Author: odohertyelaine

We leave Kranjska Gora and take the Vrsic pass which is a winding road through the mountains connecting Kranjska Gora to Bovec, fifty kilometers away. There are fifty hairpin turns and it’s narrow enough for us all to feel the need to breath in when cars are coming towards us!! The pass is only open in the summer months so we’re excited to get the chance to see the beautiful scenery that we believe is in store. Jennifer is driving us up and Renee will take over on the other side so I’m feeling confident.

There are a couple of stops of note as we pass through these magnificent Julian alps. The first is the wooden “Russian church”. The road was built mostly by Russian prisoners of war and this church is a memorial to over 300 of them who were buried in an avalanche while working on the road.

Further along there’s a place to pull in to view the mountains. There’s a really cool hole in the mountain That I’m sure looks great when the sun shines throug

Further below you can see the face and body of a person with the change in the colour of the rocks … can you make it out?

Maria is loving it…

Around another hairpin turn we come upon a herd of sheep. They don’t seem to care how close we are and it takes a fair bit of time for them to get across the road and move into the hills.

Renee and I swap from front to back and Maria is all over the place..

A photo opportunity as we reach the top.

We continue the drive down to Bovec and beyond. We pass a lot of small bridges, waterfalls and viewing points. All are beautiful but we have to be choosey or we’ll never get to our destination. This bridge was particularly nice

And this river running into some caves.

Oh yeah Slovenia is also a country full of caves. They have approximately fifty touristic caves that you can visit… we have some on our list for tomorrow. But right now we’re thinking about lunch and Renee mentions that there’s a famous chef who runs a restaurant called Hisa Franco and it’s actually on our route to Piran. Although it’s a fine dining experience that apparently you need to book weeks in advance, we decide to chance our arm and stop by! The maitre di is really friendly and has one of the staff show us around (even the kitchen). She tells us there is a sister restaurant in the local village (called Kobarid) that takes walk ins.

We head there for lunch – it’s called Hisa Polonka and it is the best meal we’ve had so far on our trip.

Fed, watered and delighted with ourselves we continue on the road to Piran. Piran is known as the pearl of Slovenia and it could just as easily be Italy. In fact at one point we think our directions might be sending us via Italy to get there (passports please!!) but as we approach the motorway there’s a barrier block and a diversion for a road closure which we hadn’t really understand earlier on our route. We manage to follow the directions without hitting the Italian border and arrive to the little coastal town right at the tip of Slovenia on the Adriatic and within waving distance of our Italian friends.

The main square:

We are just spending one night here and it’s a “no car” town so we have a 15 minute window to find our accommodation, unpack our bags and get out of the centre to the car park where we can then take a free shuttle back or walk the 1.5kms. We are very organised and have packed an overnight bag each so we can leave the larger cases in the car however we’re not that organised to find the accommodation and when google maps won’t work on the tiny streets it’s a stressful situation in 33 degrees of heat.. Eventually we find it, drop the bags and get back to the driver (Renee, who appears to have managed an outfit change in our absence).

Our next fun adventure is to find the car park and more critically find a spot in the seven story underground car park that is jammed and chaotic with tourists. It appears that no one knows how the system works and cars are blocking the entrance and exit… arghhhh – Piran you headwrecker!!! We find a spot, it’s tight against a wall and we can only get out one side of the car but we take it and are happy to be done with the logistics. It is roasting hot so we walk toward the sea to dip our feet in and cool down. It’s a rocky beach and the stones are very slippy – we do well not to have any falls!

We spend a couple of hours by the water and check out the main square before heading back through the maze of tiny streets to our home for the night. After some much needed air conditioned downtime involving wine and a lot of laughing over the days debrief, we clean ourselves up as much as we can to go back into 30 degree heat at 8pm for dinner in the main square. They are big into their truffles in this neck of the woods so it’s either seafood or pasta with truffles – we all go for a variation of truffle pasta with shrimps or vegetables and a local white wine which is really good. We are entertained by some kids playing in the square (I hear you gasp as this isn’t usually something that I enjoy but this was quite hysterical). A little Italian boy about 6 stood himself up on the small wall around the water found and peed aiming as high as he possible could. No sign of a parent around and he was just delighted with himself. Then we watched as unsuspecting people got drinking water, washed their hands and went about their regular business at the fountain. The fountain in question had been photographed earlier in the day when Renee unwittingly got a photo of this scooter.

Then a little girl who couldn’t have been more than two and a half or three was practicing on her little bike and was flying down the downhill to the square so fast there was only one way this was going to end… her on the ground… she was super cute and dusted herself off with a little wash of her grazed knees … guess where – yep, in the water fountain .. 😂

After dinner we take a walk to the church at the edge of the old town and then call it a night. Piran has been an adventure but between the logistics and the heat we won’t be hanging around tomorrow. We have a similar rigmarole ahead of us in the morning and I’d like to leave under the cover of darkness but we negotiate a 7:30am departure before it gets busy and the heat really hits (although it never really subsided). At least we are sleeping in a cold air conditioned room which is delightful.

Next morning we are on the road to Ljubljana with a couple of significant stops on the way. We manage to get through the checkout process in one piece and are well on the road by 8:30am. Our first stop is at the Skocjan caves. They’re about an hours drive away and we’re happy to get out of Piran and the humidity.

Our guided tour begins with a significant walk from the Visitors Centre to the man-made passageway and entrance to the cliffs. There are two main parts to the caves, the first being the Silent Cave (Tiha jama), which is filled with numerous dripstone formations. Huge stalagmites and stalactites of various shapes and sizes, some with bright colors are all around us. The colours are due to different minerals being present in the rocks. The second cave is called the cathedral – it is a huge open space with giant formations that look like a huge piped organ.

There are no photos allowed inside of the caves for two very important reasons. Firstly the light from the flash affects the natural environment and can cause the formations to stop growing and secondly our ninety minute tour would likely take an extra hour as there are so many cool formations that no doubt the entire tour group (which was a large number) would want to photograph.

The caves are huge… by far the biggest I’ve ever seen, we walk two kilometers through the two caves and there are a further three not open to the public.

Exiting the Cave, we see the underground canyon of the Reka River that we cross on the Cerkvenik Bridge, suspended nearly fifty meters above the riverbed. In 1965 there was a flood on this very day that we’re visiting (September 2nd) where the river was higher than where we were walking on that very bridge…. When we hit the exit we can take some photos..

Next on our list is Predjama castle which is a castle built into a cave. We start with lunch at a restaurant overlooking this very impressive site – isn’t that gorgeous.

For the first time on the trip I see cevapcici on the menu (this was my favourite from the Balkan trip) so I have that along with a one euro glass of wine.. sure you’d have to!!

The castle tour is self guided with an audio guide which is both entertaining and thankfully brief. You get to see all four floors of the castle which was first built in 1202 but most of what’s currently here is 16th century.

Not only is it an impressive location, it also has an interesting story. A man called Erazem Lueger, who was considered Slovenia’s Robin Hood, hid from his captors in the castle and taunted them by throwing cherries at them from the “murder holes” around the castle walls. Unfortunately he was killed by a canon ball that hit him when he was in the least safe place in the castle…. sitting on the loo!!

We arrive in Ljubljana to thunder and lightening and a massive down pour of rain. Our next Airbnb is on a pedestrianized street so we have to get our bags out and get rid of the car. We manage it between us and before long we’re drinking our last bottle of Gruner Veltliner that we bought on our very first night of the trip in the Wachau valley.

The street we are staying on is dead centre in the middle of all the downtown action. It’s a large two bedroom apartment on top of a bar looking out onto outdoor seating and the river. We are right beside the dragon bridge.

In fact Ljubljana is known for its bridges as it has many of them including one called the triple bridge as it has three crossings. It’s hard to capture in a photo.

We’ve read about how “green” Slovenia is and it’s visible from the recycling bins that are dotted around the streets. It’s very impressive:

They even have milk vending machines where you bring your reusable bottle (or a large jug I suppose) and purchase the specific amount of milk you want. You can buy a reusable plastic (I assume recyclable) bottle for 30 cent and a litre of fresh milk is €1. You can buy in increments of 10 cents.

We’re all feeling a little tired this evening so have an easy night finishing our wine (you never doubted we’d get through it all, right?), only venturing to the bar below for food. In fact I may have had my dinner brought upstairs to me!!

Next day is our last full day of the holiday and we decide to go for breakfast before exploring the town. We have a few things on our list to see but mostly we plan to ramble through the streets, checking out the local shops and eating some local delicacies. We get off to a good start with breakfast at Slovenska Hisa. We sit by the river which is beautiful but the birds want food and they are not shy about sitting right on top of us.

Around the corner from the restaurant is a street full of little shops known for their local handicrafts. We happen upon a really cute shop where everything is made by children with hearing impairments and we pick up some souvenirs. There’s lots of other interesting shops to browse through but I’m limiting myself to only edible or usable items for this trip. I was tempted by a lot of things including bear salami (with 70% bear meat), chocolates in the shape of dragons and truffle salt (I did actually buy a tiny jar of salt). There was even a doggy bakery!

Next we visit Preseren square which sits at the triple bridge. It’s the centre of the city and was the busiest spot we encountered but construction work limited its appeal. The “pink church” aka Franciscan Church of the Annunciation was worth a short visit if only to see the remains of an ancient saint Deodatus. And there was also a black Madonna statue.

We check out the national library which is a very impressive building and known for its architecture

By now it’s time for lunch and we are determined to have the famous sausage called the Carniolian sausage. This small take out shop is extremely popular.

They cut up the sausage and serve it with horseradish and mustard and a bread roll. It was really good:

Next we take the funicular to the castle. We don’t bother with a tour of the castle we are really just here to check out the view… which is decent but a little underwhelming. I think this city is best experienced on the flat around the river. It’s all happening there.

The cathedral is closed so we only get to see this interesting door!

Down an alleyway there’s a row of skulls lining the pathway…

It’s time for a bit more sustenance – this time we try the popular struklji. This can be sweet or savoury and is kind of a layered dumpling cake. We had one chocolate and one mango, both served warm. Oh my these were good… layers of delicious cakey dough!

Another ramble, this time to an area called Metelkova which is covered in interesting graffiti. Not exactly somewhere I’d want to spend a lot of time but it was interesting to walk through and see.

It’s time to pack and get somewhat organised before our final dinner. The great thing about staying in Airbnbs is they usually have washing machines. As I’m travelling a further four weeks I wash everything worn to date and I’m set with a freshly packed bag for the next country.

It’s pizza for dinner again tonight and this time we try the local Rofask red wine. It’s really dry and a bit rough the first few sips but we manage to get through it!! Cheers Ljubljana! The light in the evening is beautiful as we pass our breakfast restaurant with the castle perched above.

Next morning the girls leave for an early train to Croatia so I sneak in a quick 4km run along the river. Well I say quick but I really mean short!!

And that’s a rap for the 2019 Texas Girls Tour…. what a fun week+ it’s been. Until next time goodbye my lovely ladies and goodbye Slovenia – it’s been thoroughly delightful.

We leave Salzburg and head for Slovenia. We’re expecting great scenery when we hit Slovenia but Austria is also beautiful. There are so many castles and fortresses along the way. This was taken from the window of the car while we whizzed by on the autobahn (well I think we were on an autobahn – we were going very fast!!). Hohenwerfen Castle:

We decide to tick some things off the list before we hit our accommodation so we head straight for the Vintgar gorge or Soteska Vintgar. It’s a 1.6km walk through the gorge one way and you can enter from either side but you’ve got to walk back unless you’ve someone to collect you on the other side. We’re happy to view it from both directions as it really is stunning. [side note: pretty much everything in Slovenia requires a ticket. It’s €10 to enter the gorge and you must hold onto your ticket to exit).

It’s so quiet and the water is really clear. There are some tourists but it’s not overly busy

There’s a small refreshment area at the entrance/exit to the gorge and they have potica cake which Jennifer told us her grandmother used to make it. Did I forget to mention we have a Slovenian with us? It’s a bit like a fruit brack – not too sweet more like bread with dried fruit.

As we are only 4kms from Lake Bled, we decide to continue on and tick that off our list today. We park the car and follow a sign for the lake and suddenly it appears from behind the trees. It is stunning and just as picturesque as you’d imagine:

There are a number of options to get to the little island in the middle. We opt for a boat that’s rowed by a local rather than row ourselves and it’s definitely the better option. The rowers really work up a sweat rowing about a dozen of us in this boat.

There are 99 steps up to the small church and it takes only a few minutes to walk them and not too many more to walk around the tiny island. It’s all about the views back to shore – each way you look is beautiful. Looking back from the church to the castle:

Our rower points out a large house which he said was the summer home of Tito (former president of Yugoslavia) which is now a cafe with a terrace giving one of the best views of the lake and the little island with the church so we decide to do the return row to that side of the lake and walk back to where we’ve parked the car. We try the bled cream cake (kremna rezina) which we’d heard lots about and it is just like a custard slice so needless to say we love it. Throw in a glass of rose and that view and we are happy out…

On the walk back we take in the view from different angles and the light is really nice as the sun starts to go down. We are accosted by this lady who wants a photo with us (your guess is as good as mine) and of course we dutifully comply! She gives me a big hug before she rushes off with her friends!

From Bled we carry on to our Airbnb in Kranjska Gora which is just gorgeous. It has a terrace with a view of the mountains and is modern and spacious. Kranjska Gora is an alpine resort in northwestern Slovenia, near the mountains and glacial lakes of Triglav National Park. It’s very obviously a ski town, you can see the ski lifts and paths and it’s easy to imagine this place covered in snow and lots of skiers enjoying the apres ski in the many bars and restaurants. We are right in the centre of town and have dinner at Gostlina Cvitar. (Gostlina means restaurant) There’s some sort of festival on and a band are playing in the square. It’s a lovely end to our busy day – sitting in the square watching the locals enjoy the entertainment, as we do too!

Our second day is just as packed as the first. We start with a visit to Lake Bohinj which some say is prettier than Bled 😲. It is gorgeous but it’s hard to compare… we like them both – I would never discriminate against a beautiful lake!! We drive about an hour from Kranjska Gora (we actually have to pass by Lake Bled again) to the east (top end) of the lake. It’s stunning and as you’d imagine, surrounded by mountains:

St John the Baptist Church at the head of the lake, stands beyond the stone bridge so we head in there for a quick visit as we’ve read some interesting things about it.

It’s a tiny chapel but I count at least six different paintings or sculptures of the beheading of John the Baptist – they’re quite gruesome.

There are mosaics on the walls dating to the 13th century, one of which the guidebook tells us is of the first murderer – Cain from the Bible. (I must admit I’d never thought of Cain in that way but I suppose he is the first documented murderer!). He’s depicted with a white devil on his shoulder which apparently is very unusual!

There are also paintings of, what I would call, scary angels around the back of the alter – bizarre! Look at their teeth…

We climb to the top of its bell tower for another stunning view of the lake before we leave this peculiar little church. The girls jump in for a swim which looks amazing and I have a bit of a dip (not brave enough for much else 😢). The water is really clear and not too cold. It’s very refreshing on such a hot day.

We are coming to realize that Slovenia is full of waterfalls and they are called slaps. We drive to the west side of the lake, about 4kms up a windy road and take a short hike through the trees to Savica slap.

It is truly one of the prettiest waterfalls I’ve ever seen. The colour of the water is just beautiful.

Passing Bled again (it’s hard not to take more photos), we leave the lakes behind and get closer to home to do the “Martuljek” hike. Jennifer found this hike online and it sounds amazing. It’s a two hour hike to an alpine meadow which is surrounded by the Julian alps. By the time we find the starting point its much later than we planned to set out hiking (it’s already nearly 5pm) but we don’t want to miss it so we make a start. it’s a tough climb in some parts and we’re wondering if we should turn back but we push on and we are so glad we did… The view is idyllic with dairy cows wandering by. It really is stunning…

There’s a hut called Pri Ingotu which closes at 6pm and we make it there at 5:45. The guy tells us to relax and have a beer and that we’ve loads of time to get back before dark… we take his word for it!

Video clip alert!!!!

We are so glad we did this amazing hike and really happy to have finished it before it started to get dark. Happiness and relief on our faces below:

Elated and delighted with ourselves, we go straight to town for an easy dinner. As we are very close to the Italian border there are lots of Italian restaurants and we’ve decided to go for some recommended pizza. It’s really good. While sitting outside enjoying the pizza and some local beer (you know we’re going to crack open one of the wines when we get home), we hear music approaching and soon realize it’s a stag party who decide to serenade us and insist we drink a shot of some local schnapps with them..

When they hear I’m Irish the guy with the accordion insists on singing the entire “Living Next Door to Alice” …. you know the one – “Alice, Alice, who the F#*k is Alice” 🤭… I thought we might get asked to leave the restaurant!! Mortified!

We have been so lucky visiting this area at this time of year, it’s coming toward the end of the season so everything is a little quieter and there are no hordes of tourists but the weather is still beautiful. Tomorrow we will cross the Vršič Pass and drive south to explore more of this beautiful country.

I’ve wanted to go to Salzburg for a very long time so this is definitely going to be a highlight. Since I was about ten years of age I’ve never wavered when asked what my favourite movie is… yes, you’ve guessed it – it’s The Sound of Music … cue music and bring it on!!

We arrive to Salzburg in the evening after a busy day site-seeing (see Part I) so we relax on the balcony of our huge Airbnb house for an hour with one of those bottles of wine we’ve brought with us. After a quick freshen up we intend to eat in a nearby tavern but it’s closed so we continue into town and get to check out the city centre by night…

We have our first hot meal after the heuriger food and I go straight for the wiener snitzel. It does not disappoint. I’m on a local red wine and the girls are drinking the Augustiner at a really cool tavern called Barenwirt

A quick photo opp on the bridge on the way home and it’s beddy byes time as we have a big day tomorrow…

This morning we wake to rain which is not ideal as today is our Sound of Music “Fraulein Maria’s bicycle trip” around Salzburg. It’s a torrential downpour as we arrive to get our bikes but by the time we get started the rain has gone… hooray!! We set off on a city tour taking in the main locations from the movie. These are the steps from “doe-a-deer” with the fountain in the background:

While we are in the city there’s not much singing going on but we do manage a few re-enactments along the way”.. this is Ralph running through the tunnel:

And when Maria is on her way to the Von Trapp home for the first time and she stops to give a little splash in the fountain:

Next stop is the cemetery where the family hide from the nazis..

It’s a small, interesting looking cemetery almost built into the side of the cliff. I do love a good cemetery.

There’s a little market around the corner with a really good pretzel stand which of course we sample..

Onwards up a very steep hill that half the tour group manage to stay on their bikes for and we reach the convent… remember that scene when the children come looking for Maria because they miss her… and Gretel wants to show her her sore finger – ahhhh. And the church that you can see through the gates is the actual church the Captain and Maria got married in, not the big one where they filmed it for the movie.

There’s a beautiful look out point over the city and to the mountains from here…

Once out of the city the guide plays all the big numbers from the movie on a little boom box which we share among the baskets, and we get to sing along, amusing many random passers by. The two ladies behind us in the photo below were from Australia and they thought they had booked a regular city tour – they’d no idea it was specifically a Sound of Music tour… but they got into the spirit fairly quick!

At the Von Trapp’s house which is now student accommodation we line up on our handy bikes. This was purely a movie filming location, the Von Trapp’s never actually lived here!

Oh and again… in case you haven’t already noticed we are in our second matching t-shirts…. This one is at the lake where the children fell in outside the back of the house.. that’s it on the other side of the lake –

It’s now a conference centre but you can zoom in and see the patio where they filmed the scene of them playing ball and meeting the baroness (who by the way was a totally fictional character who never existed)… she seems to have joined our little holiday mind you… 😉 Baroness Renee!

After that amazing morning – seriously best city tour EVER [big shout out to Fraulein Maria’s bike tour company – book it if you’re ever in Salzburg], It starts lashing rain again so we take shelter in a bar and reckon we deserve a beer with a spot of lunch..

Tonight we are eating at what is allegedly the oldest restaurant in Europe. Established in 803, St. Peter Stiftskulinarium is located in the old town close by the concert hall which was also in the Sound of Music. We enjoy the fine dining and a very tasty meal.

The old town is lovely to wander around at night. There’s lots of shops, restaurants and bars and it was quite bustling.

Next morning before leaving Salzburg we decide to visit “The villa Von Trapp” which was the house where the family actually lived. It’s a hotel now and was closed to the public as we arrived early in the morning but true to form the baroness (aka Renee) sweet talked the manager and he let us in to take a tour around the house and gardens which included viewing the dining room while a few patrons were still having breakfast!

There were lots of photos hanging on the walls and the guest rooms are named after the children.. their real names though, not those used in the movie!

From here we get on the road and head for the border – Slovenia next.

Cheerio Salzburg!

I’m flying to Vienna this morning to meet up with my Texas Girls – Renee and Jennifer. It’s been a full two years since our Scottish adventure in the Hebrides so we are ready for another road trip. Today happens to be my birthday so I arrive to this:

After initial hellos and great excitement we load up the rental car and get on the road toward Wachau. The Wachau valley sits on the Danube and it takes me a while to realize that I’ve been around this neck of the woods before! Anyhoo, more of that later. Tonight is all about the birthday celebrations and checking out the local wine.

We are staying in a small village called Unterbergern, in a really cute Airbnb in the hills over the Danube. We’ve heard that we are here at an ideal time as the local wineries open as “heurigers” for just three or four weeks in late August, early September. [Heuriger is the name given to taverns in Eastern Austria at which local winemakers serve their new wine under a special licence in alternate months during the growing season. The Heurige are renowned for their atmosphere of Gemütlichkeit shared among a throng enjoying young wine, simple food]. I’m pretty sure Gemütlichkeit translates into craic because there really was great craic at the local one we walked to.

It’s Gruner Veltliner country here and there’s no less than six Gruners on the menu. Needless to say, we attempt to try them all…

The food is limited to cold food only so lots of cheese, meat, bread and spreads. It’s all really tasty…. and very reasonably priced.

We try a drink called sturm which they refer to as “young wine”, essentially freshly pressed grape juice with a very low alcohol content. Apparently it’s good to get the ole metabolism going, if you know what I mean… we shall see in the morning!! Before we leave we buy, well let’s be honest, Renee buys a mere five bottles for us to take on our journey. It is that good and that cheap you just couldn’t argue!

Next morning, we hire bikes and head out along the Danube toward Melk abbey. The views are stunning as we pass small towns and different ruins on the mountain sides.

Did I mention that we were wearing matching Sound of Music t-shirts…

We stop at a little coffee shop and the patrons are very interested to find out who we are and where we’re from. When we say Texas, New York and Dublin we get quite the reaction and they want to know how we know each other, where did we meet etc. So for any of you who don’t know….. we met in The Dame Tavern in Dublin in 2007. I was officially living in San Fran and visiting home and they were on holidays, both living in Austin at that time. They were watching as my sisters, baby brother and friends arrived one after the other and how excited we were to be having a night out in town and they wanted in on the action….. which just sort of naturally occurred. We ended up swapping contact details and saying we’d keep in touch and low and behold within a few months I was in Austin for a weekend and we sealed our friendship. Since then we’ve averaged about a trip a year which has included Paris, Joshua Tree National Park, Inisbofin island, Scotland, New York, Wyoming, South Dakota, San Francisco, Barcelona and Maine and that’s not them all!! Anyway we get this question a lot so that’s the answer.

So getting back to our coffee stop we had a view of Hinterhaus castle as we took a little rest and regaled the patrons about how we came to be friends….

Along the way we were told of a piece of modern art we should check out… this nose!

One section of the cycle is through vineyards which is just gorgeous….

And they also have the most beautiful looking apples

There are castles and abbeys at every turn…. it would be great to spend more time here and visit them all but we have to keep moving…

So at this stage, as we continue to see more beautiful towns on the other bank, although nothing really looks familiar I know that I’ve cycled this path before. About five years ago I cycled the Danube with my little brother from Passau, Germany to Vienna so we definitely cycled on this path….

It feels like a lot more than 26kms but eventually we reach Melk abbey. It’s beautifully perched on the side of a mountain and quite a climb to get up there. We park our bikes in the main square and off we go..

Melk abbey was built in the 11th century and was home to the Babenbergs and later given to the Benedictine monks. As we are walking through the abbey on the self guided tour I’m starting to recall what’s coming next. As soon as we hit the library I realize I’ve been here before. In fact I’m sure I’ve already taken the exact photos that I take again on this visit!! I can’t believe I’m only realizing this now… of course if I’d kept a blog back then I’m sure this wouldn’t have slipped my mind!! Anyway, we finish the tour and head back to collect our bikes but alas there is a problem. Unfortunately one of the locks will not open with the combination that we were given. We try everything including roping in a passer by to help, but it’s no use. We have to call the hire company and when Erwin arrives he appears pissed off and sure we are idiots and he will get the lock to open. Not so!!! Eventually he has to get a cutters and cut the lock so we can actually get home before dark!!

We get home just before sunset… what an eventful day it’s been…

Once we are all washed up, we head to another heuriger for a similar meal to last nights…. cheese, meat, spreads and bread, and of course more wine in the form of Gruner Veltliner. Just as last night, it is all delicious, although tonight we are much better behaved!!

Our two nights are up so we pack up the car next morning and head for a short morning hike before leaving Unterbergern. This vista is an easy climb for a very nice view…

Next it’s breakfast time…. we are under strict instructions to try the “schaumrollen” and my friend Martina (who I met on the Myanmar trip) has given me a great tip which is to visit Café Maria in Mautern. Mautern is just a stones throw from Unterbergern so it’s an ideal stop on our way out of town. We are not disappointed as the pastries, which have some goey cream filling, are absolutely delicious.

The bakery is across the road from the cafe and fresh pastries are delivered right through the day…

Another short detour before leaving town….. When we first planned this trip the reason for coming to this region was to stay at a winery called Nikolaihof but unfortunately it wasn’t open on the dates we wanted to stay. Well it just happens to be around the corner so Renee pops in (bear in mind it’s about 9:30am) and even though it’s not open, the manager invites us in to take a look around the premises and the cellar.. it’s very impressive:

After purchasing a couple more bottles of Gruner and Riesling to add to our stash, we get on the road. Its time to head west from Lower Austria toward Salzburg, with a couple of stops on the way. First stop is a visit to Admont Abbey which has the largest monastic library in the world. It is stunning:

The abbey grounds are large with a number of different buildings and a main Church which is really bright ….

In opposite chapels at the side of the main alter are two saints in peculiar poses… quite bizarre!!

Our final stop before driving into Salzburg is Hallstatt. Hallstatt is a small picturesque town set around a lake, surrounded by the Dachstein mountains and famous for its salt mines. We take the funicular to the top…

We are not the only ones enjoying the view…

It’s no surprise to us that this entire area has been listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. We say farewell to Upper Austria and head to Salzburger land… yes that’s really what the region is called!!

It’s a last minute package holiday but Rhodes has so much history I thought I’d capture a quick blog post.

The flight direct from Dublin is just under five hours so it’s a decent distance to this island that sits in the Aegean Sea, only a short distance from Turkey. We are staying in Ialysos which is on the west coast (facing Turkey) and only a ten/fifteen minute bus ride into Rhodes town.

Ialysos has a stony beach, similar to most in Rhodes, with not much of a promenade so it’s tricky to get a long walk in on the actual beach. The water is not that cold though, so nice for a dip if you can get over the stones in one piece!

We start with a little bit of this:

But then it’s time to hit the town and check out some of the history….. The first port of call and highest priority on my list is to see Mandraki harbour, where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood. It doesn’t look much now but imagine a monstrous statue standing with one foot on each side where the columns now are.

The fort of St Nicholas is situated at the end of the harbour and was built in Byzantine times and later enhanced by the Knights of St John (aka the Knights Hospitaller) as part of the fortification of the city. The Knights play a huge part in the history of Rhodes. They were a medieval catholic military organization headquartered in Rhodes, Jerusalem and Malta.

We walk toward the walled city which enclosed the old town of Rhodes or Rodos as the locals call it. I thought this huge “bunch” of flowers was very cleverly done:

There are lots of great views out to the sea…

And many different gates and walkways to explore…

There are a total of eleven gates into the old town and we enter via one of the biggest and I might add, the grandest:

The town is full of old buildings, shops and restaurants. This is the library:

After checking out the main square and some of the shops we chose a rooftop restaurant for a spot of lunch. It’s definitely time for gyros.

Getting back to the Knights, (not to be mistaken by the Knights Templar by the way!), we make our way to the entrance of the Palace of the Grand Master:

The Grand Master was the head of the organization and resided in this palace which acted as the headquarters for the Knights. The inside courtyard:

The ground floor houses an exhibit of ancient artifacts and I mean ancient… prettty much everything was dated BC. It was really impressive but no photos allowed of the amazing tiny statues, kitchenware and jewelry… it’s hard to believe they remain in such good condition.

From the exhibit on the ground floor we ascended a very grand staircase and got to walk around the rooms of the palace.

The rooms were very impressive

There were some very interesting original mosaics

More splendor of the palace rooms:

And the grand courtyard:

We leave the palace and walk down the Avenue of the knights which is where the knights lived. Each house was for a different country – England, Spain, Italy, France etc..

There were lots of little side streets and alleyways with houses marked as former houses of the knights….. this is the busiest spot for tourists

After rambling around some more we head back to our resort for a relaxing dinner by the beach followed by a relaxing day by the pool. The following day we are up early for our day trip to Lindos. Lindos is on the southeast part of the island and we are going there by boat. We set off from Mandraki harbour for a three hour relaxing boat trip in the beautiful sunshine. Our first stop is at Anthony Quinn bay for a quick swim:

Back on the boat for some relaxing sleepy time in the sunshine! After another couple of hours we start to approach Lindos….

Lindos is famous for its acropolis and I’m very excited to get to see it. Some of the remains of the buildings date back BC, others to the 10th and 13th century… I love a Greek column so can’t wait to climb up to the top and get close to this important archeological site.

We disembark the boat and have three hours to see the sites, which for us is essentially the acropolis. Some people opt to ride a donkey up the hill…

…but Miriam and I are happy to climb up and take in the views and the cute little town along the way

Although it’s steep it’s not as far as it looks and the views really are stunning

On the way up we see the Church of st George:

The acropolis itself is stunning and one photo just doesn’t do it justice so here’s a few!!

We continue to admire the views on the way back down and before returning to the boat (and after a delicious lunch on the beach), we go in for a quick dip.. the beach is sandy and the water is shallow and calm – ideal (well for me that is!).

The boat journey back is just as pleasant as on the way out and we have a second swimming stop at Tsampika beach.

Back in Rhodes we walk around the moat which gives us a different perspective of the walled city:

We see these stone balls everywhere, I think they may have been ammunition!

We walk from the old town through the new town to the other side of town!! From here we have a nice sunset view at a restaurant called Oceanfront:

Rhodes was a great place to visit and we had many more good meals and fun on the island for the rest of the week. Yamas!

This morning we pick up a car and head north along the coast to a town called Neum which sits on the small part of coastline that is part of Bosnia. I can’t say I’m overly excited about the idea of driving a manual car, on the right (wrong!) side of the road, on these windy, twisty roads but I’ll give it a go. I’m doing the driving (not because I’m the best driver but I’m certainly not the greatest at reading maps!!) and Shane will do what he’s particularly good at – navigating. 😁

We manage to get out of Dubrovnik without any incident, thanks to the aforementioned navigation skills, and we head north up the Croatian coast. We stop in The Croatian town of Ston for a quick look at the walls which are very impressive:

And of course we have some lunch. Ston oysters seem to be a thing as we’d seen them on menus elsewhere, so we sit down to a seafood lunch of oysters, mussels, squid and black risotto. It’s excellent…. We’re the only people in the restaurant so it’s very quiet but it’s a nice relaxing hour sitting in the sun.

I spotted some cakes twirling in a glass fridge as I sat done and I’m intrigued by what they are…one in particular looks like a huge round of cheese and the inside looks like pasta… crazy! I ask the waiter what it is and he confirms it’s pasta cake. We have to try it… it’s very nice but filling after a big lunch. It’s got pasta with chocolate filling surrounded by pastry – not really like anything I’ve ever had before.

We continue along the coastal road and it’s not too long til we arrive at the border. We are ready with our passports and this time there is only one checkpoint. It’s like going through a toll booth and I’m not even sure if it’s a Bosnian checkpoint or a Croatian one. There’s no queue and it’s fast and easy to pass through – happy days! Within minutes we arrive at Neum.

Neum is a coastal resort but right now it’s very much off season and not a lot is open. We are staying at an Airbnb which has a nice view and we’re hoping it’ll warm up enough to sit on the balcony! We do have a really nice view onto the water:

We check out the local shop which takes Euros, Bosnian and Croatian money and eat at a restaurant right beside the apartment so no more driving for me today and I can have a nice glass of local wine.

Next day we are taking a trip to Mostar with a quick detour to Medjugorje. For those of you who have never heard of Medjugorje, it’s a small town made famous in the 80’s by a group of teenagers who alleged they had apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Those of you who know me, know that I’ve always had a special interest in Virgin Mary apparitions – Fátima, Lourdes, Knock and this one happened and continues to happen (yep she’s still appearing every year) in my lifetime. I was fascinated by the story when I was growing up so I can’t miss the opportunity to visit as we’re practically passing by on our way to Mostar!

Google tells us it’s just over an hours journey to Mostar but we seem to take the “country roads” and about two hours later we arrive!! We could have taken a route through Croatia but we decide to stay in Bosnia and see the countryside… it’s green and beautiful all around as we climb up over valleys on winding bends with hairpin turns. I don’t think we get over 80km the whole time!

Mostar is a small town with a famous stone bridge from the 16th century but it was damaged badly during the Balkan wars and it collapsed in 1993. They rebuilt it to more or less exactly how it looked before and it is stunning.

We walk around the town and see lots of ruins of buildings that were bombed in the war.

We pass a number of cemeteries, the first entirely full of people who died in 1992, the second full of gravestones with deaths in 1993…. such sad years for the country…

After a couple of hours rambling around we get back in the car and set off for Medjugorje. It’s only half an hour from Mostar and as we arrive into town we can immediately see the impact of the apparitions on tourism. It’s not overly busy but there are buses of pilgrims and the streets are lined with shops selling rosary beads, medals, statues of Our Lady… you can even get a bottle opener with Our Lady on it! Undeterred and actually quite excited (that’s just me!), we head for Apparition Hill.

There are two spots with a statue of our lady and a blue cross so I assume she appeared in both places although it must be difficult to pinpoint the exact spot as she appeared so many times to the teenagers on this hill and in the small church.

Pilgrims are sitting around, many with rosary beads praying and periodically touching the statue and kneeling in prayer. I’m happy to see the place and say a little prayer but still not sure what to make of the whole thing. Pope Francis is apparently not convinced of its authenticity but The Vatican is still investigating and hasn’t given its final word.

Back on the Main Street of the town we visit St. James church and that’s Medjugorje ✅

As we are leaving we see a sign for a tour to some waterfalls called Kravica. We find out they’re only about ten kilometers away so we decide to check it out before taking the road back, through Croatia this time, to Neum.

The roads are still windy but much better going through Croatia and after another easy border crossing we stop in a town called Metkovic for our final Balkans meal. In true Balkan style we stick to meat (I love my chevapi), salad and bread.

We have a quiet evening where it’s warm enough to sit on the balcony for a final beverage and enjoy the sunset.

We will drive to Dubrovnik tomorrow morning to end our Balkan tour which has been just marvelous.

Today we have the last border crossing of the Intrepid trip – a few hours drive from Kotor to Dubrovnik. The coastal drive along the Montenegrin and Croatian coastline is stunning and it’s not long til we get our first view of the city of Dubrovnik:

With our guide Bashkim:

We’re staying in Lapad which is about a fifteen minute bus journey from Dubrovnik old town. We drop our bags and are anxious to get into town as we need to see as much as possible in one day. We have a 1-day Dubrovnik card which gets us 24 hours travel on the bus and entry to walk the walls and some other museums. We arrive into the pedestrianised area within the walls:

From above you can see the large water fountain which I promptly fill my water bottle from.. yes that big round thing has water fountains all the way around!

We start by walking the walls which provides so many good views from different perspectives:

I was afraid this very popular town might not live up to the hype but I’m really thrilled to be here and it certainly lives up to its reputation.

Although it’s a lot busier here than anywhere we’ve been, we’re lucky that it’s not too overrun with hordes and we walk around in relative comfort.

The views are amazing every each way you look… this is the view over to Fort Lovrijenac which we’ll climb to the top of later:

We’re so lucky the rain has held off and it’s sunny as we complete the full walk (about 2kms) of the walls.

We spend the afternoon walking around the old town which has cool narrow side streets with lots of restaurants, bars, cafes, museums and souvenir shops but there are also lots of homes here.

We even stop for a little refreshment and we can sit outside on the steps:

Game of Thrones is popular around here!! We see people walking around with bags from the “official merchandise” shop! I’ve never seen it but I do know some scenes were filmed here in Dubrovnik. Apparently these steps were in a scene:

St Blaise is the patron saint of Dubrovnik and he is everywhere…. Whether it’s a statue or a painting he is easy to recognize as he’s holding the walled city of Dubrovnik in his hand.

We visit the cathedral which has relics of St Blaise which we visit for €3 in the Reliquiary Treasury behind the alter. No photos allowed but below gives you an idea of what we saw… I particularly “liked” his left arm as you could actually see the bone!! I also had a flashback of queueing up in my local church, in the early 80’s, to have my throat blessed as he’s also the patron saint of sore throats! I wonder does that still happen.

There are many churches within the walls including the Dubrovnik cathedral and the Church of St Blaise.

We check out the Rectors palace which is now the Museum of Dubrovnik and I see an unusual looking bust of Cleopatra from the 5th century

As we make our way toward the main gate there’s a Franciscan monastery, built in the 14th century, with a lovely cloister. On one side of the cloister there is an exhibit of the original pharmacy with journals of drugs and implements for measuring doses etc.

We leave the walled city and head across to climb to the top of Fort Lovrijenac:

Looking back to the walled city from Fort Lovrijenac:

We head back to Lapad for our final dinner with our group and you’ll never guess what I have again… chevapi although in Croatia it’s chevapcici! I can’t get enough of it!

Next morning it’s one last look at this beautiful city before we pick up a car and head further up the coast

Onwards to Kotor, Montenegro’s fortified town wedged between soaring mountains and the Adriatic sea. Kotor is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed city dating to the 5th century. We have two nights here but the weather is not cooperating and unfortunately it’s going to rain most of the time we’re here. We do have a balcony with a nice view though:

We arrive fairly late in the evening and get a guided walk around the old town…. in the rain!

The old town is within the walls with a main square and lots of little narrow streets

Another restaurant recommended by Bashkim results in a fabulous meal of stuffed squid and black ink risotto. It’s called Cesarica and it’s like a stone cave off a little side street. I’d never had stuffed squid before and it was gorgeous:

Next morning it’s raining heavy so we relax for a while before putting on our raincoats and heading back to the old town between showers. The hotel is about twenty minutes walk away but there’s a beautiful walkway along the water …

The walls of the old town are very impressive:

We haven’t seen a lot of tourists to date on the trip but we do see a fair amount here in Montenegro. The town gets overrun in the summer from the cruise ships but we’re early enough in the season that it’s not too bad.

This afternoon we take a boat on the Kotor Fjord. The weather has brightened up and the views are stunning:

We pass a cruise ship coming into the bay, passing another on its way out…

We visit an island with a church that’s almost as big as the island itself. The church is tiny and cute.

There’s a small museum with a one euro entry fee that helps with the upkeep of the island. It has some interesting stuff! This was the figurehead at the bow of a ship and it reminded me of pirates of the Caribbean!

And there’s another island with another church right beside that one!

The boat trip is a real highlight as Kotor is a great place to see from the water. That evening we have a seafood dinner with the group and the next day we move on.

We drive along the coastline en route to Croatia and the views are stunning pretty much the whole way

Another border to cross as we set off on the four hour journey to Albania. One of the peculiar things we see are bunkers which are dotted all over the country. They were built by Enver Hoxha who was the communist dictator from 1945 to 1985. Hoxha feared that the USA or some of the neighboring countries would declare war and he wanted to be ready for them – it never happened!

We are overnighting in the rarely visited town of Berat which was lucky to escape destruction during communist times. It’s a small town, built into the side of a mountain on either side of a river.

Our hotel is very cute and situated in one of the small cobbled streets.

After a quick orientation and lunch (kebab 😋), we set off to explore this picturesque little town. The people of the Balkans love displaying their flags…. me doing the symbol of the double eagle on the Albanian flag:

Later in the afternoon we meet back up with our group and Bashkim, our guide, takes us to the fortress at the top of the hill. He explains the history of the town and shows us the letters NEVER that are etched into the side of another mountain. Apparently they used to read ENVER (the aforementioned dictator) and they were recently changed! Entrance to the fortress:

There are a number of old churches in the fortress grounds, this one being the best located:

A couple of other older churches (all Orthodox) have some interesting frescoes and we are able to take photos as they’re no longer working churches:

There are fantastic views from the top of the mountains and the town…

In the evening we enjoy a traditional Balkan dinner with our group. Our guide orders a variety of dishes so we can sample everything and we also try some locally produced wine. It’s all really tasty, in particular a dish called chomlek (a type of pork stew) and the roasted cheese….. so tasty! The wine is really good too. After dinner we take a walk on the promenade which is a pedestrian area full of bars and restaurants.

Next day after breakfast, we transfer to Tirana, the capital of Albania. The journey takes approx. three and a half hours. On arrival, we embark on a guided tour to get our bearings for the next couple of days. Although Tirana is the capital and the biggest city, it’s still small and compact, and has architectural influences from Italy and Turkey. Recently many buildings have been painted to alleviate the Soviet block feeling that pervaded.

It has a huge main square which is mostly empty but has water sprinklers that are not turned on as it’s not that warm yet. A large statue of a man on a horse (this seems to be a common theme in the balkans) stands opposite the historical museum which has a great mural on the front

We visit a museum called Bunkart 2 which details the history of the police in Albania and the role they played during the communist era. It’s housed in a bunker (hence the name) but there’s not much art. It’s interesting but dull and somewhat depressing!

Next morning we take a half-day trip to the mountain village and former Albanian capital of Kruja. On the way we drive through another village that has a statue of George W Bush, a bakery named George W Bush and a cafe with a seat no one is allowed to sit in since the president sat here when he visited in 2007. The Albanian people have a strong connection to the USA as they were a big support when moving from a communist country to a democracy. A major outcome from the US visit was Albania joining NATO in 2008.

We visit to the ethnographical museum housed inside the fortress and learn about how the Albanian people lived.

Also within the fortress walls is the history museum where we learn about Skanderbeg – the national hero of Albania. He was educated in Istanbul and fought for the Ottoman empire but ultimately ended up fighting against the Ottomons for Albanian independence. (he was the guy on the horse in the main square)

We return to Tirana in the early afternoon so have plenty of time to discover more of the city. First it’s time for lunch though and we really want to try the local burek. We’ve had plenty of cheese and spinach versions but today we get a meat slice.. it’s fantastic and I’m happy in my belly! We check out the abandoned “Pyramid of Tirana” which was originally built as a museum to Enver Hoxha but now sits derelict as a reminder of that time.

We continue to find statues of Momma T., this one outside the main catholic cathedral.

In very close proximity you can see Orthodox and Catholic Churches side by side with mosques… the Albanian people pride themselves on living in religious harmony. Apparently in the last census, well over 50% of the population identified as Muslims but of those 90% had never been to a mosque. They don’t take religion too serious in this country.

We visit the National art gallery and see some very peculiar modern art but then some really interesting paintings from the communist era

Around the back outside the building there are statues of Lenin, Stalin and Hoxha

I needed a visual on this Hoxha guy:

Our last museum to visit is called The House of Leaves or the Surveillance Museum and it’s another dark tale of how the regime bugged residents homes, spied on visitors and nationals and interrogated and tortured those who were anti-communist. Gonna need a beer after this place…

Tonight we are supposed to have a team dinner but the restaurant is close to the prime minister home and there is a big protest happening this evening so it’s been cancelled. Our guide tells us we are not allowed to go near the area as it could turn nasty.. sounds a bit ominous so of course we comply and make sure we are nowhere near by going for a few beers and some food near out hotel. It’s all kicking off just a few streets away though and we can hear some shouting. Although it didn’t get too out of hand apparently tear gas was fired!! We watched a bit of coverage on the news but couldn’t understand anything they were saying!

The last town in Albania that we get to visit is an ancient city called Shkoder, on our way out of the country the next morning. Shkoder is one of the oldest cities in Europe and now the main commercial centre and largest town of northern Albania. We check out the fortress which again overlooks the town (just like the many fortresses we’ve seen)…

It’s raining when we arrive into the town centre so we don our raincoats and venture through the wet streets. We visit a the Marubi National Museum of Photography which tells the history of a local man Pietro Marubi and the legacy of his photo studio. The photos are amazing….

We have a group lunch in a very fancy building which apparently was the family home of mother Teresa‘s mother and sister for years until they were kicked out when communism arrived. Mt. T came from a very wealthy family. After lunch we are back on the bus and driving to our next country – Montenegro.

We take a day trip from Macedonia to the historical town of Prizren, in Kosovo which is Europe’s newest country declaring its independence in 2008. It’s a three hour journey by bus to the second biggest city, in this tiny country. The border crossing is easy but this time we’re hoping NOT to get a passport stamp as that would create problems if traveling to Serbia in the future. The Serbians still see Kosovo as officially part of Serbia so they would see entry to Kosovo as an illegal entry into their country and might not let us in! Anyway we’re not really worried about that now and we arrive at the small, pretty town of Prizren, where we can spend euros!

Of course there’s always a monastery or church of some sort to visit so we check this one out which is a UNESCO listed building.

The most fascinating thing for me is this bombed out church that sits on the hill overlooking the town. It looks almost perfect looking at it from below but as we climb upwards we can see that it is just a shell and the whole inside has been destroyed. It was a Serbian Orthodox Church and in the late 90’s to 2004 many Serbian cultural sites were destroyed.

The views back over the town are pretty good from up here…

In between a few rain showers we visit the mosque, walk through the old streets and cross the old stone bridge.

Time for some lunch and we have grilled meat similar to that in Macedonia and just as tasty.

We also find a craft brewery for a quick one to warm us up during a shower!

Before we leave, we go to a cafe where our guide has told us there’s a delicious dessert that we must try. It’s called “Trileqe” or tri leche i.e. 3 milks…. it’s surprisingly tasty, kind of custardy with a sweet glaze on the top. Not a bad way to finish our brief encounter with Kosovo.