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Published: October 22nd 2017
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Geo: 44.825, 13.8589
Whilst not the stuff of main holidays for us, our three nights at Camping Miramare, Sottomarina, served several purposes - we got back online, did some laundry and visited nearby Chioggia. The suggested bike rides didn't happen as the roads are manic despite claiming to have cycle routes, with loads of bikes as well as car traffic.
Chioggia was worth a look however, and lived up to its nickname of 'Little Venice', being considerably smaller than the real one which we visited last year. So, we strolled along the main thoroughfare and the canal routes to while away a few hours. It is a thriving fishing port and claims to be one of the few still using the traditional Mediterranean methods.
The wifi at the site was good enough to manage our first Skype with Louise and Olley in many weeks which was welcome. We were also able to book the next site which would take us on our first visit to Croatia. Frustratingly, my early emails to several campsites did not result in any success or indeed replies, but a 'phone call eventually did the trick.
Thursday morning, we had a quick getaway in order to try and beat the traffic.
It worked initially but we soon became snarled up with vehicles heading for Venice. After that, the motorway had a fair amount of contra flow and road works before easing off on the approach to Trieste. We pulled in at a motorway service area to purchase the required vignette for Slovenia and a road map of Croatia shortly before 'arrivederci Italia' for this year.
Between the borders of Italy and Croatia, Slovenia has a comparatively short coastline, but you do have a 15-20 mile stretch of their road network to cross to get from one to the other. What a contrast in road quality. I guess the main reason is that with so much traffic passing through bringing little or no revenue, they see no reason to invest in this bit of infrastructure. Whilst we were making slow progress, the vehicles on the opposite carriageway were nose to tail for mile upon mile. Thankfully our intended route out of Croatia is a different one and we do intend to stay a while in a recommended region of Slovenia.
Once in Croatia it was back to motorway as we know it - a newish one too - and relatively quiet to such an
extent that it reminded us of a stretch we used in Central Spain last year - our destination being Pula in the south of the Istrian peninsula. The satnav took us around the ringroad and off in the direction of the small town of Banjole, then Camp Diana which unusually for this area is quite small - just 30 pitches informally laid out amongst trees. Owned and managed by the family is usually a good indication of our type of site.
We had barely pulled up just inside the entrance gates when Diana, mother of Kristijan with whom I had spoken on the 'phone, approached us smiling and waving to greet us. She then showed us around the facilities before we set about pitching in an area with some shade, followed by lunch, then a stroll along the road to the rocky beach area.
Being a more rural area, there is far less traffic than Sottomarina, so after a shopping trip, we went out on the bikes yesterday afternoon onto the Premantura Peninsula towards the national park but since tarmac gave way to gravel and not suitable for our tyres, we turned back with the intention of exploring by car on another
day.
The Internet connection was down when we arrived only to be restored this morning, so apologies for the delay in posting this update of our travels. Being connected has also enabled us to consider where we go from here and based on comments from other like-minded travellers we shall be leaving Croatia before it sees the anticipated crazy July rush of summer holidaymakers.
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