An apology is in order. The Danes aren't alone in Scandinavia in their capacity to charge. The rest of Scandinavia is right there with them, although we have concluded that Sweden offered a little more for our money than the others have so far. The prices are not really unexpected but they do make you blanch a little. And what is the Australian GST? A pissy little 10% was it? Try whacking 25% on everything you buy, or at least everything that we seem to have bought to date. We decided to make this run up and around Scandinavia because we [View Full Entry]

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We had a plan. We reckon that it was as well-considered and reasonable as possible, given the scope and nature of the project. Traveling around the world, and in the way that we are doing it, requires management of many variables, some of which are definitely going to be a surprise when they arise. We knew that there would be countries that would be cheaper than others and we set our budget to take this into proper account. We also knew that Europe would be up with the most expensive places and that countries like Vietnam and India should be a [View Full Entry]

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Starting to wonder whether this plan to post on each country makes sense but I will try to keep it up for a bit longer. So what do we know about Slovakia? There was one of those filler programs on TV program that focused on British people who bought houses in Slovakia. It basically showed a beautiful country that had cheap houses and an easy atmosphere. Slovakia used to be part of Czechoslovakia until the Velvet Revolution when the Communist regime was removed and elections were fought by more than one party. Slovakia supplied a couple of Prime Ministers at least [View Full Entry]

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We have become used to easy and quick border crossings, even between countries who don't always get on, so it came as a bit of a surprise to spend over 2 hours making the crossing from Serbia to Hungary. The queue on the Serbian side was long but it paled into insignificance with the one on the Hungarian side. Luckily there was a toilet in the area between the control gates. No drama at all at the acutal gates. The Serbian people were friendly and relaxed and the Hungarians the same. The Hungarian customs checker - interested in grog, cigarettes and [View Full Entry]

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'Why would you want to go there?' Delivered in a flat, cold tone by a woman who had been scrupulously fair and reasonable in our discussions when we mentioned that we intended to travel through Serbia. She was Slovenian though and that may have been part of the reason. Signs on the motorway from Zagreb only started to indicate that we were on our way to Belgrade after we were well on the way. Croatians just don't mention the place. In Montenegro there is a much greater acceptance and friendliness towards Serbia and, of course, the two seem to have been [View Full Entry]

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Croatia - now get that out of Hrvatska. Not that easy, at least for me. You are supposed to be able to. Hrvatska is the name of the country after all. A lady in Austria pronounced it for me but I had no hope of copying her. The only effect for me is one a little like the one a lot of Chinese blokes are looking for first thing in the morning. I have to say that Croatian does not seem to be the most romantic of languages and, in this and a number of other ways, it is similar to [View Full Entry]

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We didn't spend a lot of time here. Basically a float through on the way to Montenegro and then back after Montenegro to Sarajevo, on through Mostar and out again to Croatia. But Bosnia-Hercegovina is definitely worth more of a look than we gave the place. Sarajevo and Mostar are well set up for tourists with plenty of pansions and many, many shops. I think to be honest that the aspect of Bosnia-Hercegovina that interested us most was the war and its aftermath. This was a war that even our children can remember - I think.(That's sad for old peaceniks who [View Full Entry]

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We didn't spend a lot of time in Montenegro. There is not much doubt that longer would have been worthwhile. A visit to Kotor and its old city - stari grad that is - a run up over the mountain to Cetinje, back around to Budva, through Tivat and on. Then another run up the Tara Klisura Valley/Canyon. Montenegro or Crna Gora is only a small place. Less than 20,000 square miles and less than one million people. We all heard about it during the relatively recent wars following the break up of the former Yugoslavia when Montenegro seemed to often [View Full Entry]

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I read a book recently set in Slovenia written by Paulo Coelho. The main character lamented that no one ever seems to know where Slovenia actually is other than that it is a place somewhere in Europe. I was much the same. This is unfair on the country and the people. Slovenia is one of the components of the old Yugoslavia. It is small. 20,000 square kilometres and with just a little over 2 million people. Slovenia was one of the first parts of the former Yugoslavia to split off and set itself up as an independent country. The Slovenes have [View Full Entry]

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If you have to arrive at a major international airport at a little after 5.00am then it might as well be Frankfurt. Efficient, well organised and not even slightly fussed about travellers arriving in their country. We had organised a rental car to be picked up at the airport. More costly I know but it was ready and waiting. After a quick cup of coffee and a bit of breakfast (Euros 34/ $A61 or so for 4 of us - gave us a little taste of what will come in Europe) we hit the road heading for a little place a [View Full Entry]

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