Far from Bled out. Despite having 60mm of rain in 24 hours here the place has much to offer. Listening to Geelong beat Port Adelaide probably put us in a good mood but we had planned to venture out and around the lake anyway. In the drizzle and some times more than drizzle we walked the 6km and thought we deserved the famous Bled cake. There is a before picture as there wasn’t much after. Like many regional specialities (Sacha torte!) the hype and expectations exceed the reality. For me the most impressive thing was that if all the cakes sold were stacked on top of each they would reach around the entire lake and exceed a height of 7 metres! For Julie she was impressed by the fact the place had robotic waiters! The fact ... read more

Who knows what region I’m in Slovenia? That’s not a quiz question but a desperate plea for help filling in the categories above. I know I’m in Bled but… The country is literally being flooded with flood warnings. Constantly my appreciation of Slovenian traditional folk music was interrupted with emergency flood warnings. Consequently I’m not the authority on the subject and may have to defer any questions on the subject to our GoOpti driver’s dad who we were told listens to nothing else. Nobody has heard of GoOpti I know and how I booked via them I’m not sure but they were excellent. Very good communication prior, punctual, comfortable and significantly cheaper than a taxi they provided just what we needed. The floods caused us some consternation as we thought roads may be blocked but our ... read more

Tricked you. It’s not hiking boots and poles (for Julie) yet but track shoes and sunscreen as we walk, boat and car/train around and over the Plitvice Lakes. But first, we found some pretty good ice-cream, not the best but pretty good. And that was after stumbling across an outdoor concert commemorating the Romani genocide. Yes I know that sounds as welcome as a pig at a Jewish picnic but it was surprisingly good. Probably 20 orchestral members (percussionist, harpist, violist…) and 4 excellent vocalists belted out some great sounds. Very gypsy/Spanish feel but fun. Now it’s today and breakfast and the customary raid on the rolls, roast beef, salami and cheese platters. Always enjoy breakfast then we were off round the corner to meet our transport for the day. It’s just over 2 hours travel ... read more

Here we go. Second leg and almost 5 hours gone and probably a little more than an hour to go. The ‘function of the information system’ is not (according to the cabin announcement) so I’m estimating but confident. So after boasting of Emirates entertainment and their range and quality of movies here I am with no flight information, no BBC news service and no movies. Additionally there’s no power for devices so use of the iPad has even been curtailed. That means only a couple of sudoku! Significantly smaller plane flying under the Dubai Airline livery rather than Emirates and in fact it’s an older 737, you remember them once upon a time they were state of the art but… Missed out on window seats this time so even the views have been cut. Most of ... read more

We begin. Although it feels like the planning and preparation (in order to prevent PPP - cleaned up in some deference to my new and emerging audience, although truth be known they are already more corrupt than my small but loyal followers) has been going on for ages the necessary process through airport check in, emigration services and the almost obligatory 2 hours wait in the airport lounge has began. I’m always constantly amazed at just how many people are flying. The airport was a hive of activity and really abuzz with people, passengers and personnel. Obviously Tullamarine is not the only airport (otherwise we’d have nowhere to land!) and relatively simple maths (well at least no decimals!) would reveal just how many flights and flyers are out there. Our Emirates flight has connections all over ... read more