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Vienna, Boylesque and beyond

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Vienna, Boylesque and beyond Traveler
Last days In Budapest
July 1, 2018 in Hungary ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
Well I’m now counting down the hours until I head home. It’s hard to believe that this adventure started in Vienna with Trigger Happy performing at Vienna Boylesque Festival. From there we went to Salzburg and Slovenia before we said good bye to Ben. Onwards Suzie and I explored the less beaten track of Croatia and Bosnia. Suzie left to head home while I ventured to Poland and Hungary.

Wow what a time I have had. Kraków was a beautiful city and Auschwitz was mind blowing. Zakopane was a hikers paradise, then the overnight train bought me to Budapest.

How would I ever fill 4 days in this city - easy actually. Budapest is an amazing city with lots to do. I split my days up knot specific areas. Today I took on Gellért Hill. The bus took me to the base of the hill so a steady walk up the road took me to the top. At the top is the Citadel and Liberty Square. Unfortunately for some. Reason the government hades closed the citadel, so we can only walk around the outside.

Time to head down to the Gellért Spa, a set of naturally heated pools. I spent many hours here before back to me accommodation for my last night.Read more
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Few days exploring Budapest
June 30, 2018 in Hungary ⋅ 🌬 23 °C
I have learnt the Budapest was once 2 cities, Buda the flat down on the East side of the Danube, and Pest the hilly city on the west.

There are no high rises here and the city is very easy to get around. I can jump on the trams or trolley buses, or underground to get myself from a to b. My first day is exploring is spent on the Pest side.

I start at the “Invisible Exhibition”. This is not something I had planned on doing, but once I read about it I new it was a must. You are given a tour by a blind person, you are completely in the dark. Your eyes do not get accustomed to the darkness. You can see nothing for approx 1 hour. We are guided through an apartment, kitchen sink, stove, Tv, bath room etc. just feeling things as you go along. Then into a garden, feel the tress listen to the birds. Then the street, the ground becomes rough with cobble stones. There are traffic lights, sounds of cars and push bikes etc. Finally we end in a bar to enjoy a drink. What an insightful tour, loved every minute of it.

Next it was down to the Danube, a walk along the river with a magnificent view of the Parliament building. Up to Castle Hill. Lots of stairs today. The police has a graduation today so suddenly there are police sirens going everywhere while 6 buses of graduates arrive along with horses and flags. Quite a to do.

I head to Buda Castle, another beautiful castle which was destroyed during WW1 , it has been reconstructed. A prosecco is calling me from a restaurant overlooking the Danube.

Time to head back down to the river via the Funicular, then walking across the Chain Bridge to find a spot with view and a couple more bubbles.

I head home after a big day of walking up hills and stairs.Read more
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Budapest
June 28, 2018 in Hungary ⋅ 🌧 20 °C
We arrive on time at approx 830am. Time to get some money out. So far this trip I have dealt with Euro, Kuna, Marks, Zloty and now Forint. They all have different exchange rates so it is a constant juggle to work out what you are actually paying. 1000 forint is approx $5. It certainly tests this old brain, and certainly Suzie “ I’m in finance” brain took a tumble a few times.

I arrived at my air bnb around 9 to drop my bag and go explore. I could not stay as the last guest was still there. I headed toward the old city for breakfast and to get my bearings. Around lunchtime I realised I needed to shower and rest, not much sleep on the train.

After a rest I headed to “Hero Square” and city park. The park is beautiful.

My first thoughts on a Budapest, clean, great green streets. Look forward to exploring more tomorrow.Read more
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Budapest Here I come
June 27, 2018 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
I’ve been told Budapest is a beautiful city. It is a little of a journey to get there, first leg is 2 hour trip on the bus from Zakopane to Kraków. I have 5 hours in Kraków before I board the overnight bus to Budapest. The bus station is beside a large shopping centre, so maybe I can find a place for my nails to be done.

OMG dreams do come true, there is a decent nail salon. I soon learn they have not done acrylic nails here for over 10 years. instead they do a hard gel finish. This will be a experience for sure. The young girl fills me with confidence, slowly shaving the acrylic of my nails. I have only 1 nail that needs an extension. 2 hours it takes for me to be back to lovely nails. Lesson learnt next time I head OS no acrylic, just my own nails with a gel polish.

Wow I only have 2 hours left until I board the train. Dinner a few glasses of bubbles and it’s off to find the platform. The train arrives about 30 minutes before departure - enough time to find my carriage and bed, I get organised and snuggle down for the night.

The train leaves at 2230, arrives 0830 tomorrow morning.Read more
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Day trip in Slavakia
June 26, 2018 in Slovakia ⋅ 🌧 12 °C
The weather had been terrible so I new if I didn’t book a tour I probably would just lounge around in bed all day. I booked at day trip to the Tatra mountains in Slovakia. The trip was all in Polish but luckily the guide had quite a bit of English so he kept the 3 English speaking tourists abreast of what was going on. Once again over the border there were no immigration crossing, which I’m starting to get used to.
The day looked pretty gloomy but luckily the rain stayed away while we walked steadily upward along the muddy road for approx 2k’s. Once at the top we came to a wooded path that has been built above the trees to enable you to look down into the valleys below. Unfortunately today it was very overcast and the. Loads were quite low. They broke a couple of times to enable glimpses of the vista. The rain luckily stayed away for most of the walk, about 3 hours.

At the end of the wooden path is a viewing platform where you can walk onto a open weave platform, looking far below. It apparently can hold 80people. I gave it my best shot, not sure I would want to be on it with another 80 odd people.

Once we finished this part of the trip we headed to a small village. Here I wandered around, tasted some local spirits (50% proof), it was like drinking rocket fuel. Luckily the sun broke through for about an hour enabling a view of the high Tatra mountains.

Then back to zakapone for dinner and an early night.Read more
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Rainy cold day in Zakopane
June 25, 2018 in Poland ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
I nice sleep in today, well I also think a little hung over after last nights football match.

It’s about 9 today and wet. I wait for the rain to stop before heading to the ski jumps. There is the large ski jump and 3 smaller ones for learning on. Lots of stalls and restaurants around. I catch the ski lift up to the top. It’s pretty cheap at 12zl about $4. The view from the top is frightening, I cannot even imagine thinking about skiing down that jump.

On the way down on the chair lift the rain starts to come down heavily. Luckily I have my poncho on so most of me stays wet.

Once I finally make it home I quiet day as the rain has set in.Read more
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Heading to Zakopane
June 24, 2018 in Poland ⋅ 🌧 15 °C
There are a few objectives today, buy my overnight train ticket to Budapest and get to Zakopane on the bus.

I’m getting pretty good at getting around Kraków now, so I catch the tram to the train station. There are multiple entries to the train station and I have to say none of them are very obvious. I think I took the long route but eventually I find the international ticket office. Buying my train ticket was pretty painless. Now to find my bus. The signs for the bus are easy to follow the problem is I can only find gates starting with. ‘D’. I need to get upstairs. You would think that would be easy but every set of stairs I take I end up at the train station. Trying to find an information booth is next to impossible.

The only option is the ticket office, they direct me to the stairs outside. Now I am where I need to be, after. Few more questions I eventually find my gate to catch the bus from. Waiting for the bus there is no one around, yay looks like it is going to be empty. I hoped too soon, out of the blue came about 30 10year olds, just my luck.

Arriving in Zakopane I caught the local bus to my next air BnB. What a great spot about 5 minutes walk to the main centre. I explore town, it just gets colder and colder. Gloves are my next purchase and I use my sarong as a head scarf. As the rain came down I jumped into a local polish restaurant. A great feed or steamed dumplings filled with soft sheep cheese. Wine is approx $2 for a large glass. There is even entertainment, a local group 3 violins and a cello. Very lively music for. Sunday session.

Once the rain stops I catch the cable car up Gubałówka. The view over Zakopane and the Tatar mountains is spectacular. You can see the ski jump on the other side of the city.

Time to head down to find a spot to watch Poland vs Colombia tonight. A few more reds I find myself cheering for a Columbia goal. Oh dear will I get out of here alive.Read more
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Auschwitz
June 23, 2018 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
The weather is certainly appropriate , 12degrees wet and cold, for the sobering day I have ahead.

I cannot ever remember a time feeling the way I do today after visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. To explain my feelings there is not one feeling. I am sad, ashamed, cannot believe “humans” could do this, scared we will repeat again ( and do in fact continually). But also recognise the human strength it must have taken to survive these atrocities.

I learnt so much today, too much to really take in. I stood in silence, pondering people’s lives, many times I could not even imagine what happened here. I’ve learnt of these atrocities during my school years, but nothing prepared me for this. To systematically kill over 1million people, primarily Jews, but also Poles, gypsies, scholars it is beyond reason or logic.

The museum at Auschwitz breaks your heart. There are graphic reminders, 2 tonnes of hair piled high ready to be shipped off to be made in to socks - can you imagine that. Piles of shoes, suit cases, glasses, wooden legs etc. Human life being left as a loads of there items to be shipped off for others to use. To see the wall where those who were sick or punished were shot with a gun directly to the head is sobering.

At Birkenau (Auschwitz II) we walked from the train station, like many condemned Jews and anyone else who stood up against the Nazis, down the same road directly to the gas chambers. They had the audacity to tell them to take there clothes off, remember where they are so you can get them after your showers. The complicity’s were enormous. They were shoved into gas chambers before dying in so much pain. Then the poor prisoners who were not gassed were made to cut the hair off the dead corpses, remove dentures and any other valuables. I’m not sure who had the better ending, dying in the gas chambers or dying of starvation and degradation.

Much of Birkenau is in ruin, including the gas chambers, but it is still evident how large a camp this was. The 3 layers of bunks would often have 7 or more people to a bunk. The living conditions were atrocious, little food, little warm, some without roofs. People who were not killed died from disease, frost bite and starvation. Those who survived when they were liberated by the Soviets had to live with the horrors for the rest of their days.

If you get the chance please go visit this memorial. These things must stop, genocide, ethnic cleansing whatever name you wish to put on it must stop. I’m sure it’s happening right now, but our western news doesn’t allow us to here the truth.

I’m struggling to look at the photos. I’ll add some tomorrow I hope.Read more
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Krakow wandering
June 22, 2018 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Another free walking tour. This one started at 1015 so I had a few hours to kill before hand. Wandering up into the central square ( largest in Eastern Europe 200sq meters) I was amazed by the number of food trucks. They were going in every direction, preparing all the local restaurants ready for the days trade ahead. I guess they need to get in early before all the foot traffic arrives.

After wandering around the back streets I find a cafe where I enjoy a wonderful baked cheesecake and freshly squeezed juice. Yum, the food in this town is amazing.

The free walking tour starts under the cathedral, I’m to look for a green umbrella. Lucky I knew it was green as there are about 5 different people offering free walking tours, each with different coloured umbrella’s. Eugene is our guide, there are about 25 people, he is extremely knowledgeable half polish and half Ukraine. He is passionate about Poland, as we wander around the old city, he explains the history of Poland. All my history lessons so many years ago come flooding back - Prussia, Kengis Khan, Germany invasions, the soviet occupation. Poland has had it all. Then Eugene speaks so highly of John Paul II, he was a saviour for this country, giving them the guidance to stand up to communism. It was a very enlightening tour.
Then he spoke about Maximilian Maria Kolbe who traded his life for another in Auschwitz. This country has such an incredible history, and today it is a thriving cosmopolitan city.

We started at the cathedral, visit the opera house, wander through the main entry gate to the city and followed the path the the kings and queens for time gone by made their way to Wawel Castle.

After the tour I headed to the Jewish area for lunch. Another amazing meal, cottage cheese, potato, salami, egg, zucchini and cheese. That certainly filled me up. I catch the tram home for a nana nap before heading out again in the evening.

My air bnb is about 7 minutes walk from the old town, so I’m certainly getting my steps up today. I wander back into town for dinner, there are buskers everywhere, it is like a carnival atmosphere. I’m just happy to have a light dinner and few reds and people watch for a few hours.

I can hear a trumpet and violin playing “hallelujah”. Once they finish another group of a trumpet, trombone and drums starts another tune. What a chilled night.Read more
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Goodbye Suzie, Hello Poland
June 21, 2018 in Poland ⋅ 🌧 16 °C
Today Suzie heads back home while I head to Poland. When I left Australia I had no intention of heading to Poland, but our air bnb host in Zagreb convinced me to go.

First step of the journey was to get the car back to the airport in one piece. Goggle once again did a fine job until we got close to the airport. Silly us, we didn’t believe google and started to follow the signs. The airport signs took us in a huge circle, we actually thought we were heading back to Zagreb at one stage. We should know by now google is pretty good and trust her. She only let us down a few times and I’m not surprised considering the roads we were travelling on.

My flight to Kraków was via Warsaw. We arrived in Warsaw on time, but unfortunately someone forgot to tell the driver of the stairs. We waited 10minutes for the stairs to arrive, then there was no bus, so another 10minutes waiting for the bus. Finally inside the terminal, I headed to the transit area as instructed. The bag search was very officious. Bags had to be laid on the trays in a particular way, only one bag at a time. The women waving through the scanner was very particular, there were pat downs, take all jumpers jackets off etc. A very slow process, lucky not many people were heading this way. Finally through I looked for my next gate only to be told, I had to go back to where I had just come. I had to go though immigration and move to a different set of gates. So the bag screening started all over again with a different set of people. Finally I reach the gate only to find out it is delayed about 10minutes.

Once again a bus takes us out to the plane, to my surprise it is exactly the same plane I fly to Rocky on. It spins my brain out. We all board but once again another delay of 30 minutes while we wait for a connecting flight, should have just left us in the terminal. I finally arrive in Kraków about an hour late.

Next step is to catch the 208 bus, luckily this is just outside the terminal. Getting a ticket is pretty easy, the bus arrives in about 20minutes. The bus is packed, with people and luggage. Ok so now I need to work out how to find out where my stop is. As we get close to the centre I ask a local who explains it is 3 more stops.

My air bnb is a 5 minutes walk away, the room is huge, the unit is lovely and clean. Another win.

I head into the old city for dinner, I’m completely blown away by the central square it is just beautiful. I think I’ve fallen in love with Kraków already and i has only been a few hours.Read more
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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
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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
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Sarejavo Road Trip
June 17, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ 🌧 21 °C
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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Heading to Croatia
June 8, 2018 in Croatia ⋅ 🌧 22 °C
Today we say farewell to Ben as he is heading home. I drop Ben and Suzie at the bus station while I return the car. The walk back is a lazy 30 minutes to Suzie. Ben has already left when I return.

There are not many people waiting for the bus to Zagreb so we reckon we will get a seat to ourselves on the upper deck of the bus. How wrong we were, the bus had come from Germany and most were staying on the bus, the bus was full. We headed towards Croatia and much to our joy we had to go through immigration. A stamp leaving Slovenia and 1 to enter Croatia, yay I was like a kid in the chocolate factory.

Kreso, our air bnb host, had given us instructions on how to get to his place from the bus stop. Catch the no. 6 tram . heading toward the mountains and disembark at town square, then ring him. Catching the tram was easy, great directions, we even got off at the right stop. But ringing was a different thing, I tried several options all said the phone number did not exist. Using good old google maps we worked out how to get to the air bnb -3 minutes walk and we reach Kreso. Wow is all I can say, what a lovely host, a great space and such an awesome location.

Kreso quickly realised he missed a number when he told me his phone number, lol, no biggie we made it. He is just lovely - we enjoyed a home made liquor shot which his dad produces.Oh it’s a bit strong, cannot describe the taste. Kreso then shows us where to eat, drink etc. We head to a little delicatessen for a Croatian red and some cold meats, cheese and olives. What lovely afternoon with Kreso, so much so we are now coming back for 2 nights at the end of our trip.

Kreso is a graffiti artist, the air bnb is decked out with a lot of his art, I’m really looking forward to doing his tour when we return. Kreso and Suzie are kindred souls, talking music, actually we are booked into a concert (rap I think) when we return. He finally has to say good bye and leave us to explore the city before retiring for the night.Read more
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Tolmin
June 7, 2018 in Slovenia ⋅ 🌫 18 °C
Another trip in the car. This time to Tolmin Gorge in the North West. Once again we start on the highway but soon move to the smaller roads. The road is narrow with many twists and turns. My driving has certainly improved since yesterday. It takes about 2 hours to get to the town of Tolmin. Time for a break for lunch, a lovely fresh trout and salad - yay something healthy at last.

We head onto Tolmin Gorge. The roads just keep getting smaller, until we are down to one lane. Then there are roadworks, where half the road is cut out, I need to navigate this, if only the guys who were directing me had any idea about my lack of driving skills :)

We finally make it to the gorge, but when you see Ben or Suzie ask about the naked guy operating the bob cat.

As it is in the National Park the entry fee Is €5. It has started to rain but only a light so we should be good. Onward we go, following the map to see all the highlights. We follow the trail, the colour of the river is an emerald blue. The rain adds a mystic foggy atmosphere to the scenery. The walk all up takes about an hour. There are stairs, it nothing too strenuous and in the harder spots there is a hand rail. There are not many people around at all. Well worth a visit.

It wanting to follow the same road home we head east towards Skofja Loka. It sure if this was a good idea, it’s very very windy, mountainous not enough for 2 cars, luckily there is not much traffic but certainly had to be very focused.

Finally back to town to find a park for the car and time to have a couple of calming vodkas.Read more
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Postojna Caves
June 6, 2018 in Slovenia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Car hire pick-up day. Here we go, been awhile since I have driven a manual car on the right hand side of road. We picked the car from Avant, very quick and efficient. They are close to the outer ring road which makes it easy to get out of town and head south west to Postojna.

The Postojna Caves are very touristy but well worth the visit. The caves have been open to the public for 200 years this year - incredible. There are over 24k’s of passages within the cave system, visitors get to see approx 5k’s.

Entering the caves is on a schedule, we were lucky we did not have to wait to get onto the train. (I’m sure in high season this could be a problem, so it may be advisable to book ahead online). It is quite expensive, we paid €37 for the caves and Predjama Castle. The tour group is split up into language groups first, then you board a small open air train to travel 4k’s into the cave. This trip is quite spectacular and quite chilly. The temperature is approx 10C. On completion of the train ride you disembark for a guided tour of the cave system. It is spectacular, I have never been is such a huge huge cave system previously. The walking tour is approx 1 hour, all up it takes 1.5hours. The group is quite large so it can be hard to hear the guide at times. There is no flash photography or touching allowed. Unfortunately photos do not show the enormity of the actual caves.

We headed to the Predjama Castle 9k down the road next. This castle is build on the side of a cliff, using both the inside cave and outside. An audio guide is provided for use as you make your way through the structure. It was quite busy, not the most impressive castle I’ve seen, but still worth a short detour.

We head back to town only to find a park is not that easy. Our streets are closed with bollards, every spot we find is full. Eventually we ring Viktor, our host, who meets us and helps to find a legal park about 5 mins away from the house.Read more
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Ljubljana
June 5, 2018 in Slovenia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
A quick 60 minute bus ride from Bled to Ljubljana, for a measly €6, we arrived. A taxi fare to our next Air bnb lands us right on the river next to the old town centre. Viktor our host is not around so we quickly settle into the restaurant next door. Viktor arrives around midday, so we drop our bags and let him continue with his day. ( Poor Viktor, the bnb was his ex wife’s idea, and his thoughts on refugees well let’s say he would be happy to kick them out alongside all the current political parties).

We enjoy a late lunch at Pri Skofja, €9 for 3 courses - best deal we have had. It starts to rain and then even hail, so we shelter in the bnb and all have a snooze.

Time to venture out, we wander around the old town, finally finding a bar with a few locals. Beers are cheap, the red wine is drinkable, so we settle in. We met a few of the locals, firstly Cyrus the mad Irishman from Belfast who enjoys cracking his long whip. Then Anton the Russian who runs a hotel. Well that’s where we end up drinking for free. I head home, while Ben gets a free room for the night and Suzie goes on to enjoy some of the local bars. Another down, another local spot, gotta love it.Read more
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Bled
June 4, 2018 in Slovenia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Suzie cooks some great eggs for breakfast, we can even make toast today which is scrumptious. Today’s plan is to hire bikes and head around the lake. Bike are €6 for 6 hours, so of we head. Stopping around the lake to take pictures. About half way round we find the start to Mala Osojnica , a view point located 645 metres above Lake Bled.

The sign says 20mins so off we head. It is a gradual climb upwards, sometimes quite steep, but every onwards and up. Whoever said this was 20 minutes playing a nasty joke. You’ll have to work hard for this view: it’s a tough 45 to 60 minute hike from the lake shore but it is 100% worth the work. There is a very step set of stairs (ladder) with 100 steps. This is not the top, it is another 5 minutes from here. The view is certainly worth it, but I do believe the signs should be more accurate.

Most of the path is in shade, but where exposed it was very hot. Coming down is no mean feat either. Ben struggled a bit with the heights, but overcame the fear to come back down those stairs.

Back on the bikes, time for a cold drink and some food. We stop at a small beach area. Everyone is swimming, beach chairs are out for hire, just like I imagined beach life in Europe. Suzie and I share a pizza, fresh garlic, chilli, pepperoni and cheese -delicious and certainly enough for 2. It was only cut in half which I found odd. Ben enjoyed gnocchi with truffles, a local favourite.

A thunderstorm looked like it was coming in so jumped back on those bikes to finish our circumnavigation of the lake. They say it takes 90minutes to walk around, again I think this is a little short in timing.

Suzie and Ben head home while I head back to the lake. I take a penta across the lake to visit Bled Island. The fare is €14 for the return trip and 40minutes to explore the island. The penta is rowed by a lone rowman using 2 paddles standing up,- quite a slow smooth quiet trip.
You can hire your own rowboat for €10, which would be lots of fun and far cheaper for a small group. You can explore the church for €6, instead I choose to have the largest ice cream ever for €4.

Jump back on board to head to land. I quickly head back to the bus station, if I miss the bus I have another hour to wait. Luckily I’m there with a minute to spare. This bus is not direct, instead of the normal 5 mins it take 18. The bus heads into a different village first, then backtracks to finally take me home.

We head to the local bar for a few drinks. As you can imagine we are the source of amusement . Ben, using his basic German skills, becomes translator between a local and Suzie. Very amusing, he is a widow, finds Suzie very attractive. We all have a fun night, lots of laughs and too many drinks.Read more
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