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  • TravelerVienna, Boylesque and beyond
    Day 25

    Last days in Zagreb

    June 20, 2018 in Croatia ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    We start the drive from Sarejavo back to Zagreb. It is raining, there is lots of traffic and the first 2 hours of driving are on single lane windy roads.
    After Suzie’s mishap with the speed camera a couple of days ago she is taking it very quietly. It is now we notice how badly the speed signs are. They go down to 50 going through a town but don’t tell us when we can speed back up. I guess we need to just guess when this is to occur. We reach the border, on the Bosnian side the security police didn’t even look at our passports, just showed us away. Never have a crossed a border like this.

    Entering Croatia was a lot more formal, a bit of a queue. We reach Zagreb around 330pm without any mishaps, or speeding tickets.

    Today is the last day Suzie will be with me on my travels. We have a lazy day planned and I am hoping to get my nails redone.

    As usual I find some nail salons using google, we set out to find them. This is never as easy as it should be, we find a couple of nail salons but they only do nail polish, no Infils and no gel. It is nothing like home, no large nail salons, just little 1 lady salons. Well that’s a fail.

    We wander around the town finding some interesting art works and also start drinking a little earlier than normal. A few more stops for 🍷 and 🍻, it alone becomes a necessity to have lunch. We have one of the best meals of the whole trip, mozzarella wrapped in bacon, yum yum. Time for a nanna nap before heading out in the evening.

    Dinner is a lovely salad with fish. A quiet day overall. It’s been great travelling with Suzie, we certainly have had some laughs along the way.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna, Boylesque and beyond
    Day 24

    Srebrenica Bosnia

    June 19, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    Our second organised tour started in the heart of Sarajevo. Aden our driver took us to the town of Srebrenica. Along the way he exclaimed how the political system works here. There are 3 presidents each representing a section of the Bosnian community. Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croates. It seems so odd to me to align your self by religion, if you call yourself a Bosnian here you are in the minority, other others make up about 95% of the population. As you can imagine with 3 presidents it is extremely difficult to make decisions and move the country forward. This arrangement was put in place as part of the peace accord to end the war in 1995, it was only meant to last for 15 years so that the country to sort out how to run the country efficiently.

    The war from 1992 to 1994 can be seen throughout the country where we have travelled. There are still many building and homes in ruins, shrapnel marks clear for all To see as a reminder. More than 100000 were killed and approx 2 million displaced during this ware.

    Srebrenica was a town where over 8000 were killed - an act of genocide. Many have been found guilty in the International Criminal Tribunal. There is a memorial to those that were killed. Apart of this is a very cut to the bone movie. A women, who was 13 when the war broke out, also told us of her life during this time where she lost both parents a brother and sister. It was touching to listen to her, you can tell it still hurts today to explain this.

    Every time I visit a place where genocide has taken place I’m astounded how the world can continue to let this occur. We are so lucky in Australia and New Zealand.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna, Boylesque and beyond
    Day 21

    Mostar

    June 16, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Today was spent wandering around Mostar. Suzie went for a mountain bike ride so I was on my own. First up it was time to find some breakfast. That may sound easy but believe me it is not. Most cafes here only serve drinks and no food. Places that do serve food don’t do anything remotely that looks or feels like breakfast. I wander for about 30minutes looking at menus until I finally find a place that does omelette. As a bonus it also has a terrace overlooking the Stari Most (old bridge).

    I had organised a free walking tour which starts at 10am. There were 9 people, 2 Aussies, 2 Poms, 3 Turkish and 2 Italians. Ivan our tour guide was born during the war. His mum fled to Split for him to be born, this was the norm then as it was to dangerous to be in Mostar.

    He started the tour at the Spanish Garden then headed into the old city. He had many photos of buildings prior to the war. It’s amazing to see the amount of destruction this tiny city endured during the war from 1992 - 1995. Many of the buildings have been left just as they were at the end of the war. The government has decreed if you are restoring a building it must be returned to the same architecture it once was. The Russian architecture is very boring and easy to recreate but the Ottoman and Austrian style building cost a lot to be returned to their former glory.

    We wander around the old city stopping to chat about buildings and culture. The tour ends after approx 1.5hours. Emma, the other Aussie, and I decide to head under the bridge to watch if anyone is going to jump today. The boys pass around a hat to collect tips to jump from the bridge (23 meters above the river). It takes about €25 in summer and €50 in winter to entice a jumper. They tease on top of the bridge until the tips reach the desired amount before jumping into the river below. The jumpers must be registered as competent to jump before doing this act. It looks bloody scary to me. We watch a couple of jumpers before it is time for a drink.

    Suzie has finished her ride so we now all hook up for a few drinks, some souvenir shopping before retiring for the night.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna, Boylesque and beyond
    Day 20

    Bosnia here we come

    June 15, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    We leave Primosten around 93” heading towards Mostar. The plan is to stop at Kravice Waterfall and a walled , heritage city, on the way. It approximately 2.5 hours to Kravice in Bosnia according to google.

    We head out , it’s all good until we get close to Bosnia we are traversing a mountain range , high up above the valley. Google said hard left in 250 meters, oh f@#k not sure where we are going. There was a road at exact spot so off we go, Down down we go, goggle says go left, go right seems lost. We end in a small village, it is eerie there are no people, small windy roads no idea where we are going. We turn around and head back up the to the main road, giggles galore. Top of the hill, we are going around in circles what road to take there are 5 choices. Eventually we chat to a local man. He has no English and no teeth, but waves us in the direction of the border. He seems chuffed that he could actually help 2 stupid tourists.

    The border is only a few k away, Croatia gives us a stamp,the Bosnian seems unimpressed that we have passports, or stamps here , sigh.

    We head to Kravice, lots of sign posts, very easy to find. The entry guys tells us it’s €4 to enter, screw that we go to the WC and just keep walking. Quite a few tourists, but lovely water falls and great view from restaurant for lunch.

    Heading onto Mostar we pass the walled city of Pocitelj. Google struggled to get us to our accomodation, telling us to go left when we could not find a street ( actually we think they we there, we just didn’t think it was a street). After taking a couple of detours we find our air bnb and our lovely host Nina shows us to the apartment, the apartment overlooks the city, it’s about 5 minutes from the old town.

    The afternoon is spent wandering the streets of the old town enjoying a red or 2. The river through Mostar is beautiful a deep emerald green. There are any restaurants along the river to enjoy the view.

    Another great day.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna, Boylesque and beyond
    Day 18

    Plitvicka National Park

    June 13, 2018 in Croatia ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    It was. 2.5 hour drive to the park from Primosten but Suzie enjoyed the 130k speed limit. On arrival we entered via the Entrance 2. The car park was so full It was surprising to see so many visitors, it took us quite some time to find a park. I was very worried about congestion on the tracks.

    These worries were soon put to rest, the paths from this entry point are very wide and there are many options so the tourists are moved into multiple directions. We have chosen route H, this starts with a bus ride to the beginning of the 5k trail back down. As soon as we jump off the bus the thunderstorm rolls in, the noise is very loud but only a few drops of rain so we plough on down the track. The thunder continues for about 30minutes, and the temperature has also dropped by about 10c so it’s a little chilly. The paths are relatively flat, with only a few stairs, the canopy dense so we don’t get too wet. There are many small waterfalls along the way, quite beautiful , picturesque, certainly worth a pic or 2. The track is not crowded, we can walk at our own pace and take picture whenever we choose.

    We finish the first trail, the next leg is to jump on a boat across the river to the next walking track. Once off the boat we follow the path to the “big waterfall”, what can this be compared to so many other “waterfalls” I’ve seen ( Niagara, Victoria). In fact it is a series of small waterfalls along the river culminating in a couple long drop waterfalls. Very beautiful mix of colours.

    The walk from the boat stop to the bus stop was very congested, the path was narrow, people not wanting to get their feet feet. So different from entrance 2. There were so many people coming from the opposite direction, I would hate to be here is high season. I am sure people would be pushed in to the water on the narrow wooden walkways. We struggle past the many walkers, everyone wanting to stop for photos regardless of where they are. We eventually move away from the crowds heading up to the bus. The views from above are spectacular . This place is certainly worth a visit, I expect after rain would be amazing. Start from entrance 2 and enjoy the space at least for a short time.

    The drive home is also with the normal dramas, car travelling in excess 150k, passing when they should know better. It is certainly time for a beer or calming wine once we make it home.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna, Boylesque and beyond
    Day 17

    Road trip to Primiston

    June 12, 2018 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Early start, well for us at least, we manage to leave the apartment by 9am. I’ve sorted out the alley ways so we do not need to take the bags too far on the Roman built cobble stones. Suzie gets the car from the church parking spot and we are off. The plan is pretty simple, travel down the coast road to Primosten, this will take about 5 hours. Google maps does the job, we stop at a small town for morning tea. It amazes me that the parking spots charge you to park, yet cars park wherever they like in the Main Street.

    Onwards towards Primosten, the road hugs the coast line its quite a slow trip , but a stunning coast line. We arrive without incident at around 5pm, our host Jure helps us to our next Air bnb. We are right on the coast listening to the waves and the wind. This town is much smaller that Rovinj and Is a mixture of old and new. I will enjoy the differences.

    Dinner is at the steak house, a great meal, but unfortunate that the assume the change is a tip.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna, Boylesque and beyond
    Day 16

    Island Adventure

    June 11, 2018 in Croatia ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    Today’s aim was to catch a boat to Red Island. We asked around the taxi was 80kuna return but the ferry was only 40kuna return. The ferry took about 15 minutes leaving on the half hour. We wandered around the island, there were lots of spots to swim, if you enjoyed rocks. We came to the main beach area which has been cleared of rocks for the elderly and children. I have to say it was great to enter the water without trying to dodge slippery sharp rocks.

    The water is crystal clear, many different shades of blue and turquoise. Everything is so clean. We have a quick swim before continuing our walk around the island. We find a small restaurant with the most amazing view and equally good food. A plate of calamari and Greek salad does the trick for lunch, red wines of course included.

    Time to jump back on the ferry for a quiet afternoon (2 bottles of red oops). Dinner is a pizza overlooking the harbour. The pizza are very different to home:
    1. They are not sliced
    2. The filling is very sparse - we got 4 whole olives on the pizza
    3. Chilli are whole, we have to slice them ourselves

    But they are delicious.

    Watching the sun go down we head back to the apartment.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna, Boylesque and beyond
    Day 15

    Bike trip around Rovinj

    June 10, 2018 in Croatia ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    A relatively early start to the fresh markets for some fruit for brekkie. Everything is 30kuna ($7), I buy peaches, cranberries and raspberries. I’ve never had fresh cranberries before, always dehydrated. Brekkie is delicious yoghurt and fresh fruit, what more could you want. The craisins are a little tart but delicious . These will go well in the vodka later.

    Next stop we hire some bikes for the day, 70kuna each (approx $16). We head off through the old city before turning around and heading south west. Before we know it we are at little rocky beaches overlooking Ronivj. Our first stop is at a local beach overlooking Rovinj, it’s time for a quick drink before continuing on around the coast line. This is not as straight forward as it first seems, but eventually we end at a very rocky beach. Time for our first swim in the Adriatic Sea. The rocks are horrid , slippery and sharp but the water is awesome, a little crispness is just what we need.

    Lunch is an amazing array of 10 fried sardines and salad, a meal I will not forget in a long time - it was delicious. Back on the bikes we head further around the coast line until we hit the local caravan park. There are heaps of small secluded beaches along the way, but all are very rocky, no sandy beaches here. My overall impression here is women and men love their bodies, it doesn’t matter if you small or large a bikini or biggie smugglers will do. Well done, I wish we loved our bodies as much back home, embrace life,

    Time to head back to the town center, in fact the ride is probably under 30 minutes, time to have another swim from the rocks on the outer perimeter of the old city.

    The day ends with pizza and red wine, what more luck one need really.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna, Boylesque and beyond
    Day 14

    Travel to Rovinj

    June 9, 2018 in Croatia ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    Leaving Zagreb we once again catch the no 6 tram back to the bus stop to pick up the airport bus. We picked up the car with no hassles but to our surprise the tank was only quarter full. We head south east towards Rovinj. The roads are well maintained in fact better condition than Australia. The speed limit is 130 on most sections, there are cars flying past us doing at least 170ks, it’s ridiculous. So scary when they fly past you. It was not surprising when we heard an ambulance and traffic backed up a few kms down the road. A car had rolled, it was eerie seeing a car upside down, bikes still on the back doors flung open. But even this did not slow down many of the drivers.

    We stopped at the town of Karlovac for lunch. Suzie had shishkebab on flat bread and I had dumplings on flat bread. Not really what we expected, both meats were identical, just a different shape. It was like a sausage salami, quite tough and a flat bread roll. It also came with half a raw onion cut up in large chunks. Nothing else, no lettuce, tomato, nothing. Very heavy, not nice.

    Onward to Rovinj, cars are restricted from entering the old city, so we are met outside by Ivetta ( the air bnb host). She takes us to a church close y where she has a permit to park. From here we walk over rough uneven paths built by the Romans to our apartment right in the heart of the old city.

    Our Airbnb is a 2 level renovated apartment with everything you could want once again. What a beautiful part of the world, we wander around the old stones paths, dropping in on spots for a drink and an amazing view. Dinner is a seafood platter and grilled vegies. A little expensive but so good to have some vegetables at last. The night end with watching our first sunset over the Adriatic Sea.    Read more

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