Posts tagged ‘Europe’

Jul 7

Hvar & Trogir

Hvar

We thought our ferry days were over, but here we are again, island hopping! We couldn’t visit Croatia without checking out at least one island, so Hvar is it.

Brač and Vis both come recommended and we would have liked to visit these, however, taking a car proved difficult as it seemed we couldn’t go direct from one island to the next, as we always needed to go back to the mainland. Oh well, there is always next year!

We take the ferry from Drvenik (mainland) to Sucuraj (Hvar) on the eastern tip of the island and we drive up the spine. There are a few spots along the way, but we have decided to base our selves in, or near, the main town, also called Hvar.

This town is renowned for being a party town. On first sight, that’s exactly what it looks like. There isn’t much of a beach and what there is, is crowded, mostly with 20 somethings snoozing off the night before.

About 5km back down the road we had passed Milna and we decide to go back for a closer look. We instantly like it; it’s a quiet little beach spot with a few restaurants. Just the place to relax for a couple of days.

Moli Onte apartments are above the family run restaurant. Mum, Dobrilla, makes us immediately feel at home with her family. She also has relatives in Nunawadding (Victoria) and can proudly tell us, the postcode is 3131! Its a clean and basic set-up – Bedroom with own bathroom (of course) and much appreciated air-conditioning. We also have use of a shared kitchen. Our room opens onto a large balcony with wonderful views over the water.

Of course, we dine at Moli Onte and the fresh seafood is superb. You know its fresh, because you can watch it swim around just before you eat it! We start chatting to the table next to us: Mitch and Mike, a father and son from Sandringham – the world is a small place.

Our original plan to stay three nights stretched from four and then to five. I am still surprised that we can so easily fill in our days on the beach reading books, swimming and the occasional nap!

Hvar town was also a surprisingly a gorgeous town, one of the nicest we have been to. We ignore the doof doof sounds pounding out of the bars (even in the early afternoon) and step into the cobblestone back streets, where we discover a well preserved old town oozing with wine bars, restaurant and chic boutiques. We stumbled across Hedonist Wine and Tapas bar. We have a glass and a nibble and are convinced we need to come back, so we do. The tapas lunch, which includes 5 choices each and two glasses of wine, was well worth the trip.

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Split

The return ferry is from Stari Grad, Hvar to Split, perhaps we didn’t do the city justice, but our first impressions told us not to stay long. The main feature of the town is the Diocletian Palace. This is not a palace in regular terms, more an old town. It’s marble streets and imposing Roman ruins are well worth the stop (I’m starting to sound like a Michelin Guide; yes, I’d give it ☆☆☆). We have lunch and walk around, then keep on going up the coast.

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Trogir

Settled in the 7th Century, its a medieval town (of course, it has a wall around it). The town is built on a small islet nestled between Ciovo Island and the mainland, a bridge adjoins the three. The port side promenade is lined with bars and cafes so you can sit and admire the luxury yachts moored alongside.

The seaside resorts on Ciovo are crowded. Croatia is becoming a more popular tourist destination, particularly with Italians and Slovenians, not to forget the Germans who are prolific travelers and big naturist (so I am told).

We spend two nights here, exploring the medieval town and cooling off in the channel between the island and mainland.

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Jul 1

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Dubrovnik Croatia

You can’t help but be impressed by the old walled city of Dubrovnik.

You wouldn’t know it, but the city fell victim to extensive shelling during the 1991-92 battle for independence and was significantly damaged. Its restoration is a credit to the Croatians.

The one downside to visiting Dubrovnik is the number of tourists. We are running into peak season now and are seeing an increase in people (just like us) touring, but this is magnified three-fold when you add in cruise ship tourists. Dubrovnik is a very popular cruise port, with up to 10 or more ships a day.

They (the cruise ship tourist) swarm upon a destination; like a flock of sheep obediently following its shepherd. In this case the shepherd is easily identifiable from the coloured flag they hold up high, marching onward.

So, to avoid the swarms we have a few tactics of our own. Firstly, wait until they leave and enjoy the city in the evening. The added benefit of this is that it will also be cooler. We’ve found accommodation for the night at Astrid Apartments, just up the hill overlooking the old town.

It’s €70 a night, which is a little over our budget, but we’ve quickly worked out that this is an expensive city. It has air-conditioning (it’s really hot) and parking.

About 6pm we stroll down to the renaissance gate of the old city. The Adriatic backdrop glistens with the afternoon sun (remember, it doesn’t get dark until well after 8pm). Already the city is relaxing from the crowds of the day. It’s still busy, but these visitors, like us, are in less of a hurry to explore the marble streets and discover nooks and alleys behind the Stradun, which is the impressive main street that runs the length of the town featuring baroque architecture.

We find Dalmatino, a restaurant tucked away in a side alley and enjoy a sumptuous dinner.

A highlight of the city is the surrounding walls, which have protected it for more than five centuries. They are recognised as one of the finest examples in the world.

A ‘must do’ is to walk the walls and this is when our second tactic to avoiding the crowds comes in: be up early before the day trippers arrive. The next morning, we are one of the first on the wall at 8am. Walking the 2kms of wall, provides wonderful views of the city and sea.

For all those Game of Thrones fans, Dubrovnik is used as one of the set locations.

Looking across city of Dubrovnik

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Jun 30

Exploring Montenegro

Ulcinj
Driving from Podgorica, we take the scenic route around Sakar Lake, shared with Albania. It’s another narrow and winding road; seat gripping at times, but very scenic. The route takes us as far south as you can go, and from here we start perusing the coast looking for our next accommodation.

The GPS warns ‘special permit required’. We assume that’s the border crossing, so we will just turn around when we need to. Crossing over a narrow bridge, to the island of Bojana, we are met by a security guard blocking the entrance to the Naturist Park. It’s a nudist colony! Don, of course wanted to go in, but I convinced him that his tan lines would be a giveaway that he was a first timer.

This coastline is one big long stretch of beach and it seems that there is no accommodation on the beach, probably because it looks like wet marshlands. It’s not very appealing, so we keep on driving. Ulcinj is the southernmost town. As we crawl through the streets looking to park, we quickly gather this town is crowded. Tonight, also happens to be the start of the Miss Albania beauty contest. The pageant is being held at the end of the beach, below the old town. Yes, I know; Albania is not part of Montenegro, why is it here? I don’t know.

The town has character; there are plenty of places to eat and the beach looks reasonable. Even at 6pm, it’s crowded with people – make mental note, reserve deck chairs early tomorrow. There are ‘Sobe’ signs everywhere, so we start checking them out. The first is €20 per night, but shared bathroom. We are too old to share. The next is down the far end of the beach. It has a big double room, plus a lounge and views over the beach and town, for €35. It also has a nice new bathroom – all to ourselves.

We spend two nights in Ulcinj. We explore the old town and laze on the beach. We take a peak at Miss Albania, but can’t see much, it’s clearly the place to be, with lots of dressed up young ones ready to party all night.

Stari Grad Bar
As we continue up the coast we make a ‘culture’ stop at the old town of Bar. The guide books don’t rate new Bar very highly. It’s Montenegro’s major shipping, ferry and cruise port, with not a lot of charm. Nestled up in the hinterland overlooking the port is the old town: Stari Grad Bar, which is picturesque, as they all are (must count how many times I have used that word). Uncrowded by tourists, we wander around the ruins for an hour or so.

A bit of trivia: The Italian scientist, Marconi, made a radio transmission from Bari to Bar in Aug 1904 as part of proving that radio waves could travel a long distance.

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Buljarica
There are some lovely looking spots along the coast and they all look busy. We are not sure if it’s because it’s a weekend, or that the holiday season has taken off here. We spot Buljarica from the road. It looks like a nice sweeping bay and worth checking out, even if just for lunch. Our first accommodation choice is full, but the second has rooms for €35 per night. We stay three nights. It’s the first time we have had cooking facilities and make use of cooking up some simple meals.

Petrovac
About a 1km walk around from Buljarica is Petrovac, which is a larger holiday destination. It has a lot more style than Ulcinj; not as big and has more charm, with many of the old stone buildings restored. I am not sure what these towns do off-season, but right now they are making the most of the sun seekers.

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As we make our way up the coast and on to Croatia we make a couple of stops along the way:

Sveti Stefan
It’s the island the makes it on to all the postcards. A little village once occupied the island which is joined to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. Now it’s an exclusive Aman resort. On each side of the isthmus is a beach; one public and one run by the hotel, which looks lovely and you can pay to use it. We think we’ve found the perfect spot to holiday; until we check out the price. For the privilege of two sun lounges and an umbrella – €50 per day!

We’ve been paying for the comfort of sun lounges, and more importantly an umbrella, since Turkey. The price for two has always been between €3 and €7 per day, €50 is on the outrageous side, we don’t want to buy them, just rent them. Wait till Don sees the prices in Italy and France!

Kotor
Next stop is the Bay of Kotor. This walled city of Kotor is surrounded by jaggard limestone cliffs, it’s a beautiful spot. The city dates back to 168 BC, but it is the 4 centuries of Venetian dominance commencing in the 1400’s that make it architecturally charming.

We arrive early morning and are lucky enough to miss most of the cruise ships and tourist coaches that make daily pilgrimages. Ironic, isn’t it. We try hard to avoid the ‘tourist’, so we can be a tourist!

There is a punt across the bay, but we decide to drive around, as it’s only about 20km. Perast is a village a bit further around from Kotor where you can take a boat out to the two little islets. Another, yep you got it, picturesque village. As we continue our drive, the bay is dotted with little villages and adorned with mussel farms.

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Jun 25

Montenegro

After Veliko Tarnovo we decide that there isn’t much more in Bulgaria we want to see and plot our route to Montenegro.

Perhaps we are suffering from sensory overload, because there is a Monastery, Castle, or Fort on almost every corner. After Turkey and Greece we are a bit over them, for as beautiful and historic as they all are (well some of them are a bit lame), they all becoming a blur to us.

However, as we leave Veliko we discover there is a new road side attraction; prostitutes. We pass a number of scantily clad (it is summer), young attractive girls. At first we innocently comment on why they are standing on the side of the road, in what we would describe as the middle of nowhere? After about the 4th or 5th girl, it starts to become a little obvious this is prostitute alley.

It’s a full day of driving and we would like to be in Montenegro for the night. That’s two border crossings; Bulgaria to Serbia and Serbia to Montenegro. We don’t care about the crossings, but we do care about the currency. We’ve used up all our Bulgarian Leva and ideally don’t want to get anymore. We certainly don’t need any Serbian; we don’t even know what they use.

After our little incident crossing into Bulgaria we are relieved to leave the country with no problems. Who knows what black marks sit against you on their system? We are in Serbia for only a few hours and then we cross into into Montenegro. It’s interesting how as soon as you cross into another country you can feel a change; you quickly ascertain some sense of its economic state. Serbia appears more miserable and harder done by than its neighbours; the roads, the housing, the clothing; all are a little more worn and unkept.

We are driving down the eastern boundary of Montenegro, skirting Albania, which is a no go zone for us. Even the GPS has omitted this country from its maps. It’s up, over and through, the mountains. It’s a majestic landscape, though the drive is somewhat treacherous along a narrow road. It’s one we decide to complete in the morning.

We stop in Berane. There does not appear to be much about this town to like; it looks like a working town. It has potential, sitting on the banks of a river, framed by mountains, but it’s the housing-commission looking apartments that dominate the view, which ruins a potential gem.

We pick the best of only three hotels in town and bunker down. We skip the hotel breakfast for fear of suffocating from smoke inhalation and look for a coffee before we hit the road. The one and only decent looking café turns out to be the hidden gem. It’s the only building in the town that has been beautifully resorted. Coffee is €0.50 (new record for the CPI). Breakfast is sumptuous eggs for only €2 more. There is no reason to visit this town again, except for this one café!

Whilst Montenegro is not a member of the Eurozone, or even an EU member, it has unofficially adopted the Euro as its currency, yet it still remains a little behind with prices.

It’s 150km to the coast. We thought it would take a couple of hours at most – It took us three hours to cover a 100km!! The route takes us through more mountains and is spectacular, but we’ve never had so many switchbacks on a road. There are parts where the road has washed away and we cross a bridge that looks like it’s collapsing at any moment (we actually got out and had a look before we drove over). On the positive side, there are few trucks to deal with, either to overtake, or squeeze past as they hurtled down the narrow road coming the other way, at which point you pull over as close as you can, stop and hold your breath.

We get to the capital city, Podgorica, and decide to take a break. It turns into an overnight break. The weather report is not promising, so why be on the coast? Podgorica appears to be an old town quickly becoming a modern city, showing further evidence that this is a flourishing country. I suspect the unofficial use of the Euro is helping, though I never did well at economics, so am not going to attempt to understand how.

Our decision to stay the night is influenced by the weather and more importantly, we find a cinema playing movies in English. We haven’t bothered with TV anywhere. On the off chance you might find something in English, its usually a well out of date soapy. So, to find a cinema playing the new Tom Cruise movie in 3D is a treat.

Other than the shopping mall with the cinema, there isn’t much else to see. Or I should say, we didn’t see much else. We find the ‘historic old town’, which is a run down part of the city, that we quickly exit.

Our hotel is modern and slick, though oddly located on top of a Honda car dealership. We ask for dinner recommendations and are disappointed, but the movie was great.

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Jun 23

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Veliko Tarnovo

We rely heavily on our GPS to get from A to B, to date it’s been fairly reliable. It has three options when you set a destination. Economic, Short or Fast. In the many hours we’ve spent in the car, we’ve pondered the algorithms which differentiate the three. I know, some of the things we talk about!!

We quickly worked out to avoid Short, this is short by km’s, that does not correlate to time, especially when you find it directing you through narrow village roads, not built for a car, rather than going around. We’ve had to reverse out of a few tight situations. Kay and Dave; it reminds us of a similar instance finding the town of Beaux de Provence in France.

Economic, we assume defaults to highways and main roads, as does Fast. We haven’t noticed a difference between these two, until today when it choose a fairly rugged route. By the time we grew suspicious we didn’t have an option to turn around and just had to keep going.

We have barely begun our days journey when we come across Varna Winery. Being impressed with Bulgarian wines, we have to stop in and check it out. A dozen bottles later (purchased, not drunk), we set off again!

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Our next destination is the coast of Montenegro. We plan to take 2 days to get there. On the way, we thought we should check out a bit more of Bulgaria and are heading for a town called Veliko Tarnovo, rated Bulgaria’s most beautiful town.

From what we passed on the way, I don’t think there is much competition. Previously the capital, the old town is charming. Nestled in the mountains it has an alpine feel, you can imagine it being covered in snow during winter. The well worn cobblestone streets are lined with Ottoman style wooden houses with steep timber roofs and overhanging balconies, that protrude into the streets and window boxes filled with brightly coloured flowers.

It is picturesque and there are a couple of monasteries and a castle, but if this is considered the highlight, I’m not sure how much more of Bulgaria we need to check out.

We stayed: Hotel Gurko

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