A Little Route…My RTW Travel Route 2008-2009 (Part Three)
My nearly year of traveling around the world had to end at some point – check out the first installment of my RTW route through Australia, Thailand Laos and Cambodia, the second installment through India, Nepal and Italy before tuning in for stories and an outline of the last four months around the world:
June ‘09: Croatia’s Parks to Bosnia’s Quiet Charm & Slovenia’s Theatre
June started off with a few transportation problems on the way to Croatia, but all of that was forgiven as we camped out in a rented cottage on the island of Brac, Milna more specifically, and relaxed for a week. Then explored the Krka waterfalls and amazing Plitvice Lakes National Park before the train into Sarajevo, Bosnia. We couchsurfed in Bosnia and Sarajevo made my top capital cities list – it’s small and consumable with the right touch of fun. I had some major food problems as a vegetarian – and some non-issues with the Bosnia deserts! Mostar still has a lot of visible war damage and the city’s cobbled streets and history are a more sobering look at Bosnia’s war-riddled recent past.
Bosnia was added in at the last minute between Croatia and Slovenia –we couchsurfed in Slovenia as well and again loved the sidewalk café culture in the region. Rafting the Soĉa River was a
Slovenia highlight as was the Street Theatre Summer Festival – complete with half-naked pink men.
July ‘09: Exploring Czech and Resting/House-Sitting in Amsterdam
Leaving Slovenia, I trained my way up through Czech Republic to weigh-in my opinion on whether Prague is worth a visit before spending an entire week camped out in the incredibly cute town of Cesky Krumlov. After Czech I finished out the month house-sitting in Amsterdam for two weeks (for free!!) and loved biking around Amsterdam, the museums, and more.
August ‘09: Briefly England before Busing Scotland to Edinburgh Fringe
An all-day bus out of Amsterdam put me crashing on a couch in London, meeting up with friends met along the way, and then heading through the UK for the rest of the month. Highlights include the Lakes District, Stirling (of the William Wallace fame), then to the Isle of Skye (and the Old Man hike), Fort Augustus (for some Nessie the Loch Ness Monster spotting), hitchhiking in the Cairngorns and landing in Edinburgh. I loved Edinburgh. A tweetup connected me with locals in between watching more than a dozen shows at the annual Fringe Festival. This was a pivotal “point” on the timeline for my RTW trip and all of Europe was structured around making it to Edinburgh in August for the Festival.
September ‘09: Wholly the Emerald Ireland and Fantastic Irish Hospitality
This is the last leg of the RTW trip…and I was sad. But I boosted my morale with a rental car (a HUGE splurge) once I got to Ireland. This last month was spent on the tourist path and well off of that path. Kissing the Blarney Stone and the Cliffs of Moher are arguably some of the “musts” in Ireland, while Dingle’s Slea Head drive and the Aran Islands are less touristy (though still touristy). I finished up with a week in Connemara hiking around the National Park and then a couple of days relaxing in the Wicklow mountains before ending with a day in Dublin – and all with amazing live music for the tourists.
The trip ended when I stepped onto a flight home, had a couple of layovers but arrived safely in Florida. At this point, I was a little used to traveling and encountered some serious after-travel blues…lasted a couple of months but shook it off when I started planning my next adventure!
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the RTW travel route:
Part One: Australia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia
Part Two: India, Nepal, Italy
Part Three: Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Czech, Netherlands, England, Scotland, Ireland
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