Castro Marim, Olhão, Santa Luzia and Ria Formosa on day one in the Algarve | Portugal

Faro, and by extension the region of the Algarve, has long been at the top of our to do list. As the attractive coast of the Algarve is often praised for its breath-taking cliffs, golden beaches, erosion-shaped bays and sandy mini-islands.

September 2017 seemed like the ideal time to check out if the Algarve has more to offer than just ‘sun, surf and sand’. We fly to Faro, but leave the city immediately as we take our rental car for a spin to Castro Marim. The vastness of the country immediately catches our eye and instantly grants us with the peace you require from a short vacation. The dryness of nature is also striking…it must have been pretty good weather recently with little to no rainfall. Sounds like music to our ears after a week in a very wet Belgium. Instant happiness!

That same happiness remains when we discover our ‘turismo rural’ after a ride of 40 minutes. A pat on the shoulder for ourselves: Monte do Malhão is a hit. A nice combination of old and new, a certain finesse in the interior, 9 rooms all named after a writer or poet, works of art (for sale) on the wall, an enthusiastic greeting by the man of the house Alexander and a bottle of nostalgia in the form of a Mateus Rosé wine in the fridge that calls our name. At the swimming pool (small but big enough) with a glass of rosé and the warm glow of the evening sun on our skin we come to a standstill and plan our next day.

After a good night’s rest and an equally good breakfast, we leave for Olhão. A cozy town by the sea with an even more cozy market on Saturday morning. We stroll along the small stalls and discover everything from fresh herbs to freshly caught fish to homemade (and delicious) churros. The market vendors can safely claim to be on one of the world’s most beautiful market squares. Stalls with a vast view of an endless sea. The homemade churros certainly taste better with this view.

We continue our discovery and walk along the picturesque alleys of the city and with every step the blue / white town conquers our hearts. Characteristic are the tiled facades of the houses, mostly in blue / white. It gives Olhão an extra dimension!

Back in our tiny car, we let ourselves be led by Thomas-the-gps-man…who clearly misses a few turns (or do we not listen properly?), to end up in the fishing village of Santa Luzia. With hungry stomachs and a little thirsty. So on the look-out for a lunch spot. We soon find two restaurants that are side by side. Because of the lengthy queue at one restaurant (which suggests that this could be the better restaurant (*)) and a very hungry stomach, we choose Polvo y Companhia, aka the “other” restaurant-without-queue. When the ordered tuna and various octopus snacks arrive, we are 100% sure that we chose the right and best restaurant. What a treat! And an important lesson: do not be fooled by a waiting line and a top 1 rating on TripAdvisor!!! (*)

Another important tip: eat octopus in Santa Luzia. This small town is rightfully called “Capital do polvo”. Capital of the octopus. The fishermen here focus on one specific catch, namely that of the octopus. They still do this with pots of clay or baskets according to ancient custom. The boats sail out at night. In the early morning when they return, the fish is sold immediately. It doesn’tt get much fresher than this 🙂

Off the coast of Santa Luzia you can see the islands of the Ria Formosa. From the harbor you can cross with a ferry to the Ilha da Tavira, where you can sunbathe or – what we did – you can walk near Santa Luzia via a 1 km long path to Praia do Barril (located on the island of Tavira). It’s part of the Parque Natural da Ria Formosa, and for sure one of the most beautiful beaches in Portugal.

Ria Formosa is a vast and swampy area. Along the way you’ll see water birds in the salty swamp and, if you look closely, also crabs that attack each other in the mud. You’ll be rewarded at the end of the walk with a beautiful stretch of beach. There’s an anchor cemetery in the dunes. It shows dozens of ships’ anchors that used to be used for catching tuna. The beach of Barril is known for this final resting place. The beach also becomes our ‘final resting place’ for a while. Towel, book, sunscreen and…quiet please!

(*) for the slightly more difficult to convince people: 2 days later we actually tried the one restaurant-with-the-long queue. Not worth mentioning in our blog 🙂 Polvo y Companhia is for us the absolute numero uno in Santa Luzia! Go and check it out yourselves!

10 THINGS TO DO WHEN IN SPLIT | CROATIA

Four stolen days in May. Four days to recharge on a portion of very needed Vitamin D. Four days in a newly discovered gem. Four days in Split, Croatia! Below our top 10 things to do in and around Split!

1. Visit the famous and UNESCO protected Diocletian’s palace.
The Palace was built in the early fourth century by the Roman emperor Diocletian and developed itself throughout centuries as the heart of Split. Since 1979, it finds itself on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Today, the palace is still the center of the city, surrounded by shops, markets and restaurants. Besides the Cathedral of St. Domnius, the bell tower also belongs to the palace. A bell tower you can climb…and when reaching the top, rewards you with a beautiful view of the city for courage and self-sacrifice. We’re not entirely sure the climb is 100% safe… and people with a serious form of vertigo better think twice. 🙂

2. From Split, visit the beautiful town of Sibenik.
Sibenik is the oldest town in Croatia and founded by the Croats themselves. The jewel in the city, the beautiful St. Jacob’s Cathedral, is also UNESCO listed. The Cathedral of white stone is unique. It was built without one single nail, wood, or other fixtures. We were particularly charmed by Sibenik and found one of the best places of our Croatian adventure: a nice spot in the lovely evening sun at the edge of the village, Makari club, overlooking a small marina. A second place that pleased us a lot in this village was restaurant Pelegrini…we chose the restaurant purely on appearances and nice tables outside in the sun. But were overwhelmed by the service and quality of food. Want to have lunch (or dinner), please take your time. This is definitely not a place for a quick bite. We also recommend to make a reservation, unless you can demonstrate the necessary charm to convince them you earn a spot on the terrace (as we did).

3. Climb Marjan Hill!
Marjan is a hill at the tip of the peninsula on which the Croatian city of Split is situated. The hill is covered by a dense forest of Mediterranean pine trees and is completely surrounded by the city and the Adriatic Sea. Atop the hill is a gazebo, where you have a spectacular view of the town of Split, including Diocletian’s Palace, the harbors and the sea with a number of Dalmatian islands. Remember to bring water, especially in hot temperatures! At the top, apart from the amazing sight, nothing is for sale.

4. Eat at restaurant Fife.
Climbing Marjan Hill has another advantage: following all the exercise, reward yourself with a nice lunch or dinner at Fife. We were food and drink starving after the Marjan performance…and without making too many demands and jumping on the first restaurant opportunity at the bottom of the hill, we seated ourselves on the terrace of Fife. How spoiled we got by great, honest, traditional Dalmatian food and large portions! Fife also appears to be a very popular place…where you find local writers and actors and also a large number of tourists because the restaurant is hailed in many blogs! It’s deserved, and thus also recommended to make a reservation!

5. Try some pašticada.
A beef stew dish cooked in special sauce that originated in Dalmatia. It requires a long and patient preparation. First, the meat is pierced and filled with garlic, cloves, carrots and bacon. It’s then salted and allowed to marinate overnight in vinegar. The marinated meat is then roasted and cooked with bacon, onions, parsley root, plums, tomato paste, nutmeg and water for five hours. Afterwards, the vegetables are mixed into a sauce. Pašticada is usually served with gnocchi. Very yummie indeed.

6. Search, find and chill on Bene Beach.
Finding Bene Beach proved to be a real adventure. GPS receivers that showed us all sides of Split, except Bene Beach. But the one who perseveres, wins…and wins big! Just in time for a beautiful sunset and a well-deserved glass of wine. Bene Beach may be reasonably ‘hidden’ (at least for us, we’re confident easier ways lead to it ;-)), but that’s probably what makes it the right place to be. Trust us: this really is a super spot in Split worth your effort to get there!

7. Visit Krka waterfalls.
Certainly one of the most popular attractions on the Dalmatian coast and also one of the most beautiful natural attractions in Croatia. Almost everyone who visits the park, initially visits for the waterfalls surrounding Skradinski buk. The Skradinski buk waterfall is the largest and most beautiful of all Krka waterfalls. Mapped across wooden ramps and walkways with various viewpoints, you can complete a walk that ends at the falls themselves – suddenly trading nature for a mega touristic corner including all sorts of stalls – where you can also bathe in the water! Definitely worth a visit.

8. Eat ice cream!
Croatians are obsessed with ice cream and – it must be said – they also produce delicious ice cream. In Trogir – a historic town located about 25 km outside Split – we rewarded ourselves with this delicacy. It was much appreciated! We – Shots and Bites bloggers – have our own method for rating ice cream. We rely on the taste of the vanilla ice cream. Does the vanilla flavor pass the test, you can usually be pretty sure that the other flavors are worth your consumption!

9. Take a boat and visit one of the islands of Split.
We ended up not taking a boat – partially because of laziness to sort out the boat timings (yep, it was vacation after all), partially because we wholeheartedly stand behind our own motto “you always need a reason to come back” – but in our opinion well worth it. Islands like Hvar, Brac, Vis, Solta are definitely must-do’s! We will for sure return and report on this one in the near future! 🙂

10. Book a hotel outside of Split.
Visiting a city is always great. Sleeping in that same city, not a must. First, you can usually find less busy, nicer, more unique hotels outside of the bustling centre. Second, it more or less forces you to think outside the box as well as hire a car. Third, it motivates you to visit great spots elsewhere also. That’s exactly what we did and allowed us to go “off the beaten track”. We booked ‘Hotel Split’, a more or less new, architectural nice, not too big, family owned hotel located on Podstrana Beach overlooking the bay and Split. Great choice! We got a bay view room, breakfast was very nice, parking for our car, a local village to also discover next to Split, a roof terrace with pool. Very recommended indeed!

Wondrously beautiful bays & Greek Gods: welcome to Zakynthos!

A week’s length of vacation…and we are experiencing a serious travel itch! We need to break free! We let ourselves be guided entirely by the cheap plane tickets on offer and a minimal condition of super weather. That’s how we end up at Zakynthos as the destination, a Greek island. Unknown to both of us. Which in itself is always a good condition to have 🙂 .

That minimal condition of good weather seems so not to become an issue as we daily check wheateronline prior to departure. 7 days of temperatures that flirt with 30°C and seriously sunny icons without any clouds! We like it a lot and our excitement is increasing massively! We throw in an extra pair of flip flops and bikini and without hesitation throw out the warm jacket for possible chilly nights. Positive girls as we are.

Spread out west of the Greek mainland, are the Ionian Islands. Actually, the islands were called Heptanisa in Greek, which means seven islands, the main islands of the archipelago. But the Ionian Islands actually count more than 7 small and larger islands. Zakynthos, Ithaca, Corfu (Kerkyra), Kefalonia, Lefkada, Paxi and Kythiria are the big brothers of the Ionian Islands. Antipaxi, Erikousa, Mathraki, Othoni, Meganisi and the uninhabited islands Strofades, south of Zakynthos, include, amongst others, the little ones of the family.

Zakynthos, or Zante for friends, is the 3rd largest Ionian island. Zakynthos has an area of 410 square kilometers and – even more interesting – its coastal length is about 123 kilometers. And that 123km gives space to many small, beautiful, breathtaking beaches and bays. Each one with its own identity, but without exception all blessed with the clearest turquoise blue water!

And of those beaches and bays, we obviously have tested many… Limnionas (the classy one), Roxa (the loungy one), Vromi (the two faced one), Vromi (no mistake, this is the 2nd face!), Xigia (the smelly & healing one), Agios Nikolaos (the busy one), Makris Gialos (the one that offers great iced cappuccino’s), Kaminia (the one with the flamingo), Dafni (the one that could not live up to our expectations), Gerakas (the most southern one) and our absolute FAVORITE: Marathia (the one with the very strict but fair Greek God).

Xigia Beach

Keri Beach

Marathia Beach

If we can give you one piece of advice: ignore the touristy beach of Laganas…true, we have not even been there, but from what we’ve heard we did not miss out on anything. On the contrary…So, rent a car, quad or scooter and go on a true beach expedition. You will be amazed!

Gerakas Beach

Kaminia Beach with Flamingo