24 June 2007
Let's go to Croatia!
Why not? There hasn't been a war there for like 10 years. And they're advertising the hell out of their Tourist industry all over CNN Europe.
The drive down was interesting, but also kind of crappy.
It rained a bunch, but the Alps were gorgeous.
Photos were taken while i was busy passenging... my gentleman driver, Der Hannes:
We drove past castles in Austria
and through these Alps in Italy
In Italy the traffic was crazy. It was raining like hell, and a dark 10pm when we decided to stop for the night. Údine was the town we stopped at. Údine is all traffic circle roundabout things, with vague signs and sometimes they even point in the wrong direction to confuse the non-Italian-speaking visitors. Oh, I can tell you that makes it more fun. Did i mention we were also hungry?
After going through 173 roundabouts, getting dizzy and throwing up, we found a cheap hotel for the night. When we asked the owner dude where to get food, he said the kitchen was already closed, but we could take crackers and marmelade from the breakfast buffet.
Which we did, but then we walked out and found the most delicious pizza joint in the world. My pizza had pepperoni, some kind of marinated mushrooms, and a smoked semi-hard white cheese, in addition to the usual tomato sauce and mozzarella.
The next morning we took off as early as we could, after a little brioche and espresso in the dining room decked out like the inside of a ship. We drove further South and the weather broke a little bit. In Triéste we stopped at a scenic lookout and i got my first view of the Mediterranean.
They were not nice cats, but they live there, so we left them in peace after a few pictures.
After driving through Slovenia, we got to Rovinj, Croatia.
We found a vacation condo, and stayed with an old woman named Maria who spoke only Croatian and German (she was a guest worker near Stuttgart in the 60's). Two bicycles came with the apartment, so we had transportation for getting around town.
Our first full day there, we rode up and down the coast a bit to get the feel of where we were.
We played on the rocks a little, and sunned..
squinty
Then there was some wandering into the old town of Rovinj, with its slippery stone streets.
its laundry on the line
and general charmingness.
We walked up to the big church on the hill, but as I was wearing shorts, it was not permitted to enter.. but the way up was gorgeous..
Nets. but not internets.
Happy Fishercats
yup, i managed not to pee on my shoes or fall down. but it was a struggle.
Outside, though, the town was gorgeous..
The drive down was interesting, but also kind of crappy.
It rained a bunch, but the Alps were gorgeous.
Photos were taken while i was busy passenging... my gentleman driver, Der Hannes:
We drove past castles in Austria
and through these Alps in Italy
In Italy the traffic was crazy. It was raining like hell, and a dark 10pm when we decided to stop for the night. Údine was the town we stopped at. Údine is all traffic circle roundabout things, with vague signs and sometimes they even point in the wrong direction to confuse the non-Italian-speaking visitors. Oh, I can tell you that makes it more fun. Did i mention we were also hungry?
After going through 173 roundabouts, getting dizzy and throwing up, we found a cheap hotel for the night. When we asked the owner dude where to get food, he said the kitchen was already closed, but we could take crackers and marmelade from the breakfast buffet.
Which we did, but then we walked out and found the most delicious pizza joint in the world. My pizza had pepperoni, some kind of marinated mushrooms, and a smoked semi-hard white cheese, in addition to the usual tomato sauce and mozzarella.
The next morning we took off as early as we could, after a little brioche and espresso in the dining room decked out like the inside of a ship. We drove further South and the weather broke a little bit. In Triéste we stopped at a scenic lookout and i got my first view of the Mediterranean.
Also at this scenic lookout, we found the Wild Cats of Triéste
They were not nice cats, but they live there, so we left them in peace after a few pictures.
After driving through Slovenia, we got to Rovinj, Croatia.
We found a vacation condo, and stayed with an old woman named Maria who spoke only Croatian and German (she was a guest worker near Stuttgart in the 60's). Two bicycles came with the apartment, so we had transportation for getting around town.
Our first full day there, we rode up and down the coast a bit to get the feel of where we were.
We played on the rocks a little, and sunned..
squinty
It was really day 2 that we spent any time on the beaches. It's still funny for me to swim in saltwater.. i'm used to not seeing the other shore, and it still being freshwater.
Then there was some wandering into the old town of Rovinj, with its slippery stone streets.
its laundry on the line
and general charmingness.
We walked up to the big church on the hill, but as I was wearing shorts, it was not permitted to enter.. but the way up was gorgeous..
One of the things i liked best about this harbor town was the fresh fish. Calamari wasn't just like deep fried rubber bands, it practically melted in my mouth.
Nets. but not internets.
Happy Fishercats
sunset on the oldtown
I really liked Croatia, the people were laid back, it was really cheap, and everyone spoke German. Hannes doesn't so much speak English, so we chattered away in German the whole time. It was funny, there were a few English couples around, and they really stuck out like sore thumbs with all the Croats speaking German to the other tourists.
We drove home all in one day, it took about 8 hours of driving, through 5 countries. We stopped in Italy for pizza just South of the Austrian border. This was in the ladies room, instead of a toilet..
yup, i managed not to pee on my shoes or fall down. but it was a struggle.
Outside, though, the town was gorgeous..
Labels: europe, travel, vacation
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Wow cool trip J. The potty looked a bit challenging, and I guess the broom is for those with bad aim?
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