmas shop which sells decorations all year round. It was quite an experience with intricately carved and designed decorations. They also had thousands of eggs that had been hollowed out … Continue reading Day 12 – Hello Brussels
We had the same tour guide today, Roman, and he was taking us for a drive along the Austrian countryside to see more Sound Of Music sights and also to the salt mine that Salzburg was named after. The unique experiences started early when the guide showed us hands free driving in his Tesla. Pretty soon after we got pulled over by the cops for … Continue reading Day 11 – A long day of unique experiences
We visited the Augustiner Brau Mulln for dinner which was founded in 1621 by Augustinian monks. It operates the oldest continuously active brewery and Austria’s largest beer tavern. The beer is still traditionally drawn from wooden barrels and served in stone steins. Visiting the tavern is a unique, self-service experience that operates on centuries-old tradition. You grab a stone stein from the shelf yourself and … Continue reading Dining like Monks
Its our last morning in Vienna and we packed up our bags and headed down to reception after breakfast. Our car arrived at 10.30 to take us to the train station. It took us a little time to figure out where on the platform we needed to stand as there were a couple of trains travelling through Salzburg at similar times. Once we knew where … Continue reading Day 9 – Travel to Salsburg
blackCarrot 