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cocktails

Sun, Swim & Sail – Croatia!

January 3, 2022 by Santina Foscarini Leave a Comment

In August 2018 – during the European Summer, my husband and I travelled through Croatia on a Sail Tour then finished off our visit by journeying inland to visit some of the Beautiful National Parks and Waterfalls this country has to offer.

We spent our first night in Split staying in the centre of the Dolciens Palace at the Banica Apartments – I highly recommend this hotel, the staff were extremely helpful and it was in an awesome location surrounded by countless eateries, shops, bars as well as it being right across the road from the Cruise Port, so this is the perfect place to stay before any Sail trip!

Our first day of Contiki Croatia we set sail to Makarska, we wondered the markets on the streets here and walked along the water enjoying the scenery – a mountainous backdrop and beautiful blue water. The following day we awoke already sailing to the next island, we had daily morning and afternoon swim stops which gave us a chance to jump off the back of the boat and enjoy swimming the Adriatic Sea with just our group.

We arrived in Korcula that afternoon – walked through Marco Polos house and enjoyed some delicious Squid Ink Pasta (a Korcula favourite!) overlooking the water on a cliff. Most of the foods we ate in Croatia are seafood based – all so delicious and fresh!

The following day we sailed to Dubrovnik – this was my favourite town! We kayaked to a secluded beach for a swim, watched some of our group cliff jump, then later that afternoon found another great beach where we chilled out on deck chairs drinking cocktails with music playing in the bar behind us – it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon before heading to Skybar that night! The next morning, we walked through the town with a local guide learning about the history of Dubrovnik followed by a walk on the wall that surrounds the old town – being midday it was the hottest time of the day for this but an absolute amazing experience as the views were beautiful! The atmosphere in the old town was fantastic, the people are lovely, the restaurants and bars are all fabulous, especially as you wander out of the main square and start walking through all the smaller streets and ally’s for a more authentic experience – No trip to Dubrovnik with Contiki is complete without having a cocktail from a bucket and checking out Culture Revlin Nightclub!

  • Dinner in Dubrovnik
  • Dubrovnik

We awoke sailing to the tiny town of Tristenik, the beach here is lovely and peaceful with gelato shops close by, it is not a busy tourist area so the perfect just to relax! Being such a quiet town Contiki organised a few boats to all arrive on the same day for a Private Captain’s Party under the stars.

Our last stop before finishing up was Hvar – this town has a mixture of culture and excitement! There are markets close to the main square with almost anything you can think of made from lavender, jewelry and so many other little nik nax, there are delicious restaurants as well as a few beach bars along the coast where you can spend the day swimming, eating and drinking all in the one spot – my favourite one was Hula Hula!

  • Contiki Captain’s Party – Tristenik

As we arrived back into Split we travelled with Busabout Tours to visit a few more of the natural beauties this country has to offer. Our first stop was Krka National Park – we walked along the boardwalk through the national park before arriving and swimming in the Waterfalls, then finished off our morning with a walk and an amazing view of the falls! After this we stopped for lunch in Zadar where we had a quick dip in the ocean listening to the Sea Organ!

Our next stop the following day was Plitvice National Park, one of the world’s great natural wonders – the views here are absolutely stunning! We picked up a map and started our walk! Beginning over on a hiking trail for the first half, and jumped on a boat to get across to some the walkways winding across the stunning turquoise water viewing the waterfalls flowing over the limestone canyons… defiantly a ‘must see’ for any travel to Croatia!

We loved our trip to Croatia – from every town being unique in it’s own way, every delicious meal we enjoyed, the awesome people we met and the stunning beaches were all perfect for a European Summer!

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: Adriatic Sea, amazing experience, Banica Apartments, beach, Busabout Tours, cliff jump, cocktails, Contiki Croatia, Croatia, Culture Revlin Nightclub, Dolciens Palace, Dubrovnik, european summer, gelato, Hula Hula, Hvar, kayak, Korcula, Krka National Park, limestone canyons, Marco Polo, Markarsa, National Parks, old town, Private Captain's Party, Sail Trip, Sea Organ, Skybar, Split, Squid Ink, Tristenik, turquoise water, Waterfalls, World's Great Natural Wonders, Zadar

Singapore & Cambodia: NEW YEARS EVE 2018/2019

August 24, 2020 by Santina Foscarini Leave a Comment

My husband and I travelled to Singapore and Cambodia over after Christmas to bring in the New Year with some friends in Sihanoukville.

We departed Canberra with Singapore Airlines and travelled direct to Singapore for a night at the ‘Marina Bay Sands’. We spent the morning swimming on the Rooftop Pool overlooking the city then decided to look for a restaurant for lunch – ‘Song Fa Bak Kut’ was recommended to us as this is where the locals go, it is a tiny restaurant on a busy street and the food here was authentic and delicious. Later that day we spend more time swimming and having Singapore Slings served to us in the pool – it was a relaxing afternoon after our busy Christmas! We walked through the Gardens by the Bay at sunset admiring this beautiful area before heading to Clarke Quay for the night. This is a great area – the live music, busy restaurants and bars gave it quite a fun atmosphere – we enjoyed a drink here then had a lovely dinner overlooking the water.

The following day we flew into Siam Reap to meet a few friends. We walked through the markets, had a look (not taste) of their traditional street food, things like cooked baby snakes and tarantulas – we then came across ‘Khmer Restaurant’ which was a two story Asian Restaurant, the décor here was fun and the staff and food were lovely, we sat on the second floor balcony with a great view of the busy Pub Street!

Angkor Wat (below)

The next morning, we had a private tour to some of the most religious monuments in Cambodia. We arrived in the dark to admire the sunrise over Angkor Wat, this was truly stunning and well worth the early start! Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world, it is absolutely fascinating! After a walk through and around this temple we visited Ta Prohn and Angkor Thom – these were all just as incredible to see. After our early start we spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool of our resort and finished off our day with a delicious dinner at ‘Spoons’.

We flew out the next morning to meet the rest of our friends in the coastal town of Sihanoukville. We stayed at the ‘White Boutique Resort’ which is located on Otres Beach 2 – this is a small boutique resort which is perfect! The staff here were absolutely amazing, nothing was ever too much trouble for them, and any meal or snack we ordered from the hotel was delicious – not to mention the amazing cocktails which they were able to serve to us at the beach, pool or even to our rooms! We tried so many Cambodian dishes and ate countless spring rolls but one of my favourite dishes was Morning Glory!

We spend most of our time relaxing on the beach at our resort, walking to other bars and restaurants along Otres Beach 2 as well as spoiling ourselves with more than one massage as there were so many options along the beach! We decided one day to travel to some smaller islands and check out their beaches, we had a local take us on his boat with a packed lunch – we enjoyed some snorkeling and swimming, cliff jumping was available for those keen, then our last stop was on a secluded beach for our packed lunch – the water here was warm, calm and clear, just beautiful!!

This trip was great fun – we had a mix of two completely different busy cities as well as relaxing on the beach and the best part was being able to bring in the New Year on the beach all together!

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: angkor thom, angkor wat, cambodia, clarke quay, cocktails, friends holiday, holiday, marina bay sands, new years eve, otres beach 2, pub street, siem reap, sihanoukville, singapore, ta prohn, white boutique resort

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