Cinque Terre, Italy: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Monterosso, Corniglia, Vernazza by Posh, Broke, & Bored

A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • CROATIA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY


PART 12, DAY 19: CACTUS CATASTROPHE IN CINQUE TERRE, ITALY
🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵

There is quite literally a danger in paradise. If I thought that nearly drowning in Plitvice Lakes National Park, having a dress zipper split in Split (of course), and breaking my suitcase as well as losing my favourite hat in Dubrovnik were the end of my mishaps on this trip I had another thing coming. 😫 It was the penultimate day of my 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries road trip, and naturally the Gods of Misfortune had saved the best for (almost) last. But before I delve into what was the most epic accident of my Summer holidays, allow me to first lull you into the same sense of serenity and wonder that Cinque Terre did with her breathtaking beauty before springing a spiky trap...


October 27, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 11: Tuscan Tales in Florence & Pisa, Italy


A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • CROATIA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY


PART 11, DAYS 17, 18, & 20: TUSCAN TALES IN FLORENCE AND PISA, ITALY

By the 16th day of my 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries road trip I had already lapped up the imperial splendour of Vienna, been pleasantly surprised by the laid-back charm of Slovenia (Ljubljana, Maribor, and Bled), was profoundly moved by the tragic history of Bosnia-Herzegovina (Mostar and Sarajevo), had sampled some of Croatia's most compelling towns and cities (Zagreb, Plitvice, Trogir, Split, and Dubrovnik), revisited Kotor, Montenegro, as well as had a nosy in a few other small towns along the way. Needless to say I was knackered from having to pack up almost every morning, drive to a new city and and cross country borders almost every day, then hurriedly unpack in a hotel I knew I wasn't going to see much off because I wanted to squeeze in as much sightseeing as I could before leaving the following day (or the day after, it was lucky); rinse, repeat. 😵 After my 2+ weeks binge of all things cultural and historical my little mind was beginning to short-circuit, so I promised myself to take it easy on the Italian leg of my journey. 😚

To keep things tidy, I thought I'd group Florence (Days 17 & 18) and my short jaunt in Pisa (Day 20) into one post. These are my Tuscan Tales...


October 23, 2017


20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 10: Dubrovnik, Croatia


A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • CROATIA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY


PART 10, DAYS 13, 15, & 16: MODERN AND MEDIEVAL MAGIC IN DUBROVNIK, CROATIA

It had been a very sombre couple of days chasing the ghosts of war in Mostar and Sarajevo. So it was with some relief that I left Bosnia-Herzegovina and drove down toward the Adriatic Coast to Croatia. At that point in my whistle-stop tour of the Balkans I had already visited the Croatian cities of Zagreb, Plitvice, Trogir, and Split; and my final stop before moving on to Italy was Dubrovnik. Unlike my previous destinations on this 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries road trip, I enjoyed the luxury of having more time in Dubrovnik. With 4 days and 4 nights to indulge (excluding a day trip to Kotor, Montenegro) in the offerings of this ancient walled city, my time Dubrovnik was a welcome change of pace: languid yet vibrant, laid back yet luxurious - in other words, my fantasy of what life in Dalmatia should be.


October 20, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 9: Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina


A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay... 
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES. 
  AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY


PART 9, DAY 12: FOOD FOR THOUGHT in SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

Having spent the better part of the day in Mostar - the fifth largest city in Bosnia-Herzegovina and home of the country's most iconic bridge - it was time to head to the capital city, SarajevoSarajevo seems like an obscure travel destination, being either a city that doesn't register on the mainstream mind map (Bosnia-Herzegovina itself being one of the least-visited countries in Europe) or a city that brings to mind images of desolation and destruction. Of course, now that I'm a little past halfway into my series 20 Days, 20 Cities, and 6 Countries in Austria, the Balkans, and Italy, you'd know by now that the catalyst of my 3 week road trip was my fascination with Yugoslavian history. I have heard Croatian and Serbian perspectives on the turmoil that seems to shadow the former socialist state, so now it was time to see the story from the Bosnian side. I knew that Sarajevo wasn't going to be all sunshine and roses, yet I wasn't completely prepared for the darkness that haunted this beautiful city...



October 14, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 8: Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina


A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY

PART 8, DAY 11: UNEXPECTED OTTOMAN EMPIRE AT MOSTAR, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA. "Hey now, you're a Mostar, get your game on, go play..."

Before heading from Split to my next Croatian city, Dubrovnik, I made a detour and drove across the border into one of Europe's least-visited countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina. My 20 Day, 20 Cities, and 6 Countries Balkans road trip was inspired by my recent reading list of Yugoslavian history* - more specifically, the events surrounding its collapse in 1992 (I was especially haunted by the scenes depicted in Joe Sacco's journalistic graphic novels Safe Area Gorazde and The Fixer: A Story From Sarajevo) - so it was inevitable that I would eventually find myself in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was a long drive from Split, Croatia to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, so I decided to break up the journey by stopping midway at Mostar - a city of great architectural and natural beauty with Turkish influences that was a world apart from anything I had seen on this trip thus far.

*Yes, it's not the most romantic reason for a "holiday" - Other people: "I want to go to Paris because l'amour!" Me: "I'm going to Bosnia, because war..." - but I've always been a nerd for conflict history and socio-politics.


October 11, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 7: Split, Croatia


A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY


PART 7, DAY 10: Catching Feels in Croatia - a Sentimental Return to Split

Even before I embarked on my epic 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries road trip across Austria, the Balkans, Tuscany, and the Italian Riviera there was one particular city in my itinerary that filled me with equal parts trepidation and anticipation. As the calendar inched ever closer to Croatia, the butterflies fluttered more rapidly in my stomach at the thought of Split. Not because it was a hitherto unknown destination to me; but because I have, had, and have had strong feelings for this Dalmatian coastal city. It was a little over a year ago in this very city where two people reunited then parted (not for the first nor last time, in many cities across the world) - or should I say, split. A summer later, I returned to the stage where last summer's love story played but the leading man was thousands of miles away. Despite my solo encore, the other star was there in spirit, which made my return to Split, Croatia, all the more bittersweet. 💔


October 09, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 6: Trogir, Croatia and Kotor, Montenegro


A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY


PART 6; DAYS 9 & 14: DON’T RAIN ON MY PARADE PARTS 2 & 3 - DRIZZLY DAYS IN TROGIR, CROATIA AND KOTOR, MONTENEGRO

When it rains, it pours. 😫 I thought I had used up a lifetime of getting soaked - having endured a 6-hour nightmare trek through a thunderstorm in one of Croatia's most breathtaking natural wonders, Plitvice Lakes National Park - but even after having sworn off the great outdoors my wet weather woes were far from over. 😭 Now, I'm all for posting in chronological order but the thought of writing two separate posts on getting caught in the rain in two different countries gives me the chills - so today I'll recant Day 9 (Trogir, Croatia) and Day 14 (Kotor, Montenegro) just to get the showers out of my system. Like ripping off a bandaid all at once instead of peeling it back millimetre by millimetre. On the morning of the 9th day of my 20 Days in 20 Cities and 6 Countries road trip, I woke up in Hotel Jezero at dawn - without a cold, miraculously - and without even looking back I quickly revved the engine and set the coordinates to the Old Town of Split.


October 06, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 5: Plitvice National Park, Croatia


A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY


PART 5; DAY 8: DON’T RAIN ON MY PARADE PART 1 - GETTING SOAKED IN PLITVICE NATIONAL PARK, CROATIA


Blue is the warmest colour? You jest. 🙄 Not even the sapphire blue waters of Plitvice Lakes could convince me that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse hadn't cometh on a giant storm cloud, their hooves clanging like crashing thunder, stabbing from the skies with spears of lightning. It was Day 5 of my 20 day road trip across Austria, the Balkans, and Italy when the weather took an abrupt turn for the worse. I'm not talking about the occasional shower here and there; I'm talking about freak storms across Croatia for the first time in 3 very hot, very dry weeks. Where was the rain when wildfires were spreading across the countryside?! Waiting for me to show up so that it could ruin my holiday like a literal wet blanket. 😩

I refuse to let the unseasonable showers put a damper on my diary-keeping, so for the sake of posterity here is the (possibly overdramatic) story of how I nearly drowned in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia. This is just Part 1 of my three-part 'Don't Rain On My Parade' series - there's also Trogir, Croatia; and Kotor, Montenegro (I'm not even going to mention the wetter days in Split and Dubrovnik 😶 ). Wrap up warm and pour yourself a hot toddy because this is going to give you the chills... ⛈


October 05, 2017

20 Days, 20 Cities, 6 Countries - Part 4: Zagreb, Croatia


A city a day keeps the wanderlust at bay...
20 DAYS. 20 CITIES. 6 COUNTRIES.
AUSTRIA • SLOVENIA • CROATIA • BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA • MONTENEGRO • ITALY


PART 4, DAYS 6 & 7: CHASING CROATIA IN ITS CAPITAL CITY OF ZAGREB

Croatia is a country that is very near and dear to my heart. So much so that I sometimes catch myself singing, to the tune of the famous Tourism Malaysia jingle: "Croatia, truly Aaaaasia!" (What). It's not that I know every nook and cranny of the country - far from it, my first and only (up to then) proper visit to Croatia was a sultry Summer of Love 2016 in Split. Rather, my affection for this gorgeous country is because someone close to me is half-Croatian, and their own embracing of their heritage (including egging me on to drink fiery shots of rakia) has made me also love Croatia by osmosis. 😚 Aside from Split, the only other time I had been to Croatia was passing through Dubrovnik to get to MontenegroI was more than ready to see more of Croatia than just the Dalmatian coast. So it was with eager anticipation that I left Ljubljana, Slovenia for another capital city - Zagreb. 🇭🇷


October 03, 2017

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