We have a whirlwind seven weeks to hightail back to Paris. We are going via a few more Eastern European nations with plans for all the IA countries, the Slovakias, Romanias, Bulgarias and Hungarias. First up, Bulgaria, proudly boasting "the oldest survived state in Europe which has kept its original name". You suspect a country's tourism is in its infanacy when the customs official at the border asks with a look of resignation if we are just transitting in Bulgaria. It's as if that's all he thinks foreigners do here. A nation that must be crossed enroute to somewhere else. [View Full Entry]

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What about those Wallabies! Consecutive wins. Don't bother yelling down the line about second string Springboks because I've got my fingers in my ears and can't hear a word you're saying. The text messages updating the scores were not encouraging. 7, 14, 17 to nil. But then the mighty Wallabies, oops Penny is giving me that look which means I have to get back to the holiday talk. The Greek Islands were to be one of those hedonistic sections of our year. That's if it's possible to claim hedonism on our budget. Regardless of budget, the islands do lend themselves [View Full Entry]

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Somethng has changed. Where are the endless piles of garbage, the potholes and the unfinished buildings. Of course, we're in Greece now. At the Albanian/Greek border, the Greek customs official asked if we had stopped at all in Albania. On seeing the perplexed look on his face when I told him a week, there didn't seem much point in attempting to explain him we actually enjoyed ourselves. First port of call, Monodendri, one of the numerous Zagorian villages, 1100 meters into the Pindos mountains. These stone buildings with their slate roofs are reason enough to visit this wonderful section [View Full Entry]

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This is to be no ordinary blog, this is a Super blog. 2 1/2 countries (I'll explain the 1/2 country later) enroute to Greece. First up, the world's newest nation, Montenegro, after it broke the shackles from Serbia, its beligerant compadre up north who, for once, didn't retaliate by bombing the daylights out of one of its perceived fledglings flying the coop. Initial impressions of Montenegro. * our first passport stamp - are they a little more officious? * road rules - 50kph with 40kph in built up areas. Zero blood alcohol limit. Of course headlights compulsory at all times, a [View Full Entry]

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Our cultural and historical appetites sated, it's back on vacation in Croatia, driving even more conservatively, headlights full blaze at midday in order to placate the unsympathetic Croatian Policija. Back by the sea in Croatia. Vacation time as it never rains along the Dalamation Coast in June. SEND IN THE DROUGHT BREAKERS! In actual fact, the rain normally comes early morning and will usually clear after an hour or so. Korcula Island is another of those idyllic blobs of land nestled in the azure waters of the Adriatic. We found a neat little apartment owned by a guy who would be [View Full Entry]

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Why are you going THERE? Seems to be the standard response when we mention we are going to Bosnia. Agreed, the only time Bosnia Herzagovina ever rated a mention in Australia was on SBS World News when it was having the crap blasted out of it, although Mary Kostakidis does have a way of pronouncing Sarajevo that makes it sound awfully exotic. Of course in reality, Sarajevo does have a rather chequered career. Back in 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his significant other were gunned down here and the rest, as they say, is history. It was an incident Sarajevo [View Full Entry]

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Slovenia into Croatia. Different language, (not that we can tell), a new curency (no euros here just the mighty Kuna) and a national soccer shirt that looks as if it has been dragged down from a Pizza Hut window. The people, however, appear more turbulent (there we go again lumping an entire race into one generic basket). Where else in the world do you see fights breaking out in internet cafes? These Croats sure can fire up over a virtual war game. The owner of our apartment is a former Croatian army sniper who is now on a war pension. [View Full Entry]

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Without cheating, write down everything you know about Slovenia. Information such as "it's an 8 letter word beginning with s will not be accepted. What you have written would probably fit on the back of a postage stamp. If you gaze at a world map, Slovenia is roughly the same size as that postage stamp. While she is small, Slovenia punches way above her weight in terms of attractions. Now, pretend you are an artist, and without anything to copy you would like to paint a landscape. A lake would be nice, surround that lake with hills and in the distance [View Full Entry]

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Tis a long haul from Roma to Venice so we decided to break the journey in half by staying somewhere in between. Urbino was the lucky winner with a pit stop in Orvieta enroute. In a continent spoilt for beautiful towns, these two more than hold their own. Orvieta, I'm not even sure if it is in Umbria or Tuscany, is conveniently off the main tourist trail, giving it a far more relaxed feel, with the exception of about 10 screaming school groups. Orvieta seems the school excursion HQ of Italy. Urbino is the shining light of the province (are [View Full Entry]

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So then to Rome. On trying to find our accommodation on the outskirts, one wrong turn took us into an area that was as third world as we've come across on this trip. In fact I'll give it 4th world status. Gypsies living in squallor. Good ol Mr Prodi (I think he is still PM, but given the volatile nature of Italian politics, who knows) has provided this community with a few port-a-loos for all their ablutionary needs. How about providing a bit of dignity for your citizens at the bottom end of the socio economic scale. (how do you [View Full Entry]

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