Wheels Around Europe . . . . . . .

Sunday, 3 June 2018

Unexpectedly Elegant Opatija

Well, today we have made it to five weeks on the road Wheelin` Around Europe with no major mishaps, incidents or fall outs. Oh, more on that later. We have had an amazing time so far with some great memories of the places we visited.

We are probably at the half way point and now have four to five weeks for the return leg. It has gone so fast I can hardly believe it. Seems like only yesterday we were rained off in Bruges !

I think we have reached about as far south as we are going to go on this trip and some replanning of the onward route has been done.

It has been decided not to go down to Split to get the ferry across to Ancona in Italy and up through Tuscany. The knock on effect will also be to rule out visiting the French Riviera which Sue is not happy about.

A discussion was had and the driver and the dog out voted her and reached a democratic decision. Louis looking for a cooler route home !

I am disappointed in missing Tuscany but not bothered about French Riviera which my instinct tells me will be too hot, too expensive, too crowded and not in the least bit motorhome friendly.

The main reasons for the change are we found it really hot and humid in north Italy and going down to Split and Tuscany may involve similar or higher tempertures.

Also the cost of living is very much much higher in Italy and France so our money will go so much further on our new route ! Which is……….

From the PlitviceLakes National Park where we are tonight to drive to the island of Krk, just off the Croatia mainland coast and linked by a toll bridge.

We`ll have a few days at a campsite that is highly recommended and directly on the beach so plenty of sunbathing options. The elusive fridge part is being couriered there all being well.

From there we will head north into Slovenia to visit the Soca Valley and Lake Bled.

Then on to Austria which I expect will be stunning. Into Germany and west through the Bavaria region where I`m led to believe nearly every town and village is picture postcard good. Exact route is a bit vague yet.

Then probably Luxembourg and Belgium but I`ve not thought that far ahead yet !

So there we have it, not as originally planned but I`m sure it will be every bit as good, just different from the Tuscany / France route.

Today we drove to a small town further up the coast of Istria called Opatija, and what a surprise it was. Quite unlike any Croatina town I had ever been to. It has at it`s centre Victorian style elegant villa mansions, now mostly hotels but it is remenicient of UK coastal resorts like Llandudno, except for the climate of course.

We took in the atmosphere and elegance of the surroundings, admired the neatly tended gardens and flower beds and took plenty of photographs of course.

This is most unlike a mediterranian town.

We were then caught in a rain shower, so it felt even more like Llandudno. This sent us scuttling into a café bar to shelter. The shower didn`t last long and soon there was steam rising off the paving as the sun re-emerged.

After lunch we headed in the direction Plitvice Lakes National Park and we are on the outskirts tonight parked up in beautiful rolling hills with lush green fields all around us. The camp is called Zelena Dolina translates as green valley (GPS 44.85803 15.34602). The owner is very friendly and the German man in the next motorhome told me he brings his own homemade peach schnaps around for a nightcap ! He`s not been yet but there`s time.

Tomorrow we are getting up early to head to the Lakes, Trip Advisor recommends an early start to avoid the tour buses full of Japanese and Chinese tourists with selfie sticks.

A view on our route up the coast to Opatija

Opatija town

Opatija town villas

Opatija town

Opatija Maiden with the Seagull

Opatija town garden

Tonights Parking spot on the edge of Plitvice Lakes National Park

Saturday, 2 June 2018

Pula – Roman Splendour

Thankfully there was no repeat of the strange beeping noise last night disturbing us. It did start in the early hours but didn`t keep us awake and didn`t seem to last long, or maybe I just fell back to sleep again.

We left Rovinj and after a quick supermarket shop we headed south for about 40 minutes to the very tip of the Istria peninsular and the port town of Pula.

Pula is mostly the commercial and administrative district for Istria but it does have a couple of ancient Roman remains I wanted to see including the sixth largest Amphitheatre Arena. It is quite a spectacle and must have made a huge impact on the town when it was constructed.

We stopped for a drink in a café on the hill within touching distance of the giagantic stones that made up it`s construction and it was staggering how these were quarried, transported, sculpted by hand to exact measurements and lifted, again mostly by just muscle power and used in construction that has lasted all these century`s for tourists like us to gawp at and wonder at the skills of these people.

Other notable Roman sites are the Zlatna Vrata gate and the Forum in the town square.

After that, Pula is not a particularly attractive town in the way Rovinj is and nor does it have much else to keep us entertained. There was a busy fruit and veg market, sadly the fish market seemed to be closed, or more likely, we were too late !

There was the offer of a boat trip around the Brijuni Nature Reserve islands off the coast of Pula and to see the Summer Palace of Josip Broz Tito, better known just as Tito, the Yugoslav Communist Revolutionary leader.

Sue has a dodgy stomach at the moment so this offer was declined.

So after some lunch we set off for about an hours drive north up the other Istria coast to the tiny village of Sveta Marina (GPS 45.03338 14.158)
It`s quite off the beaten track and I was dreading having to drive all the way back if I didn`t like the look of it, but it is quite an amazing campsite, a real gem !

The campsite occupies a tiny spit of land jutting out into the Adriatic Sea and at the headland it has the most amazing sun terrace, café bar and infinity pool overlooking the azure blue sea. See photos. I`ve never been on a site with an infinity pool before !

If I`d known it was going to be this nice we`d have planned to stay longer, we still could I suppose ? We`ll decide tomorrow.

The plan for tomorrow is to call at a town called Opatija on the way to the Plitvice Lakes National Park to see the famous lakes and waterfalls that cascade down through the different levels.

We`ll probably go into the park on Monday when it should be quieter than on a Sunday.

So we`ll stay there one or two nights.

That`s the plan but as ever, things may change.

Pula Amphitheatre Arena

Pula Forum

Zlatna Vrata gate

Pula street market

Campsite views

Campsite sun terrace

Campsite infinity pool

Ed parked in front of the Arena Pula

Campsite parking spot

Friday, 1 June 2018

Rovinj

This morning, after a rather strange beeping noise kept us awake last night, we awoke to a glorious warm and sunny Istrian morning.

The noise at first sounded like a vehicle reversing, electronic type beep, but it went on, and on, and on. At one point I was ready to get out of bed and go and speak to whoever was making that din and give them a piece of my mind, but I didn`t.

It also changed in tone at pattern from time to time. This morning I spoke to a man in the next motorhome and he heard it also (so I`m not going nuts) he says he regularly hears it when abroad and he doesn`t know what it is either.

I can only think it must be an animal, some birds put out calls at night so maybe that’s the answer, it`s not a sound I heard before so I`m hoping whatever it was, has now found a mate and shuts up tonight !

Maybe it`s the same bird from Aminess Sirena Novigrad followed me here to harass me some more.

We set off early to Rovinj in order to get there before it got too hot.

It is a very beautiful spot the town occupies, we first walked up to the Sveta Eufemija Church on the hill with stunning views of the azure Adriatic Sea below. The church was built in 1736 and the bell tower was inspired by the tower in Saint Marks Square in Venice.

We then wandered down through the lanes looking in the mostly tasteful tourist shops and admiring the stone buildings. The cobbles are interesting, they are a very light colour stone and have a foot polished appearance after many years of having tourists walk them. There are two geological areas in Istria, white Istria and grey Istria, with the two differing colours of limestone rock. Presumably the streets cobbles in Rovinj are quarried from the white Istria limestone.

The town has many narrow cobbled lanes and alleys to explore with lots of bars and cafes having the most amazing views out over the sea. Not forgetting the Gelato sellers that take some willpower to pass without calling in (I weakened and had a single scoop in a cone, delicious).

The cost of living in Croatia is still very reasonable compared to nearby Italy, which I suppose is why there are so many savvy German, Dutch, Italian and Belgium tourists here, and for that matter, why we are still here.

Croatia has pretty much everything, great climate, great scenery, great fish food, lovely warm seas and very genuinely friendly people.

We first came to Croatia, an island called Brac, a few years ago and loved it then and I still feel the same now having seen more of the country.

The harbour is very busy with lots of fishing and tourist boats coming and going, the obligatory pirate ship and glass bottom boat are all here.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable morning spent in Rovinj and for anyone visiting the area it is definately recommended to spend some time here.

Wildlife update, we had a slippery visitor this morning, see photo.

Whilst at Aminess Sirena, Novigrad, there were red squirrels scampering about in the pine trees above us, but were very shy and scattered whenever I got my camera out so no photos unfortunately. I keep looking here but not seen any yet.