The Top 11 of 2011 - part three

I figured I needed to get this last post up before we got in to the second month of 2012. It seems like we're getting a bit far in to 2012 for all this 2011 retrospection. No matter, 2011 was still a boss of a year, so let's wrap this up.

4. Sail Croatia, July 2011

The next adventure was Croatia, on a boat with my ladies, and a whole lot of Australians. I had been told amazing things about Sail Croatia, that it was an incredible travelling experience, and it mainly lived up to the hype. I'll get the bad things out of the way first: sometimes the lack of independence frustrated me, and the tour company sometimes wasn't the best at communicating what was going on each day. And then the douchebag Australians. If I could have been on that boat with twenty of my friends, instead of five of my friends and fifteen strangers, it would have been the ultimate travelling experience, yes.

But the good things.



The weather. Hot. Beautiful, European hot. Yes, one needs to be careful about putting on their sunblock, but not nearly to the extent you need to do in New Zealand. I am one of those poor souls who burns in thirty seconds back in New Zealand. In Europe, I could sit outside for almost half an hour before I'd start to think, hmm, might be time for some sunblock. I got a tan. An actual real life tan. That's not a regular occurrence for me.

The sitting around and doing nothing. A regular day would be departing early from wherever we'd docked the day before, and sailing throughout the morning. A stop for a lunch and a swim. And then, we'd get to wherever we were going, and could go explore, eat, drink. We spent most of this time on the boat lying in the sun, reading, talk shit and playing cards.

The swimming. The water was the perfect temperature, and was so salty. Sometimes you could see the salt on your skin once you'd got out of the water.

The sloppy night's out. Drinking huge carafes of cocktails in a cave bar. Going to a bar in Hvar that had some sort of fountain, and dancing so enthusiastically that one needed to kick off one's jandals. Drinking cocktails out of buckets. (Large drinks seemed to be a theme.)



The adventures. We hired a wee car on the island of Mjlet, and drove the length of it, stopping at the end for a swim at the sandy beach. Liz couldn't fit in the car, and wanted to drive a scooter anyway, so she led the way. The only downside was there was no car stereo, so no sweet beats.





We finished up in Dubrovnik, which was one of my favourite stops, and a place I would like to go back to. An old, walled city, close to the water. Where you can buy cocktails in buckets. A true tourist mecca.



It was the perfect way to end five weeks on the continent. Thinking about it now, in the dead of winter, when it's two degrees outside, it seems like some sort of far off dream.



3. Family holiday to Provence - Aug/Sep 2011

I am a lucky girl; I have a very lovely mother. Leaving her in Wellington was not an easy thing to do, and missing her is one of the worst parts about being far from home. Lucky for me, her and her partner Gerald planned a European excursion of their own, and came over to visit in August of last year. Mum and Gerald have been together for a few years now (my lovely father died almost thirteen years ago) and Gerald has three daughters of his own, one of which, Michaela, lives in London too. So, the four of us, plus Nick, and plus another of Gerald's daughters, Erica, went to Provence for a bit of a family holiday.

We were utterly spoiled by Mum and Gerald, who had rented a villa outside of a small village called Bargemon. The villa had it's own pool, an amazing view over the hills, a huge barbeque area, and mine and Nick's bedroom at the bottom of the house was built in to the rock, like a cave. Luxury to someone who, while travelling, was used to sleeping in bunk beds.




It was an actual proper holiday, as opposed to travelling. Sure we did some sightseeing, drove through the hills to other perched villages, admired the sights, visited some markets, sampled the delicious food. But we slept in, and didn't stick to much of a schedule, and had afternoon drinks. I went for at least two swims a day, we had croissants for every breakfast, and most of the time was spent lounging by the pool with a book.




And the food. The food. Honey glazed duck, creme brulee, desserts that were on fire, hunks of brie and camembert. We had most meals at home, but still went out a few times, which was always interesting, because here the French actually only spoke French, not like in Paris, where they see you trying to speak French, and just speak to you in English, because they can't be bothered waiting for you to work it out.

I loved every minute of it. Especially hanging out with my mum.



2. Dublin - October 2011

I realise that this Top 11 is becoming more like: The List of Places Lauren Visited in 2011. But what can you do. I just like visiting places so much.

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a visit from my friend Sophie in late 2011. Before I left, she wasn't even thinking about coming over, so therefore I didn't think I would see her again until I eventually get back to NZ. But I was SURPRISED to hear of her plans for a European jaunt, and when she mentioned she was going to Dublin, I decided I would go with her.

Sophie lived in Dublin for a year, and at this stage, I was contemplating heading there to live after the UK visa ran out. (I'm not anymore because there is a New Plan, but more on that later.) So she seemed like a pretty good Dublin travel buddy.

And she was. We had another tour guide in the form of Sophie's friend Owen, who was also kind enough to pick me up from the airport and drop me back. Such luxury. We went out Friday night, watched Irish football, which was weird, and then went to a sweet bar with a lot of bookshelves (a surefire way to make me like a place is an abundance of books).

Saturday was sightseeing and wandering around Dublin.




And then Saturday night was drinking Guiness in a local pub (it really does taste better in Ireland), then heading to Kehoe's for a few hours, and then a club in an old movie theatre. Due to a stupid decision to watch Australia play South Africa in the Rugby World Cup, we did not get back to the hostel until 7.30am the next morning. And then had to get up to check out by 10am.

It was not the best laid plan, and meant that Sunday was a bit of a wash. We didn't end up doing any of the things we planned, just tried to keep warm and not die of our hangovers.

All in all though, I suppose I can't be surprised that I spent most of my Irish experience either drunk or hungover. Seems kind of fitting.



1. Christmas in Kennington, 2011

And here we are. The final highlight for 2011 was an excellent Christmas spent in our flat in the London suburb of Kennington. Nick and I had spent the previous Christmas with his sister in Berlin, so figured that our other Christmas in England should actually be spent in England.

My flatmates and I offered to host all the other orphan Kiwis who were in London, and there ended up being about ten of us for Christmas lunch. We decorated our kitchen/dining/living room (yes, all three in one, we live in London, space is a luxury) with lights, tacky Christmas decorations and crepe paper. Public transport in London pretty much shuts down on Christmas Day, so we had people sleeping on our floors and in our kitchen.




Christmas away from home, and all those familiar things, always feels a bit odd. The same, but different. Being in the northern hemisphere for Christmas, and therefore winter, is a bit odd too - as this is what we're led to believe Christmas should be like. Cold, dark, snow if you're lucky. Lots of warm heavy comfort food. So it feels like what Christmas actually should be, but also, nothing like what you're used to.

But anyway. We started the day with pancakes, banana and bacon. Then snacks. And then roast turkey (Katie was in charge of this task and did an amazing job). And then more snacks. And then chocolate pudding for dessert. All the while drinking bottle after bottle of delicious wine.

A happy Christmas indeed.

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So that's it, that's the end. Thanks for playing. Now I have to come up with some new blog ideas. I have a few brewing. I have some travel plans, so that should be a few entries, at least!

The Top 11 of 2011 - part two

7. Travelling Europe by train, June-July 2011

After eight ish months living in London, I started to think to myself: I need to do something big. See Europe proper. Make people jealous. You know, all those reasons we put ourselves through the sometime hideousness that is travelling. So Nick and I planned a four week trip around (part of) Europe, bought our rail pass, packed our very small backpacks and flew to Berlin.

Doing something like this makes you realise just how lucky you are to be able to do something like this. And I know that sounds a little confusing, but it's true. We just saw some amazing things, went to some amazing places, ate some pretty amazing food. And when I think back on it now, I'm like: Top 11 of 2011? More like Top 11 of Lauren's Life. Top 5 even.

So, we started in Berlin. We'd been there before, at Christmas time, because Nick's sister lives there. Berlin at Christmas time was everything a northern hemisphere Christmas should be. Snow, Christmas markets, mulled wine, more snow. Berlin in June was almost an entirely different place. We drank beer and ate sausages in beer gardens. We went to the park with a barbeque. We went on a very long bike ride through the streets of Berlin - the first time I'd been on a bike in my adult life. We drank beers by the river and went to achingly cool bars in the suburb of Kreuzberg.




We really did drink a lot of beer.

From Berlin, we intended to go to Prague, but the day we wanted to do this, there was a general transport strike through the Czech Republic, so we went to Dresden instead. This was a happy flaw in the plan.



On arrival, two separate kind German women attempted to help us as we stood around with our backpacks and a crude map looking confused and trying to find out which way to go to find a hostel. I'm not sure we were ever offered help anywhere else on our trip. The buildings, black from Allied bombs in WWII, were incredible. We ate icecream in the sunshine, sitting in the park, looking out over the river. It was a slower pace than Berlin, way less "cool". The hipsters were dressed like 90s alt kids which was quite endearing.

And then, finally Prague. We were pretty happy to be on that train.



In Prague, there was more beer, Czech apple strudel, sweet old buildings and two statues peeing in to a puddle. Yeah. For real. It was cheap, cheaper than Germany, though thronging with tourists. It is a sad fact that travelling would be made infinitely better if no one else but yourself was doing it.




While roaming the streets after a few drinks one night, we came across the John Lennon wall, which was utterly confusing, but pretty special.

From Prague, we went to Vienna. Vienna is on the list of places in the world I need to go back to. We didn't get to any of the museums, which was disappointing, but went to Schonbrunn Palace - which was amazing - ate delicious food in coffee bars, and wandered old churches.




It was a bit expensive, which was a problem since we were trying to do our trip on a bit of a budget. Vienna is definitely a place I would want to go back to with a whole lot of money. One day.

And then Salzburg. Salzburg gets it's own entry in this top 11 list. Just you wait.

From Salzburg, we went back to Germany, this time to Munich. Munich was cursed with some drizzly weather, but we did go out to Dachau which was one of the most sobering experiences of my life. Lots of other people have written about these sorts of things, and I don't think I'm going to try, but let's just say, I will remember that experience forever.



And then, Switzerland. Lucky us, we had two separate family friends to stay with/show us around, which was a good thing, because Switzerland was expensive. It was also good to have a wee bit of a rest, and a non hostel sleep, especially because my wisdom teeth chose this time to start hurting. And I mean hurting. I mean like what I would imagine it would feel like if someone attempted to hammer nails in to my gums.

But to reflect on the good things. We went swimming in the river that borders Switzerland and Austria. We wandered the expensive streets of Zurich. We got 30 degree temperatures and delicious food. We were lucky.

And then, from Switzerland, to Italy.

First stop was Milan, which was dirtier than I expected from such a fashion capital, but perhaps that's because we were slumming it.



We met up with one of my favourite ladies, Tash, so lots of wine was drunk in celebration. It poured with rain and my legs got devoured by mosquitos, but we established two good rules for Italy:

1. Gelato at least once every day.
2. Pasta for lunch, pizza for dinner; OR, pizza for lunch, pasta for dinner.

And then we left Milan, for Verona. Verona was more classic Italian town. The tenuous Romeo and Juliet link was basic tourist fodder, Juliet's House being crammed with tourists and covered in graffiti and Juliet's Tomb being just absolutely depressing.




The town was charming though, Tash and I discovered Soave, Nick ate horse meat (a Veronese specialty which just made me sad), we climbed the clock tower, visited the super impressive arena.

And then, Venice. I was hesitant about Venice, I'd heard enough about the thousands and millions of tourists that flock there. It didn't matter. Despite the throngs of tourists, it still managed to be one of my favourites. The city is literally sinking and it is this crumbling majesty that makes Venice such a beautiful place. When you got away from the main piazzas, and wandered down back streets, not really sure where you were going to end up, it felt like a movie. Or like it could be a hundred years previous.




A highlight I don't have photos of was going to Harry's bar, where the bellini was invented and paying 12 euros for the privilege of drinking one. Despite being treated like second class tourist citizens, that bellini was one of the best drinks I've ever had.

From Venice, we passed through Bologna, which, unfortunately for Bologna, we visited on a Monday when everything was closed. We did eat delicious bolognese and got a litre carafe of wine for eight euros, so it was still worth the trip.

And then, Florence. I couldn't help but think of Lucy Honeychurch's visit to this Italian city in Forster's A Room With A View (because I am a major book nerd) and ended up hunting out a second hand bookstore on our first day so that I could purchase a copy for a reread. We wandered down to the river, climbed to the top of the Duomo, ate the most delicious pasta in the world, shopped the markets, saw some sweet art, and drank a lot of Italian wine. We met up with some more of my lady friends here, which turned Nick in to a bit of a boss really. He either got pity or respect, depending on who was offering.




From Florence, Nick went back to London and I left with the girls for another adventure. Perhaps it was a bit of a cheat cramming all that amazing stuff in to one highlight of my 2011, but to qualify it, the highlight was the experience.



It was a long enough time that travelling started to feel like my real life. I thought perhaps I would get sick of the nomadic lifestyle, the hostel dorms, the few clothes I had packed in my small backpack, the lack of reliable wifi. I did not. Not even a little bit. I always knew that travelling would broaden my horizons, teach me something about myself and the world, but I didn't realise how much, or really in what ways. That time in Europe (and really my time in this hemisphere altogether) reinforced that money is better spent on experiences than possessions, than anywhere you go with people you love is going to be a good time and that travelling is a truly humbling experience. It makes you realise how lucky you are to see even a mere slice of the way other people live.

I realise that that got a bit heavy for a bit there. Don't worry, this next highlight will change all that.

6. Sound of Music bike tour, Salzburg, June 2011

YES, you heard me. Yeah travel's good for all that introspection but what's introspection compared with getting to see the places in one of your all time, top 5 favourite movies?? Yeah. Nothing.

I had wanted to do a Sound of Music tour pretty much ever since I knew that such a thing existed. My parents taped the movie off the TV for me when I was a kid and I watched it so much that, now when I watch the DVD, I can tell you where the ad breaks used to be. Some clever programming on TV2's part meant that I watched it a few Christmas' in a row, which of course, meant it is now compulsory viewing in December.

There are so many good things about the Sound of Music. Julie Andrews, Captain von Trapp (swoon), the songs, wee Gretl, the fact that the love story ends but the movie isn't over because they still have to run away from the Nazis.

I didn't want to do one of the boring bus tours, so chose instead the bike tour. I was lucky to have had a bit of bike riding practise in Berlin as that meant we avoided any awkward crying in front of strangers scenes in Salzburg when I realised I'd forgotten how to ride a bike (YES OK I CRIED IN BERLIN ALRIGHT. I got back on a bike for the first time, couldn't do it, and I cried. It was hugely stressful, OK, but I worked it out in the end).





If you are a Sound of Music fan, I would recommend this tour in a heartbeat. It covered all the awesome places. They take you through the squares, past the fountains where Maria splashes the stone horses, where the Nazis march in, and then up in the hills where the nunnery is. Then you go out in the countryside and see the house that was used for the back of the Von Trapp house, and then the house used for the front of the Von Trapp house.

The front of the Von Trapp house was my favourite part. A young girl was on the tour with her parents, and her dad tried to convince her to skip down the path singing I Have Confidence while he filmed her, but it stressed her out too much and she didn't do it. Which I can understand, but even now, I kind of regret that I didn't do it.

And then off to the grounds of a palace to see the glass conservatory used in the movie. The movie gave it to the city of Salzburg when they finished filming, and the city of Salzburg didn't really care too much about it (or the movie in general) until they realised how much money they could make from tourists.



No jumping around in it, unfortunately. Too many tourists injured themselves.

Salzburg in general was a great city to visit. More excellent food, church bells ringing out through the streets at all times of the day, brilliant sunshine. We spent an afternoon drinking beer in a brewery, and then climbed a hill. A storm rolled over quite quickly and we got stuck in a hailstorm. It was one of those brilliant travelling moments that you could never plan.

Salzburg. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

5. Meeting up with some ladies I know, summer 2011

I'm quite lucky in the fact that I know some pretty awesome ladies and can count them as my very good friends. When I left Wellington in May 2010, I left quite a few of them behind, so I was very excited that some of them were coming over in summer 2011 for their own European adventures.

Tash, as I mentioned, we met in Milan. Her and I had travelled to Thailand together the year before, when I was on my way to London, so I hadn't seen her in a year. We celebrated our reunion with Soave and cheese and proscuitto in Verona.



In Florence, we met up with Katie, Stacey and Alice who had been travelling through Jordan, Egypt and Turkey.




We celebrated this reunion with litre carafes of house wine, pasta, gelato and some questionable dancing in the hostel common area.

The best thing about good friends is that lots of time can pass where you don't see each other. And then you do see each other, and it doesn't matter what has happened during that time, you can still talk the same sort of shit you always have.

After all these Italian reunions, us ladies headed off on our adventure to Croatia. That's the next part though.