Sun, Sea and... Rocks!

July 14^th 2012

Today we explored the amphitheatre which was actually quite impressive and relatively intact. Rory knows lots about Roman history so he should be the one writing about this but he’s busy dancing around the kitchen and washing the dishes. Anyway, I liked the amphitheatre, it was like being in Gladiator, without Russell Crowe and the original Dumbledore. 

 

As Pula is full of Roman history we made our way through the town, stopping at the Arch of Sergii, the Temple of Augustus and some other old stuff.

 I had set aside an entire day for this but Pula is quite small and we were finished before lunch. Not wanting to waste a day, we bought some snorkels and got a real life Croatian bus. I have a real complex about public transport, buses especially, I just can’t seem to figure out the time tables and while it’s probably not that difficult, I was quite proud that we managed to get on the right bus and in a few minutes were in Stoja. 

As we’d never been to a Croatian beach we weren’t sure what to expect and I was feeling a bit paranoid so I left my camera in the apartment (you may laugh, but I’m a fan of Bondi Rescue and they always show bags getting stolen) so sadly I have no pictures but it was surprisingly nice. There’s no sand so what you tend to see is a rocky and forested coastline. We found a nice and quiet area and spent a few hours snorkelling around the rocks. I love a good swim and will happily have a splash at home but it’s nice to swim in warm water for a change! We finished our beach adventure by going to Gina’s Restaurant which despite being in the middle of nowhere, lived up to its name and was lovely. 

Arrivederci, Venezia.

July 13^th 2012

Once again we were up nice and early for our complimentary all you can eat breakfast. We then checked out and set about enjoying our last few hours in Venice. Now, when you think of Venice, you think of the gondola men, floating down the canal, having a good old sing. For this experience you have to splash out a good £80 and as we were still getting over our pricey dinner, we decided against the gondola. Instead we took a Traghetto – this is basically a gondola which goes from one side of the canal to the other. They’re mainly used by the locals and you can get about 14 people in one gondonla. You can sit or stand and it costs a grand total of 50cents. So Rory and I hopped on, splashed out on the 1euro fee and arrived at the Rialto market without having to walk the long way round. Plus we can legitimately say we were on a gondola in Venice. 

The market was nice, lots of fruit, lots of fish and even a shark. We were passing a market stall when all of a sudden, whack, the fishmonger chucks a shark on the board and begins cutting. We watched while this shark, admittedly quite small, was completely skinned, de-headed, de-tailed, cut up and put on the stall for anyone to buy. There’s a video below, I only recorded a few seconds and the animal lovers out there might not want to watch, but it was quite interesting (if a little strange) to watch

We decided to leave the best pizza in Venice to our last day but when we finally arrived at the remarkably well hidden pizzeria, it was closed. Rory was particularly distraught but we headed to the Jewish Ghetto and got a really nice and completely kosher pizza. I don’t know if it was the best pizza in Venice, it was the only pizza I had but it tasted good and it was nice to eat by the canal. 

In fact, I love the canal so much I decided to stick my toes in. I know this is probably the worst thing you can do, the canals are probably full of crap, literally, and I’ll probably get some disgusting infection... BUT... how often do you go to Venice and who can say they’ve paddled in the Grand Canal!?

This was our last day in Venice, so once again we paid for and took a water bus – you could definitely take these buses without paying for a ticket, we didn’t see anyone being checked but Rory is an honest scaredy cat so we forked out £7 each. Our destination was a port where a ferry would take us on a three hour journey to Pula, Croatia. I’ve fancied going to Croatia for a while now and it seems to be the trendy place to go these days. However, as both my parents and grandparents have made the same trip it’s safe to say McCune’s are trendsetters. 

The journey was fairly uneventful and when we got close to the port we saw some friendly locals waving from the beach. Not only were the locals friendly, they were naked. After that little shock we saw something much more pleasant, Pula’s famous amphitheatre. Not only was this impressive, it was handy as our apartment for the next few nights is right beside the amphitheatre. Literally, it’s the closest building to the amphitheatre. 

We waited a good two hours for the owner to show up and the apartment was nicer than expected but I’ve certainly learnt another travel lesson; Croatian people have no concept of time. 

The Steak-Out

July 12th 2012 It’s the 12th of July, but I didn’t wake to the sound of riots or petrol bombs, I woke to a freezing room having left the air conditioning on all night. Not wanting to waste the day Rory and I went straight to an early breakfast and managed to get a table by the balcony which overlooks the Grand Canal – I don’t know what was nicer, watching the boats glide by or the all you can eat breakfast buffet.

When we were fed and watered we began our action packed sightseeing day by taking a water bus to Saint Mark’s Square. If you are ever in Venice I would highly recommend one of these – they’re not as fast or as glamorous as the water taxi’s but they’re about €40 cheaper and if you can get a seat at the front of the boat you get to see an awful lot. I even managed to see our taxi narrowly miss another boat. Nothing like a near death experience to wake you up and get you ready to see the city sights!

Our first stop was the Bridge of Sighs, which was quite nice but Venice is full of bridges and there was no way I was paying €80 to take a boat under it. We then walked past Doges Palace, which was a lovely building with a not so lovely queue that we decided to avoid and instead we headed for Saint Mark’s Bell Tower. It was €9 to get up the tower and I think it was worth it – the views of the city and Saint Mark’s Basilica are excellent and you can spend as long as you want up there. You don’t even need to walk up the stairs, you’re taken up and down by an elevator, convenient or what!

Our next stop was Saint Mark’s Basilica whose queue had shortened considerably by noon – I think everyone thought they’d beat the queues by arriving early, making the early morning a much busier time to visit. The Basilica might not be the most impressive church in the whole wide world but if you actually think about the amount of time and effort it took to create the mosaics which cover almost every inch of the building, you can understand why it’s such a big deal. It’s quite amazing really.

Here’s a tip; the Basilica is a church so wear something that covers your shoulders, if you haven’t got anything like that then they give you a shawl to wear and return. Also, you can’t bring a backpack into the Basilica – if you get to the front of the queue and you have one they make you take it to a building a street away but you can return to the front of the queue. If there is a massive line it might be worth dropping your bag first and then going to the front of the queue with your little locker key – you’re probably not allowed to do that but it saves time :)

We then set off on our next (and most important) mission – finding the best gelato in Venice. Trip Advisor recommends Boutique de Gelato and we weren’t disappointed. The servings were huge, the price was low so while it took us a few hours to find the place (after getting lost, again) it was definitely worth the wait.

It was also quite close to the Rialto Bridge and market area so we got plenty of lovely touristy pictures, see below.

Later that evening we decided to try Timone, a restaurant recommended by Trip Advisor. We arrived early so took a walk around the surrounding area. We found ourselves in the Jewish quarter, which is actually known as the Jewish Ghetto and is supposedly where the word ghetto comes from. After our walk we returned to the restaurant but as the menu was in Italian we got what the waiter recommended, a meat meal to share. After a while he returned with our dinner – a massive steak, cut up and ready to share, surrounded by chips, broccoli, aubergines, courgettes, peppers and peas.

It looked amazing and tasted just as good. It took us a while but we devoured the entire thing, which left only one thing to settle – the bill. We hadn’t seen the dish on the menu and the waiter never said the price so we thought it would be around €40 but when Rory came back he was missing an arm and a leg. Not literally but the meal had cost €67. I suppose it’s not that much for a good steak and everything that came with it, plus we’re in Venice but the moral of the story is; don’t listen to Trip Advisor when the comments say that a restaurant is “really cheap”.

P.S. I would also like to add that I do not condone riots or petrol bombs and I have never woken to the sound of either. Obviously. I’m from Ballyholme.

The Big Day

July 11th 2012 Well here it is... the big day! It only took us seventeen months but we’ve set a date, chosen a destination and booked the flights. Guess what!? We’re going on holiday and as you can see, I’ve decided to write a Blog about it. After spending a few days in England we set off on the next leg of our European Adventure by catching a bus to Stanstead airport. Our flight was at 6.30am and after joining the vast multitude of budget travellers who would rather lose some sleep and save a few pound we were checked in, boarded and were on our way to our first destination – Venice.

I’ve never been that in to Venice but in Casino Royale James Bond went and wrecked the place and I thought it looked quite nice. I am also a fan of Groupon and they had a hotel deal in Venice which meant that we could actually afford to stay in a four star hotel on the Grand Canal. After getting a bus from the mainland to Venice (which is an island – who knew?) we found our hotel, checked in and set about “getting lost” in Venice, which is apparently the best thing to do. Luckily for us, it is also the easiest thing to do.

After a few hours of aimlessly wandering we went back to the hotel and had our complimentary two course meal – I of course, decided to be different and opted for the rosemary and herb grilled chicken while Rory went for the beef fillet. My chicken ended up being pan friend, with bones and if that wasn’t bad enough, Rory’s beef fillet turned out to be a lovely, perfectly cooked fillet steak. After some longing looks Rory got the hint and being the gentleman he is, swapped his steak for my chicken. Girls – if you haven’t got a boyfriend, consider getting one, they’re really useful when it comes to things like this. If you can, get one like Rory, he doesn’t even like dessert, so if you’ve already eaten his main course you can help yourself to that too!

We spent the rest of the evening walking around Venice and getting used to the place. From everything I had heard about Venice I imagined tourist filled streets, so cramped that it was virtually impossible to move but I was pleasantly surprised. Yes there are lots of tourists but they don’t ruin the place. The streets aren’t overly busy (perhaps they are in Saint Mark’s Square) and if the crowds get too much you can literally step down a side street and not see a single person. My thoughts on Venice – so far, so good!

Guess who’s back, back again?

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, mum and dad; I have decided, once again, to bust out a few Blogs detailing my real life travel adventures. However, before I begin detailing the details, there are a few things I should record lest they be lost among the annals of history. After three rather quick years, I have finished my degree in Social Anthropology and Modern History. In fact, the Queen’s University of Belfast was so chuffed that I stuck them for three years they decided to give me a First Class Honours degree and as I would like some sort of job (don’t get too excited dad, I don’t want one now, just at some point in my life), I didn’t complain. I was given a piece of paper to confirm this during a graduation ceremony where some man I have never seen before kept calling me a Graduan (not to be confused with Padawan). It lasted for hours. I wore a black cape and walked across a stage. It was like being in Harry Potter, if Harry Potter was boring. So really, graduation was quite like school assembly only a bit longer and they had strawberries and cream at the end.

Now that I’ve covered that momentous life occasion I promise the good stuff will shortly follow. In fact, you don’t even have to wait that long; the day after graduation, Rory and I began the long journey to England. We channelled our inner traveller and instead of taking a fifty minute flight to Stansted, we drove to Dublin, got an eight hour ferry to Liverpool and then drove to Stokenchurch. In total we were in transit for eighteen hours which I think is pretty hard core, if a little boring. Rather than boring you with the details I’ll sign off and fill you in when something exciting happens :)

The beginning of the end…

25th January 2012

Here we are, 2012 and word on the street is that the world is going to end in the not too distant future. I don’t really believe that. I think the Mayans just ran out of space or maybe someone really liked the number or maybe they just loved a good joke. Either way it doesn’t matter, I only mentioned it to break the ice and ease my way back in to the big bad world of Blogging. My rambling might actually be useful – if the world really is to end then I want to fill this year with amazing experiences and maybe I’ll even write about some of them here. If the world doesn’t end, well that’s quite good actually because I’d like to live a long life, full of exciting adventures. One of the biggest adventures was going to by my year in America but that didn’t exactly work out. In fact, it didn’t work out at all, so I decided to ditch my long list of American qualifications and instead I got on a plane and flew home to the rain and a much greater adventure; my life.

It took me a while to realise it but you only get one life. There are no do-over’s. You can’t hit pause and you can’t rewind. This is it, literally. I just sort of thought, why waste my time doing something I don’t enjoy and that isn’t making me a better person, just so I can write some fancy qualifications on a piece of paper. I realized that life is too short to waste and I don’t want to spend one minute of it being unhappy. Some people aren’t afforded the luxury of time and while I’m sure I’ll live a long and full life, there is no guarantee. If this is to be my last year on earth I want it to be a good one. So here I am, back in Bangor, back at Queen’s, back to never ending assignments and constant grey skies but you know what, I feel like I’m back to being me again.

The decision to come home helped me realise that I don’t have to do what everyone else does. I was so focused on my five year plan that I forgot what I really wanted. I know I need to have long term goals and aims but I’ve decided that living my life from each “accomplishment” to the next isn’t what I want my life to be about. I want an excellent C.V but when I sit in the interview chair, I want an excellent life and to be an excellent person. One day, when it’s right and when I’m ready I’ll settle down in a nine-to-five job, maybe I’ll have 1.8 children and a mortgage (and I suppose a husband would be useful) but until then I’m going to do what I want. Selfish? Maybe, but why not? It’s my life, so why spend the next fifty years sitting in a cubicle when I can travel the world, meet new people, spend all my money and come running home when it doesn’t work out liked I’d planned.

So while this Blog hasn’t been about any exciting adventures, it’s a start.

Boston!

17th & 18th September



My days seem to follow the same routine, I wake up at 8am, have a shower, do my hair, get ready and head to class for 9.30am. I finish my first class, come back to my room, check emails and then head to my next two classes. Once they’re done I head to the canteen with Padraic, have some lunch, complain about our rubbish lives and then I head by to my room, do my homework, have a dinner break and then I sit on Facebook until it’s time for bed. That is literally what I do everyday. Sometimes I mix it up by walking around campus but that takes five minutes and isn’t overly exciting, so Padraic and I decided to make a break for Boston this weekend.



Chicopee is about two hours from Boston but oh my life, it’s a completely different country. The people in the Boston bus station don’t look homeless of like they’re going to knife you, they’re regular people, using public transport just because they want to. It gets even better when you leave the station, there are buildings, real building and they’re tall, so very tall. It’s a real life city AND it smells like the sea - my two favourite things, civilisation and the sea, all in the one place!



But wait - it gets better! This place has history and I mean real life history! They have this thing called the Freedom Trail, depicted by red bricks in the ground and it leads to 16 historic sights. We didn’t have time to see all the sights and we kept going in the wrong direction but it was nice to walk through Boston and to see the Italian district which was full of yummy looking restaurants and nicey shops.



Boston seems to be a mix of old and new - there’s a massive skyscraper beside an old church and across the road there’s a park full of protestors and students busking. Everything is within walking distance and there’s character everywhere you go - even the dodgy alleyways are nicer than the main streets of Springfield.





Obviously Boston isn’t perfect and I think that coming here every weekend wouldn’t make the decision to stay in Chicopee worthwhile but it was a brilliant weekend. It would be impossible to see all the sights in one day, so it’s a good thing that I went back the next day.



On Sunday I went on a whale watching trip with Elms. We drove from Chicopee to Boston, had a look around Qunicy Market, ate some niceys and then went out on the boat.



A few years ago I went on a whale watching trip in New Zealand. It was one of the most horrible experiences of my life. We were on the boat for hours, it was unbelievable rough and I was surrounded by vomiting tourists. No word of a lie it scarred me for life, so I have no idea why I thought I’d sign up for this. Well, I do actually. I imagined that my most recent whale watching experience would be similar to the ending scene of Free Willy where the whale (which is actually a dolphin) jumps out of the water and effortlessly glides to freedom while the young boy (in this situation, me) fist pumps and jumps for joy. Instead we drove (or is it sailed?) for over two hours and then proceeded to chase the one humpback whale around for a good hour, seeing it about three times when it came up for air. It didn’t do anything exciting either. I know they’re wild animals and all that but he could have tried to be interesting, all I saw was a bit of his back and let’s be honest, it could have been a seal.



It was nice to get out of Chicopee, to see tall buildings, to go on a boat and to feel free, even if it was for a short period of time. I’d definitely come back to Boston, I’d even consider living here… I wonder if I could make the two hour commute to college?