Croatia - Part One

First stop on our Croatian holiday was the beautiful Split.

Split is not only full of history, but a beautiful city on the water.

The "riva" was lined with restaurants and cafes, 

while the streets in and around Old Town were filled with shops.

We had a private tour of Old Town and heard the stories of the emperor 

who retired to Split to grow cabbage! 

Had lunch at the infamous Buffet Fifa. 

We were slightly skeptical and it was pretty darn good and cheap!!
We also ate at a traditional family-run restaurant (stewed beef with gnocchi), 

as well as Nostromo just outside of the fish market.

Found a great wine bar in Old Town (Zinfandel - creative name, I know)

but Ian was all about learning more about Croatian wine

and this is where it all started... 

After a few days exploring Split, we jumped on a ferry

and headed to Vis.

Vis is the island located furthest to the west

and closest to Italy.

It's been a very important island to Croatia during its wars

because people could escape to Italy or Egypt

and even houses 170k meters of military tunnels and 3 bomb shelters.

Vis also is the only island in Croatia to have its own water source...

We found this out by kayaking to our own private cove

and realised there was something going on with the water...

it was swirling and we realised it was because of the temperature difference,

and one was fresh and one was salt!

Vis was full of friendly people, great food and interesting (not the best) wine!

It's a small fishing village, with only a handful of restaurants

and we think we found one of the best - it's known as Nonna's Restaurant.

To be honest, we never looked at the name... 

it was just good, and we kept going back!

We also celebrated Ian's 32nd birthday here,

and it was full of scooter exploring, green cove diving

food, wine and more food and wine!

We had a wonderful dinner at Barba, which included octopus peka.

 (octopus cooked in a metal "bell" with wine, herbs, veggies, etc.

then covered with coals so it cooks from all sides - liquid is absorbed and it's tender... YUM!)

 We truly loved Vis, and would go back in a heart beat.

Between the beautiful beaches, amazing seafood 

(we lived off octopus salad),

good wine and super nice people, we quickly fell for Croatia...

and I had high expectations.

It's been in my "top 3" for years and years.

It surely lived up to my expectations... and more.

Following Vis, we jumped on an early morning ferry to bring us back to Split

and we then had a 5-hour bus journey down to Dubrovnik.

It was a long day of travel and I get car sick on buses...

and to make it worse I sat next to the dirtiest stinkiest hippie of all time...

for FIVE hours. 

I wanted to die.

And with that... I'll leave you to wait for "part 2" of our Croatian holiday.

riva - split

old town

komiza, vis

green cove exploring

vis town

birthday boy dinner

secret private cove

 

 

We hope you enjoyed the pictures (lots of them) from Split and Vis...

more to come from Dubrovnik and Lopud.

 

And to the dirty stinky hippie - take a shower 

and be kind to the people you're on public transportation with... 

Yours truly,

smm

Brighton for the day...

We woke up to a sunny Saturday morning

and decided to head to Brighton for the day.

After about a 90-minute train ride,

we ended up in this cool seaside town.

I can't believe it's taken us this long to explore Brighton.

Great shopping, good food/pubs and a fun relaxed vibe.

It was filled with music shops, art galleries, coffee shops,

and at least on a Saturday, awesome street markets.

We wandered through the streets and 

found our way to the Royal Pavilion and continued onto the beach.

It is a pebble beach, and full of stores/stalls and people selling 

fish 'n chips, cockles, and lots of other English treats.

We enjoyed roaming the beach and walked the Brighton Pier 

before heading to North Laine Pub & Brewery 

and dinner at a Thai restaurant above The Pond Pub.

Great beer at North Laine and awesome Thai food!

 

Very much enjoyed Brighton...

we will definitely be back!

xx

the mcgees

 

English Seaside

A weekend away was much-needed

and we headed to the English seaside with Marcus and Lucy.

Off to Devon for our first stop to visit Lucy's family in Plymouth.

They were such generous hosts, with a great home and garden.

We headed to the beautiful Bigbury Beach.

Crystal clear (cold) water, soft sand and 

a backdrop of rolling hills (with sheep)! 

We are used to beautiful beaches, but to stand at the water and look back

to not see flat land with palm trees was quite different for us!

At low tide 

(when we were there)

you could get to Burgh Island.

It's a teeny little island with very limited access

but of course it has a great old pub overlooking the beach. 

Pilchard Inn - established in 1336.

Yes - 1336!

We then had a chance to wander around Plymouth before 

grabbing an awesome dinner at Rocksalt.

(if you're ever in Plymouth - go there! Awesome food.)

Plymouth has a rich history

especially military history, as well as a little US history.

The Mayflower left from Plymouth to bring its first settlers

to the good ole US of A.

After saying goodbye to Lucy's sweet family,

we headed towards Cornwall 

with our first stop in Polperro.

(Marcus and Ian loved butchering the pronunciation of this village!)

  

It was a quaint and charming little fishing village

and somewhat reminded me of Cortez Fishing Village...

but very English... (or Cornish)! 

The areas are very tidal and it looks a bit strange to see a harbour 

without any water and boats just sitting on the ground. 

On our way to our final destination, 

we realised how close we were to Camel Valley Trail.

Which meant we had to be close to Camel Valley Winery.

And of course, no trip is complete without a stop at a winery in our family.

So, we drove through the skinniest of roads, 

winding through the countryside...

some being single lane roads with another car coming towards us.

Thank goodness for Ian's good driving! 

We made it to the award-winning UK winery.

We sat on their terrace over looking the vineyards while sipping 

some great sparkling wine.

Our favourite was a Pinot Noir Brut.

After a beautiful day soaking up the sunshine, 

we headed to our B&B for the night.

Old Mill House, just outside of the village centre of Padstow,

was recently bought by a kind and helpful family.

We wandered the village, finding quiet little beaches, and had fish 'n chips.

Being able to just relax during this visit was so nice... 

we saw a lot and did a lot in our long weekend escape.

And loved being able to do it with our tour guides, Marcus and Lucy.

We are soon off to Croatia with them, 

and can't wait for our next shared family adventure! 

(oh and Croatia has been on my top 3 list for years and years...

so, I'm beyond excited to check this off my list!!)

 

Thank you for continuing to follow along on our "across the pond" adventures.

I'm not a very good blogger... 
and surely don't keep it up-to-date like I should, but I try. 
Please keep coming back.

Makes doing the posts (even if a little late) all worth it.
Sending lots of love from London.
xx

the mcgees

 

30

This year, I turned the big 3-0.

I've never had much of an issue getting older.

And I still don't.

My 20s were awesome.

(scattered with some very low points)

but, in general - my 20s were fun, exciting, adventurous and full of love.

I couldn't even begin to list my favourite parts of the decade

because there were too many, 

but they ranged from graduating, landing first "big girl" job,

finding a career I love, watching friends and family grow and change,

marriages happen, babies born, travel, super fun birthdays,

starting life as a McGee and a massive move to London.

All of which wouldn't have happened without the love and support

of our family and friends.

Thank you to everyone for helping make

my 20s so damn fun!

Now.

30.

I'm looking forward to what my 30s have to hold...

 And if they were anything like my 20s, then I'm in for a great decade.

30 started off with the most amazing dinner at the

oh-so-exclusive Dabbous.

Ian somehow pulled off getting a reservation there

with a waiting list up to 6 months long. 

Wow - the food was absolutely delish!

We had their tasting menu, 

and every single dish was more impressive than the last.

Not only was everything incredibly flavourful and perfectly cooked,

but it was beautiful.

Each plate like a little piece of art.

...and because Ian knows me all too well,

he made sure we had two of our favourite champagnes -

Krug Rose and Ruinart.

I also was insanely spoiled by family and friends.

I truly believe that I received some of the best gifts a girl could ask for...

custom throw pillows, purse, perfume,

 watch, jewelry, makeup, Liberty scarf, clothes...

the list could truly go on and on.
Thank you!

And that was not all,

the party continued (or maybe started up again) 

on Saturday with a super fun night planned by Ian.

Rooftop drinks at Coq d'Argent

with our London friends and family.

Ian had an incredible spread of food

(more than we could have ever eaten, but we sure did try)

and bottles of Moet Ice to get us going!

Then off to Bones for a light dinner

(because we ate so much earlier)!

Last year at this time, we were just beginning to make friends.

And one year later,

I loved looking around the table to see how life has developed for us.

We have great friends and we are so thankful

because without them, London wouldn't quite be the same.

We ended the night dancing our little bums off.

I truly couldn't have asked for a better birthday.

great friends.

amazing food.

perfect gifts.

delish champagne.

tons of laughs.

much love.

And most importantly, an awesome husband for pulling it all together.

To our friends old and new, and to our family...

thank you.

Life wouldn't be the same without you.

xx

Sarah