Sunday 28 July 2019

Med Sailors - Croatia Discovery Route












Hey Guys, 

So a week ago last Friday I got back from my very first sailing holiday with Med Sailors, writing this post and collecting all of my photos together is bringing such joy as it really was an amazing holiday and a great experience! I've never travelled solo before but after my trip I found this quote on Pinterest and it is 100% true! 

'Travelling alone will be the most scariest, most liberating, life changing experience. Try it at least once!' 

If you have never had a solo trip and in a position where you can....I highly recommend you do. I can't explain enough what an amazing experience it was. 

I decided to book my trip thought a company because I wanted my route and accommodation planned for me to take the stress out of things. Also for safety reasons, I've never travelled solo before so I wanted to make sure I would feel safe. I have seen a few Bloggers and Youtubers post about MedSailors and heard many good things about them. MedSailors have a few different routes and countries you can go too. The main reason I decided to go to Croatia was because I had been a few years ago to Dubrovnik and loved it. After that I really wanted to explore more of Croatia. 

There are two different routes for Croatia and I opted for the Discovery route. 

The route is as followed:

Day 1 

You start off in Split, this is where check in is and to be honest I can not give my opinion on Split because I literally got a taxi from the airport to the marina and thats all I saw! We got to the boat about 3pm and I was so nervous meeting everyone for the first time. But I had nothing to be nervous about as everyone was so easy going and there were nine of us on my boat. Some people came together and others where solo travellers. But as a whole group we got on so so well and ended up spending all of our time together as a big group when we got to land. 

The first stop on day one is Solta which is a tiny island with just one restaurant and one bar. And you get to see the most amazing sunset here. I soon realised when arriving to Solta that sailing life is not luxury! I shared a tiny cabin bunk bed room, had little space to get ready...showers on the back of the boat and quickly learnt that I would be dealing with bad hair for a week! But a couple of hours in I was totally cool with this and enjoyed the sailing life. 

Day 2 

Day 2, started off with very rough waves (I did think at this point what the hell am I doing here...this isn't for me. Luckily this was the only day we had rough waves and the rest of the week was completely fine.) We spotted for a swim stop half way to our destination and then ended up in Vis Town, we had the afternoon free to do as we wished. Our group found a beautiful bar with the most amazing view called Fort George. 

That night we had a punch party with all of the Med Sailors boats before heading off for dinner. 

Day 3  

Day 3, we went to a town called Komiza. We got to swim in the blue caves before arriving to Komiza and then spent the evening exploring the beautiful little town for dinner. This was probably one of the most chilled days we had and spent most of the day swimming/sun bathing. 

Day 4

Day 4, we went to an island called Vrboska other wise known as little Venice. This place really did remind me of Venice with the beautiful old looking buildings and bridges. Our evening activity was Wine tasting at a farm called Hora. I had a traditional Croatian meal (which was lamb and vegetables.) This was a really relaxed evening with beautiful views during sunset.   

Day 5

Day 5, we went to Hvar now this was my favourite location and I've already told my friend Charlotte that we need to go on holiday here for a week next Summer.  Hvar is such a beautiful place, with so many great beach bars and restaurants. We got a coach from the boat to a beautiful view point, then walk down to Hvar. What I loved about Hvar is that is a great party location, however the have so many more chilled bars and spots to sunbath too so you get the best of both worlds. 

Day 6 

Day 6, now this day was for recovering after a night out in Hvar! We went to Supertar another beautiful little island. Med Sailors organised drinks at a beach bar and this was the first sandy beach we had come across in Croatia. We had a super chilled evening with dinner and the great sunset again! 

Day 7

Day 7, was spent travelling back to Split and saying goodbye to all the new friends I had made. 

I really enjoyed my experience with Med Sailors it was great just to spend a week by myself making loads of new friends and meeting people from all across the world. 

I really want to do the Greece route next year. The only thing I would say is staying on a boat for a week isn't the most relaxing accommodation, if I was to do something like this again I would next time add one a couple of days at the end of my trip and stay in a nice hotel to relax! 

I hope you enjoyed this post...have you ever been on a Med Sailors trip?

Lots of Love
Nicole
xx



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Wednesday 10 July 2019

Rome Travel Dairy






Back in the beginning of May. Myself and my friend Alex took a trip to Rome for 3 nights for her birthday. If you have been reading my blog this year you will know that Italy has quickly become one of my favourite places to travel recently. We had a great time in Rome and I would highly recommend a trip if you have not been yet. The weather was super hot too...which meant we did need the odd chill out break during the day for ice cream and aspiral spritzer because we did a lot of walking! 

Rome has many big sites that are must see's.  I've been to a fair few different cities in Europe and I would say that Rome is one of the busiest especially in touristy areas so I would bear that in mind if you are planning a trip. The best way to get around Rome is the Metro we got a three day pass which I believe was 18 euros! Much cheaper than travelling around London. It was so easy to get around which is always a good thing when you are in a new city. 

In a way Rome gave me a similar feeling to New York on my first visit, I know they are completely different cities but I've seen all the sites so often in photographs and on TV, so it felt really exciting to finally get to see them in person.  The Colosseum and Roman Forum are two must sees. A good tip is to book guided tours for these, we booked ours on the day outside the Colosseum you will see lots of people walking around offering you different deals. I can't remember now what company we booked ours with, but it was a great tour and you can barter them down with the price too.

One of the best things about Italy is the food...I mean that's the main reason I visit Italy. We went to an amazing food market called Mercato Testaccio. (Their website is here.) They have 100s of fresh food stalls. I had pasta and a beer for about 6 euros, and I have to say I think it was one of the best pasta's I've ever had! I brought some pasta and pasta sauce home with me, I'm actually really gutted I didn't buy more as it was so tasty. The best way to get over those holiday blues is by bringing food back home with you!

Just like Milan we found an area just outside of the centre of Rome for food and drinks. (I'm so bad as I didn't write the name down, however just make sure you always go just outside of the city centre to discover some cute bars and quieter areas, which are much more affordable for food and drinks!)

I now really want to plan another trip to Italy next year...any recommendations would be great! 

Love
Nicole
xx

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