Picked up our hire car that will be with us for the next month. Managed to navigate out of the narrow lanes of Dubrovinc and onto the route to Kotor in Montenegro. Hadn’t anticipated the hour long crawl through customs with all of the other traffic and in the midday heat. Apart from that the journey was a pretty one, particularly the drive around the Bay of Kotor. Stopped briefly to have a look around a couple of towns, first in Hercvig Novi which was wonderfully quiet after the crowds in Dubrovnic. Very peaceful with pretty and ancient stone buildings, lots of churches and great views from the sea front fort. Further into the bay is Perast which was much busier, very small and more lovely stone buildings, these clearly from the times when the Ventians ... read more

We stayed in the small village of Soça in the beautiful Triglav National Park area of the Julian Alps. We had hoped to stay longer in this area but accommodation was all booked up so we packed a lot into a few days. It’s an absolutely beautiful region with alpine mountains, meadows and river valleys. We managed two hikes in the area, the easier one along the Soça river, called appropriately the Soça Valley walk. The highlight (for us of Slovenia and the holiday) was a big hike up from the tourist office in the village of Trenta to the mountain hut near the 7 lakes called Zasavska Koca na Prehodavcih. Trenta is at 620m and the hut at 2 071m elevation. The 3 ½ hours it took to make the climb up started through pine ... read more

17th July Abisko NP Yesterday we arrived in Sweden, in pouring rain. It was a pretty drive along the last part of the Lofoten Islands, fjords, lakes and mountains. The weather here was so bad we opted for a cabin, and very nice it is too. This is a big ski resort and somewhere to see the Northern Lights. We watched the increasingly heavy rain from the cabin window feeling very comfortable. The forecast said that the rain would be gone by morning and it was. We could finally see the landscape rather than a blanket of white and ventured out to enjoyed a couple of long walks in this stunning environment. A huge lake below us, snow dappled mountains around and lots of small lakes, alpine flowers and bogs. Started with a walk up to ... read more

11th July, Lofoten Islands. The focus of the last 3 days has been traveling. Two day ago the highlight of the day's drive was the Atlantic Road. This is a dramatic piece of engineering that links a series of small islands via steep humpback bridges and causeways. The scenery is quite wild, although for once it was a clear day for us. We made use of the many lay-bys to stretch our legs and take photos.Yesterday the highlight was Trondheim, one time capital city. Massive medieval cathedral with a front lined with statues. Bishop's Palace adjacent to it. From there it's a short stroll through a park along the river to the old waterfront wooden warehouses and an ancient bridge. This area was attractive with a few cobblestone streets around with cafes and boutiques.Today the aim ... read more

7thJuly Alesund Drove over the mountain from Geiranger and out of Fjordland. Journey involved going down the steep eleven hairpin bends of Trolls Ladder, lots of giving way to coaches and motorhomes, as usual. Arrived in the seaside town of Alesund in the afternoon. Another very busy campsite on the edge of the town. Walked in to enjoy the centre of the old town which is the only one in Norway that is not of wooden houses but of stone ones. These were built with money from an Austrian Kaiser using German architects in 1904 and is in Art Nouveau style. The view of the town from the top of the hill in the park in the centre is impressive (414 numbered steps to the top!). The town is on a spit of land sticking out ... read more