forest

Day 7 – Lebanon Tour

Posted on March 29, 2018

Shrek! I’m lookin down!

A big day today. Too many photos, hence the late post. Let’s get into it.

We began our day with some munoosh and orange juice (as usual), and ate as we drove up into the mountains. It was a long, but scenic drive up the narrow winding roads built into the sides of the mountains.

After a couple of hours, we made it high enough to see snow! Although Lebanon is at the end of its snow season, so there wasn’t much around. But it did mean that it was very quiet up there. And I can say with no metaphor or hyperbole, it was freezing.

Due to the temperature, no one was keen to stick around for too long, so we soon headed off to our next sight – an old forest.

Again, our time was limited as apparently our next destination was time-sensitive. Whatever it was, it didn’t end up happening anyway.

We ended up driving a long way around the mountains, and for a long while along a walking trail at a snails pace (it was very rocky). After a long time, and a few really close calls (narrow mountain path, cars passing two ways…) we had driven as far as we could, and would have to hike the remainder of the path up to the monastery.

We reached the top and spent a bit of time looking around, taking photos and just enjoying the atmosphere. One of the nuns greeted us too.

It was so quiet and peaceful up there, away from all the noise. And surprisingly good reception too. Seems like a pretty nice place to live.

We made our way back down, and drove back along the treacherous path, until we were back on the main mountain roads. We stopped briefly for some photos.

Then it was off to a late lunch/early dinner at a great restaurant overlooking the valley. Again, it was nearly empty as people don’t usually eat at this time, so we had an abundance of waiters around, but they were very accommodating and had some delicious food.

We had the usual hommous, tabouleh, potato, mixed grill, with some piping hot fluffy bread. Oh and I would say the best orange juice yet. I took some photos of the view afterwards.

From there, our driver took us around to a view other scenic roads and interesting sights, such as a house-plane.

It was well into the evening when we finally got back to Tripoli, but had little time to rest before meeting up family at a nearby cafe area for drinks. We were all pretty tired, but it was a nice way to end the night.

Day 28 – Zagreb

Posted on July 24, 2017

If someone steals your Tesla, is it now an Edison?

Today was our day trip tour we had booked to Plitvice Lakes, which is a massive national park with eight main lakes. We left Zagreb at 9am, with a small group totalling fourteen, led by our guide Tomislav. We had an hour and a half drive by bus to our first stop, a small milling village called Rastoke. On the way, Tomislav told us about the region, about the country and its history, including its recent wars in various towns we drove through. Very informative and interesting.

We arrived in Rastoke and had a short while to look around, as well as get a coffee and have a bit of a break. It’s very small, but has some really cool waterfalls and streams and interesting to see the mills.

After our short stop, we drove another thirty minutes or so to get to the Plitvice Lakes. It was insanely busy and crowded there. The line for tickets alone was hectic, but luckily as we were with a tour, we had our tickets pre-booked and were able to go right through.

Inside the national park (which is 100 square miles in size), there were fairly narrow trails leading through, which made it very difficult to walk through and see the sights properly, as there were just people everywhere. The views however made up for it. When you first enter, you’re treated to a great outlook where you can see some of the Lower Lakes as well as the Big Waterfall. We then followed the trail leading down, around the lakes, down to the waterfall itself. The water there is amazing, super clear and has a great aqua-green colour which you don’t see too often.

After our long walk around the Lower Lakes, we arrived at a place to have lunch and a bit of a break before continuing to the Upper Lakes. Again, super crowded, and only two restaurants, so we had some long waits for some pretty average food. Then it was off on a boat to take us across one of the lakes, towards the trail for the Upper Lakes.

Once there, we once again walked around the trail, essentially in a large circle, seeing the lakes and waterfalls in the surrounding forest, before returning to the dock area to catch a short boar trip to another place where we could catch a bus back to the exit.

After a long day of walking, we finally returned to the bus to make our two hour journey back to Zagreb. Most people had a nap on the way back, and by the time we arrived, it was around 9pm and actually had been raining a bit. We said goodbye to the others, and decided to grab a bit of dinner before going back to the hotel, as we had had a nice rest and wanted to try a Japanese place we had read about.

The place was called Time Restaurant & Bar and was only a five minute walk away. It was a really nice place, kind of fancy, but an inviting atmosphere. They had a bar area as well as a restaurant with tables, where we sat and ordered Miso soup, spring rolls and sushi. The food was good, but we were too full to try the dessert which is a shame, because it sounded really good. We might come back tomorrow to try it.

After that, it was back to the hotel for some well-needed sleep. Tomorrow is our last full day here in Zagreb, and here on our holiday. We probably won’t do too much – just spend the time locally in the city.

Day 5 – Glendalough

Posted on July 1, 2017

I climb higher and higher, I climb until the entire sun shines on my face.

Another road trip today! This one was a bit shorter though. We drove south to a small seaside village named Greystones, along the east coast of Ireland (about forty-five minutes from Dublin). We had breakfast there at La Creperie, a french cafe overlooking the water. I opted for the Banana and Chocolate crepe.

Once we had finished eating, we drove to our main destination, Glendalough, another forty minutes south. It is located in the giant Wicklow Mountains National Park. We were fortunate with the weather today, and actually had some sunlight and warmth!

When we arrived and parked the car, we began following the hike trail leading up the nearby mountain. There was a short detour to the Glendalough Monastic City, which has some old buildings, ruins and cemetery.

After looking around and taking a few photos, we continued the hike to the Upper Lakes, which was supposedly a 14km hike. The trail winded through beautiful forest and led us further and further up the mountain.

We had been walking for an hour or so when the others decided to head back down, so my sister and I continued on our own to try to reach the top or find a nice outlook of the area.

We managed to find a clearing in the trees after another half an hour or so and took a bunch of photos looking out over the lake. It is quite stunning from up there.

It was hard to tell how much further we had before reaching the top or the end of the trail, so we started heading back down, as we wanted to ensure we got back to Dublin with enough time to get everything organised for our departure tomorrow. We were also pretty hungry.

We met up with the others when we reached the bottom and had lunch at a nearby restaurant. I had a burger (always a reliable choice) and copious amounts of water. Then it was back to Dublin for some rest and final organisation. It’s always a bit sad to leave a country, and Ireland will be no exception, though it’ll be a nice change to have some warm weather for the rest of our trip. Probably too warm, but we shall see.

Tomorrow we fly to Bordeaux – probably a less event-filled blog, as we will be mostly travelling, and won’t arrive until the afternoon, but I will try to do something a bit interesting at least.

Until next time Ireland.

Day 3 – GoT Tour (Northern Ireland)

Posted on June 29, 2017

Winter is coming.

Today was our Game of Thrones tour to various locations in Northern Ireland. It started with a hot chocolate before joining the rest of the group at the meeting point.  We had a small group which was nice – under twenty people.

We all got on the bus and were introduced to our tour guide for the day, Eric Nolan, who works as an extra for GoT (and Vikings). He was super nice, fun to be around, and full of great stories and information about the show and his time on set. He was also involved in the Battle of the Bastards (Season 6 Episode 9) and told us about the super long days of grueling fighting which lasted a month. He said there were about 150 extras, shot and enhanced to look like thousands, and that Season 8 was going to have a scene with 1000 extras… so… that’ll be huge.

There wasn’t much info he could give about seasons 7 and 8, but he did say Miguel Sapochnik would return to direct some episodes for Season 8, which would premiere in 2019. And once GoT ended, the spin-off show/s would start airing very soon after (apparently there could be five spin-offs?!).

Anyway, our tour began by leaving Dublin, headed for the first location, Tollymore Forest. This was the forest where the opening scene of Season 1, Episode 1 was shot, as well as the scenes where the Starks find the direwolf pups. It was a typical Ireland day, wet and cold, but it was a pleasant trek nonetheless. The weather only made the experience more immersive and realistic.

It was cool to see the locations used in the show, but everywhere else was equally scenic, if not more interesting to see.

After the forest, we headed to a small town for lunch and a bit of a break. After our lunch, we got a nice surprise and were able to meet Summer and Grey Wind, the dogs used as direwolves in the series. The family who owns the dogs were also there and told us the story of how their dogs were chosen and some of the extra work they’ve all done. Fun fact: each dog is insured for one million pounds.

Next we headed on to Old Castle Ward, which was used as Winterfell in the first episode, when Robert and the Lannisters visit Winterfell.

There was also a tower which was used for The Twins. There were a few other locations along the way as we trekked up the coast. It was even colder, wetter and windier here, but still an enjoyable hike.

Our final location on the tour, was Inch Abbey, where Robb Stark is crowned King in the North. It was here we were given cloaks and replica steel swords to use and take photos with. They had Needle, Longclaw and a couple others, including Ice.

After photos were done, we headed back to the bus and began the trip back to Dublin. It was a two hour drive, so they played the two best episodes of GoT for us. Oh and as we drove to each location they also played some behind-the-scenes videos and other GoT-related stuff.

Once back in Dublin, we said goodbye and began the walk back to our hotel, eager to warm ourselves and dry off. I did remember there was a highly recommended Vietnamese restaurant close to our hotel (Pho Viet), and suggested we eat there first, as it’d help us warm up.

We each ordered Pho, and it was the perfect meal to fight off the cold. So tasty, and such a huge portion. None of us could finish it, which is rare for me.

And that was it! Overall, a wonderful experience, with some really cool locations. Special thanks to Eric for making the tour memorable and engaging. Next time, you’re singing a song though.