Friday, 6 October 2017 to Thursday, 12 October 2017
Friday morning we woke up to one of the best views imaginable over Kvarner Gulf in Istria, Croatia, even though the weather was not wholly agreeable. We stumbled downstairs for breakfast which was, unlike the weather, very agreeable; actually, it was rather amazing. It was the first time we had a choice of bacon on this trip… it had to be amazing, right?

After the third mug of coffee and the freshest croissant, the wind came up and then the rain came swirling down in waves, the sea turned a nasty gray, we were glad to be inside… and eating.

Back in the hotel room we rested and relaxed until the rain calmed down to a drizzle and then took a drive south along the east coast of Istria until we reached Plomin, 26km away from Lovran where we stayed. Plomin seems like a lovely little place except for the power station with its very tall red and white chimney which defaces the area somewhat. The bay there is a remarkably translucent turquoise colour, quite wonderful to see… pity about that chimney and all.

It was raining softly on the way down the coast; on the way back the rain increased which kept us from taking a number of little side roads up the mountain to some of the hill towns which we assumed would have amazing sea views towards the Kvarner Gulf far below.

We stayed on the coastal road and passed Zagorje, Zagore and drove through Brsec. We would have loved to have stopped here for a while but the weather was still too foul to garner our attention. The 10km stretch between Brsec and Moscenicka Draga is just awesome with green mountains to the left and blue seas to the right, unspoilt, no harm from human hands anywhere to be witnessed. We reached Moscenicka Draga, another place we would have wanted to while away some time, but…

From there we passed through Kraj and Medveja, then passed our hotel on the way to Lovran to get something for supper. By the time we got home the rain had stopped and the skies were just opening up, revealing the dark blue colours of the sea which I knew was there… just beautiful.

Our road trip within a road trip here to Istria was fast heading to a close and tomorrow would see us heading back to Slovenia and Ljubljana, with a detour via Novo Mestra…

Saturday we woke up to the most glorious day… a perfectly clear blue sky, a perfectly clear blue ocean with a perfectly clear unobstructed view towards all this blueness, simply stunning… this is the true Croatia that I have come to love over the years.

We finished breakfast at 09:00, checkout was at 11:00, so we used every spare minute we had out on that balcony soaking up the sun and the scene. Once checked out we took a stroll down to the hotel’s private pebble beach, I could certainly spend more time here, much more time, pity the weather was not in our favour yesterday.

Because it was such a beautiful day we decided to take advantage of it and backtracked once again to Brsec, but this time via the mountain road and villages we were not prepared to visit yesterday due to the deluge of rain.

We stopped off in Mošćenice and strolled around its old town, the unobstructed views down to the sea and the islands far below were nothing less than stunning… this is a view I could die for, or with, or in, or whatever, I just need such a view! We gave the old town a onceover which did not disappoint in its understated way; this was more authentic than many.

We reluctantly tore ourselves away from this cool little mountain town and continued along the mountain road through little villages such as Sveta Jelena, Golovik and Martina until we reached Brseč back on the coast. We took a drive through the wonderful little coastal town but time was running out, we had to push on; we still had a way to go for the day.

On the way back to Ljubljana we tried a different route to the one we came to Croatia with, and headed inland and eastwards towards Croatia’s capital, Zagreb. This route is very green with mountains all around with many lovely villages dotting the area. Just before reaching Karlovac we turned left off the highway and soon enough we reached the border.

This happened to be a one-stop border crossing. We presented our passports through the open window to the lovely Croatian lass and soon enough we received the required stamps. We drove one car length further and did the same with the burly Slovenian guy. He closed his window, I was not sure whether that was a good or bad sign. After much kerfuffling he opened his window and asked “Where you going”. I left him with a barrage of our itinerary. He closed his window. He opened his window. “What visa do you have?” “French” I replied. He once again closed… you get the picture. We were there for the best part of five minutes before we heard the stamping of passports… What a lovely sound.

The main reason we chose this route today was to visit Novo Mesto which seemed like a lovely Slovenian town which is almost completely ringed by the Krka River. We settled in at a pub on the square where there was a young crowd in attendance. All were dressed up in their mooi-moois (pretty pretty – clothes), obviously on their way to a wedding and just getting into a party mood.

I ordered a 500ml Heineken draught. Unfortunately they did not have it in stock even though it had the pride of place on their only drinks menu stuck to the door of the pub. The waitress informed that they did have the bottled variety and that it is “nearly 500ml”. With what would have been a bemused look on my face I ordered the “nearly 500ml bottle of Heineken”. The beer arrived in a 0,4 litre bottle, so she was right, “nearly 500ml”. This was the very first time I had ever seen a 400ml Heineken bottle, or any other brand for that matter. Strange size, but true.

We left Novo Mesto feeling underwhelmed with the town which is probably an unfair assessment as we did not spend enough time there. It probably deserves a second look sometime.

We checked into Hotel Steve and Marina at around 18:30 and after supper we got down to some serious tipples, no wonder I slept like a babe. Maybe it was from the long drive, maybe it wasn’t.

It was 11:00 on Sunday morning that we left for Lake Bled. No visit to Slovenia would be complete without visiting Lake Bled, believe me.

We arrived in Bled which lies some 60km northwest of Ljubljana and drove up to the Bled Castle or Blejski Grad from where one gets a lovely view towards the lake below. We walked up the stony path to its entrance, it was heavy going, there was heavy traffic, heavy tourist traffic, people were jostling for position. We got to the ticket booth where a large Chinese tour group was just busy ordering their tickets. It was pandemonium.

I waited while the 1980s printer was ever so slowly printing off their tickets. I had time to take in my surroundings. A young ticket taker lady was standing at the gate to the castle, gathering tickets, obviously. A lady tour guide came rushing past her screaming “Restaurant reservations!” which supposedly gets you free entry, but no proof was provided. She gathered her flock and urged them into the castle, the whole scene smacked of them not having restaurant reservations and they were simply out to gain free entry… either that or the tour guide was just being extremely rude. The poor ticket taker let out a very expressive “F” word under her breath while flipping the tour guide a perfect bird. I gave her an approving smile, I felt for this lass.

I continued waiting while the printer went crr… crr… crr… Tour groups were lining up behind and beside me, there was an English one and a German one, with a Japanese one close behind, there was chaos at the gate. The next moment a blur passed me and when it came into focus I saw Adri pushing her way through the oncoming crowd with a “let’s go, let’s go now!” trailing behind her. I must admit to having had similar thoughts, this was just way too crazy. One can just imagine what it must be like here in high season!

We took a stroll around the castle and got a few wonderful pictures of the lake, then walked down the other side via a million or so steps to the edge of the lake. Bled really is a very special place.

We then drove around the lake and Bled town and identified our perfect spot for a rest and a beer. The spot was perfect as far as the beer went, pity they had no wifi.

On the way back to Ljubljana we stopped in Radovljic, we were hungry. We strolled around the town square but could not find a suitable spot for supper, somehow everyone was out having drinks and snacks and sweet stuff, there seemed to be no proper food in close proximity. We pushed on into Ljubljana town, walked around for a last time as tomorrow we would leave Slovenia behind.

We opted for the same restaurant that Marina introduced us to a while back called Sokol, and once again the food and the beer did not disappoint.

We said our goodbyes to Steve and Marina early-ish on Monday morning; we were heading to Sirmione on Lake Garda, a 400km drive. Soon enough we crossed into Italy and we were happy to be reacquainted with one of our favourite countries. I love the lake districts in Italy and we had previously visited Lake Como, Lake Iseo and Lake Maggiore, but have never had the pleasure to meet Lake Garda, today we would rectify that anomaly.

It was a long drive and I was falling asleep, we had to stop for coffee to get a jumpstart, I woke up as we stopped. We entered a non-descript almost empty looking building but when the door closed behind us we found a hive of activity with people milling about, men standing at the coffee counter hitting back espressos, it was organised chaos, it was wonderful, the people were jubilant and alive, friendly, helpful and loud… just the way we had come to know Italians.

With coffee cups empty we tackled the last part of our journey for the day. We arrived at Lake Garda in its southernmost town called Sirmione late afternoon. After checking in we took a well deserved rest, it was a long day.

Early evening we went for a drive, found a Lidl Supermarket and… shopped. I found beers and wine, Adri found cooked corn on the cob vacuum packed and all, there was mortadella, some form of a brie cheese, tomato, submarine bread, the list continued. This was to be supper, and it was… and it was delicious.

The hotel breakfast Tuesday morning was great… there was bacon… wow! Many comments on booking.com made mention of the great coffee here. This turned out to be somewhat problematic as it seemed like everybody was there just for the coffee, with people hogging that machine relentlessly. People were making cappuccinos and macchiatos, some single, some double, and yet others triple strength. Personally I think it was overrated, the first cappuccino was cold and not strong enough, the next one was too hot and too strong. All things being equal, it was not all bad.

Adri ended up being bilious after breakfast, not sure whether it had something to do with that coffee machine or with her penchant for trying a little bit of everything on offer. And there were a lot on offer.

We took a drive up the west side of the lake, most of the way driving directly next to the clear blue water of the lake, a lovely drive indeed. Our intention was to go halfway up the lake and then double back but it was simply too beautiful and before we knew it we had reached the northern tip of the lake. We passed though a zillion or so tunnels that run through the mountain – mostly so narrow that one has to take much care of oncoming traffic – these ensuring that the road can wind along as close as possible to the lake’s shores.

We passed through the beautiful Limone Sul Garda and after many more tunnels we found ourselves in Riva del Garda, a lovely large holiday town at the northern end of the lake. This was the point of no return; we could just as well continue the circle route around the lake, a hefty 150km of it with much of it not surprisingly slow going. And in any case, there was no way I was going back though them tunnels, not today in any case.

We were back in Sirmione by 17:00 and I wanted… no, I needed a beer. I needed to have one along the way but Adri would have none of it… “On these treacherous roads?” she explained, or rather exclaimed. We stopped off in the old town and we were lucky to find free parking right on the water’s edge.

We walked past the castle at the entrance to the old town, there was no time to visit, I was still in need of a beer. Inside the old town we found a myriad of little shops and cobble stoned streets, people milling about… I have never in my life seen so many ice-cream shops in such close proximity of each other. Some are located right next to each other, but they all seemed to be doing brisk business.

It was time for sunset so we moved closer to the water’s edge where many people had gathered to watch the spectacle. Just before sunset, many people boarded a boat for a sunset cruise, I was happy to stay put. As the sun dipped its head in the west the colours and hues on the water and the sky kept changing continuously, simply amazing! Once it became too dark to distinguish changing colours we reluctantly made our way back to the hotel.

And by the way we still needed a place to stay for the next two days. I had wanted to move on to another lake district but after today’s trip we decided to spend more time on our current lake, albeit somewhere other than the beautiful Sirmione. We found a hotel neatly situated between our two favourite towns, Limone Sul Garda and Riva del Garda. We planned to use these two days to read and relax before our final push back to Amsterdam where we had to return the car in a few days’ time.

Our new hotel was situated somewhere between where the road emerged from one of the many tunnels, right on the shore of the lake with amazing views all around. The place was isolated and peaceful, exactly what we were looking for. On finding that our booked room had no balcony we opted for one with uninterrupted views across the lake. It came at a cost of course, but it was well worth the extra Euros.

It was mid afternoon when I took a nap, yesterday’s travels came home to roost, I could not move. The mist had rolled in over the lake by late afternoon and it turned rather chilly. We stayed in for the night, reading and relaxing as was the plan. We sat on our balcony watching the ferries ferry people to and from the little towns around the lake. They seemed to appear out of nowhere and just as mysteriously disappear from view, gliding silently across the water through the mist. Man, those beers went down well.

Breakfast Thursday was a treat; its contents of course, but also the view over Lake Garda which was still misty in the early morning. We watched from there as the sun’s rays escaped over the top of the mountain on the eastern side of the lake, warming the waters below. Magical.

After a lovely breakfast with proper bacon and good scrambled eggs and a multitude of other fine offerings we sat in the lounge area catching up on some admin; we also needed to decide on our next destination. After much deliberation we finally decided to spend our last two days of our road trip in the Lake Konstanz area in Germany. We secured a lovely looking apartment in a lovely little village not far from the lake.

There is a wind surfing/kite boarding school onsite at the hotel and a number of people were practicing out on the water. The wind had picked up significantly by late morning and we watched as several wind surfers made their very speedy ways across the water. It seemed like too much fun to miss out on, we decided there and then that we needed to try it out sometime in the near future.

Back in the room we continued to read and relax outside on the patio – making sure we use up our full quota of lake view – until 16:15. It was time to board the hotel’s shuttle bus to Limone. Two kilometres and eight tunnels later we were dropped off at the waterfront of Limone, a truly wonderful sight.

We walked along the promenade, passed a few small squares, then walked up and up the winding cobble stoned streets until we reached the Limone Castle, or Limonaia del Castèl. We entered, we needed money… I realised with a shock and a horror that there were only some silver left in that wallet of mine, totalling just less than one Euro. Now that would not do us any good. We exited.

We backtracked out of the Castèl and went searching for an ATM, which of course we found. The ATM was slow, very slow, I was wondering whether it had something to do with the slow looking balance in that account. After waiting an anxious minute or two we were presented with a fistful of Euro notes, I was surprised that the card still worked!

We had eaten too much during the last month on the road; we needed to detox or something… urgently. We entered a Spar, or as they are called in Italy, DeSpar, and stocked up on some fruit for supper to help us in our quest. And of course a detox would not be complete without a beer, which made it into the basket as well, only one though this time around.

We walked back down long and winding cobbled stone streets, back to the waterfront where we parked on a bench, watching the quietness of the lake, boats passing by before us, people passing by behind us, it was bliss. “Limone surely deserves more than two hours of our time” we mused, as we recognised our shuttle bus come to a standstill a short way away. It was the last shuttle for this particular day.

We sat outside on our patio, gazing out into the fast disappearing light over the lake… intoxicating, while we were doing our best at detoxing. When the air became too nippy to be outside we reluctantly moved inside, where our thoughts turned to our upcoming trip home in just a few days.

We had booked our tickets with Turkish Airlines which came with a rather long stay over in Istanbul, something to the tune of 18 hours. This is just way too long even for the hardiest of traveller out there. But, would you believe, this was actually planned! You see, on a long stay over Turkish Airlines arranges guided day trips into Istanbul. We have been to Turkey a few times before but somehow never managed to get to Istanbul. This was a perfect opportunity to see at least something of that city.

As South African citizens we require a visa which can be obtained on arrival or applied for on-line, and is free of charge. So I decided to apply for our visas online tonight. I hesitantly started the online application process but 10 minutes later we were issued with an e-visa via email, multiple entry and valid for travel for the next six months, with a maximum stay of 30 days. Wow, I was duly impressed with Turkey.

Tomorrow we’d be leaving Italy and I’d be dishonest not to admit that we felt kinda sad. We really do love Italy; we really do love the people, we really do feel very comfortable here. We love France, we love Holland, we love all the other places we’ve been to, but somehow we felt really at home here in Italy… maybe we need to spend more time here in the future sometime. Just maybe…

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