"Our colourful itinerary (My postcard diary) II" Top 5 Page for this destination Croatia Travelogue by sabsi

Weather: Hot! At least 28°C, scattered clouds here and there. Water: approx. 20°C

With a bag full of homegrown giant lemons we leave the Sinovcic family and drive south. South of Split the landscape is getting spectacular again! I fall in love with the part called Makarska Riviera. As I had read about the famous beach at Brela we leave the main road there and drive down to the water. As there is no parking available in Brela we end up in Baska Voda, where it's time to relaxing at the beach! Thomas tries the cold water first and convices me to join him in the water. I need at least 15 minutes until I am in the water because it's so cold. As soon as I am in though it's refreshing and nice. We dry on the empty beach until it gets too hot. Time for an icecream before we continue our trip south. On the way you pass through the Bosnian coastal town, Neum. Time to fill up the car with cheap petrol and buy some cigarettes. It's great to pay with Marks again, if only the credit card machine would have worked. In the end we have to pay with our last Kunas! We continue to Dubrovnik where we have some troubles finding our guesthouse. In the end Toni, the manager of the guesthouse helps us and we can "move in". What a nice place. The old stone house is located in a huge garden, wonderful! Prepared with a map and insider tips from Toni we get on the bus to Pile Gate. It's busy and we are hungry so we eat a disappointing dinner at Spaghetteria Toni (which was praised by VT people strangely enough). After we have finshed dinner the town is quieter again and we stroll around the alleys taking night shots and enjoying the atmosphere. At the old port there's a piano player playing Moon River at a restaurant. I convince Thomas that we need to sit down here because it's sooooo cruise-kitsch! We meet a nice woman from Alabama here and talk for a while until we are too tired from the long drive and from being sunburnt so we head "home" and go to bed.

Highlights: The beach, the walls, the piano player, the guesthouse and the landscape on the way

Weather: Hot and Humid, wind and clouds later

We sleep a bit longer this morning. When I wake up I am shocked - it's so hot and humid! I can hardly breathe... too bad, it seems like it's definitely not a good idea to walk around the city walls today and grill like a chicken. Oh well, we go shopping at the supermarket and take the bus into town. It's full but not as full as yesterday, apparently there's no cruise ship in the port today. Phew! We have a gorgeous Skola sandwich for breakfast and start our walk around town. After a visit to the bookshop and the little war memorial we need a break already. It's just too hot! We have a drink at Gradska Kavana and watch the tourists and the swallows circulating over the old town.

We continue our walk, visit the Jesuit church with its gorgeous kitschy Lourdes crypt and when we are out again we see the sign for Buza1. We had heard that this place on the rocks is a tourist trap because drink prices are so high. We didn't care, it's worth every Lipa spent. Absolutely wonderful place. We sit here for a while and drink slowly, watching the boats pass by and feel a wind coming up. Refreshing! Afterwards we visit the cathedral which is rather unspectacular inside. We walk around little alleys away from all the crowds and end up in the old port again where it's time for another break, this time on the pier. As we are hungry we head back into town, have a look around the monastery and end up in an Internet cafe where we check our mails for the first time since Munich. Unfortunately VT was down exactly at the time we visited so I didn't really know what to do for most of my 30 mts. I just didnt feel like reading the news from home. Afterwards it was time to grab some food, we have wraps at Fresh*, a nice backpackers cafe in one of the little lanes off Stradun.

At 5.30 we meet Maxine (VTer artfulvision) and her son Matthew at Stradun. We have dinner at Restoran Mediterraneo, a nice place the manager of our guesthouse had told us about. The food we got here was among the best we got during our trip. Dunno if Maxine shares our opinion though ;) We have a wonderful time, laugh a lot and after dinner we head to the pianoplayer place in the old port again, for drinks and dessert. ;) The piano player isn't too impressed with Maxine asking him to play a Croatian song for a change ;)

We call it an early night, because tomorrow will be a big driving day. At Pile Gate there's a busker singing and at least 30 girls sing along with him. Two beautiful young nuns in white can't stop taking pictures, I guess they were the teachers of the girls. After a good night song (Laku Noc, one of the few expressions I understand ;) they stop singing, we say good bye to Maxine and take the bus home. And when we're home I have troubles sleeping.

Highlights: Buza, Sitting at the pier, VT dinner, Good night song

Weather: Hot to too hot (in Mostar), the hottest day of our trip, unfortunately one we spent in the car for a while ;)

After not really enough sleep we get up early and pack. We drive into the direction "Airport" first, just to stop at the famous lookout point to take a few typican Dubrovnik pictures. Then it's time to head north again, we have reached the southernmost point of our trip.

Before we enter Bosnia we buy some drinks in the supermarket because we are boiling in the car and because we don't have any Marks yet (no, not anymore, that was 2001 ;). At the border I get my long awaited Bosnian stamp into the passport and here we are in a new country. It feels like a different world! Lots of houses are still destroyed, a lot of cars are unbelievably old, sometimes you see warning signs for mines along the road. So sad thinking about how this country must have suffered not too long ago. We arrive in Mostar where we pay for the car park even though I still think we didn't have to and that we were just ripped off! Oh well, at least we're close to the old town. Stepping into it is like stepping into another world for me, there's mosques, cobblestone streets and a magic bazar atmosphere. Luckily on our first walk through it I did have neither Euros nor Marks, I could have bought everything here ;)

We cross the old bridge for the first time. To be honest, I thought it wasn't that spectacular. It's rather small. But of course it's a symbolic place, after the war the bridge was rebuilt by a team of Croats, Bosnians and Serbs. We visit a photo exhibition with photos of the bridge during the war. They sent me a shiver down my spine. We finally get ourselves some good old Marks from the ATM and shop around a bit before we cross the bridge again to get a drink and lunch in a shady place. God, it's so hot! Way too hot for a lot of sightseeing.

We have our first real Bosnian Cevapcici, they are great and cheap and come with a view on the bridge! We then have to go back to the car in order to get to Sarajevo not too late. When leaving Mostar we drive through big ruins, it makes me sad seeing this.

The countryside we pass through between Mostar and Sarajevo is gorgeous! A bit like Switzerland without the high mountains but with minarets ;) Absolutely wonderful! We drive along the river, through many dark tunnels and slowly make it to Sarajevo where we end up in a huge traffic jam because everybody is driving to the stadium. The local football team is playing, and winning the league today. As we get closer to the old town we are lost. Janica doesn't know any streets in Sarajevo so we have to rely on maps which are not really detailed. We park the car, Thomas stays with it, and I take my map and the address of our hostel and start walking through the old town. I am fascinated by its atmosphere but there's no time to stop and stare, I need to find that place. I ask several people but nobody knows the street or the hostel. Luckily one shop has a tourist information inside, they call the official tourist information and I know where to go. It's only 2 minutes from where I am. I go there and ask how to drive, it's sooo easy. We check into our room at the hostel which is nothing special but ok. And the location is amazing! We relax for a while after a day in the hot car we really need the cold room!

In the evening we meet VTer Santiago who currently works in Sarajevo. The town is full of football supporters celebrating the championship! As we want to celebrate another championship we go and watch the Champions League Final. Unfortunately Liverpool lose it and I really need to go to bed afterwards, I am dead tired!

And .. you guess it, as soon as I was lying in bed, I again couldn't sleep. Too many sounds outside I didn't know...

WHighlights: The old town of Mostar, Shops in Mostar, the landscape, the first impressions of Sarajevo's old town while searching for our hostel

Weather: There was a thunderstorm at night so it's sticky and a mixed sky of grey and blue

We get up after not too much sleep and go for a coffee and a coke in the old town. We walk around following the instructions of the Sarajevo walking guide we got at ITB (the one with the terrible pictures I would love to redesign ;). First stop is the site of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand that caused WWI in 1914. We skip the museum because the most interesting pictures are already shown outside in the windows. We pass the river, the music pavilion, and several churches before we stop for lunch at the beautiful and colourful Sarajevo Brewery (Sarajevsko Pivovar). Great sausages and an even better beer hall!

Afterwards we walk along the Spite House and the beautiful National Library/ Town Hall which unfortunately is still very much destroyed before a little siesta in our hostel room. As soon as we are alive again we are out again, this time we explore the old town and its mosques a bit more intense as well as the main street, Ferhadija, and its churches, cafes (great wallpaper in "Michele") and banks (two of them say when trying to withdraw money from my account "Ihre Karte ist Umlaut").

In the great bookshop "Buybook" I find the book I have been searching for, the "Sarajevo Survival Guide and in the general post office I finally get rid of my postcards. We walk back along the river and in Bašèaršija Thomas gets the most original Cevapcici during our trip (unfortunately my stomach doesn't seem to enjoy them). We watch the people pass by, especially women in high heels struggling on the cobblestones. Our waiter tells us in perfect German that 5-8 women a day break the heals of their shoes in Bašèaršija! We know enough and go home to finally sleep a bit.´

WHighlights: Sarajevo Atmosphere, hearing prayers from the mosques while the church bells are ringing, Sarajevsko Pivovar, Buying Yucko souvenirs and the book I wanted

Weather: As usual when we are spending a day in the car it's hot! Also in Zagreb

We get up early and with the complete car (I was worried because everybody was sooo interested in our car ;) we leave Sarajevo. First port of call for today, however, is Ilidza and its Tunnel Museum. We are the first visitors at 9 in the morning and manage to watch the shocking film and take a few steps in the tunnel before the crowds arrive. A very touching and inspiring place! When we leave an hour later the small outside the building is full of coaches and the next door neighbour is selling cold drinks.

We head north on the motorway/country road for a while until we get caught in a big traffic jam just outside Zenica. After having been waiting for a while everybody turns. So do we. We just try to follow the people who know the way, get to the other side of Bosna river and continue our trip towards Slavonski Brod on unpaved country roads. What an adventure, which doesn't get less exciting by meeting a minesearcher car after a few kilometres ;)

We survive and find the main road again after quite a while. Nothing happens until we reach Republika Srpska where we can't read the signs anymore as they are only written in cyrillic letters. We guess the correct route and drive through areas full of bombed out houses. There's trees growing from the ruins, not even one person living here anymore apparently. So sad!

In Bosanski Brod we buy petrol and cigarettes from our last Marks and cross the border to Croatia. Not knowing that there are two people checking us and our car we accidently pass by the Croatian customs guy who shouts at us to come back. Thank god he didn't shoot us and thank god we had nothing to declare ;)

Back in Croatia we immediately continue on the empty motorway (on a Friday afternoon! Unbelieveable!). We decide to drive into Zagreb to meet Niksa before leaving the country again. Zdenka joins us for a coffee, too. It's strange to be back in Zagreb where we kind of know our way around. It almost feels a bit like coming home after a long trip. We park the car at Ilica, I buy my 2nd pair of shoes, this time in black, and we meet Zdenka and Niksa at the non existing Coca Cola Clock. We head to Nokturno where I have my last pizza with Prsut for a while. I'll miss it. When Zdenka leaves we have another drink and show Niksa a few of our pictures. Then it's time to continue, I had called the hostel in Ljubljana and it would be best to arrive there before 10. After a quick stroll through the supermarket where Niksa has to give us money because we are running out of Kunas. (Thanks again, Niksa!) We go straight onto the motorway and drive to Ljubljana without anything happening on the way. Not even the border crossing was very exciting.

We make it to Vila Veselova in Ljubljana at 2 minutes to ten and check into our lovely private room. All I want now is a shower and a bed. And that's all I see that night...

Highlights: Meeting Niksa finally, being back in Zagreb, empty motorway, tunnel museum, surviving the unpaved road with an entire car, the hostel in Ljubljana, petrol prices in Republika Srpska

Weather: Hot with a little wind

We have breakfast on the balcony and meet a lot of nice travelers. As we don't have any Euro left we head to Preseren Square to go to the bank and then we have real breakfast (wonderful cakes!) at Cafe Zvezda. Afterwards we cross the triple bridge and walk along the river to Dragon bridge. Then we go up to the castle by taking the fancy new funicular (I am glad that with this heat we don't have to walk up this time ;). We hang around the castle square for ages having drinks and just taking it easy. Somehow after having been on the road for too long we are sick of sightseeing today so we just relax (which is lovely too, for a change!).

We walk down into the old town, it's boiling hot. We have a look at all the gorgeous Art Nouveau Buildings and eat at a famous fast food chain (Sorry but this embarrassing lunch was part of our "It's time to go home" feeling.) Afterwards we hang around Preseren square for a while, getting sunburnt and watching the preparations for a football match between homeless people from Slovenia and Italy. Then we meet Oja and her two adorable kids for a coffee. It's great to see her again, it's not too often that you meet the VT oldtimers ;)

When they head to the zoo we head to the part of Ljubljana with all the Plecnik buildings and stroll around there until we meet Krista, Darja, Samo and Tanja at Preseren Square. We have a few drinks on a nice terrace with great live music and so much fun. When Darja and Tanja need to go home the rest goes to "Krista's restaurant" where we are treated by "the host" with great food, drinks and desserts. Thank you Krista, your cooking is really amazing ;)))). Samo drives us back to the hostel and we go to bed slowly realising that the holiday is almost over.

Highlights: Meeting the Ljubljana VT crew, cakes at Zvezda, the hostel, Krista's food, just relaxing

Weather: Cold and rainy

It's time to go home. We have breakfast on the balcony and drive to our last Mercator supermarket on the road. I want to buy truffles but can't seem to find them. I ask a guy who is shopping because the people who work there don't speak any English. He asks the staff and runs with me through the whole supermarket to find them. So nice! We buy a lot of souvenirs to eat and drink and a bottle of Slowenian wine for Thomas' father and leave Ljubljana. As soon as we are on the motorway it starts to rain heavily, it's unbelieveable!

We drive down to Lake Bled but as it is still raining and there are no parking spaces anywhere we just have a look from the car and continue. Shortly before we reach Austria on the motorway we leave the motorway and take the country road to Kranjska Gora. After a little break at Planice skiflying hill we cross the border to Austria on the pass road, I think I have never seen a steeper road in my life! We have to drive down in 1st gear!

Back in Austria nothing happens and I fall asleep while listening to "Vollidiot" again... Thomas wakes me up at the German border. Wow that was quick! We stop at Chiemsee for a Schnitzel in the sun before we drive the last few kilometres to Munich. In Munich it starts to rain again and doesn't stop for the entire two days we stay. After these days we drive back to Düsseldorf. It's cold, rainy and after 4500 kms on the road it feels good to be back home.

Highlights: Planica, Driving home so quickly, Sleeping in my own bed