Friday, June 22, 2007
Monday 18th June
We can’t afford to stay at Terme Catez any longer as it is very expensive but we still have some things we need to do in Zagreb. There is a campsite 40 minutes drive along the motorway, however we spot on the map there is one just north of Zagreb in the Pirode park this area looks more our scene. We don’t have any information on it but are confident we can find it. After 2 hours our confidence is waning but after exploring every road in the area we realise the campsite is not actually in existence. There is another on the map to the east of Zagreb and so we head for this one, this too is a phantom, so after spending 4 hours on the road we return to the original Zagreb campsite annoyed at wasting a day by driving when we didn’t have to.
The campsite is not the best we have stayed at and is right next to the motorway so is somewhat noisy. There is no security; with the gates always open and no wardens, people can come and go as they please and Jon goes into prevention overload. As we later learn out this was a sensible precaution as 3 nights later a British couple wake to find a man inside their camper, helping himself to their valuables, they scare him off but only after he has taken their laptop, digital camera and a wedge load of cash. When he tells us this makes me think about the blind in the boys bedroom that shot up in the early hours of the morning, not thinking about it I just went in and closed it, but this has never happened before, was this just coincidence or had the man thought to have a look in our van as well? Anyway we are lucky that nothing of ours seems to have been touched and even the replacement scooter we left outside has remained in place.
Thursday 7th June
We visit Bled, the church on the island in the middle of the lake is the common picture used by the tourist board to represent Slovenia. It is very beautiful and even though the day was dull at best with intermittent rain we could still see the hint of the emerald water, I imagine when the sun is shining it is truly splendid. We enjoyed a 2hr walk around the lake, should take a normal person about 1hr.
Friday 8th June
We head west so we are just across the border from Zagreb (Croatia’s capital) from where Jon is flying out to the UK. As I was to be on my own with the boys for 4 days I wanted somewhere with plenty of entertainment. We stay at a campsite called Terme Catez which has 7 outdoor swimming pools, the water is thermally heated so is pleasantly warm and 2 indoor pools both boasting many slides, wave machines and Jacuzzi’s. There is a pool available for all ages and abilities. The day Jon left Max lost his first tooth, quite literally in one of the swimming pools. I was more upset then Max and determined to find it but to no avail. The tooth fairy still decided to pay him a visit in the night.
All in all we spent a good week here with the boys enjoying swimming and even squeezing in some learning. One down side was having the boys’ new scooter stolen from the swimming pools when we absent-mindedly abandoned it for 10 minutes.
Jon had only planned to be away for 4 days but choose to extend for a few days as there were a couple of British things he needed to stock up on and he needed more time. As it turned out this was a wise decision as it gave him the opportunity to visit his mum who had become ill in hospital.
Driving along the motorway on my way to pick Jon up from Zagreb airport, I congratulate myself on my timing, despite rushing the children though their tea and bedtime routine so that they were fed, watered, cleaned and pyjama’d. I had also managed to tidy the caravan a bit. As I hit the outskirts of Zagreb the weather turned dramatically with heavy rain, lightening and high winds, everyone was crawling along at 60km/hr or less as visibility has been dramatically reduced. I wait outside the airport for Jon’s phone call to say he has arrived with the wind shaking the car and water being driven along the road like a fast moving river. After half an hour of waiting and hoping Jon has managed to land, toilet demands invoke the need to enter the airport and pay astronomically high parking fees.
After wading through the lake that used to be a car park I make it into the terminal and see that Jon’s plane is in overflow, assuming that meant they were waiting to taxi to the terminal and he would be with us shortly. Therefore, I wasn’t expecting the phone call that came 5 minutes later from Jon telling me the plane had been diverted to Split due to the bad weather and they were waiting there for 1/2 hour to get a weather update. At the time of the phone call the rain had stopped and the wind had died down to a gentle breeze. Jon arrives and we have been waiting in the car for 3 or so hours and again the DVD player for the boys was a godsend and kept them happily entertained.
I take the opportunity to buy a British mag but much to my chagrin, I later work out it cost me 10 to read about J-lo’s luxurious house, health and beauty tips (as if I need any!!) and what bikinis are a must for this summer, if you can spare a #100 or so.
Tuesday 5th June
Jon’s exam and return to the UK was imminent so he had a bit of work and revision to catch up on, as the weather was proving to be inclement I decided to brave taking the boys to the Postojnska caves on my own for the day. The day went well and I was glad I didn’t let the worry of getting lost deter me from going. The only option of seeing the caves is via a tour. It starts with a train ride, this was exhilarating for the children if somewhat apprehensive for myself with bits of rock rushing towards you disconcertingly close to the sides of the train and the heads of the people in it. I had to grab a few outstretched arms as they pointed to something of interest as it blurred past us. When you alight from the train there are language-based groups for the tour and typically the English group was the largest. Mindful of the children’s need to constantly ask questions, I kept them at the back whilst the guide delivered her spiel at the interesting places. I did manage to glean some interesting information to pass on to the boys who lapped it up. The walking pace however was far too quick for the boys to keep up and in the end I stopped trying to rush them to the next appropriate place, instead we meandered along at a pace that suited them and enabled them to ask questions, not to mention spot all the places where the baby cave bears would sleep. At one point we were plunged into darkness, which only sent Max into a mild panic, later the guide informed us that this was done so we could experience the true atmosphere inside of the cave, this being the complete lack of light and disorientation. What a great thing to do, pity there was a complete lack of warning! One of the highlights was the opportunity to see the amphibious fish that inhabit the caves in this region (they looked like Salamanders to me but they kept calling them amphibious fish, and in the end what do I know about it?). The boys enjoyed seeing these and talked about them for ages afterwards. The tour ends in the concert gallery and we were treated to a group of school children giving an impromptu singing session, which was quite lovely. We endured another speedy train journey back to the entrance and ran through the rain to the car.
Monday 4th June
We head into the capital and meander through the city with no set plan. Ljubljana is a university city and this gives it a young and vibrant feel against a backdrop of historic buildings. Strolling along the Ljubljana River is very pleasant and near Trnovo there are steps along the river adorned with willow trees, just inviting you to sit with a picnic. At Triple Bridge you can catch a land train up to Ljubljana Castle giving a good view of the city but to be honest little else. There are a couple of walks around the top, which would probably be quite pleasant, however it was raining and we didn’t have any wet weather gear so elected to stay dry.
We visited the fruit and vegetable market whereupon we gorged ourselves on strawberries and cherries and stocked up with the necessary. By this time it was 4pm and the boys were getting tired and teasy and did not appreciate the walk back to the car, to add insult to injury we gave each a bag with a vegetable for them to carry, fruit being too easily bruised!
Thursday 31st May
Today we travelled in 3 countries in 1 day! We were visiting the famous Lipizzaner horses in Slovenia, the quickest way there was through Italy so we ended up going through 12 passport controls!! Going through Italy we got a little bit too excited about seeing a Lidl, so Jon could buy his Rooibos tea and later on a camping shop sent us whooping with joy. We really must learn to get a grip on ourselves! We bought a few essentials, like new picnic seats for the boys, a light for the awning and a hammock. OK so maybe the hammock is not really essential but everyone else’s look so inviting that we really had to join in.
Sunday 3rd June
We pack up and head towards Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital. Our campsite is situated approx 20KM north of the city and is located next to a lake, surrounded by green trees and lush vegetation, including an abundance of wild strawberries, a treat for children and birds. The surrounding countryside is dotted with charming villages and picturesque churches.
Sunday 27th May
After a couple of days spent in the sea we decided to take a trip to Hum the smallest town in the world. This is a small walled town with about 20 houses in total, quite pretty even in the pouring rain! There is a quaint souvenir and art shop and another shop selling local wines, cheeses and truffles. As we have never had truffles before (My they are expensive) we bought some truffle paste and were given a recipe, we will try this out later and let you know the result. On the way back Jon got fined 500kn (50 pounds) for overtaking in the wrong place. He is not doing too well with the car lately!!
Tuesday 29th May
We popped over to Piran in Slovenia and had a slightly damp walk around the seaside town. The town has a heavy Venetian influence and was quite pretty. But as Jon put it he has seen so many of these little seaside towns that they no longer shake his tree!
Wednesday 30th May
My birthday, 21 again! Jon and the boys had made some cards, excellent home learning practising their writing skills, and I got a box of chocolates, which the boys promptly delved into. I spent a day with the boys by the sea whilst Jon studied, this was my choice, as sad as it may seem, if the boys are happy and entertained then so am I. Jon had organised with Bettina, the Austrian next door, to look after the boys in the evening so we could have a meal in the local restaurant. We arrived at the restaurant overlooking the bay just as the sun was setting, painting the sea orange and yellow, 10 minutes after sitting down a group of dolphins danced across the colourful sea, this really made my day!
Friday 25th May
We chose a campsite near Umag, just 1/2 hour from Slovenia. We parked in the woods with the play park and sea in front of us, our Austrian family to the side of us, but most importantly the campsite is quiet, well it was until we arrived anyway! Oh yes and then there is the bit where Jon drove into a post and dented the front passenger door.
Sunday 20th May
We packed up and moved away to Istria, staying near Rovinj a lovely town built on a small peninsula. On the Tuesday we took a boat excursion to the Lim Fjord, it was quite handy that the boat picked us up straight from the campsite. Before we sat down we were plied with drink, possibly to make up for the lack of events on the trip itself. It was a pleasant ride on a boat to see some water, trees and a few birds: Heron, Egrets and Sea gulls. The height of excitement for the boys, apart from drinking fizzy water, was visiting a pirate’s cave. We had to pay 5kn each for the privilege although we did get a free postcard. We had a look around a small cave and then back onto the boat and back to the campsite. It would have been a pleasant and relaxing trip, if it could be done without young children but lacked any actual excitement, unless you count seeing the naturist sunbathers!
Wednesday 23rd May
We hook up with an Austrian family with 2 boys, 6 and 3. The eldest boy Sandro speaks a little bit of English and understands it quite well so they are able to communicate in some way. They spent a lot of the day in the sea and were quite firm buddies by bedtime.
The following day we went to Rovinj, a lovely town with a good feel to it. There is a great fruit market, next to a play park, where we bought our weekly fruit rations. We climbed up to the church at the highest point of the town, the church give Rovinj its picturesque quality from across the water. We returned home for a splash in the sea and enjoyed tea with our new Austrian friends.
Wednesday and Thursday night we were kept awake by a very loud disco about 50m from our caravan, this went on until midnight and the campsite along was noisy until the wee small hours. Due to this we decided to leave the campsite the next day. We were not alone and there was a mass exodus, well 5 families anyway, leaving the campsite due to the noise. Our Austrian friends decided to move as well and as we were only going 1 hour up the road came with us much to the boys delight.
Friday 18th May
Early Friday morning we were rudely awoken by high winds rocking the caravan and threatening to carry our unpegged awning away. We made a few adjustments at 4am but had to go back out at 6am to put on the storm strap and attempt to put a few pegs into the very stony ground. At this point we noticed we had left the recently purchased folding picnic table and chairs outside and as is typical before I could put on my coat the wind had taken it and blown it 100m down the campsite, breaking the table but luckily not damaging anybody else’s caravan or injuring anyone.
By 9am we realised the awning just may not hold with the amount of pegs, a German couple further along had already lost their awning to the trees. A Belgian couple had offered to give us a hand so we decided to pursue the risky option of taking down the awning; it went well despite one pole snapping (Luckily it was the extending part and so could be turned around, so was not fatal). Removing the awning exposed the boxes stored underneath the caravan and 5 minutes later a box was sent flying spewing its contents, again we were lucky this did not hit anyone or anything but the box was broken and some of the contents were lost. The caravan spent most of the morning and half the afternoon rocking to and fro like a boat on the sea. We later learnt this wind is called the Bora, a wind that blows from the mountains, and it was set to last for 3 days, although it never again reached the slightly scary intensity of Friday morning. Needless to say we stayed in the caravan for most of Friday, which went quite well considering there were now 6 of us and Jon and I even managed to catch a nap.
Saturday 19th May
It was time to take Dad to the airport, his flight was not until the evening and so we spent the afternoon in Split. We spent a pleasant time on the Quay and even had a chance to see some model yacht racing. We took a stroll around the Palace, which is an eclectic mix of Roman ruins, Egyptian figures, medieval houses, modern shops and modern graffiti. Dad treated us to an ice cream and then departed, the children of course wanting to go with him, I think they are trying to tell us something.
Saturday 12th May
After another free fish on the Friday and an invasion of the ants on Saturday we set off for Novigrad 2 hours drive further north than Split. My Dad was coming to visit for a week so Jon picked him up from the airport. We spent Sunday chilling out with Dad learning caravan etiquette and the boys relishing in having someone else’s attention.
Monday 14th May
Novigrad is a small fishing village situated on an inland sea with a small inlet to the wider sea. The village suffered a little in the recent war and is not particularly picturesque; it has not become a tourist trap yet and in places looks slightly ramshackle. However, the setting is beautiful, the people are friendly and the reality of the place gives it it’s own charm. High on a hill there is a broken down fortress, to get to it there is a steep and interesting climb with many dangerous bits for children and grandfathers in flip flops to fall to their deaths. Luckily this did not happen!
Tuesday 15th May
Close by there is National Park Palenica a favoured haunt for rock climbers. As you enter the park you are instantly thrust into a deep gorge with a refreshing tree lined mountain stream running through on one side. On each visible rock face there were climbers clinging and ropes dangling, the boys enjoyed watching and couldn’t understand why we couldn’t do it. On our walk we saw some tadpoles (well the boys enjoyed it!) two really big Common European Toads, some Alpine swifts and a blue and red lizard that looked rather exotic. The park boasts having wolves and brown bears and although a glimpse of these, from a very safe distance, would have rounded the day off nicely we did not feel too disappointed.
Wednesday 16th May
Not content with walking the previous day we took Dad to Vransko Jezero (a lake). We went for a walk along a cycling route and saw some bee eaters, a buzzard, a hoopoe and many others that could not be distinguished, later on we also saw a tortoise, but we were not sure if it was wild or a pet runaway.
Thursday 17th May
We couldn’t have Dad come to Croatia and not take him to one of the islands, we chose Ugljan, also connected to Pasman by a small bridge. We had lunch by the quayside at Zadar and then hopped onto the Ferry. We drove up to the highest point on Ugljan and climbed the last 10 minutes up a narrow and steep and rocky path to the ruined fortress on top, which also houses the TV tower. You would think we had had enough of Fortresses by now! Again safety is for the concern of the visitor. The view is very good from the top and I was glad Dad got the chance to see it. After this we stopped off at a few fishing villages, in one we saw a ship yard bringing derelict boats back to life but apart from that and the views there was little of interest on these two islands and it has to be said that Hvar was certainly more picturesque.
Friday 4th May
After a day of teaching and Jon studying, caused by the rain, we decide to move further north. We drive along the Adriatic highway. The road twists and turns along the coastline with the mountains on one side and the sea on the other. Croatia has a beautiful and dramatic coastline. The purple hued mountains are covered in green pines interspersed with Cypress trees standing straight and aloft, the mountains literally tumble down to the water where they are caressed by the aquamarine of the sea. (Sorry got a bit poetical there!) Later we pass some beautiful lakes, it was impossible to resist the draw to stop and take some photos and sample the serenity.
We come across our campsite and park immediately above the sea. Jonny luck has followed us as we discover Friday is a free fish party day at the camping ground. The host Mladen spoke very good English and was extremely friendly. Another German couple joined us, as did a mad Irishman called Darra who has been cycling around Europe for the past 3 months by himself. Not content with a 70km cycle he went for a run before joining us for the excellent fish supper. They all endured our drunken ramblings as we enjoyed too much of Mladen’s excellent home made wine. I’m afraid to say the next day the world was continually spinning and we spent most of the day moving very slowly and talking very quietly. Darra to his credit spent a good while drawing pictures for the boys and smiled as the boys "helped" him pack away his tent. He was a great guy and we wish him luck with his Asian adventure in a few weeks.
After this we go to the island of Hvar. Jonny luck again means that we drive down to the local port to find the boat is ready to leave and drive straight on. The roads are quite bad and it takes an hour to drive to Jelsa after only a rare glimpse of civilisation along the way. Jelsa has a pretty harbour but unfortunately there was much building work going on so the air was full of Diesel and noise. After lunch and a quick walk around the small town we carried on to Stari Grad. This too had a beautiful harbour and building work.
We drove further to the town of Hvar, dubbed as a small Dubrovnik. It has again some impressive walls, although not wide enough to walk on. However, we take a walk through the towns small alleyways and climb to the fortress at the top looking down over the town and the surrounding sea. There is a pleasing view from the top where one can see the familiar terracotta roofs, the small neat harbour with a selection of yachts and small fishing boats and a collection of small islands. The islands are like droplets of green land that have bubbled up to the surface of the tranquil waters.
We drove calmly back to the port Sucarej safe in the knowledge that the last ferry was midnight so we wouldn’t be stranded. We arrived at the port just after 8pm and as luck would have it the Ferry was just coming in to dock, but we could not get on because it did not go again until…yep midnight! OK maybe this was something we should have checked but there weren’t any visible timetables. So there we are at the port 8pm with 3 kids in a car with lettuce, cucumber and raisins for tea! We took a stroll around the port for an hour then headed back to the car and broke the videos out. Finally back home for 1am. Needless to say we all slept in until about 10am the next morning.
Dubrovnik
We found a campsite in Dubrovnik and met another British couple on site called Janet and Martin who have done the same as us and given up their jobs and sold their house to fund the trip. They gave us much advice and reading material on Slovenia and Croatia and it was so good to find other like-minded people risking it all for a great adventure.
We visited Dubrovnik in the afternoon when it was hot and humid. We did the touristy thing and traversed the walls. The views were great and the now repaired city, after the damage from the recent war, looks beautiful with its terracotta roofs and stone walls. If you look closely you can still see some damage left by the recent conflict, we passed one house still marked with bullet holes and there are a few houses that have not been repaired.
A few days later we drove along the Peljesac peninsula and visited Ston which boasts the largest fortified walls stretching 5.5km, second only to the Great China Wall. A large section of the wall goes up a near vertical mountainside.
Thursday 26th April
We boarded a Ferry at Patras to take us to Bari in Italy. This ferry line offer the facility to camp on board i.e. we could sleep in our caravan and hook up to their electricity. There are toilets and showers provided on the car deck. The idea of camping on board sounds all very good but as we were right at the back near the engines it was quite noisy and everything on the ship rattled as well as everything in the caravan. Not to mention the noise of loading more lorries from Corfu or was it Igoumenitsa? Still it was cheaper than booking a cabin!
Friday 27th April
We arrived in Italy to be greeted by ……rain!!
Saturday 28th April
We set sail for Dubrovnik. The ramp leading onto the platform to go onto the ferry was a sharp apex. The car in front couldn’t get over without scraping the bottom, in the end all the passengers and their luggage had to get out in order to get the car over. How on earth were we going to get over without scraping the caravan? Answer, only just and only with the help of the car’s air suspension. If we did not have the ability to raise and lower the suspension we would not have got over, as it was the supports under the caravan were scraping the floor. The captain admitted it was a big problem and had caused lots of issues; he seemed particularly embarrassed by it all.
