Day 32 Opatija

We had a nice leisurely start to the day and were on the road by 9am. First stop was to be Senj which is a lovely little seaside town, but first we re- traced my steps when I was driving in the snow 6 years ago. At that time google maps was sending me off to the right and I declined the offer as it looked like I would be going off into the hills and thought I would have needed chains for that. Well today I found out that my instincts were correct and indeed I would have been going over a very high hill with few opportunities to turn around. Nice to have that confirmed some time later.

It was an interesting drive, we chose not to take the highway and it was a bit like driving through nz though the buildings were a bit different. We stopped in Senj but not for very long. As it is Sunday there was not a lot of things open though we did find some sort of gaming lounge with a toilet. The rest of our drive was around the coast and very pretty though the visibility was not clear out miles to sea but was rather a bit misty.

We got to our hotel at 1.30 and were too early to check in. So we drove off to the one supermarket that was open on a Sunday about 4 kms away. That again was a lovely drive around the coast and we found the most amazing thing there - a lovely roast chicken. This is the first supermarket that we have seen one at and it was a perfect option for lunch with bread and salad which we had once we could check in. We have paid for a parking spot for our car which is around 200m away from the hotel. Parking is at a premium here, and it is good to have a spot available.

This must be a flash hotel as there is a clothesline above the bath. I have been expecting to see more of these, but this was the first one for this trip. Trish did her washing and then felt a bit knackered so chose to have a lie down while I went out for a walk.

Opatija is such a beautiful wee town. There is a 12 km walkway which I knew about, but hadn’t expected it to go past lots of swimming spots, restaurants, beach mattresses etc. There were lots of people swimming and the water seemed to be very warm from my quick testing.

I had my nz t shirt on, and a lady asked me if I was from NZ. Turned out that she was a kiwi but had lived in Dublin for a number of years. She then walked with me for quite a way and we had a nice yak about lots of things. She showed me where the dog beach was and that is simply amazing, it is a fenced off area in a prime location with excellent access to a beach. When we walked back there was an Irish water spaniel there who apparently loves to swim but only when his owners go in. They had just arrived so weren’t ready for a swim just yet.

Then Trish messaged me and she was ready for a walk so I waited at a spot, my new friend departed and Trish arrived, we walked around this amazing bar and restaurant that had a great water front view and the front of it must have been about 100m in a slightly circular area.

8,109 steps today for Trish, but I did a few more. And yes once again the temperature was 25. Meant to be a bit hotter tomorrow.Baca selengkapnya