Five Favourite Snaps From The Trip That Was*

We're back! Briefly! After a week on the big boat (Istanbul, Dubrovnik, Venice...) and a week driving from the south of Italy up to Rome, we landed back in Seoul this Sunday past. We're only home for a whopping 2 and a half days (I head to Sydney tomorrow), but what a productive few days they've been (with much attention lavished on the dogs too of course). 

Anyhoo, there'll be some more details about the trip (including a few See / Eat / Stay posts) later, maybe after I've slept a little... In the meantime here's my five favourite snaps from the trip - maybe they'll put you in a summery, seaside kind of mood?

Istanbul, Galata Bridge. This was my second visit to Istanbul and (again) it just made me desperate to come back and spend a good chunk of time here. Such a vibrant, buzzing city. Chaotic and beautiful and steeped in history. And the food! Oh the food! No, really - the food!... Anyway, this is one of the main bridges over the Golden Horn. It was chockfull of fishermen. 

Istanbul, Galata Tower. There's a wonderful view of Istanbul from this tower. This was taken from inside the cafe at the top. I love how the strong contrast of light created an arched frame. Plus that's the (blurry) tail end of our big boat (the MSC Divina) you can see waiting in port for us.

Dubrovnik, Cafe Buza. We've been to Dubrovnik a few times now. We've got all the touristy must dos out of the way - so this time we knew exactly what we wanted to do with our half day there. We headed straight to Cafe Buza, the hard to find bar on the sea side of the city wall, and went for a swim (and a leap or two from the rocks for those so inclined). Sunshine, a dip in the cool clear water, a refreshing beverage - perfection!

Venice, somewhere. We've had plenty of troubles with transport in Venice before. But not this time, we've learnt our lessons. We knew we wanted to get to the Biennale (more on that at a later date) and we didn't want to stuff around with crowded vaporetto that stop 27 times en route, or trek for miles (and miles) in the baking hot sun...so we took out a second mortgage and hired a water taxi. The water taxis are gorgeous to look at, super fast, naturally air conditioned and offer a wonderful view of the city. At a price.

Tropea, somewhere far from a beach. Tropea is one of those old Italian towns that looks wonderful from a distance, but not so lovely up close. It's also perched high up on the cliffs, so whilst you're sweating it out in the old town you can look down and see all these tiny people sensibly lazing about on the sand or taking a dip in that stunning blue sea. And you think 'I really want to go for a swim'. And then 'how great is that stripey umbrella?' (So, so great is the appropriate answer.) 

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*Technically it's six if you count the first one, but heck - it's a bumble bee, it could be anywhere. So it doesn't really count. (Although it wasn't anywhere, it was hanging out by the pool at the beautiful Agriturismo Ruralia in Tropea...). 

Also, due to strict privacy laws (ie. my husband) these are not actually my five (or six) favourite snaps from the trip. They are just my five (or six) favourite snaps sans faces.