landmarks.

day 10. we spent our first full day in paris exploring the 'must see' sights. we started by walking to the notre dame, then walked back towards the louvre but not before stopping into a few shops on rivoli st. and then strolled through the tuileries, picking up by far the most delicious panini along the way. from there, the arc de triomphe didn't seem so far, plus we'd get to stroll down the champs elysées.


after taking some photos and stopping in the louis vuitton store (not cheaper in france), it was decided that the eiffel tower was close enough to walk to. by this time we had walked all day and once we got to the vicinity of the champ de mars, the only thing either of us wanted to do was sit.


we relaxed on a park bench for a bit before searching for rue cler and finally settling on a place for a very late lunch where the food was fantastic. there were a few things i knew i would have to nosh on while in paris... escargot, foie gras, onion soup, paté, crepes, creme brulée, and steak tartare. of course i checked every item off that list, sometimes twice. though, i was a bit nervous about the steak tartare, which was pretty much marinated raw ground beef. they serve it with worstershire, tabasco sauce, and fries... and well.. we actually liked it a lot!

foie gras paté.


steak tartare.


we ended up taking their underground back to the marais district and spent the rest of the evening wandering the streets...

paris by night

day 9. after hanging out at heathrow airport most of the afternoon, we finally arrived in paris to equally cool weather. we then checked into our hotel in the marais district where the concierge thought i was filipino, then gushed over how my last name meant 'cute' in french. merci beaucoup!
we tossed our luggage into the room then headed out for dinner and some sightseeing... fyi, the sun sets much later here.. it's not completely dark until well after 10:30pm.



of course i had to try a nutella, banana crepe... i proceeded to have one each night we were in paris.

travel day

day 8. after breakfast and a light lunch at the villa, me and T bid adieu to the rest of the family and headed to the airport to go back to london for the night. we arrived to a rainy, cold london evening.. it seemed a cold front had just passed through the region. even so, we weren't going to spend our saturday night in the flat.. so we braved the cold and took a train to picadilly circus to wander about... but not too late.. we were headed to paris the next day.

prevlaka, cavtat, and dubravka oh my

day 7. on our last full day in croatia, we really wanted to set some time aside to enjoy the villa.. but first we decided to head to prevlaka, it ended up being less interesting as we first thought.. but it was interesting getting there, since we hit a 1 lane, but two way roadway.. luckily we only came upon oncoming traffic once.. and they were locals so they knew correct protocol.. and proceeded to back into the grass on the side of the road.


signs of war.. the old fort at the tip of the peninsula.


quickly after we headed to cavtat to explore and grab lunch..


then headed back to the villa to lounge by the pool...

hole in the wall.

day 6. we had a few goals left for dubrovnik... find the beach, and find buza 1 and 2. buza literally translates to hole in the wall. so within the city walls there were 2 small holes cut out where you could walk through and sit out on the rocks for a cool drink and a nice view of the adriatic.

the beach turned out to be a bit disappointing..since it was a rocky beach.. which just didn't seem comfortable... so we headed back within the city walls to find the hole in the walls.



soon after we found buza 1. and walked through a small opening with the following written on the walls..





after we enjoyed a drink and soaked in the view, we went and found buza 2 which ended up not being as nice, so we wandered the town a bit more before heading back to the villa for dinner..

the city wall.

day 5. me, T, and his mom made our way to the old town to walk the city wall which surrounds the old town. it was built to protect the city during times of war. the views from the wall were simply amazing, overlooking the rooftops of the old town and the adriatic. here are a few of my favorite shots.









a walk around the city walls takes approximately an hour, and right when we were near the end of the wall it began to sprinkle.. then pour. we had to quickly make our way down and hide for a bit in a cafe for an afternoon cappuccino.



soon after the rain cleared and we found a place to enjoy an early dinner...
croatia has surprisingly good beer. beer that even i drank! we accompanied the beer with some fried fishes, mussels, and squid ink risotto




then we headed back to the villa for the night.

an 8 hour tour.

day 4 can be described in one word, amazing. we chartered a sailboat for the day which included a crew of 2 to take us around the elaphite islands. this was by far my favorite day of the entire trip... just sailing around in the adriatic sea.. it was relaxing and just fantastic. the day started out a bit chilly and overcast...




but eventually the sun came out and T's mom even took a quick swim in the adriatic sea, despite the frigid water temperatures. and i was able to soak in some sun on deck.



while sailing around we saw these fishermen, who happened to own the restaurant we were headed to for lunch on the island of sipan... once we ported we noticed they had also arrived and were pulling out their catches.


seafood platter... can't get any fresher!


for the whole trip so far we had been using the engine, because of the lack of wind... but the captain decided to pull out the sails momentarily so we could experience it.



more on flickr.

old town dubrovnik

day 3. after a late start, we made our way to the old town part of dubrovnik. the old town is surrounded by a protective wall, no cars can drive in and there are only a few entrances to walk through. we explored rather quickly, after walking down the stairs of one of the entrances. the old town is definitely a tourist stop, but it's not overly packed... yet.




after briefly walking around, we decided to do our main goal... finding a a place to enjoy lunch. we decided to pick a place in the old harbor recommended by the timeout guide.


grilled squids. looked delicious, but could've been tastier.


seafood risotto. not italian risotto, but still pretty good.

after lunch we stopped by a local grocery store and headed back to the villa to bbq for dinner.
(also be sure to check flickr for more photos)