The Spirit of the Adriatic

“September’s meant to be off season”, I thought to myself as I dragged myself through the never ending security line at Manchester airport. It had only been about ten minutes since I even arrived, but I’m one of those people who knows airport security inside out. Jacket off, phone and electronics out and liquids in a see through bag.

“Surely there should be a line here for people who know what they’re doing”, I laughed to myself as I watched a woman completely unpack her suitcase on the security table in order to get her hair dryer out. Whether I’m travelling alone, with friends, or even with family, I don’t have much patience for airport security. It is one place I’ve got down to a T, in fact, I think I’ve got the whole of Manchester airport down to a T, it is my 5th time here this year alone!

I was travelling solo again, this time to the Adriatic Sea in Southern Europe. My adventure started in Split, one of the many beautiful coastal cities of Croatia. From there, I would make my way South to Dubrovnik, passing through Bosnia briefly on route. After Dubrovnik comes Tirana, the capital of Albania, also passing through Montenegro, another European country ticked off! I then leave the days of city breaks behind for a while as I head to Corfu to soak up the sun in the Greek island. After I inevitably burn within an inch of my life, I would be heading across the Adriatic Sea to Bari in Italy. The final leg of the journey takes us up the Amalfi Coast, stopping at Pompeii, before finishing in Rome, (and inevitably, the Vatican City too!)

The flight was an early flight, I had set off from home at 2am, so you can imagine that I was desperate to have a nap on the plane. However, I was unfortunately seated directly in front of a screaming toddler! I did manage to block the noise out for the first half of the flight but I was soon woken up by the turbulence. Just as everything managed to settle down, a woman suddenly fainted and quite literally, flopped into the aisle... (As if this flight couldn’t get more eventful!)

Needless to say, we eventually landed in Split after descending over the beautiful Croatian coastline. Oh Mediterranean, how I’d missed you!

I met with my new friends the next morning at the hotel before we piled onto the bus heading to Dubrovnik. Everyone was nervous but excited for the journey ahead. It didn’t take too long to get to Dubrovnik, but we didn’t mind the drive as it gave us some incredible views of the coast and the cute little villages which we passed through. We also managed to get our passports stamped as we drove through a tiny part of Bosnia!

Upon arriving in the city of Dubrovnik, it was clear that this city had some serious traffic issues as we shuffled along in the bus into the old town. After what seemed like hours, we hopped off the bus, and into the baking Croatian sun. As it juts out of the Adriatic Sea, with the iconic backdrop of the rugged limestone mountains, Dubrovnik Old Town is known as one of the best preserved medieval cities. It is given the name the ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’ for a reason, it is a true gem of a city.

We had a quick orientation tour, which took us through the Old Town and explained a lot about the city’s history. For hundreds of years, Dubrovnik rivalled Venice as a major trading port in the Mediterranean, as well as being heavily protected by its study stone walls, built between the 11th and 17th centuries.  Once the tour had finished, we had the rest of the afternoon to explore the city. Our first priority was to find some food, more specifically, seafood! The Adriatic countries are known for their amazing seafood, so we were very keen to experience it! We found a cute little restaurant down one of the smaller cobbled streets where we ate enormous amounts of mussels, prawns and pasta. As we sat back after the meal, our bellies full of delicious food, the sound of thunder filled the air.

As the rain began to pour, we pretty much ran through the slippery streets as we headed towards the beach. None of us were going to let a bit of rain stop us from sightseeing! Our trip manager had recommended we visit the Buza Bar which is one of the most beautiful bars in Dubrovnik. It is through a tiny doorway in the city wall which lead into the sheltered bar. The bar is located on the cliffs right above the sea, which has an incredible view of the Adriatic.

The thunder and lightning continued as we finally found the entrance. We all climbed through the doorway and were rewarded with the most beautiful view of the ocean. The sky was filled with dramatically grey rain clouds which occasionally were lit up by the forks of lightening that smashed into the sea. The thunder was louder than the waves beneath us, but every crash still made everyone jump. Watching the most incredible storm from the side of the city walls was certainly an experience I’ll never forget. It felt like the beginning of a trip I’ll never forget either.

We watched the ocean and the sky until the heavens opened and the rain began to pour and pour. Dubrovnik’s old town has a lot of marble which is beautiful, but very impractical when it comes to running through the flooded city streets to find shelter. We slid and slipped around everywhere before finding shelter in one of Dubrovnik’s largest churches, the Church of St Blaise. It is one of the most beautiful and sacred buildings in the city, so it was quite an unsettling shock when we had a brief power cut… A power cut in a church is never a good sign! Fortunately, we escaped and ran into the downpour as we tried to find the rest of the group.

As we ran from canopy to canopy to shelter from the downpour, we managed to pick up some waterproofs from a gift shop before meeting up with the rest of our friends, who had found shelter outside a restaurant. We had even managed to find and buy gelato on route, any weather is gelato weather!

The storm did eventually pass and the hot sun returned. Fortunately, the bus picked us up to go back to the hotel to get changed as most of us were absolutely drenched. It felt amazing to clean up, get changed and shower before we headed for our sunset boat cruise. The boat took us out of Dubrovnik and into a quiet bay where we consumed unreal amounts of bread, cheese, ham, fish and wine. Despite the horrendous storm earlier, the sky had cleared and we were rewarded with the most spectacular sunset, blues and pinks filled the evening sky as we watched from the deck of the boat.

It had been such a busy day, but the night was still young! Our next stop was Dubrovnik’s own bucket bar, where they sold a bucket of various cocktails for £7! The Adriatic is known for being especially cheap but Dubrovnik is a tourist hotspot, so the prices are significantly higher. But nothing compared to Western Europe!

After finishing our buckets of alcohol, we decided to do a few innocent shots of Croatian liquor before heading to Dubrovnik’s largest nightclub, Revelin, which also happens to be one of the best clubs in the world too! It is located deep inside the old town of Dubrovnik, within the ancient walls and underground chambers. At first, it just seemed like any normal club, until the fire acrobats and female dancers arrived on the stage. We were all baffled to whether we were still in a nightclub, or if it was a strip club, or even a circus?!

After the hours of dancing, singing and more shots, it was time for us to head back to the hotel. Tomorrow was a long day, so a 3am finish seemed somewhat sensible, giving us at least 3 hours of sleep!

The next morning, we quite literally dragged ourselves out of bed and onto the bus. Fortunately, most of the morning was spent on the bus which gave us plenty of time to catch up on sleep and nurse our hangovers before we crossed the border of Montenegro and headed to the pretty seaside town of Budva.

Budva is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Montenegro. It is a thriving seaside town with a charming old town, lovely beaches and a gorgeous waterfront. Once again, our priority was food, and once again, seafood! We found a cute restaurant with seating directly on the waterfront. So, we watched the swimmers, boats and the waves which constantly crashed against the sea wall beneath us and splashed our feet. This particular restaurant just so happened to serve THE BEST seafood pasta I’ve ever had. The sauce was a very garlicky tomato sauce and the pasta had mussels, prawns and octopus in it too. We wished we could’ve spent more time here but after forging on our mouth-watering meal, we only had time for a quick walk and a stop for gelato before we had to continue on into the third country of the trip, Albania.

A couple of miles from the border, we stopped at a tiny service station, where three dogs and a cat were all running around! Naturally, we spent as long as we could cuddling and playing with our newfound canine and feline friends, we attempted to beg the bus driver and trip manager to let us bring them with us, unfortunately they declined… So we waved goodbye as the coach continued towards the Albanian capital of Tirana.

Albania is potentially one of the least touristy countries in Europe due to its difficult history, which they are still recovering from. It was a communist country all the way up until 1992 where the new Democratic Party won, but this only worsened the situation as crime had a rapid rise in the years after. The country has made drastic improvement over the past 30 years and are wanting Tirana to be one of the touristy cities of Europe. Their effort certainly didn’t go unnoticed! Our hotel was incredibly fancy and well decorated, which definitely had a soviet Russia feel about it. The hotel staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, they were even willing to drag our bags up five flights of stairs!

We wandered out for a quick explore of the city, you’d expect Tirana to be grey and grim, lacking in both infrastructure and services. However, it is a completely changed city compared to what it was like back in the 1990s. It can still be chaotic but what city isn’t? Tirana is a pleasant city, and the centre of culture, entertainment and politics of Albania. The hospitality we were welcomed with was incomparable! Due to Albania having being somewhat isolated from the rest of the world for the late half of the 20th century, they are curious yet grateful for the recent influx of travellers. The once grey concrete cityscape have been painted in bright colour to add a rainbow colours to the previous monochrome cityscape.

One of the unique landmarks of Tirana is the pyramid, not an ancient pyramid! This pyramid was only built in 1987, and is made of concrete. It was originally built by the daughter of Albania’s dictator Enver Hoxha as a museum to her father. But nowadays it sits derelict, having had the tiles removed and covered in graffiti. Many people think it ought to be demolished but the residents argue that it should be kept as a monument to Stalinism’s ugly spirit.

Tirana is also known for having a good nightlife, known for its clubs in the Blloku area. It’s best to listen to the locals recommendations on which ones to attend, and which ones to avoid! However, we didn’t have much time for partying as we had a long drive day the next day, so instead we found a gelato shop and ate our hearts out.

Unfortunately, the next morning marked the end of our short trip in Tirana, a city that I am set on returning to. As we drove through Southern Albania, we noticed the abundance of concrete bunkers. The bunkers are a common thing in Albania, with an average of 5.7 bunkers for every square kilometre! They were all built during the communist rule of Enver Hoxha from the 60s to the 80s. By 1983, a total of 173,371 concrete bunkers had been built across the entire country. They were built to protect citizens against possible invasion from foreign powers and during the cold war. Most of them are now abandoned but some of them have been reused as accommodation, animal shelters and storehouses.

We soon left the quirky country of Albania behind as we waited in line for hours before heading into Greece, the fifth country on the trip. Our trip manager put on the appropriate film of ‘My big fat Greek wedding’ as we drove towards the ferry terminal which would take us to the beautiful island of Corfu. The ferry journey was only an hour long, which we spent sat on the outdoor decks embracing the warm sunshine.

Our hotel was fantastic! It had beautiful views, a huge buffet style dinner and a swimming pool. We had dinner at the hotel so we could get ready to go out in Corfu Town. The hotel wasn’t exactly close to the town centre but there was a bus stop close by so we all squeezed onto the bus and headed into town. We started by exploring the bars, making the most out of the cheap cocktails! Our coach driver had decided to join us, and ensure that all of us made it back to the hotel in one piece!

After hopping in and out of various bars, we found ourselves at one of the Cliffside clubs, N.A.O.K. Being a group of 20, we certainly brought the buzz to the otherwise quiet seafront. The bathrooms were quite strange as they had bright blue and red lights, and the cubicle doors were made of dark glass, so you could technically see straight through it if you looked hard enough! Typical us, we took the brightly coloured lights as an opportunity for a drunken photoshoot.

We spent the rest of the night at the club, dancing around with our group and the locals before our coach driver rallied us all together for a quick trip to get some gyros before getting taxis back to the hotel. He did an incredible job of herding us all, ensuring we all got what we wanted to eat, and that we all made it safely back to the hotel!

It seemed like only a couple of hours later when we were waking up and heading out again. This was the day all of us had been waiting for; the day aboard George’s boat! Now, George was certainly a character, he is a “madman who takes groups out for a day of cruising, boozing and schmoozing. Any visit to Corfu will result in a conversation about George, and so it should – he’s a highlight”. (Not my description but very fitting nonetheless.)

George and his boat took us to across to Barbati Beach for our first stop of the day. We parked up next to a jetty which organised water sports, so naturally we all jumped at the chance! I decided to pluck up the courage to go parasailing, you know, facing my fear of heights and all that. It was definitely an adrenaline rush as we ran down the jetty as our parachute unfolded and swept us off our feet and into the sky. However, it was very relaxing once we were up in the air, having a spectacular view of Corfu and the Adriatic Sea.

We spent the next few hours jumping off the boat and floating around in the open water. The Adriatic Sea has very high levels of salt, which in one instance was good as it meant you floated easier, but it also tasted horrible when we jumped into the sea and inhaling a mouthful of the water. After a buffet lunch on board, we set off once again on our ‘booze cruise’. We stopped briefly at a little cove near one of the isolated areas of Corfu before heading to our final stop; a little island off the coast of Corfu Town. Naturally, we all jumped off the boat and made it our mission to swim and explore the island. It had a small rocky jetty which we swam to. However, the rock below the surface were covered in ticklish seaweed and seagrass. It did surprise us to say the least as it left us all screaming and laughing as we tried to clamber onto the jetty without having to touch the weeds. Upon climbing up, we all discovered that it was easier said than done as most of us ended up cutting ourselves on the rocks by accident. Once we were up, we had a brief look around, but we were more bothered by our now bleeding legs and hands. However, the next challenge was to jump from the jetty without further injuring ourselves. The technique was to jump as far as possible to avoid the shallow rocks, and just hope that you didn’t crash into any of the rocks below. Fortunately, I escaped unscathed and swam back to the boat to clean the cuts on my knees and hands… No pain, no gain, I suppose!

George’s boat took us back to the mainland and into the docks of Corfu Town. We thanked him for his humour and hospitality before we headed back to the hotel for a rest. A few of the group decided to go out on the town again, but after a day in the sun, I was sunburnt (duh) and very tired. So I took this as the opportunity to have an early night, I had a feeling it would be the last opportunity for an early night on the trip!

We had the entire day to ourselves the next day, so we decided to start the day by visiting the Vlacherna Monastery. It is a little monastery on a manmade island, connected to the mainland by a short dock. It is very traditional in its white walls, orange tiled roof and of course, an abundance of cats! If you don’t make a fuss out of all the stray cats in Greece, did you even go to Greece?

After lazing around at the beach for a few hours, making the most out of the time we had left on the charming Greek island, we headed into Corfu Town for some lunch and souvenirs. And with shopping, comes gelato! We found ourselves hopping from one shop to the next, taking it in turns to hold the cones whilst the others shopped.

Our trip manager had organised a food tour for us in the evening, so we went back to the hotel upon finishing our shopping, and got changed and ready for the food tour and the overnight ferry we had ahead of us afterwards. The first stop of the food tour wasn’t even food, it was a shot of Ouzo! And by a shot, I mean Ouzo that is definitely in a glass that is double the size of a shot glass, but the guide insists it’s ‘only a shot’… As we walked dizzily through the streets of Corfu, the guide gave us a brief history of the island and the many fortresses which watch over the city. We found ourselves eating gyros, traditional Greek Galaktoboureko (similar to a custard tart) and hot loukoumades (a hot doughnut ball) before we found ourselves at N.A.O.K once again. The bar staff clearly remembered us from the nights previous as they greeted us with free shots for the entire group! Due to the abundance of carbs that we had just ingested, tonight and the past week in Southern Europe, it meant that alcohol didn’t seem to affect us. This is definitely a slippery slope as it lead to us doing shot after shot, without feeling drunk whatsoever! We got to about 12 each before we decided to stop just in case the overnight ferry was a rough crossing…

We left the club close to midnight to walk to the ferry terminal. None of us realised how long it would take to walk the two mile distance, but some of us had begun to feel the effects of the alcohol… Needless to say, we dragged each other there and couldn’t have been greeted by better news than discovering our ferry was late! Fortunately, we could go and sit and nap on the coach as the hours passed. Eventually, the engine of the bus started, which woke all of us up. Our trip manager took us all to the line for the passengers, as it was easier to board on foot than board on the coach and then fight our way up to the reception. Greek ferries are unique. People were risking life and limb to get the comfiest spots on the ship. Whether that be in the stairwell, on chairs in the dining areas, or even out on the deck! Fortunately, we had cabins which meant that we didn’t need to get involved in all that jazz. Instead, we were given key cards and we all practically ran to our rooms before collapsing onto our tiny bunk beds in exhaustion…

The beauty of Europe (the EU in particular) means that there is free movement! There isn’t many other places in the world where you can go to sleep on a ferry in Greece, wake up in Italy, all without even needing to show your passport! Breakfast on board was never ending, every time we finished one dish, the waiters would bring another. Be it; cereal, full English, fruit salads and bread! We unloaded quickly from the ferry before piling back onto our beloved coach for the next leg of the journey; Bari to Salerno. The drive was uneventful, so most of us used this precious free time to nap until we reached our destination in the afternoon. Tonight we had a ‘posh’ dinner with the group on the Amalfi Coast, so our trip manager knew to ensure we arrived early to give us plenty of time to get ready. Our hotel had a huge balcony, which gave us the opportunity to wash and air-dry our clothes. Something which is considered a real luxury when travelling!

After showering, drying our hair, doing our makeup and putting our outfits on… We were finally ready for our night out on the Amalfi Coast! The coach took us into Salerno to catch a boat to Amalfi. We gazed in awe as we approached, seeing the unique and picturesque white buildings clinging onto the cliff as they climb upwards. It was certainly one of those amazing moments where you finally catch that view that you’ve been dreaming of experiencing for a long time. Even upon docking, we stood on the docks staring up at the beautiful city and landscapes. We had a few hours before our meal reservation, so we took this time to explore the town, try some of the gelato, and even have some lemon cello and local chocolate, before it was time to head to our huge three course meal! I won’t say that we regretted eating all of the free tasters in the shops, but I would recommend holding off as the meal we were about to receive was too much to handle!

We laughed, ate, and drank long into the night before we walked back towards our meeting point for the bus. Our coach driver was up to his limit for driving hours so we had booked one with another company. However, the bus failed to turn up on time, it even failed to turn up at all! Our poor trip manager was stressing out as she called the company, trying to figure out why our bus wasn’t here, and how on earth we were going to get back to Salerno. It was an hour’s drive back to the hotel so we knew that taking a taxi would have been extortionate! However, it was warm and we were sat overlooking the sparkly lights of the Amalfi Coast as we waited. There are definitely worse places to be stuck! As we all began to nod off, sitting on the pavement, leaning on the railings, the bus finally appeared. It seemed that once we all got on, we all immediately fell asleep as it only felt like minutes later that we had pulled up at the hotel in Salerno.

Half asleep, we dragged ourselves up the five flights of stairs to our room, before throwing ourselves onto the beds and passing out once again…

Today was the final full day with the group. We had to drive to Rome, but not before stopping at Pompeii for a guided tour of the ancient city. Pompeii was an ancient Roman city located North of Mount Vesuvius. The vast majority of the city and surrounding areas was buried under six meters of volcanic ash after Vesuvius erupted in AD79. It killed nearly everyone in the area as they didn’t really know what the volcano was doing until it was too late. However, the entire city was largely well preserved under the ash. The now excavated city provides a unique insight into Roman life, almost as if it was frozen in time!

We walked around the entire city, our guide pointed out the amphitheatre, public buildings, brothels, markets and even the workshop where the archaeologists stored the moulds of the figures. The victims of the eruption were entombed in the ash, their bodies decayed over time which left voids which were used as moulds. This meant that they could make plaster casts of the unique figures in their devastating final moments before they were engulfed by the ash, smoke and pyroclastic flows.

The tour went on for a couple of hours and was definitely the funniest tour we had experienced on the trip so far. Our guide was hilarious as he managed to shed light and humour on the otherwise devastating event.

As the tour finished, we thanked our guide for the past two hours of laughter before we left for our final destination of the trip, Rome. On our final drive together, we played videos from the trip, reminisced on our favourite memories and even got our coach driver singing at one point!

We arrived mid-afternoon before we all headed out to explore the Vatican City. Seriously, if you go all the way to Italy, then you should at least take a look inside the Vatican City, as well as getting another country ticked off your list. It is the least country like country that is a country, being the smallest country in the world and having a total area of 0.17 square miles! The Vatican is one of the most sacred places in the world and holds a unique collection of artistic and architectural masterpieces within its tiny area. The most well-known part of the Vatican is St. Peters Basilica, the largest religious building in the world, being the combined effort of several famous artists; Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bernini and Maderno. My personal favourite part of it was the Sistine Chapel. The entire chapel was painted by the artistic genius, Michelangelo. It took him four years to paint the ceiling, including the most famous part; The Creation of Adam.

Unfortunately, you aren’t allowed to take photos of what’s inside the Sistine Chapel, so you’ll just have to take my word for it and believe me when I say that it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

“Travel – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller”. It’s moments like staring up into the masterpieces that cover the ceilings and walls of the Sistine Chapel that make you realise that all the money, time and effort has been worth it. The world is filled with the most incredible places you could ever imagine, so why wouldn’t you want to spend every second of your life wanting to explore as much as you could?

The next morning, we had a sad farewell as we waved goodbye to the majority of our group. Travelling with a group who all have the same interest and love for exploring the world is truly an unpredictable adventure. Adventuring through unknown countries, tasting new flavours, and experiencing a different sunset every night are just some of the things that create the unique bond of travel friendships.

The day was spent doing all of Rome’s touristy things, from the Trevi Fountain, the Roman Forum, and of course the iconic Colosseum. We booked to go on a guided tour of the Colosseum but the tour was definitely not a wise idea. Unfortunately, we spent most of the time waiting for the other members of the group to catch up (or find us, when they inevitably got lost). Our guide was incredibly informative but we wanted to explore as much of the city as we could in the one full day we had. However, we finished the tour in good spirits and took more photos than I could imagine. We went out for one last meal together, where I made the most out of the Italian cuisine and ordered antipasti and pasta. We were all staying in different hotels, which meant that the end of the meal signified the end of our time together. Crying in the street, we hugged and waved goodbye as we all walked in our separate directions.

The beauty of the modern day means that international friendships are easy. You are able to keep in contact with nearly every person you meet on route, and with flights becoming faster and cheaper, there’s no better time to explore the world!