Pre-baby Portugal

With a baby on the way and Lou's ankles in danger of swelling to the size of hot air balloons, we sought a relaxing summer break in 2015, so we headed to Portugal for a week in August.

The trip started with a couple of days in Lisbon which is a truly gorgeous city full of colour, mosaics, winding alley ways, sun and sea. Our base was the Hotel Mundial - a medium-sized run of the mill tourist hotel in a fantastic location, right by Rossio metro. Having wandered around the city, we'd recommend staying somewhere around there, Baixa-Chiado, Barro Alto or Cais do Sodre so you're super central and can walk everywhere. The metro too is extremely easy to navigate around town and to get to and from the airport.

Lisbon waterfront

The colourful streets of Lisbon

 Aside from exploring the city by meandering around and testing out the incredible baked goods in the plentiful bakeries, we took part in an excellent three-hour walking tour with Sandeman's new Europe. This provided a thorough overview of Portugal and Lisbon, including how the earthquake of 1755 shaped the city and some of the more recent history including its integration into Europe. We also took a short tram ride to Belem just up the coast. There we spent an afternoon walking along the waterfront taking in its famous monument to Portugese explorers and the picturesque watch tower. Belem is also home to the producers of the original Pastel de nata (Portugese custard tart). There's always a queue, but it moves fast, and don't even think about getting one tart to share. In fact, get four. Each.

Lou and bump in the Lisbon heat

Belem

 Other food highlights from Lisbon included a couple of visits to the Mercado da Ribeira food market opposite the train station, testing an assortment of tasty treats like roast pork sandwiches and ice cream. And the most memorable meal took place at a tiny place Taberna, at Rua 1 de Dezembro 93. There's not much signage, so it's next door to a buffet place and a restaurant called Leao d'Ouro. The amazing owner Mario, runs the joint with just one chef, serving Portugeuse tapas and wines. So we gorged on a selection of foods like cuttlefish, lamb and bean stew, Dean got through most of the local wine list, and it turned out to be the most enjoyable meal we'd had in a long time.

After two nights in Lisbon we jumped on a train up the coast to Caiscais, our base for the rest of the holiday. The trains run frequently and it takes about 90 minutes. Given this was to be our 'babymoon', we splurged and stayed at the stunning, secluded Onyria Marinha resort. Surrounded by nature, it was the ideal place to relax. So we spent time pool-side, in the spa, and on our balcony debating baby names and playing cards. Dean even got in a golf lesson and a couple of extremely hot midday runs (he was training for an endurance event). Although the sun was hot, the coastal breeze cooled things down a lot so we didn't swim as much as we usually would, apart from short dips and longer ones in the indoor pool. Most evenings we popped in to Caiscais itself to eat, a small town with cobbled streets mostly catering to tourists. We ate twice at the wonderful B&B restaurant, indulging in fresh fish and steaks.

The view from our room, Caiscais

 One exceptional highlight was getting the VIP treatment on our EasyJet flight home. Dean’s good mate, Captain ‘Drew’ had arranged to be on the flight deck for our return journey. We were plucked from the queue early by the Captain and taken into the cockpit for a tour and a chance to sit in the pilot's seat. Then back to our seats at the back of the plane, with nary a toasted sandwich in sight. The fancy-pants world of budget travel.

A glorious final holiday without a wee one in tow!

Hunting leprechauns in Northern Ireland

So Belfast might just be up there with one of our favourite cities. Mostly because it was so tiny small it reminded us of cities in New Zealand. They kind you can walk from side to side in a couple of hours (er… all New Zealand cities then). And the people were so friendly, wanting to help with a smile and a gorgeous Irish accent. Anyhow, we spent a weekend there in May 2015, and were lucky enough to have a local workmate (now living in London) to show us the ropes and invite us to his family home for a BBQ.

Saturday we got a train to Coleraine to visit the Giant’s causeway. While walking down to it, we were given the *true* story of Finn McCool, the giant it’s named after. The *true* story goes something like this:

Finn McCool lived happily on the Antrim coast with his wife Oonagh until he discovered he had a rival in Scotland known as Benandonner. Finn was frequently taunted by Benandonner from afar and on one occasion Finn scooped up a clod of earth and hurled it across the sea at him but missed. The huge clod of earth landed in the middle of the Irish Sea making the Isle of Man and the depression formed from scooping up the earth filled up with water to become Lough Neagh.

Finn finally challenged Benandonner to a proper fight and decided to build a causeway of enormous stepping stones across the sea to Scotland, so that he could walk across without getting his feet wet. But as he approached and caught sight of the great bulk of Benandonner, Finn became afraid and fled back home, with Benandonner hot on his trail.

Finn asks his wife Oonagh to help him hide. Clever Oonagh disguised Finn as a baby and pushed him into a huge cradle. She then baked some cookies, one batch with rocks inside which she fed to Benandooner, and one normal batch which she fed to Finn. When Benandonner saw the son of Finn gobbling down the bickies he’d struggled with, he freaked out, fleeing home in terror, ripping up the Causeway as he went in case he was followed.

And the *false* story of the hexagonal stones goes like this:

The Giant's Causeway, renowned for its polygonal columns of layered basalt, is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland. Resulting from a volcanic eruption 60 million years ago, this is the focal point of a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has attracted visitors for centuries.

Dull right?

Anyway we met our friends and enjoyed a couple of hours sitting on top of a pile of rocks, soaking up the sunshine and taking in the view. We were blessed with gorgeous blue, sunny skies which didn’t last more than a day.

On the Sunday we took in a bus tour including great views from Belfast Castle; The Falls Road area, peace wall and famous murals; Shankill memorial garden and Queen’s university; then spent a fantastic (rainy) couple of hours at the Titanic museum. Don’t let the £15 put you off. The building is set in the shipyards where the Titanic was built and the well-planned museum gave the history of Belfast’s industrial boom, how the Titanic was made, examples of its interior and of course, the disaster. We* left humming ‘My heart will go on’ with a hankering to watch Leo and Kate, on the quick taxi trip to the airport and back home again. (* denotes Lou).

Cornish weekend

Just a brief blog on a long weekend in Padstow in Cornwall in May. Despite the seven hour drive there on the Friday night, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing time.

We soaked up the hangover of May Day celebrations (huge in Cornwall and particularly in Padstow); ate pasties; gobbled delicious fish and chips from Chip Ahoy; scoffed lots and lots and lots of fudge, with Lou’s pick of the bunch coming from Granny Wobbly’s in Tintagel; spent an afternoon exploring the mythical ruins of the birth place of King Arthur and Merlin’s cave (worth the outing, even on a wet and windy day); and explored the pretty town and port.

The boys also took in a round of golf (best not to talk about scorecards) and we treated ourselves to a meal at Rick Stein’s fish restaurant. The food was pretty special but the service was lacking at times, so to be honest we reckon you’d get just as good at a less expensive local joint. Still, an enjoyable night out.

We stayed at Kitiwake cottage which we’d highly recommend. It would easily sleep 6, with two large living areas. Perfect for a group of friends or a family get away.

On the way home we did a pitstop at Salisbury cathedral which was well worth an hour or so. They have regular tours, and an excellent, new exhibition about the Magna Carta, and the best-preserved copy on display.

A taste of the Balkans

Easter 2015 saw another two-week adventure for the von Yarralls, while we squeezed in a taste of five countries in 15 days: Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Slovenia and Vienna. Here’s our take on the region.

Dubrovnik, Croatia, four nights

Ah, that feeling when you step off an early morning flight from London to glorious blue skies and a town that feels like you’re on a movie set. That was the first taste of Dubrovnik.

As it was the shoulder season, we were lucky to find accommodation inside the Old Town at a reasonable price (a lovely room and friendly service at Hotel Villa Sigurata) which can be hard to come by during summer. We took things fairly easily in Dubrovnik, generally soaking up some sunshine and catching up on sleep, but did take in:

• The famous city walls which took a couple of hours to stroll around. Nice to not have them heaving with tourists while we were there and able to take our time
• A bit of a self-created Game of Thrones tour. Many scenes from one of our favourite programmes were filmed here, including around the walls, a park just outside the walls, and [spoiler alert] the street of Cersei’s walk of shame.
• Some delicious fresh seafood and icecreams
• Amazing pizza and lovely service at Mea Culpa (including a free shot of Slivovitz the local paint stripper brandy)
• A spot of Bosnian cuisine to taste what was to come, at the curiously named but wonderfully cosy Taj Mahal.

It was worth buying the ‘Dubrovnik card’ for us, since we used it to access the walls and get a local bus to the intercity station to sort our tickets to Mostar, by which time it had paid for itself. We also took a squiz at the maritime museum (snore) and the Rector’s Palace (which again features in Game of Thrones).

Montenegro, one day (a tour from Dubrovnik)

Silly not to pop across the border to Montenegro while in the area, so we jumped on a tour which took in the Bay of Kotor, one of Europe’s southernmost fjords; the walled town of Kotor; and the glitzy holiday resort of Budva home of the super yacht and celebrity sighting.

Church of our Lady of the Rocks, Kotor, Montenegro

‘Twas a bit of a ho-hum tour, but good to get a flavour for another country, although we learnt nothing about the culture or history to be honest!.

Mostar and Sarajevo, Bosnia, four nights

To our shame, we didn’t really know much about the Bosnian war, despite it being all over the news as we grew up back in NZ. A few friends had travelled there recently and recommended it as a destination and learning experience, so it was firmly on the list. From Dubrovnik, we caught an intercity bus to Mostar in Sarajevo. The bus ride took about three hours and cost around £20 for us both. Very easy to book at the bus station outside of the old town, a day in advance.

An amusingly-failed selfie, with the famous Stari Most bridge

Mostar is still hugely scarred from the war 20 years ago, with bullet holes pock-marking pretty much every building and street (and one street showing just how close the frontline was, with opposing sides on opposite sides of the road). As in Dubrovnik, the summer season hadn’t kicked off so a few things – like local museums – weren’t open, but we spent an afternoon perusing the pretty old town and the famous old bridge. We were lucky to also catch a local Premier League football game featuring local Bosnian-Croat team Zrinjski. The total cost of tickets and two beers was £4, and entertainment included opposition fans letting off coloured flares onto the pitch. Rather a different experience than a dull Chelsea v West Brom game!

Bullet holes spray street art, Mostar, Sarajevo

Definitely recommend a traditional meal at Irma Tima, super cheap and lovely service.

From Mostar, we caught a 7am train to Sarajevo which was an experience in itself (here’s a picture of the train station in Mostar as dawn breaks…)

Mostar train station, full of fun

The train was only a couple of carriages long, and seems to have been donated by another country in another century long long ago. The plush, spacious seats were nice to nap on, and the views of mountains and station masters guarding every station along the way were lovely. But the constant stream of smoke from the other passengers got a bit much after a while, and we were pleased to step out into snowy Sarajevo after a couple of hours, having both read ‘The cellist of Sarajevo’ for a taste of what the city was like during the war.

We had two nights in Sarajevo and the snow definitely impacted our plans a little – we spent more time chilling and less time exploring than we would have done in the sun. That said, we did take in the absolutely heart breaking and educational photography exhibition Galleria  11/07/95 which focuses on the events that took place in July 1995 in Srebrenica where 8372 lost their lives. As well as an excellent tour talking through the harrowing images, the exhibition had a couple of informative (and again, harrowing) films, and among other things we learnt the story behind U2’s Miss Sarajevo (I’d never thought about it before):  amidst the city being bombarded, the women of Sarajevo were determined to hold a beauty contest as a sign to their ‘captors’ and to the rest of the world. Lots of guts and gumption through that and the other stories told. 

Sarajevo apartment. The insides have been repaired but the outsides still show the scars

Another highlight was an entertaining and informative free walking tour through the old and new cities including the history and site of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in 1914, Ferhat Pasha’s Mosque, Tito’s Street and the Eternal Flame. We spent the better part of one day on a tour covering the ‘Siege of Sarajevo’ to understand more about the war in the city, including the incredible 'tunnel of hope' built to get supplies into the city. 

Sarajevo tunnel of hope, complete with bullet holes

We ended getting dropped off at the 1984 Winter Olympics site and museum (yes there is a museum, it’s free and pretty good, but no local or website will know anything about it!). Dean couldn’t resist having a punt on the Olympic 400m track. Let’s just say he won’t be representing New Zealand in the Olympics anytime soon…

Dean Yarrall: the next Michael Johnson?

Dean at the Sarajevo Olympic stadium

After a few days of cold, meals mostly of meat (not huge fans of the humble veg, the Bosnians, it seems) and being surrounded by chain smokers, we were ready for the fresh air and colour of Slovenia, a one hour flight away.

Ljublijana and Lake Bled, Slovenia, five nights

First impressions of Ljublijana: colour! What a gorgeous, picture book town. It’s tiny, and sits around a river encircling a hill with a castle. Very quaint, and an ideal place to soak up some sun and enjoy some icecream riverside. One day here was plenty, we wandered the town and explored the castle – not much to see there but some pleasant views and a good way to kill some time.

Quirky street art, Ljublijana

Colourful Ljublijana

'A great New Zealand-style coffee at TOZD, Ljublijana,' according to Dean

From Ljublijana it was on to our main ‘relaxation’ spot, Lake Bled, by train.

Traditional boats on Lake Bled

Ok, I am running out of steam on this blog post now, but in summary: Lake Bled was bloody spectacular. It’s a tiny lake, just 6kms around, with a little town mostly full of hotels. But it’s not tourist-trappy which makes it a fantastic spot for some relaxation. That’s pretty much what we did, by walking around the lake, rowing to the wee island complete with church and ‘wishing bell’ for the tourists (Dean rowed, Lou lady-of-leisured in the passenger seat), sampling the famous cream cake (and wishing we’d sampled it earlier than our final day so we could sample again), and even enjoying a round of mini-golf, that’s how relaxed we were. Dean also spent a day being an adventurer, doing white water rafting and canyoning, while Lou soaked up some sun and caught up on sleep. We also happened across a bit of fun by way of an international Air Traffic Controllers ice hockey tournament at the local stadium.

Dean the rower

Lou the passenger

Famous Lake Bled cream cake before we devoured it

We stayed at Pension Mlino which was a little out of town but lovely and quiet. We spent most evenings on the balcony at the bar next door, playing cards and taking in the sunset over the lake.

Vienna, Austria, two nights

To be honest, I think the trip was just a wee bit too long, because by the time we got to Vienna we’d had enough of sight-seeing and eating out. So we were chuffed to be given an upgrade to our apartment and end up with plenty of space and a kitchen to hang out in. We actually ate in both nights, even enjoying simple Heinz tomato soup one night, and wandered the pretty streets of Vienna in between, including jumping on a tram that takes a ring route around the city for a lazy way to admire the buildings. The most touristy thing was enjoying a slice of sachertorte at Cafe Sacher – gotta be done!

That’ll be the last ‘long’ trip for the von Yarralls for some time, as a mini-adventurer is going to join  our team in November and will no doubt slow us down somewhat for a while at least. We’re just hoping he or she inherits our love of travel!

A week in Wales: underground, overground, and horizontal in between

We had a bit of a staycation between Christmas 2014 and New Year 2015, with a few days of fresh air in Wales. First, we went underground.

Underground

Our reason for stopping in south Wales was to visit the Big Pit: the national coal museum of Wales (the von Yarralls do like anything energy-related!). Located in Blaenavon, it was a working coal mine from 1860-1980 and is now open to visitors - amazingly, for free. We got to go 90 meters underground with an ex-miner to experience a bit of life as a miner during the hour-long tour. The site also had an excellent interactive museum. A fantastic way to spend a few hours to get a flavour for Welsh heritage.

The Big Pit

 The other underground activity was in the middle of Snowdonia national park, an hour blowing off steam at Bounce Below. Hidden underground in a 176-year-old disused slate cavern, it’s essentially three giant trampolines in a space twice the size of St Paul’s Cathedral. Bloody brilliant fun. And yes, we are secretly 10 years old...

All kitted out for Bounce Below

And now to the overground.

Overground

Driving, driving, driving. Motorways, single lane roads, country lanes complete with snow and sheep. Some gorgeous sights, including driving through a snow storm across the Brecon Beacons national park, and along the winding, stream-sided valleys of Snowdonia national park.

We also enjoyed a beautiful morning walk around the harbour town of Aberaeron on the West coast, and a country ramble nearby in Llangeitho through autumn leaves, mud, frosty grass and icy puddles. A good workout for the wellington boots and a much-needed spot of exercise after so much food.

Another highlight was Caernarfon castle. As well as well-maintained buildings and ground, it hosts an informative museum of the castle’s history, an interesting display of the 1969 investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales, and an even stronger display of the Welsh military which, unfortunately we had to rush through as we were nearing closing time. In a street nearby, we spent a happy few hours drinking and eating at the 15^th century Black Boy Inn. Oh my goodness the lamb pie is TO DIE FOR.

Which leads us nicely to being horizontal.  

Horizontal

In between all this activity, we made the most of the facilities at the excellent hotels we’d booked, namely the Harbour Master in Aberaeron (a gorgeous boutique hotel and restaurant – do eat there then walk it off around the gorgeous harbour town, admiring the boats and colourful houses the next morning), and at Seiont Manor in Llanrun near Caernarfon (a bigger, older hotel with a lovely swimming pool and grounds, lounges complete with board games, and beds the size of our London flat). We did set the alarm there one morning to have a crack at walking up part of Mt Snowdon, but the snooze button got the better of us. Let’s just call a sleep in our own special Christmas gift to ourselves.

Aberaeron harbour, Harbour Master Hotel directly ahead

And finally, more overground to end the trip, with a mega 6-hour drive back to London to enjoy the New Year fireworks with our besties Melissa and Kyle from Westminster Bridge. What a spectacular way to say goodbye to 2014. Happy New Year all!

Best buds in London

Terrific Thai Chill Out

It was a late summer holiday for us in 2014, so we decided to splurge a little and head to Thailand rather than sticking closer to home in Europe. Thanks to the incredible Megan from Flight Centre Havelock North (New Zealand), we sorted a fantastic deal at the luxurious Anantara resort in Hua  Hin, sandwiched between a night at Bangkok either end. Not so much independent travel this time, as all organised for us so we could just chill out.

Bangkok was hot and hectic, a welcome contrast to the early days of autumn in London. We didn’t have long there, but spent an evening wandering along the Khao San Road (enjoying our first massage of the week) and the better part of a day exploring the Grand Palace and Wat Pho (reclining Buddha). Both were extremely interesting and beautiful, but hot, hot, hot, and not much shade or refreshment options – so go prepared!

Taxis and tuk tuks are cheap so they’re an easy way to get around, but do not underestimate the amount of traffic! We had to rush a little to meet our transfer to Hua Hin after a day sightseeing.

 

 

Hua Hin is a peaceful beachside town, the choice of the Royal family for their holidays. There was lots of excitement while we were there with the Royal family heading down for a visit and locals lining the streets dressed in yellow – the royal colour – to welcome them.

The Anantara Hua Hin was like paradise to us, particularly as it wasn’t high season so was fairly quiet. We’d opted for a slightly more expensive Lagoon Room pool which came with exclusive access to a smaller secluded pool area, the option to have breakfast delivered to our room (which we did, pretty much every day, on our balcony overlooking a picturesque pond), free transport in and out of the town a few kms down the road, and best of all a daily afternoon tea which was essentially an hour of all you can eat and drink – so we had our fill of cocktails and nibbles while chatting to other Lagoon Room guests and making some new friends.

 

 

Days were spent lazing by one of the pools, but if we’d wanted to we could have explored the nearby vineyards, temples or golf courses. We did spend an excellent half day doing a Thai cooking course. We were collected from the hotel, joined the others on the course (there were only 8 of us) at the food market and shopped for the ingredients we’d need that day, learning about some of the different vegetables and things like palm sugar and fresh coconut milk, before heading to the house where the lesson took place. After a refreshing drink, we learnt how to make thai red curry paste (and then a pork curry with it), chicken and cashews (which we've made at home already!), delicious Papaya salad, then unforgettable mango and sticky rice.

 

 

Most evenings after getting our fill of the boozy ‘afternoon tea’ we got the hotel shuttle into Hua Hin and got a massage from Thai Thai (a full body Thai massage for about £5, and no silly businesses) then either wandered the night market (open every night with stalls selling food and trinkets) or got our fill at one of the excellent waterfront restaurants. All cheap, cheerful, and delicious. On our final night, we joined the locals at a kickboxing match. The hotel staff had recommended the night to go as it was a big match on, visitors from a UK club v the locals. They were very welcoming of tourists, setting us up at the best ring-side table and getting us both in the ring to give the fighters necklaces of marigolds before they began each fight.

 

 

A few more notes on the Anantara:

- breakfast was standard buffet stuff, plenty of range, not the best hotel breakfast we've ever had which was one of the reasons we were happy to have it in our room most of the time. Towards the end of breakfast time (which is when our alarm would go off!) things weren't replenished and the fresh bars (eg the guys making omlettes) were closing down well before the time ended. However, the in-room menu was confusing, and so most days we ended up with two of everything we ordered (yes, two steaks, two stacks of pancakes, and two fruit salads...). Since this was included in our room rate already we didn’t mind, but it was pretty wasteful since we couldn’t eat it all – honest!

- staff were lovely, polite and accommodating

- the main pool was impressive, it was one huge pool that included shallow areas for kids and a really deep area which was nice as most hotel pools don't have that. It had a standard swim up bar and pool-side service etc, and lots of loungers and towels 

 

 

- there was a kids' club (that we didn't explore!)

- This hotel isn’t really ideal if you want to spend loads of time sunbathing on the beach or swimming in the sea. The beach on the resort was pretty stony and only a small strip. After a rainstorm there were lots of jellyfish too. Good for a stroll but not if you're a beach lover.

- we only ate dinner at the Anantara once, pretty good Thai food at close to London prices (£10 for a main). Beware the Thai mojito complete with chilli!

 - the main bar didn't seem to be in use any of the time we were there which was a shame as they were set up for a live band. This is probably because it was off-season, but it would have been nice to end each night with a drink there.

 - before our trip we contacted the hotel about the best way to get from Bangkok to Hua Hin. They recommended a private car but then we saw they had a 'luxury van' option from their Bangkok hotel so we did that. Ostensibly it's at a set time but as we were the only ones needing it, we managed to choose what time we left. It was a big air conditioned mini-van with nice touches like the day's newspapers and a chilli bin with cold drinks. The cost was £14pp each way for a 2-3 hr journey, so it good value and allowed comfort and flexibility that the train wouldn’t have. 

 

Relaxed!