Dubrovnik - Croatia

Dubrovnik 25-27 April

Croatia was a destination I wanted to go as I have only heard things. We decided on Dubrovnik, and it didn't disappoint. An old medieval town which the locals have painstakenly restored after the early 90s bombing. 2 out of 3 roofs were hit and was replaced with new terracotta roofs.

The old town is along the coast and is surrounded by the city wall. We had a great accomodation which was a waterfront room with a massive terrace that looked out the port and the old town. The pace was very relaxed... Food was exceptionally good, with the seafood, just grilled tasted so fresh... and the flavours of the sea satisfied your palate.

The city wall tours provided stunning views with the old town set against the adriatic sea. On the ground, we saw many churches, with saint blaise as their patron, also there was a statue of Roland, which we also saw in Bremen. We ventured a day out to lapad which was disappointing, although the coast walk and stop at the waterfront cafe was great. It was like our private oasis.

Croatia is a must do destination and we would highly recommend it.

Skiing in Andorra and Barcelona April 09

This years skiing was at Andorra which is in the pyrenesse, the mountain that separates spain and france. We flew into barcelona and I must admit I was sceptical of finding snow as it was 20 degrees. 3 hours on the bus later, plenty of snow, with an additional 1m of snow falling whilst we were there. We picked andorra for its abundance of blue and red runs. I took private skiing lessons to learn the "proper" way to ski. Well worth it as I was doing parallel turns and J turns. We didn't get the blue skies, but nevertheless, it was still lovely.
After a few days skiing, we headed back to barcelona to spend a couple of days there. We have done most of the touristy things, so this time we relaxed and ate to out hearts content. We stayed close to the beach this time, so we spent the evening listening to the waves (albeit small) crash onto the sand.

This is something we have missed in the last 2 years.. Also pretty amazing, we left the ski slopes in the afternoon, and in the evening we're on a beach.

Whilst in barcelona we visisted La Pedra, one of gaudis apartment, a curvy building.. This architect had a very unique style, and it is instantly recognisable if you come across one.

One of the highlights this time was going into the gothic catheral cloister where the 13 geeses are kept. Each goose represents one year in the life of the martyr Santa Eulalia, a young girl tortured to death in the 4th century by the Romans for her religion. We had the yummiest paella, which has inspired me to learn how to make it. Pity the euro is so strong against the pound, so we didn't go much shoppng.