A Greek Island Escape

I've just returned home from a really lovely, relaxing family holiday in Greece. Sometimes when I see the beauty of the Greek islands, I wonder why I'd ever want to travel further afield to more exotic places.

We visited the island of Kos, probably one of the most popular of the country's 277 inhabited islands. The reason why I love Greece is because it has a bit of everything: gorgeous beaches, vibrant hubs with restaurants and shops and plenty of history and architecture. In Kos you can actually visit the Tree of Hippocrates, where the Greek father of medicine used to teach his pupils. It's apparently stood there for over 2,000 years!

In Kos there's also an opportunity to go island hopping, as there are lots of other islands close by, dotted across the glittering Aegean Sea. We went out for a full day on a boat trip, where we got the chance to explore a small, traditional Greek community and swim in the crystal water. We even saw dolphins from the boat - I didn't even know there were dolphins in Europe?! 

You can also go on a day trip to Bodrum in Turkey, as it is only a short boat ride from Kos. We didn't get around to that as we were too busy trying (and failing) to tan our English skin....

Another highlight of the holiday was riding around on a tandem bike! We got to rent out this beauty for the entire day for just $5. Everything, including food and local drinks, was really reasonable but the bike hire was a real bargain. We were staying in Lambi and it's really bike friendly - they have cycle lanes down the main road and the beach road, straight into Kos town. 

It was so much fun, we got the technique down pretty quickly and I'm definitely looking into hiring a romantic tandem for the wedding!

But the main reason we went on holiday was to celebrate my Mum and Dad's 30th wedding anniversary. They made it all the way to their Pearl, which is pretty incredible! To celebrate we drove up into the hills, to one of the island's best restaurants, to soak up the spectacular sunset view - I'll do a separate post about that!

Every Greek island is different and I'd like to explore them all! Next on my wishlist is Skiathos and Santorini... 
What's your favourite Greek island? Any recommendations? J x

City Break in Lisbon

This month Rik and I had the pleasure of exploring Portugal’s capital city in our “mystery getaway.” I was so captivated by the thought of a European mystery getaway, I knew I had to buy it straight away. There are so many parts of Europe I have left on my list to visit, and this would make it so much easier than picking somewhere! Budapest was high on my list, and I also would have been happy with Prague, Dublin or Barcelona. In the end we were given Lisbon, which I felt rather indifferent about – but after a wonderful, sunny few days I’m glad we got the chance to stay in a city I probably would have never bothered to visit.

We were so lucky with the weather – even though it was early March it was gorgeous and hotter than expected. Rik even got sunburnt! We weren't so lucky with the hotel... as it was a mystery we had no control over the flight times or accommodation, so I did expect the worse. But I have stayed in better hostels than this Lisbon "hotel!" A few weeks too late, I've just found about the Hostel Geeks website which features 5 star hostels around the world. There's one in Lisbon which I really wish we could have stayed in, it looks awesome!

On the first day we did all the touristy stuff – first we climbed the excessive hills of the city’s streets to reach the beautiful Castelo de São Jorge which looks knowingly over Lisbon. The views were incredible on that clear day. Then we took a ride on the tourist tram route through the city, noticing every cobbled street and piece of laundry which was hanging out of the apartment windows. We finished the afternoon relaxing on a park bench, before heading out for dinner and finding a spot with an idyllic view – a view so perfect that I knew I recognised it, and soon matched it up with the front cover of my guide book!

Tram Selfie

Stopping off at a stunning viewpoint on the way to the castle

Which brings me to my next point. On this trip I had a rude awakening, and learnt to never 100% trust a guidebook! I’m one of those travellers who LOVES to grab the guidebook and consult it at every turn. I memorise it on the plane journey and decide exactly what attractions we are visiting and where we are eating for lunch and dinner every day, according to the location and description. But Lisbon and Lonely Planet rumbled me this time. I chose a bar with a ‘stunning rooftop’ view for before dinner cocktails, followed by dinner at a Portuguese restaurant offering local food at local prices. We got lost looking for this rooftop bar, only to arrive and to be told it was shut on Mondays (not what it said in the book). So then, feeling very annoyed we jumped into a taxi to take us to our second stop – the restaurant. After arriving at a “road” which was simply a set of stairs, we walked up and down it twice and couldn’t see a hint of the place we were looking for! Tired and hungry with aching legs, we settled for another nearby restaurant which didn’t disappoint! This is where we ate alfresco and found the best view in Lisbon with the castle lip up at the top of the hill:

So I have learnt my lesson and next time I won’t rely heavily on guidebooks and other travel advice. Sometimes it’s better to be spontaneous, get lost in the backstreets and see what you discover. The following day we headed for the suburbs and the beaches, where I was pleasantly surprised. Just 20-30 minutes out of the city you’ll find Carcevelos, a huge surf beach with crystal blue waves and white sand. I didn’t think our city break could turn into a beach holiday so rapidly, but it did! We also got the chance to meet up with my friend Luke from uni, who is living in Portugal at the moment so that was lovely too.

Before we flew home we did something cheesy and locked our love away in Rossio square. I love all the lover’s padlock stuff, and I’ve always longed to go to Paris to leave our mark on the bridge (even though I’ve heard about the negative effects this is having on the architecture). This was a little different – it was a temporary structure, spelling out the word LOVE and asking for donations for the special padlocks which go towards a Mozambique-based charity. As we were celebrating our anniversary, it was the perfect excuse to join in with the cheesiness! Even though it won’t stay there forever as it was like a temporary art exhibition, we have the memories and photographs to cherish and I don’t have the guilt of knowing I have contributed to ruining the city’s structures.

It might not be as popular as Rome, Venice or Amsterdam, but Lisbon is definitely a city break destination which should be on your radar. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it!

Travel Blog: THE END.

I can't believe this is it.....
the end of my travel blog, which has lasted over a year! :(

I thought I better finish it before the end of 2013, so here is a quick summary of our adventures....

It all started at Manchester Airport....

From there we had a lot of travelling to do.  All in all we endured:

13 flights

19 boat rides

1 campervan rental

Too many buses and trains to count.

We had many different sleeping arrangements over our trip.  Mine included:

5 beachside huts

1 jail

3 nice hotels

1 friend's floor
1 tent

1 yacht

1 grumpy relative's spare room

2 swags
1 sleeper train

1 rural lodge
1 night boat

1 gorgeous flat to call my own

Too may hostels to begin to count.

Once in Australia, I went through 5 jobs to keep me alive.  Throughout our journey, we experienced extreme weather including tornadoes in New Zealand and floods in Australia.  The bar where I worked at the time was situated on the riverbank, and I spent a week of the Summer clearing sandbags instead of sunbathing. We also chose one of the coldest places in Aus to spend the Winter - good choice.  Of course, looking back there are many things like that I could change, but we still had the most amazing time even if our planning wasn't exactly thorough.

Our journey, expanding over 5 countries, crossed paths with an abundance of wildlife, from monkeys and elephants in Thailand, to seals and dolphins in New Zealand - not forgetting my favourite marsupial, the koalas in Australia and touching a shark in the waters of Fiji.

Aside from all the facts, I returned a different person; with a tattoo, eating new cuisines, and with an array of new friends for life. I now have friends all over the world, including Irish friends, Americans, Taiwanese, Australians, Canadians - and even Germans. (Yes that one's a shocker!)

The most difficult part for me is choosing a favourite place I visited, or even a few favourite places.  All anybody asks me about travelling, is "Where was your favourite place?" But it's just an impossible question to answer, when I loved every single city, island or town for totally different reasons.

Rik and I had the pleasure of taking a video camera on our adventure, and I'm so happy for it now! I tend to have a terrible memory, the sights and sounds of my first destination are already hard to recall.  So thankfully, we have memories forever in our videos and photographs.  Here is our little montage:

Thank you so much to those of you who have been following our journey from the beginning.  Hopefully the adventures are not over! As you know, we got engaged while we were travelling, and instead of planning the wedding I'm too caught up planning the extra long honeymoon travel experience.  I'm already feeling travelsick and long to get back on the road again! Feel free to ask me any questions you may have or contact me if you'd like advice for your own trip of a lifetime.

Jade x

Time to wrap this up with a few inspiring travel quotes :)

This may have to be tattoo number 2.....

Ignore the '22' part.....age should never hold you back from going anywhere or doing what you want.

Travel Blog: Leaving Melbourne

10/10/13 - THE END

The end of our big trip crept up on me stealthily.
After flying back to Melbourne from Fiji, we returned to a completely empty, uninviting flat.  Saying goodbye to our new family of friends was hard, but it was equally as heartbreaking to turn our backs on that beautiful city.  It felt like home from day one; welcoming us into its grid of cultural variety, greeting us with seasons and a fresh, cold wind.  Although the weather was terrible most of the time as we lived in Melbourne throughout Winter, I still fell in love with the little-Europe-in-Oz.

There are interesting things everywhere, I've never known a city to be so vibrant in every single suburb.  One thing Melbourne is infamous for is its array of street art, so this post is an homage to this city's creativity - noticed by every tourist.  Here is a selection of my favourite graffiti spots and other artwork I stumbled across: 

Melbourne, we will miss you terribly but will definitely grace you with our presence once again. x