2geonomads

Thursday 15th May 2014.

Awake to still overcast conditions but a surprisingly good breakfast ( the room was only 65 marks/ 33 euros) gets us on our way with the first stop being the town of Trebinje. We had driven through the outskirts of this town on our way north to Mostar but after reading the notes more carefully in our guidebook we thought that we needed to see it at closer quarters, given its many attractions.

Whilst it did not really live up to the glowing endorsement of the guidebook ( which ranked it as one of the most beautiful towns in Herzegovina , boasting 260 sunny days per year. ) it is a very attractive  town nestled under Leotar Mountain with the fine 16th century Arslanagica Bridge and a charming central square. The view as we approach the city from the north is very impressive and Gail makes the moment even more memorable by mistaking 4 men using whipper-snippers as metal-detectors checking for land-mines!

A drive up to the top of Crkvina Hill with its new Orthodox Church rewards us with a panoramic view of the whole town. On the way back to town Gail mistakes a donkey for a goat but I am putting it down to altitude-sickness.

Short drive over the border into Croatia and on to Dubrovnik Airport where we drop off our Skoda rental car and take a cab into Dubrovnik Old Town.

We leave Bosnia & Herzegovina with some very fond memories of the magnificent Mostar and the wonderful scenery we experienced throughout our travels in this country.  However, it is very difficult not to feel deep sadness at the trials and tribulations which the population has had to endure over many years. There is clearly a real determination to recover from the terrible damage inflicted on the people during the Balkan War but one senses that it will be a very long, difficult road back. Re-erecting the buildings is the easy part but the psychological scars will not be so easily healed.

Our accommodation for the next two nights is a very comfortable 2 bedroom flat right in the centre of this remarkable city. After having checked in and been welcomed by the owners we embark on a walking tour of the centre but decide to delay the city wall tour till the following day as time is running short and we need to get full value from the 20 euro entrance fee.

The city is what we had expected but having spent so many days far from  the madding crowds we’re struggling to cope with the hordes of tourists. June to August must be an absolute nightmare.

Stock up on provisions, including a bottle of local white wine and we return to the flat intending to cook some gnocchi for dinner. Eventually, we settle on wine and a bar of chocolate as the pizzas from lunchtime seem to have satisfied our hunger.

In bed before 10 again so we must be getting old .

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

Wednesday 14th May 2014

Pleasantly surprised to find that a continental breakfast is included in the room rate so we take our time getting started.

The weather again thwarts us in our attempt to embark on a walking tour of the Old Town and I was particularly disappointed to miss the Galerija 11/07/95, a museum which exhibits the work of Sarajevo photographer Tarik  Samarah in depicting the horrifying events of the Srebrenbrica genocide on 11 July 1995 and its aftermath.

We leave this city without really gaining a feel for its position at the crossroads between the east and the west. Our visit to the local bar with a decidedly Turkish ambience had whetted our appetite to explore further but the thought of getting soaked to the skin a second time in 24 hours did not lreally appeal.

Dzenan kindly suggests an alternative route down south towards Dubrovnik and points out some of the highlights along the way.

On this route we once again call into the small town of  Konjic but this time take time out to view the Old Bridge and stop for coffee and pizza at Restoran Han overlooking the Neretva River ( the same one on which Mostar is sited ).

We proceed south through the river gorge and glorious scenery, now more visible as the weather brightens up. After Mostar we turn east through Blagaj where we come across the very impressive fortress of Herceg Stjepan atop a very deep gorge. Maureen, whose fear of heights make me look like Edmund Hillary, finds this road a little testing but seems to have confidence in the Obese One who has so far carried out the driving duties.

Route takes us across a fairly high plateau and some agriculture lands where live must be incredibly tough for the farmers. Driving this route is for the most part uneventful we are slowed down for a while as two young lambs decide that they want some milk from mum’s teats right in the middle of the road. The canine population of Herzegovina was also almost reduced by one when a crazy hound suddenly decided to cross the road at the last minute ( almost quite literally ! ).

Eventually arrive at Gacko where we pick up the main road to Trebinje. On the shores of a large lake near Bileca Gail spots a large hotel across the other side which she feels may be our hotel for the night. As we draw closer it becomes clear that the last guests probably checked out some decades previously.

Hotel Konak is a very welcome sight after the long drive and we are soon seated in their very traditional restaurant enjoying a lamb roast and local white wine.

A few dramas when the receptionist at the hotel is very reluctant to accept payment in KMs ( Convertible Marks ), the local currency. When she realises that it’s KMs or nothing she seems to become more cooperative. We have come across this problem previously in countries which want to enjoy some of the benefits of trading in Euros ( which is in fact illegal in B&H) but do not wish to being officially part of the Euro zone.

In bed by 10  after doing my blog duty.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

Tuesday 13th May 2014

Our replacement rental car arrives from Split and this time it’s a Skoda. It can’t be worse than the VW Passat and this time it only has 211 kms on the clock.

The usual great breakfast , after which we say our goodbyes to our hosts Nermin and Dzanita and set off, bound for the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. More magnificent scenery as we follow a succession of river gorges and lakes on a miserable day, weather-wise. Find a restaurant at Konjic where we get the usual very strong coffee and some very tasty apple slices which are really baklava.

Press on to Sarajevo amid rapidly worsening weather  and find this city’s traffic by far the worst of any we have so far come across. One way streets abound and the torrential rain only makes matters worse. At one point we end up in blind alley , blocking a resident’s access to his house. The kind man explains that this has happened before and he extricates us from this mess by turning round our vehicle and pointing us  in the direction of  the correct street. We duly arrive at a lovely modern house  set on the hill above Sarajevo and are greeted by  a delightful couple, Dzenan and Alma. After a very welcome cup of tea we wander down to the Old Town and visit the City Museum, mainly to shelter from the pouring rain.

Find a local bar  with a great ambience and Gail tries out a local berry brandy which goes down very well.

Take a taxi to a restaurant Kibe high on the hillside above the centre. Dzenan had suggested this eatery, to which Angelina Jolie had been previously and which is apparently frequented by the in-crowd of Sarajevo. Our arrival looking like half-drowned derelicts would have done nothing for their reputation! The meal was everything that Dzenan had said it would be  so we headed back to our accommodation suitably fed and watered.

Turn in for an early night in expectation that the weather the next morning will allow us to further explore this east/ west melting pot of a city.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

Monday 12th May 2014

Put it down to fatigue caused by having been put through the wringer and speaking German most of the day but there were some glaring omissions from yesterday’s blog.

First and foremost I forgot to mention that in a much-appreciated gesture, John, the old fox, had slipped away during our dinner at Hindin Han to foot the bill for our lovely evening meal. Our old mate is full of surprises.

Secondly, we visited a photographic exhibition in the Helebija Tower overlooking the Old Bridge in Mostar. This was by a New Zealand photographer Wade Goddard who visited Mostar at the age of 22 in 1992 and began documenting the hardships of a population without water, electricity and with very little food. The photos provide a graphic record of these terrible times.

A propos these hardships I also omitted to mention the moment when the Bosnian guide whom we met during our walk, in trying to underline how difficult life still is in Bosnia had patted John’s, shall we say well-covered stomach and had suggested that, if he and J could swap places for 3 months J would achieve a weight loss more quickly than any Weight Watcher customer.

I promise to improve my game and try to write blogs before I and my muse have gone to sleep.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

Monday 12th May 2014

In  line with everything else in this fine B&B the breakfast is of the highest quality and Nermin is full of information on what happened to his family and the city in general during the tragic and brutal war of the 1990’s. He points out the shell of a high school next door to the B&B which had been virtually obliterated at the time and that his current building had been created from similar ruins. It is now a very fine, elegant hotel with evidence throughout of his wife Dzanita’s interior design flair.

While waiting for more contact from Fleet we check out the Old Town and come across a man who turns out to be tourist guide. He had apparently lost his whole family in the war but had a relative in Australia, whom he was planning to visit. He was a Muslim but married to a Catholic and really was at a loss to understand why enmities continued to exist in this part of the world. He was also touting for business but at 20 euros per person for a 2 hour walking tour we felt that this was a bit exorbitant.

Coffee at a small cafe near Stari Most and then have to return to the hotel to await the arrival of Local VW mechanics to check out the car (  I had previously had a lengthy conversation in German with someone at VW warning me of their arrival ).

Checks using a mobile computer appeared to suggest dirty fuel or more likely a fuel injection problem. Leaving M and G in town J and I go off in our car driven by one of the VW guys ( both non-English speakers ) to their main service facility. We are promised that it will take one hour to complete the full check on their main computer so we venture out to enjoy the ‘ scenery ‘ of the Industrial Park. On returning after one hour we find that they haven’t started yet so wait another 20 minutes. We then told that they can find no problem but on the advice of VW have replaced the car’s computer software.

Tomo, the Service Manager, takes us on a test drive , during which the warning light reappears and the car exhibits the same problems. Another phone call to Fleet to tell them that we need a new car at the hotel early the next morning so that we can continue our journey to Sarajevo. Take our car back to hotel and while we are getting temporarily lost in the Mostar traffics J points out to me that the red roses across the street are very nice. They probably were but at that particular moment botany was the last thing on my mind!

Receive a call from Anna, the manager from Fleet Dubrovnik Airport with the news that a replacement car will be delivered by 8.00 am the next day. Buoyed by this news J and I set off on a walking tour, mainly of the east bank of the river and see further evidence of the catastrophic damage caused to its during the futile Balkan War.

Along the way we visit a small cemetery where almost all of the graves commemorate people who died in 1993, the worst year of the war.

To say this is confronting and heartbreaking is an understatement and to see so many young lives lost underlines the futility of these hostilities.

Back to Hindin Han for another fine meal, overlooking Stari Most.

Gail Maureen & John

We will leave Mostar the next day encouraged by the progress, albeit slow, being made to return this beautiful city to its former glory but also deeply saddened to see the wanton damage  and death caused over a relatively short period in the 1990’s.

On that sombre note I’m off to bed

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

An early start and after breakfast at the apartment Mr Bogdanovic drives us to the Bus Station for us to take the bus to Dubrovnik Airport to pick up our rental car. Much to our dismay we are advised by the lady at the ticket office that the bus does not stop at the airport so we would have to take it to Dubrovnik and then take a bus or taxi back to the airport.

One compensation is that the drive around the fjord towards Dubrovnik and especially the last kms before we reach this world-famous city are quite simply breathtaking.  Why the bus cannot stop at Cillipi to drop us off for the airport is one of life’s mysteries as the terminal is literally only 200 hundred metres from the road on which we are travelling. Ours not to reason why, I suppose.

Do not venture into the city itself as we plans to return later in our journey and find a very friendly taxi-driver to take us back to the airport.

Pick up up VW Passat at Fleet Rent-a-Car and set off on our merry way to Mostar in Bosnia – Herzegovina. Interesting scenery without reaching the splendour of Kotor and the surrounding area and we are very happy with our VW, at least at this stage!

As we head north I notice that the car is rather sluggish and as we approach a town called Stolac we suddenly lose power and we are forced to pull into a side road to check out the warning symbols which have now appeared on the dashboard. What follows is bordering on the farcical. I try to interpret the meaning of the warning symbol by referring the car manual, only to find that it is all in Croatian. Yours truly then phones to Fleet and tries to read out to the office clerk the Croatian notes from the manual. One way or another I get the message through but as it is Sunday it seems very unlikely that Fleet will be able to get assistance to us. While considering our position we meet up with a couple of blokes ( at different times ), neither of whom speak English. One of them speaks German so he manages to say to me that he doesn’t believe the problem is major and that we should press on to Mostar. The second guy agrees with this and while I am on the phone to Fleet John is off engaging in a lengthy conversation with both men. Not sure how he achieved this as they didn’t speak English and as far as we know J’ s Croatian is non-existent. However, in due course J comes back with the news that he has managed to glean from the guys that the building nearby used to be furniture factory! We are still wondering how this startling piece of news might make a contribution to solving the car problem but as we are finding out J’s eccentricities are to provide to a constant source of amusement,

Decide to press on to Mostar, albeit at a very slow pace, and arrive at Shangri La Mansion, our hotel, at about 4.30.  Meet up with the delightful owners Nermin and Dzanita and settle into the lovely 2 bedroom apartment.

Before walking into town we sit on the roof-top terrace to enjoy the bottle of red which had been given to us by the Bogdanovic family in Kotor. Nermin speaks excellent English and works as an interpreter for United Nations. He had previously worked as a photographer in the army and his claim to fame was that he had translated Pink Floyd’ s lyrics into the Bosnian language.

Gail John Maureen

He recommends the Hindin Han restaurant in town and off we go enjoy a fine dinner close to the famous Stari Most ( Old Bridge ). The meal is everything we could wish for and our first view of parts of the Old Town whets our appetite for the following day.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

Saturday 10th May 2014

Breakfast in restaurant overlooking Kotor Fjord on the way into the Old Town and Gail, John and I set off through the North Gate to walk up the demanding path to the Castle of St John ( 260 metres and 1350 steps to the top ).

Maureen stays in town to do some retail therapy. Gail does a sterling job to get two thirds of the way and J and I press on to the top. It is a walk/ climb not to be taken lightly and much to J’s amusement  this well- known vertigo-sufferer freaks out when we have to cross decidedly fragile metal plate footbridge which is the only way of entering the fortress itself.

John admiring the view above Kotor

On the way back down we meet a couple from Dunfermline who had been to Perth recently to recapture the moment when they had first met in Perth, Scotland many years ago. Who said romance was dead.

Towards the bottom of the descent we met another  couple, he dressed in an England sleeveless football shirt and dripping with perspiration and the wife with her peaches and cream complexion as red as a lobster. J and were laying bets that they wouldn’t get to the top, al least no alive!

Meet up with Maureen, who has managed to buy a very elegant outfit in town, and sit at an alfresco cafe outside the walls of the Old Town to enjoy drinks. We also manage to arrange a private boat trip on the fjord for 4.30 pm. In the interim J explores the waterfront while I head off in the opposite direction to the supposedly more modern part of the town. Very sad to see this area in such a state of disrepair and the former pre-eminent Hotel Fjord overlooking the water in totally derelict state. While taking a photograph of this once glorious building I was approached by a man who had worked there in its heyday ( and probably from his appearance his heyday as well ). He regaled me with stories of its former splendour and gave an insight into why it had gone into such rapid decline ( corruption, poor management among other things )

The boat trip on the fjord with Ivan, the skipper and his wife, is an absolute delight which ends with him phoning a friend on shore whose father owns a restaurant, Tiha Noc ( quiet night ) specialising in lamb dishes. We are dropped off on shore and driven to the restaurant by the restaurant owner’s son. The meal lives up to expectations and we later take the short walk back to the flat after a day to remember in this fantastic location.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

Friday 9th May 2014.

Start off the day with a quick trip to the town for breakfast at an alfresco cafe in the main square and subsequently find The Blue Palace which had proved so elusive on our stroll around the town the previous evening. For history buffs this was built during the 1890’s and served as a model for other royal palaces around the country. The heir to the ruling house of Montenegro, Prince Nikola Petrovic Njegos regularly visits Cetinje and he lives in part of the palace when visiting.

On the way back to our flat we are accosted at the bus station by the same driver who took us to our accommodation the previous day. He is very keen to either take us on a panoramic tour of the mountains near Kotor or just take us to Budva, half-way between Cetinje and Kotor, our next overnight stop.

We left him with a promise to contact him we needed his assistance. However, on returning to the flat Branka, the owner, tells us that his neighbour across the road, Milos is a taxi driver and will take us to Kotor via Budva ( where we can have a 2 hour stop ). We take out the offer with some alacrity.

The drive takes us through some superb scenery as we reach a vantage point above Budva Milos stops so that we can take one of the most awesome sights as we look down to the bay far below us and the tourist town of Budva.

We duly get our 2 hour break at Budva , during which we stroll down to a busy and very pebbly beach and make a tour of the interesting old town.

More great scenery between Budva and Kotor and the setting of the latter on the shores of a splendid fjord and under the imposing peak of Mount Lovcen ( 1749 metres ) is really breathtaking. Arrive at the two bedroom apartment owned by the Bogdanovic family and toss a coin to select the bedrooms. Maureen and John win the toss and are rewarded by the view towards the fjord. We are in what Gail describes as The Kiddies Room. Nevertheless it a lovely apartment and the owners could not be more helpful. We decide that it is time to take a bit of a breather so we book the flat for two nights instead of one.

J and I walk down to the magnificent Old Town to check things out and find a likely looking fish restaurant Cesarica which had been suggested to us by Mrs Bogdanovic.

Return to collect the ladies and head off back to town for dinner. Little time after a fine meal to tour the town so returned to the flat to plan following day in Kotor.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

Thursday 8th May 2014

Breakfast in the 5th floor restaurant of the hotel with good views over the city.

The evening before G and I had decided that we had brought too many clothes and that trudging around with such heavy cases was proving to be a hassle .  Surely it would be a simple task to pack some items together and send them back to Aus from the local post office. Wrong again!  No help from the front desk at the hotel so I head off to a mega-market nearby to buy the necessary packing paper. No joy there but a very helpful English-speaking shop assistant directed me to a small post office where she thought I would be able to find the required materials. Two very elderly ladies in the post office spoke not a word of English but did get the message through to me that they only accepted letters, anyway. Back to the mega-market to ask ( maybe plead would be a better word ) the same shop assistant for help with a box or something similar. Eventually, get an ideal box to accommodate our surplus clothes and head off back to the Ramada to do the packing.

All packed and ready to go so John and walk down to a larger post office near the bus station. After signing my name at least 7 times on various documents I receive the news that it will cost 131 euros for the postage to Australia! Decide to suffer the financial pain and treat the whole thing as a learning experience. John and Maureen’s cases way 10 and 15 kgs respectively so we supposedly experienced travellers are obviously a bit dumb.

No time to visit the centre of Podgorica so off to the bus station for the short trip Cetinje, the former capital of Montenegro.

Check into flats above this delightful town where we meet the owners Vojo and Branka Stankovic and their friend Bojo Popovic. Bojo is former merchant seaman who is a real larrikin.Take a walk in the centre to view the many fine buildings, most of them former embassies. These appear to have been maintained in excellent condition with the notable exception of the former Russian Embassy which is now in a state of total disrepair. This may be a way of Montenegro making a statement to their former masters.

Dinner at Korzo restaurant on the very attractive pedestrian main street. Join ends up with a mixed grill big enough to solve the Biafra food shortage.

Another quick tour after dinner before heading off back to our flat.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

Wednesday 7th May 2014.

Leave flat at 8.00 am and arrive at the train station in good time for our 9.10 train to Podgorica.

We leave behind a city and a country where life appears to be very tough and certainly struggling more in an economic sense than their neighbours to the north. Moreover, there appears to be a continued undercurrent of unease in the relationship with Croatia. Hopefully this will dissipate as time goes by.

Our 10 hour train journey to Podgorica almost didn’t come to pass as while we were in Zagreb we had received a text from Maureen stating, and I quote verbatim ” John has spoken to staff at bank who say don’t take train to Podgorica it’s dangerous and dirty. They said bus is far better.”

This came as a bit of a surprise as firstly Gail had checked out a site called ‘ man in seat 61’ who had described it as one of the world’s scenic journeys. Even more to the point was John’s reliance on the local bank clerk for expertise on train travel in this part of the world! Whilst we may not be experts in the field experience has taught us that we are safer to rely on such as travel agents, tourist offices and such institutions when making our travel plans! Time will tell.

The train leaves on time, which is a good start , and, although crowded, the carriages and seats are comfortable.

Initially, the landscape is fairly underwhelming but as we travel further south and into Montenegro we come across some truly awesome scenery, especially the Moraca Canyon which is not one for vertigo- sufferers. The train track is in fact perched at an impossibly high level above the gorge and the canyon does not suffer by comparison with the equally spectacular Gorge du Verdun in Southern France.

Montenegro is a singularly beautiful country and Podgorica is in a superb location surrounded by mountains on most sides.

We arrive in the city at 7.30 pm. ( on time ) and the only danger we have encountered has come in the form of the top coming off a feed bottle being administered to a little 7 month old called Pavla by his young Mum Maria who had got on with her friend Diana at Uzice in Serbia! Fortunately, the projectile didn’t quite reach John so he arrived at his destination totally unscathed

Trundled on foot from the nearby station to Hotel Ramada, dragging cases behind us ( more on this later) . VERY jaded from our 10 hour journey so it’s dinner at the hotel and then straight to bed.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

Tuesday 7th May

Wake up to bright , sunny day  and eggs on toast served up by our travelling chef, John. The flat is in a very convenient location close to the city centre and offers all that we require for our short stay. Set off relatively early to walk into the pedestrian are on Kneza Mihaila. We meet up with a very charming man who had previously lectured at Southampton University in Specialisation, whatever that might be. Firstly offers a quick lesson on Serbia’s use of the Cyrillic alphabet and how to pronounce ‘trg,meaning  square. This requires the speaker to really roll their ‘ rrrs’ so we should have some fun with that one!

New-found guide suggests that we focus mainly on the large Kalemegdan Park and Stefan the Tyrant’s Castle so off we go but not before stopping at a Coffee Bar. Maureen and I settle for a standard cappuccino  but John and Gail have to try the hot chocolate. This turns out to be precisely that, namely 100 per cent melted chocolate.

Kalemegdan Park offers superb views over the Sava and Danube Rivers and on this particular day was crowded with hordes of students lying on the castle’s  battlements doing their sunflower pose and trying to get an early spring suntan.

Visit Ruzica Church and walk by St Petka Church where I mistake the burning of incense candles outside the latter for a wood-fired pizza oven to serve a nearby cafe, much to John’s amusement ! I’ m sure that he won’t miss any chance to remind me of my faux-pas over the coming days but he may find out that hell hath no fury like a blog-author scorned.

Back downtown to Trg Republika for lovely alfresco lunch then proceed to Trg Nikole Pasica then proceed past the very impressive National Assembly and St Mark’s church to the huge St Sava Temple. Started in 1939 and the exterior only finished in 1990 its interior is being done in stages as funds become available.

Evening spent dining at Casa Nova after a professional footballer playing in the Belgian 2nd Division recommends it to us as we walk past the restaurant.

The waiter serving us, Dzeko ( I may have the spelling wrong ) makes it a memorable  evening , regaining us with stories about his 50 year-old  friend who is a taxi driver in Perth and providing us with an insight of  life in Serbia when married to a Croatian wife, with 2 children. There does appear to be a real brain-drain taking place and who can blame the young professionals when the average monthly wage , according to Dzeko is about 300 Euros per month.

We are spoiled with free peach schnapps ( or rakija ) and desserts and leave with a promise to give Casa Nova a glowing reference on Trip Advisor.

Back at the flat I watch Man U beat Hull 3- 1 and see Giggs making what might be his last appearance for the club.

In bed by 11.oo to prepare for next day’s long train journey to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

Monday 5th May 2014

First task after breakfast is to return the rental car and on the way back to call in at the railway station. We had tried previously to book tickets for the Zagreb  to Belgrade 6 hour 37 minute journey, a challenge which one would expect to be fairly straightforward. Our first discussions with the railway clerk had taken place on Saturday 3rd May and she had informed us that the 11.15am train which we had planned to take two days later was running over 200 minutes late so she obviously had remarkably prophetic powers.

Gail had subsequently checked out the website and true enough the 11.00 am train was showing up as leaving at 14.50.

Armed with this information we approached the same afore-mentioned clerk again and she now confirmed that the train was leaving at 15.20.

With no other options available to us Gail bought two tickets ( I left it up to her as my patience was running rather low) and left the station to return to the hotel to check out. On the way out of the station we noticed that the 11.00 am was still showing on the departures so we asked another information clerk to check this out. She confirmed that the 15.20 was the only train leaving for Belgrade that day.

Totally confused, we walk back into the centre of Zagreb, check out and enjoy a few hours strolling around the lovely Old Town. This led to a re-appraisal of our views on Zagreb as the Old Town is delightful with some very pretty tree-lined streets and an ambience a far cry from the more frenetic newer part of the town.

Arrive at the station in good time for our train, having bought some food to eat during the long journey as we had been advised that no restaurant car was available. Wrong again as we found the the said restaurant car next to our own carriage!

A very uneventful but comfortable trip through some fairly uninspiring scenery although Gail did offer a moment of light entertainment with a ‘Gailism’. She was checking the details on the journey’s duration and casually remarked that having checked the calculations the train ” was in fact on time but 4 hours late”.  Mrs I’ s logic is always a source of joy and amusement.

Train chugged into Belgrade shortly after 10 pm and after short taxi ride we arrive at the flat we are sharing with Maureen and John, our friends from Busselton. Too tired to have more than a quick cup of tea then off to bed feeling decidedly jaded.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

Sunday 4th May 2014

After fine continental breakfast served up by polyglot Ana we check out of the B&B  and drive the short distance to the entrance to Plitvice Lakes. Murphy is making his presence felt again as we face incessant rain, still worse the news that many of the boardwalks around the lower lakes are flooded and closed. Moreover, the temperature has dropped to just above 2 degrees. Hopefully Murphy will die of frostbite.! The recent torrential rainfall has an up and a down side. On the plus side the volume of water has made the waterfalls even more spectacular than usual and has created more small waterfalls coming down through the woods above the various lakes. The downside is that we do miss out on viewing some of the lakes at close quarters.

However, nothing can detract from the magnificence of the Plitvice Lakes which thoroughly deserve their Unesco listing. The photos which will be coming through on the blog shortly will do far more justice to this natural wonder than any of my words. In spite of the weather the crowds are huge and a true United Nations melting pot although one nation seems to dominate. I don’t like singling any country out but suffice it to say that I now understand why Craig says spring is a good time to visit Japan. Apart from the flowers the country must be empty at this time. Coming from a sparsely populated like Australia we find it quite a shock when hordes of mainly Japanese treat getting on a shuttle bus tantamount to the fight to obtain a place on a Tokyo train during rush hour.

We spend about 6 hours at the lakes and leave feeling that we have truly experienced one of the world’s unforgettable natural sights.

 
Take a slightly different route back to Zagreb  and see some evidence of the previous night’s snowfall on the hills near to Plitvice.

The scenery on the way back is pleasant without being spectacular , a comment which could equally apply to Zagreb itself.

Best Western Hotel in great location and as we are probably looking like two worn-out, fragile old codgers we are given an upgrade to a suite.

Decide on a return visit to the fish restaurant Ribice I Tri Tockice and once again have a lovely meal at very reasonable prices.

Coming back reminds us that on the previous occasion Gail gave us one of her now famous ‘Gailisms’ when she referred to a .5 litre carafe of wine as really 2 glasses short of a bottle! This could go down alongside ‘ two sandwiches short of a picnic’ and other such sayings to describe the intellectually-challenged.

Gail returned to the hotel while I went on a short stroll through this unremarkable city.

Next stop will be Belgrade tomorrow after a 6 hour train journey.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

Saturday 3 rd May 2014

Breakfast at hotel fine and afterwards it’s off to Onyx Car Rental to pick up a vehicle to travel to the Plitvice Lakes.

Plan had been for me to walk to the Onyx office, collect the car and then pick Gail up from the Sheraton. This was thwarted by the teeming rain so we take a cab to collect our Opel Astra and start towards the southwest and the iconic lakes. Lunchtime stop at Slunj which is located on a hilltop on the old Zagreb to Split road,above the Korana Gorge with its series of small waterfalls and rapids. Very tasty lunch at Rastoke, an old water milling settlement in a very picturesque location.

On arrival at Plitvice we check out the two entrances to this Unesco-listed area and obtain ticket details at Entrance 1 for the next day.

Eventually arrive at our B&B in Rastovac, to be greeted by the owner Ana who claims to speak 3 other languages in addition to Croatian, namely German, English and Italian, listed in order of proficiency. She , in fact , speaks a mixture of all three and at the same time but we manage to get by one way or another. 

We meet up with a lovely couple from Hobart, John and Sue and compare notes on our respective trips to date.

They have had a late lunch so we drive to a restaurant nearby recommended by Ana for a pizza.  

Finish what has been a filthy day weather-wise by bringing the blog up-to-date and Gail sorting out various matters on the computer. The two of us also select photos for the website which will be coming your way soon, folks.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

2nd May 2014.

I hope that you picked up my April Fool’s Day joke  when I wrote April 1st rather than May 1st!

Check out of the very fine Cubo Hotel with their excellent reception staff Luka and Sacha and head off for last quick walk along the Ljubljana River and Old Town. Calorie time again when we finally get to enjoy ice creams from the Cameo Cafe which we had admired a few times during our strolls around the city.

The weather for once is glorious and shows off this great city at its best.

The 2.45 train to Zagreb leaves almost 30 minutes late although it does make up some time along the way during the 2 1/2 hour journey.

A bit of a novelty when we have our passports stamped on leaving Slovenia and entering Croatia. This is an all-to -rare occurrence these days with border controls often non-existant, especially in Europe.

The weather returns to normal and by the time we get to Zagreb the skies are looking very threatening.

Sheraton Hotel not on a par with Cubo and a typical large chain hotel. However, the girl at reception, Nev, is very helpful and suggests a small restaurant in the Old Town, Ribice i Tri Tockice, which really lives up to her praise, offering some quality seafood at very reasonable prices.

Although the various guidebooks had hardly offered glowing endorsements of Zagreb G and I decide to talk a short walk towards the Old Town and the superb gothic cathedral area. As it turns out we are pleasantly surprised because , whilst it doesn’t immediately impress in the same way as Budapest and Ljubljana, it has a great atmosphere in the evening with so many alfresco dining establishments and some lovely open large squares.

All in all a fairly routine day but look forward to next day’s visit to the Plitvice Lakes which are Croatia’s greatest tourist attraction .

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

Thursday 1st April

Breakfast at hotel superb, although a little too calorie-laden for our own good.

City blanketed in fog but with the prospect of a sunny day.

If I come across Murphy I’ll kill him as we have arrived in Ljubljana on a National Holiday and many museums and most shops are closed.

Fortunately, the City Museum( apparently the best one for Slovenian history) and the Castle are open so after a quick visit to Preseren Square before the crowds arrive we head off to the City Museum. This brilliantly showcases the Ljubljana in all its good and bad colours throughout history. Probably in an effort to avoid offending us the girl at the ticket office offered us Student’s tickets rather than Seniors.

Parliament House Ljubljana

3 bridges Ljubljiana

  one of the ‘3 bridges’ LjubljianaDragon Bridge

With our egos suitably intact we spend about 2 enjoyable and instructive hours before setting off to the river for a 45 minute trip on a river  cruise. On board I meet up with some Italians from Sicily and after I had attuned my ear to their dialect I was able to have a fairly lengthy conversation, good preparation for our Italian stay later on in this trip.

Views from the river cruise

Under very threatening thunder clouds we take a VERY steep funicular up to the Ljubljana Castle, high on a hill above the city.

Missed out on a discounted ticket for the Castle as the obviously short-sighted girl at the ticket office didn’t ask us whether we were seniors.

We start off the tour by a visit to the Outlook Tower but only Gail is brave enough to tackle the 100 cast- iron steps to the viewing platform. Even Gail admits that it certainly was not for me!

Spiral Staircase Ljubljana Castle

After viewing a Virtual Castle video showing the history of the castle we stop off to shelter from the pouring rain and another calorie intake.

Time to book train tickets to Zagreb and book a table at Julia’s restaurant, recommended by Luka at the hotel. Top-class meal in great ambience and return to hotel to prepare for departure for Zagreb the next day.

We would heartily recommend a visit to this delightful city which can best be described as a Slovenian Lucca, full of history, character and small enough to cover easily on foot. Slovenia itself has been a revelation and one can only hope that the Government manages to overcome the current serious economic problems and avoid the same fate as such as Greece. Disturbingly, we heard quite a few comments form locals which suggested that a return to the previous pre-independent days would not be such a bad thing.

We will be sorry to leave Slovenia but hopefully Croatia will be equally welcoming.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

Wednesday 30th April

Check out from hotel and say goodbye to the staff, Petra, Dejan, Alexander and Sebastjan who have been fantastic hosts.

Finally manage to convince a very work shy gondolier to take us out to Bled Island in the middle of the lake. We had tried the previous day to make the trip but to no avail. Even today we had to wait about 20 minutes so that he could load up the gondola with 15 passengers. At 12 euros each person it’s not bad money, although with his work ethic he may only make one trip per day!

Take the 1.30 bus from Bled fro the 90 minute trip to Slovenia’ capital, Ljubljana.

Check into Hotel Cubo which is a well-appointed hotel very close to the city centre.

Walk to the Old Town to plan the next day’s itinerary and book dinner at Spajza Restaurant. Superb meal with me winning the award for Messiest Diner when tackling the Scampi dish.

1 of the many fabulous Restaurants we had dinner at in Slovenia

End the evening on an interesting note when we hear a lady at the next table order an Australiano coffee. She turns out to be a polish woman , now living in Australia, who refuses to order an Americano as the coffee is always too insipid. She has a real supporter in my better half.

Short walk along the river in this lovely small city, of which more tomorrow.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

Tuesday 29th April

Great breakfast at hotel and then we await the arrival of our rental car booked on the previous day. The brand new VW Golf is duly delivered and we set off to Kranska Gora, apparently Slovenia’s best-equipped and most popular ski resort. It’s an attractive small town reminiscent of Whistler in Canada but it is set against a superb backdrop of some of the highest mountains in Slovenia, including Mount Triglav, at 2864 metres the highest peak in the country.

,                        

However,our main reason for being here is to start off on the famous Russka Cesta across the Vrsic Pass ( 1611 metres ). This miracle of road building was ordered by the Germans during the Second World War, using over 10,000 Russian POWs, working under brutal conditions. 400 of the Russians were killed in an avalanche and this is commemorated at the Russian Chapel on the way up to the top of the pass. The scenery is stunning and the descent to the south and to the town of Bovec requires full concentration from the driver ie yours truly.

Based on advice from the girl in the tourist office in Kranska Gora we had decided to travel back to Bled via a town called Podbrdo.

As she had explained the road actually ends at this town and seemingly to avoid the very high cost of extending it they now offer a car train through a tunnel to Bohinje Bistrica where we pick up the road back to Bled. The 10 minute journey on the VERY old train is quite an experience and a real throwback to a bygone era.

Sitting in trailer on ‘car train’

Before heading back to Bled we visit the Bohinje Lake and the Slap Savica. A steep hike up to this spectacular Waterfall is well worth the effort. Bohinje Lake is a real Mecca for hikers but high season must be a bit of a nightmare, judging by the tourist numbers even at this early stage..

Slap Savica

Usual superb dinner at Vila Preseren and early night.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

Monday 28th April.

It’s difficult to find enough superlatives to do justice to this magnificent lake and the surrounding mountain scenery. With the imposing Bled Castle perched high above the lake and Bled Island set against a backdrop of incomparable beauty it is no wonder that it has become the most popular tourist destination in Slovenia.

Gail and I decide to head off up into the hills above the lake to visit Vintgar Gorge. The walk is fairly taxing but we are spurred on by the prospect of seeing what from the brochures at the hotel appears to be a spectacular location.  Murphy comes into play again as the gorge walkway is closed due to some landfalls along the banks of the river. We have to be satisfied with a few glimpses of the gorge from afar and set off back to Bled.

Beautiful Springtime Lilac

Just before our arrival in town we fins a pleasant surprise in the form of The George Best Pub, complete with numerous photos and an Irish National Team shirt which GB had worn. Apparently, the owner, an Irishman and an avid GBG fan decided to make the pub a bit of a shrine to Georgie but it was certainly the last thing we expected to see in this corner of Slovenia.

Just to give our aching muscles one last test for the day we climb the steps to Bled Castle. The castle itself is not exactly a world-beater but its position above the lake is breathtaking, quite literally for this long-term vertigo sufferer.

Get back to town to organise a car rental for the following day and to finish off our exercise regime for the day we take the 6 kms+ walk around the lake.

Finally, another great dinner at the hotel then turn in to be ready for our long trip the following day.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret