Travel Blog Posts
June 26th 2010
Friday, 25 June 2010 Km so far: 3909 Awoken at 5 am by the hotel fire alarm. Very cold, no heating in the room so we decided more sleep was not going to happen and packed up to begin the journey across the Alps to Bavaria. Leaving town at 7 am was ideal, a crisp clear summer morning. We took the road heading west from Cortina through a mountain pass and it was a thoroughly enjoyable drive with very little traffic at that time of the day. We came across a couple of animals that looked like small beavers; we think they are marmots, and they seem to be the local mascot. Stopped for breakfast in a mountain café at the top of the pass, amazing views including a charming corrie lake of turquoise water a ... read more
June 25th 2010
Friday, 25 June 2010 Km so far: 3619 Stayed in Rovinj until 1:30 and decided it is one of our favourite places. The sea front is lined with buildings all painted in different pastel shades, and the fishing boats that I’d watched leaving harbour at around 5:15 came back in with their various catches. The other striking thing about Rovnj is that it feels Italian, and both the Italian and Croatian languages seem to be used about equally. Unexpectedly there was a Dixie-style marching brass band performing in the square as we were having breakfast outside the hotel, complete with drum majorettes. Climbed through the narrow cobbled streets to the church which dominates the town. Wonderful views of the whole area, port, town, sea, islands, fantastically clear and sunny. Decided to climb the church bell-tower. We ... read more
June 24th 2010
Thursday, 24 June 2010 Km so far: 3280 Spent a few hours exploring Zadar, confirming our first impression that it is a very attractive town, great street cafes, wonderful waterfront, interesting buildings of various vintages. Drove up the motorway half way to Rijeka then cut back through the mountains to the coast again. The motorway was brilliant with extremely impressive tunnels and viaducts through the mountains, then more picturesque coastal scenery before arriving in the busy industrial city of Rijeka. Wound our way through the city without stopping to admire the shipyards up to the motorway heading towards Slovenia and Italy, but then headed southwest, leaving Dalmatia and entering Istria, a peninsula that is the most north-westerly part of Croatia. Pleasant but tedious drive through lots more rolling green countryside, wine a major product here, and ... read more
June 23rd 2010
Wednesday, 23 June 2010 Km so far: 2872 Left Trogir in the sunshine and drove up the coast heading north, initially to visit Sibenik, where there is the famous cathedral of St James. The coastal drive was as scenic as ever, and there seems to be no end to the number of islands that lie off the Dalmatian coast. It must be a brilliant place for sailing. Sibenik has a maritime flavour to it with lots of boats around and numerous offers to cruise the islands. The cathedral is well worth a detour as it is the most magnificent church we have seen in the Balkans, enormous, beautifully executed in the Romanesque style with an impressive dome, a colourful rose window and a baptistery cleverly illuminated by natural light to create a sort of grotto of ... read more
June 22nd 2010
Tuesday, 22 June 2010 Km so far: 2680 Still intermittently wet and Trogir has the feel of an English seaside resort, with the optimism of being on holiday and the reality if it being a bit cold and wet. Drove into Split for the morning which was a mistake; we could have gone by boat or bus and it is the sort of city where driving is difficult, congested narrow streets, very little in the way of useful signposting and scarce parking. More by good luck than good management we found a car park that was within a few minutes walk of Diocletian’s Palace, our main objective. It is a fascinating and mixed up place, a sort of ancient semi-ruined area of temples and palaces, some Roman remains, others medieval and renaissance, all with a general ... read more
June 21st 2010
Monday, 21 June 2010 Km so far: 2612 The promised showers materialised today. Checked out of the hotel and had a quick last minute dash around Dubrovnik Old Town for a cappuccino before heading north for Trogir. Stayed on the coast road rather than taking motorway, rewarded with stunning scenery of cliffs, seaside villages and the archipelago that runs along most of the Dalmatian coast. Stopped for lunch in the small resort of Gradac, reputed to have one of the best beaches on this part of the coast. Nice enough place, fantastic calm clear blue sea and decent and inexpensive beach cafes, but looking a bit run down and the architecture of the communist era very much in evidence. Arrived in Trogir early evening and had a wander around the old Venetian town, which really surpasses ... read more
June 20th 2010
Sunday, 20 June 2010 Km so far: 2379 For the first time this trip the weather was less than perfect today, with a wind blowing and the expectation of heavy showers. Our plan to go sea kayaking around the Old City Walls was abandoned as the seas were too high, so we headed back into the Old City to explore the insides of some of the notable buildings. Had dinner in one of the numerous side street cafes then wandered further towards the harbour and sat in the ‘Troubadour Hard Jazz Café’ where there was a trio of piano, double bass and drums which we enjoyed wearing pullovers. We are very taken with Dubrovnik. ... read more
June 19th 2010
Saturday, 19 June 2010-06-20 Km so far: 2379 Slow start to the day before exploring Dubrovnik Old Town. Dubrovnik is a staggeringly attractive old city, and although it resisted becoming part of the Venetian empire its architecture is very similar to that seen in Kotor and other ancient Venetian settlements. Placa, the main street, is the only reasonably wide thoroughfare, and it is dominated by cafes, with statues and fountains here and there, and magnificent churches and civic buildings. There are also three monasteries within the city walls. Having investigated at ground level we walked the City Walls in the afternoon. These provide a great view of all parts as you progress all the way round, for the sum of 50Kn (€7) each. Great value was a little book that cost 10Kn with all the main ... read more
June 18th 2010
Friday 18 June 2010 Km so far: 2379 Another kayak trip in the morning, this time with a 2-man kayak, which we both preferred as you can go faster with less effort and it is more sociable. Had a swim in the lake to cool off afterwards then finished packing and left the Palatta Radomiri, initially to visit Kotor before turning north for Dubrovnik. Kotor is another of those charming walled Venetian cities with a maze of narrow alleys opening into unexpected shady squares with beautiful churches and every inch of shade occupied by attractive café tables. It is very photogenic and we spent a couple of hours there, by which time we had seen most of the sights. We then drove up the mountain. There is a spectacular drive that snakes up the slopes of ... read more
June 17th 2010
Thursday 17 June 2010 Km so far: 2265 Easy day today. Went kayaking for an hour on the lake, then swimming. The water is lovely, quite salty and the perfect temperature. Drove 10km up the lake to Perast for lunch and to see the small Venetian town. Late afternoon and early evening reading, swimming, enjoying this fantastic location. ... read more
Tot: 0.08s; Tpl: 0.002s; cc: 11; qc: 87; dbt: 0.0569s; 1; s:notus w:www (50.28.61.183); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.7mb
