Zirbenschnapps

Day: 352
Basilica and back

We decided to go into town today and check out the local basilica. The church dates back to the 4th century and has some beautiful mosaics in the nave of the newer church and an original mosaic in the original church. We decided to part with some kuna and climb the clock tower to get a view above town. The tower sits in the courtyard of the church and from the top gives great 360˚ views all around.
After our foray into town we hit the internet café for a little check on email and to try and update our blogs and photos. The café was nice, but it was in lockdown mode when it came to downloading info. We at least let people know we were alive and kicking. Little did we know that our pension had a wireless connection that we could have tapped into. It was later in the afternoon when we put that one together.
The menu tonight was fish and our host didn’t disappoint. I was able to peek at the fish before cooking and did in fact see a mackerel among the pile. There were also small halibut and I think a rock cod or bass. He uses a lot of butter to cook them up in and the crust that forms gives some great flavor. He asked us what we would like tomorrow for dinner since it was our last night and we both decided that fish sounded good. He then asked if we wanted one big one or a mix again. I say don’t fix it if it ain’t broke…go with the mix of fish.
The bad news on the Croatia front is that Croatia lost to England in Zagreb last night. The football match was pool play for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Croatia isn’t out of it, but England put a pretty good licking on them (4-1). Our host didn’t have anything nice to say about England and then added that the only people he liked less were the French. He added a little gesture at the end that is universal, but hard to replicate by word. He thought that anybody who was playing Croatia was his enemy unless they were customers, then he would show ‘a little diplomacy’.
After dinner tonight our host grabbed Leslie and I as we were trying to sneak back up to our room. He herded us into the bar where he was ‘going to give us a little sleeping pill’. The first pill was shot of šljivovica. He liked to call it šljivowhiskey or Yugo petrol. His homemade version certainly had a little more bite than the last one we had, and I bet it would run a little car like the Yugo. He didn’t think we had, had enough so then he got the good stuff. It was ‘quitte schnapps’ and was very tasty. A ‘quitte’ is Croatian for quince in case you were wondering. I saw a bottle high up on his liquor shelf and stepped around the bar to ask him what it was. It had a homemade label and a layer of dust on it. I didn’t want any, I just wanted to know what it was. He fished out a bottle of it lower down and said it was a very special schnapps that his friend made in Austria. Zirbenschnapps was amber in color and had a light taste of rootbeer and pine. Leslie and I both thought it was very good and was very high in alcohol. Turns out to be around 60%. I think that all of our sleeping pills are working quite nicely and if we were going to have a problem sleeping, we won’t now.
Sweet Zirbenschnapps dreams.
CK

The Couple in Room 12

Day 351
Porec to Motovun

The couple in room 12 are definitely new at Pansion Biba.

This morning we eagerly descended the stairs for our first breakfast at our new accommodation. No surprise, we had been analyzing the potential buffet offerings since last evening. As we strolled past the breads, cereals, meats, and cheeses, Chris headed for the table where we sat last night at dinner. I decided that I didn’t want to get in a rut and beckoned him to a different table. Actually, I just wanted a table that already had a carafe of coffee ready to go. As I sat down and started to pour myself a cup, the host rushed over and stopped me before I could splash a drop. He pointed to our table from last night and then another one next to the spot I had chosen. He then hurriedly got me settled at the new table and then explained to me (in Croatian, German or Italian – I’m not really sure) that we had assigned tables. I felt really bad – I was just trying to break my own annoying habit. Chris had that “I told you so smile” on his face as he sat down. I shrugged my shoulders and went on about my coffee drinking and breakfast eating. It was about mid-meal when I realized that I could have saved myself a lot embarrassment by just looking at the sugar dish. Each one is marked with the room number. Rookie mistake – tomorrow I will look for the number 12.
We spent the day on a “training ride” to the village of Motovun. I had read that it was a picturesque hilltop village. The loop I laid out was about 60 or so kilometers and it would be a good way to see the countryside and get some miles in.
The riding was great without panniers and made us miss riding at home. Sometimes I’m amazed at how much we like to ride our bicycles. Plain and simple; it’s just fun.
Motovun was really cool. Not only is it a hilltop village, it sits alone in the middle of a broad valley. We’re guessing that it was an important location for the region as it provides endless views in all directions. Chris and I pedaled up the main road until our tires hit the cobble. From there we walked to the top with the rest of the tourists. We lingered awhile to soak in the views, architecture, and people. By early afternoon, our legs began pedaling back to our bed and breakfast.
The comic relief for the day came at the end of the ride as we rode back into Porec. Chris noticed a bicycle path on the opposite side of the road. Since traffic was pretty heavy we decided to cross over. As I slowed down in a driveway, a car coming from the opposite direction layed on its horn. As it turned in, it swerved a bit like it was going to hit Chris. As it slowly rolled by an irate young man rattled off a litany punctuated by an “FU” in the middle. We both laughed out of nervousness and complete shock. We were also confused by his anger and his use of the expletive in the middle of the sentence. Normally one would use such vulgar language at the beginning or the end of an outburst.
But wait…we haven’t gotten to the best part yet.
We hadn’t noticed the other cars waiting behind the enraged motorist. Just as we were ready to get on our way, another car honked at us. We were ready to throw up our hands in disgust when man in a little white car yelled “ha-lo” and then pointed down the road to the other driver. He then put up his middle finger, smiled, and then pointed down the road again. I guess he was on our side…

Happy Wednesday,
LK

Fun in the Sun

Day: 349 and 350
Poreč Rest Day 1 and 2

We are taking a few rest days in Poreč before heading out on some day rides in the countryside. Yesterday our day was really simple. Laundry, drying of laundry, sunning of bodies at camp, sunning of bodies at the beach, lunch, dinner, sunset and finally ice cream. The sunset was exceptional with the giant orange orb sizzling as it hit the water.
Today was moving day for us since we were moving the operation down the road to the Pension Biba. We figured we couldn’t check in until the afternoon so we had a slow leisurely morning eating brekkie, packing up our gear and checking email. We finally got on the road around noon and headed into town for a little lunch and a roll along the water front. Leslie drew shopping duties today and came rolling out with a few items in a shopping cart. To the casual observer it would have appeared that it was empty, but to people living out of bags, it was a refrigerator full. We ate our lunch in a little park by the historic basilica in town (more on that later in the week) and had fun watching a little boy play soccer with his mom. After we got all packed up again we rolled along the big stone waterfront making note of all the little sunning spots for later in the week. Finally it was time to head out to Biba’s. We got there and our host quickly showed us to our room, told us dinner was at 7 and let us be. They (the locals) take a siesta from 1-5 in the afternoon here and I think we rolled in on the middle of it. Leslie and I took refuge at the pool and after a quick dip to cool off she grabbed some sun and I grabbed some shade. I like to fancy myself as a professional sun worshipper, but I really like the shade more. Leslie and I grabbed our siesta from 5-7. I thought I had better get registered and grab some drinks that we had put in the fridge downstairs so I ventured out to find the host. I handed over our passports and he thought I looked thirsty and offered me a drink. The grappa (homemade wine) here is great and I have taken a liking to the white variety. As we were sipping our wine he thought that I needed a shot of schnapps as well (homemade also) so I had a shot of that. After that I made a slip out of the bar and got upstairs before he handed me another. Leslie laughed at me and added ‘that he really had to twist your arm to have those drinks’. OK, not exactly twist, but I thought it would be rude not to accept. Dinner was at 7 and fish was being served. I figured that it would be a fillet each with some potatoes and that would be that. We had a salad bar, followed with more wine, followed by a platter with potatoes, spinach, and 5 fish. This was our platter. The other tables all had similar platters with just as much or more. I would love to tell you the fish we ate, but the only one I recognized was a mackerel and I not even sure that is right. All I know they were all good. Yes, I said all, because we ate them all.
The end of rest day 2 has ended with promise. Now it is active rest until Italy.
Fishy, fishy coco pop.
CK

Mental Maps

Day 348
Pula to Porec
Time: 5:19:00
Distance: 76.0 kilometers
Avg Speed: 14.3 kph
Terrain: Rolling
Location: N 45˚ 11’ 41.8”, E 13˚ 35’ 24.2”

My mental map for the day was about 50 km with an early afternoon arrival at a nice guesthouse. Reality took us over 75 km to Porec and a campground. So much for mental maps…

What is a mental map exactly? I picked up the term after reading a book about survival by Lawrence Gonzales. It’s the idea that when we approach a task or event, we have certain preconceived ideas about what will be the outcome. Mr. Gonzales presented different case studies and tied in the survivor or victim’s mental map. They expected to do a,b, and c while d, e, and f happened.
I’ve been trying to not pay attention to my mental map, but I think that it is human nature to formulate one. I’m getting better at not having any expectations and just being open to whatever the day brings. I think it’s a process that will last my entire life.
I picked the destination today based on the symbols on the map and the proximity to a certain town I want to visit. In addition to lovely beaches, the Istria Pennisula is said to have beautiful medieval looking towns. When we arrived at the town, there wasn’t much action and basically no guesthouses. I hadn’t really planned on anything else since guesthouses seem to be readily available. We stopped for a food and water break and made a new plan – actually a couple of them. In the back of my mind I suspected that we would end up at a campground for the night. It definitely wasn’t the first choice but a reliable one.
As we traveled down the road to Porec we found not much in the way of available or affordable rooms. We pedaled the way of the campground and stopped one last time to check out two possibilities. When we found no one at the guesthouse we rolled down the driveway to the pension (B & B). It was very nice – a quaint stone house surrounded by a vineyard and a pool. Chris found the host and quickly went to work discussing options. The man spoke a lot of Croatian, a little Spanish, and a little English. As the conversation went on we figured out that a large group had just called and was on their way to fill up the remaining rooms. We could tell that he was a little disappointed because we were ready to stay for the rest of the week, especially after we found out that the room rate included breakfast and dinner. He poured us each a glass of wine while we waited to see if his phone call panned out. As he examined his schedule book to see about any open rooms, he asked us about the distance we rode today. When we told him 70 kilometers his arms flew up in the air and he rushed to pour us another glass of wine. I think he might have even said a hail mary too.
So tonight we are in the campground after all. However, we won’t be here all week. Our new friend has an opening on Tuesday so we’ll pack our panniers and head over for four nights of home cooked meals before sailing over to Italy.

Here’s to a few glasses of wine after a long hot day on the road,
LK

Coco Butter Bread Spread

Day: 347
Labin to Pula
Time: 3:15
Distance: 49.8 km
Avg Speed: 15.3 kph
Terrain: hilly
Location: N 44˚ 51’ 25.0”, E 13˚ 48’ 53.0”

We got up early in Labin to get our day started and as it turned out, visit with our little hostess. We had our usual bowl of muesli and had planned on grabbing some coffee downstairs with Anđela (that is our hostess’ name). She had shown Leslie that she grinds her own beans and had a drip coffee maker. Anything is better than Nescafé, so we weren’t too hard to convince. She apologized that she couldn’t cook us breakfast, but since her leg was bad she had trouble getting around. We got packed up and ended up sitting in her kitchen where she had made us a pot of coffee and sliced us some bread. She went through the sugar (šećer), milk (mlijeko), bread (kleh), butter (maslac), marmalade (no special word there) and her pride and joy; a container of coco butter left by the Canadian cycle tourists a week before. She left the room to go and get some paper work for us and I quickly grabbed the coco butter to examine it. It was brand new, thankfully, and had never been used. I also verified what Leslie and I thought it really was. It was coco butter skin cream, not coco butter bread spread. She came back in the room and Leslie and I had poured ourselves some coffee and were putting butter and marmalade on our bread. She started to talk about the coco butter some more and I thought to myself ‘we have to tell her…I just don’t want to embarrass her or confuse the situation any more’. Leslie must have been thinking the same thing, because she grabbed the container and pointed to the back of it and made the motion of putting it on her skin. Anđela got it immediately and just started laughing like it was the best thing she had ever heard. She grabbed the coco butter from Leslie, looked at the back of it, laughed some more, rattled off a bunch of Croatian and put the container on her ironing board. Evidently my fears were unjustified. We finally got on the road and had a great ride cruising the back roads south. We pulled into Pula around noon and quickly found the campground and settled in for our daily tan and swim. I fell asleep and missed my swim time so we got changed and headed into town to check out the Roman Coliseum built in the first century. We got sidetracked at a colorful, lively square, but finally found it. Very cool, very old and not very touristy. We had our fill of sight seeing and went to find some dinner. One of the specialties of the Istria is truffles (the fungi, not the chocolate). I was weak and couldn’t just do truffles so I got a meat dish, but Leslie was good and got truffle ravioli. Hers was way better than mine.
We are now back in the tent where I met the hitchhiker I had picked up today. I think I got him last night since I had stored our tent bag on the ground. While unpacking the tent today I came face to face with a little scorpion who rode through the countryside with us. I set the bag on the ground to grab my camera and when I turned around the little guy was gone. He is probably in amongst the pannier bags waiting to see where we will go tomorrow.
CK

Blog Hold-Up

Sorry for the delay in the latest blogs. We got everything together and came to the internet cafe only to find out that they have everything locked down. Oh well, we'll try somewhere else.

We are still in Croatia and will be traveling to Venice, Italy this weekend.

Hope all is well in your part of the world.

LK and CK

A Month in Europe

Day 346
Cres to Labin
Time: 4:31:00
Distance: 54.0
Avg Speed: 11.9
Terrain: Hills!
Location: N 45˚ 06’ 10.1”, E 14˚ 06’ 51.6”

It’s day 31 on the road; my toenail polish is almost gone, my skin is getting quite dark, and I’ve learned how to say “hello” and “thank you” in four different languages. I’m in Europe and I’m lovin’ it.

The first month on the final leg of our journey has been a lot different than the first month in New Zealand. However, we would never be here if we hadn’t gone there. I thought I might share the difference in distance traveled, average kilometers per day, etc. Really, it’s like comparing apples and oranges. The biggest difference now is that we have become accustomed to all aspects of the road.

Today was a pretty hard day. We started with a 15 kilometer, granny gear climb. Thankfully the views were spectacular and I was easily distracted. One thing I couldn’t take was the heat and humidity so I too adopted the Euro way. No, I didn’t go topless, I just decided my swimsuit top was the best option for the ride. Besides, I have some tan lines to even out.
The ascent topped out at 430m (starting from sea level) and then began a circuitous path down the opposite side of the island. We were headed for the ferry dock and the crossover to the Istria Penninsula. We knew we were going to repeat the uphill on the other side but didn’t put much thought into how bad it could be. The goal was to be up at the main highway before the next ferry crossed. I think it was close, but we made it despite the 20% grade. It didn’t start out too bad but finished as one of the steepest sections of road we have encountered. I guess it’s all training – we still have the Alps ahead of us.
We found ourselves an apartment for the night. The host is a really wonderful lady. She speaks absolutely no English but talked to us like we were fluent in Croatian. She never once got frustrated with us as we gave her several puzzled looks as she rattled off this and that. She called her daughter a few times for various translations; otherwise we worked it out between the three of us. Chris remarked recently about our new skill set of non-verbal communication. We were definitely using it this afternoon. Apparently, most guesthouses charge extra for stays of just one night. We hadn’t run into this before and were prepared to leave and make the journey to the campground. I guess she decided it was better to rent the place for one night rather than not rent it at all because she waived the extra fee. We gave her our passports and as she signed us in she began a new conversation (of which was spoken in Croatian). I paid close attention and noticed that she was pointing to an entry from Canada. As I listened I realized that two bicycle tourists from Edmonton had passed through just a week ago. I also realized that she was trying to tell me how funny she thought it was that two sets of people on bikes had stayed here in just the last week. Maybe I have learned a little Croatian after all.

Doviđenja,
LK

Day 345 Mali Lošinj to Cres

Time: 3:49
Distance: 53.9 km
Avg Speed: 14.1 kph
Terrain: hilly
Location: N 44˚ 57’ 43.2”, 14˚ 23’ 44.3”

We had planned on a shorter day today so we lazed around this morning and got on the road around 9:00. The skies were overcast and we had a tailwind so we were content with getting on down the road. We arrived at our intended camp an hour later and over a macchiato (the new drink of choice) we decided that with the tailwind and the cooler weather we would be crazy not to go on to the city and island of Cres. The islands of Lošinj and Cres are connected by a short bridge so no boats were in the works today. Once on Cres we had to climb up onto the central range that runs down the middle of the island. We climbed up to an elevation of 260 meters and rolled along up high for the rest of the day. One unique feature of Cres is that it has a rather large lake trapped in its central valley. We took lunch well above it and couldn’t decide if it was a salt lake or not. It looks to be land locked with no inlet or outlet. I would imagine that it receives water from the drainage of surrounding hills. We didn’t know if water seeped in from the sea or not. The descent to the lake was possible, but facing a big climb on loose rocky roads back out, we decided not to attempt it. It was less tiring to just speculate. We had a switch back filled descent down into the harbor town of Cres and had a good time exploring the narrow streets and alleys before winding to our campground. We enjoyed a nice cool down swim in the sea before dinner. We took turns swimming and surfing the internet on the campground wifi. Our campground isn’t nearly as free as yesterdays, but it does feature a FKK campground and beach. They do a better job of keeping the skin separated from the banana hammocks. I guess it is more family friendly that way.
We head a little further north tomorrow to catch the ferry to the Istria Peninsula. There we will be back on the mainland and away from this rough island life we have been able to enjoy.
CK

Cruising North

Day 344
Zadar to Mali Lošinj
Time: 4:38:00
Distance: 102 kilometers
Avg Speed: 21.9 kph
Terrain: Adriatic Sea
Location: N 44˚ 33’ 16.0”, E 14˚ 26’ 38.1”

Today we combined a rest day with a transportation day. We hopped a ferry from Zadar to the island of Lošinj. So far we’ve been following the route we outlined this summer. It was nice to rest the legs and make some progress at the same time. Sea travel in Croatia is quite affordable on a ferry. We payed less than $35 and had a wonderful cruise into the Gulf of Kvarner.
The islands in this region are actually part of the Dinaric Alps mountain range. After the last ice age, the area flooded and left some of Croatia’s biggest islands. As we glided into our destination, we noticed a lot relief across the horizon and suspect that our riding here will be hilly. We’ll cover the two islands of Lošinj and Cres in the next three days. Fortunately, the two are connected by a road and we’ll only need one more boat ride to get back to the mainland.
We managed to get some sunbathing in while on the boat today. I wore my little sun dress that I’ve been anxious to bust out. Chris followed the European way and took off his shirt. It’s quite the norm here and we’re beginning to think that clothing is in fact overrated.
The journey north was not a direct sail and we made three stops along the way. We saw some awesome places to have a vacation bach in addition to miles of fantastic sailing waters. (Hint, hint to our sailing friends).
We’re back in the tent tonight. We spotted our campground from the water. For as much as we prefer smaller venues, this place is immaculate and very organized. Chris just finished up at the market and we’ll be able to get some ice cream later. The swimming area was great for a dip in the ocean. We’ve managed to take a dip almost every evening since we’ve been on the sea. Tonight we finally ran into our first FKK. Let me translate – FKK = naturist. What’s a naturist? Like I said, clothing is overrated.

Here’s to no tan lines,
LK

Day 343: Ražanac to Bibinje

Time: 2:28
Distance: 34.5 km
Avg Speed: 14 kph
Terrain: rolling

The freight train left the beach this morning. We had to wait out a little morning rain in the tent, but once it passed…choo, choo. The roads were wet for the first hour on the road so our legs received a good soaking with tire splash. Luckily the drivers here are very courteous and we didn’t receive any splash from cars. Our goal was the port city of Zadar and getting some ferry tickets for our cruise across the Adriatic tomorrow. We rolled into Zadar a little bedraggled so we stopped at a little café for a couple of macchiatos and a couple of strudels. I had cherry and Leslie had apple. Both were quite good. After fueling and getting fully caffeinated we decided to make a dash to the old walled city for the tickets and a little sight seeing. We found the ferry terminal first and Leslie set out to procure some tickets. The ticket lady was only helpful in that she pointed out that the ferry didn’t leave at this dock. It left from the industrial part of town ‘only 10 minutes away’. 10 minutes usually translates to an hour for us. The ferry leaves at 9:00 am in the morning so we decided that we had better go find the dock and maybe some lodging near it. Since we were in Zadar we decided that we had better catch a few sights before heading off again. Leslie wanted to check out an ancient circular Byzantine church built in the 9th century. It was built on top of a Roman forum and an old column from the forum still stands in the church yard. The church and most of the other ancient buildings all stand in the walled part of the city that was fortified in the 16th century. The narrow streets, and bustling atmosphere made it a little difficult to get around on the bikes, but the bumps and brakes were worth it. Leslie found a tourist information center and asked the help desk guy where the dock was. He got out a map that didn’t include any of the area we needed to go and pointed off the map. We quickly made a plan and started working our way over in the direction it was supposed to be. After a few frustrating twists and turns we finally pulled into a filling station for a map and directions. We got oriented and 10 minutes later pulled up to the dock. Next on our agenda was finding some accommodation for the night. We rode a couple of kilometers down the road and ran into sobe zimmer land. We had our pick of the bunch and ended up at a place ran by a nice old man. We interrupted his American TV show (which was funny since he doesn’t speak any English), but he was glad to show us the room. It is the biggest and one of the nicest we have had yet. More importantly it is one of the cheapest. I guess staying near the industrial part of town has its perks. We both wanted something besides soup for dinner tonight so while Leslie was doing some wash I ran to the store and to check out the local eating establishments. We rode our bikes to dinner and enjoyed a heaping helping of hospitality. Leslie had a pizza, while I had the mixed grill plate. They were both huge dishes and I managed to polish mine off and some of Leslie’s. After dinner we were sitting and chatting about life and Leslie noticed some kids checking out our bikes. It has happened before and will probably happen again, but these little turds were ringing bells, punching my bike computer buttons and stealing my tail light. After I saw the light get lifted I decided I would pay them a little visit. The actual thief made the slip, but I made all the kids turn their pockets inside out to show me that they didn’t have it. One of the older ones spoke English, so I asked him to tell the thief that I was looking for him. I am actually surprised that, that light made it this far into the trip. I bought it 6 or 7 years ago and it was definitely on its last legs, but it was the principle of the matter. Oh well. It had to happen sometime and I’m glad it was a just a little light.

Bloated and lightless in Bibinje,
CK

Where the Mountains Meet the Sea

Days 341 and 342
Gospic to Novalja (Pag) to Ražanac
Time: 8:37:00
Distance: 128.3 kilometers
Avg Speed: 15.0 kph
Terrain: Mountains to Dry Rolling Hills
Location: N 44˚ 17’ 1.9”, E 15˚ 20’ 34”

I’ve been a few places in the world where the mountains rise up from the sea. Yesterday we rode through one such landscape.

We started out from Gospić with a good breakfast in our bellies. The buffet was not spectacular but had a welcome sight – eggs. Chris worked over the fried variety while I picked the shells off of a few hardboiled. Our soup and pedaling diet probably hasn’t provided enough protein.
The juevos were still with us as we started our arduous grind up the leeward side of the Dinaric Alps. Beyond the rugged mountain range lays the Adriatic Sea. I was feeling good in the morning air, looking forward to a dramatic change of scenery at the top. My daydream was short lived as the road turned from asphalt to gravel. The pavement had been torn up from shoulder to shoulder and our route suddenly became a real challenge. I had a little trouble bouncing around and had to walk about half of the 2km section. Chris waited for me at the transition back to asphalt and we made the pass in no time. The sea was not yet in sight but we enjoyed fabulous views of the surrounding peaks.
A tunnel finally brought us to the view we had been waiting for – the blue waters of the Adriatic Sea. I was definitely giddy and we found a nice lunch spot to sit and contemplate our latest accomplishment. We had finally made it to the coast!
The next phase of the ride took us to the bottom of the road and then north along the water. Our goal for the day was to get to the island of Pag. The journey would require a ferry crossing so we didn’t waste any time getting to the dock. As we pedaled along the shore we could see Pag and noticed right away that it was barren and rocky. If you didn’t know where you were, you might have thought you we in southern Utah.
We found the docks without incident and pushed out bikes aboard the boat. As we motored across the shimmering water, I remarked to Chris that we had now traveled by just about every means (bicycle, plane, train, bus, boat).
Our accommodation for the evening was an “autocamp” aka giant campground. The cost was a bit steep but we had very clean facilities and wireless internet. We made a few calls home and then settled in for a restful sleep.
Today we traveled through a desolate landscape. The white stone against the blue waters made for endless contrasting views. Life looks to be a little rough in places - I’m sure the dry nature of the land accounts for that. One of the highlights of the day was stopping at a roadside stand for paśki sir (Pag cheese). It’s said to be one of the things that makes this island special. The woman who runs the stand is most definitely a true professional. I ordered 200 grams of cheese and she was able to whack off the exact amount from the wheel. I just laughed when she put it on the scale and it read 200 – not a gram more or less.
We’re camped again tonight – this time in a smaller venue. The host (who doesn’t speak English) was amazed that we were riding our bikes. He was also taken aback when he realized we were from the US. Not sure if it was our mode of transportation or just that we are gringos in Croatia. Anyway, he insisted that we have a glass of wine as a welcome drink. Not a bad way to end a beautiful day of riding.

Here’s to sleepy little towns on the Adriatic Coast,
LK

The Reason for No Free Camping in Croatia

Day 339
Rastovaca to Gospic
Time: 4:39:00
Distance: 70.3 kilometers
Avg Speed: 15.1
Terrain: Remote Hills
Location: 44˚ 33’ 9.5” N, 15˚ 22’ 26.8” E

Today we rode through the most remote part of Croatia yet. At the end of the day we found out why.

After some route planning last evening we decided to stick to the major highway system and head south to Gospic. After the off-road adventure we had a few days ago and the mountain range that lay ahead, we figured that it would be easier to deal with some traffic rather than endless kilometers of unpaved roads.
The first 20 km or so continued through the peaceful forests surrounding Plitvicke National Park. It was a great way to start the day. We pedaled a gradual uphill for most of the distance and then had a short descent into the town of Korenica. There we stopped for the best cheap cappuccino I’ve ever had. For $1 I got a real cup of coffee, different than the other cups I’ve had for the same price. They usually come out of a machine labeled “Nescafe”.
After the much needed caffeination, we started up the big climb of the day. Our map labeled the pass at 980 meters – we were starting at 650. By the time we stopped for lunch we had completed a very steady climb, but nothing too hard. Chris pulled over at a concrete structure and I reminded him of the landmine threat. He said that the floor was entirely concrete and that it was actually a well with a collection gallery behind it. We had a little picnic and enjoyed the solitude. The ride from Korenica had been very quiet – hardly any traffic and we encountered little development along the way. Most of the structures we passed were abandoned or suffered some destruction (probably from the Balkan conflict).
We reached the town of Gospic just about an hour and a half later. We passed a few more landmine warning signs, similar to the one we saw a few days ago. We found the town center and go acquainted with a nearby ATM machine and the town map. I also found another map – this one stopped me in my tracks. It was a map of the landmine zones of the region. As I studied further, I realized that we had traveled through dangerous territory for the entire day. In fact, we had essentially been sitting in the middle of a landmine area while eating our lunch.
As soon as we checked into our hotel and got the computer up and running, I quickly went to work researching the landmine dangers of Croatia. What I found gave me chills.
Between 1.5 and 2 million landmines were laid on the front lines by both sides of the Balkan conflict. 8% of Croatia’s land area has been affected by these destructive weapons. We have been traveling through this region for four days now – we’ve only seen three signs along our route. As I read later, the lack of signs may be due to the quest for balance between providing information and developing successful tourism. Thankfully the universe directed to the safest pee spots and photo viewpoints. Others, almost all Croatians, have not been so lucky. Over 400 people have died and another 1,300+ were wounded between 1998 and 2006. The Croatian government has been dedicated to demining, but doesn’t expect the country to be “mine-safe” until 2009. For more information on the landmine issues see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minefields_in_Croatia

On a lighter note: Chris and I have secured the most interesting hotel room of the trip. The highlight is the shower with a built-in radio. Chris got to sing the 80’s hit from Top Gun, “Take My Breath Away” while I belted out a slew of classic alternative tracks. Good thing we had unlimited hot water…

Thankful for my place in the universe,
LK

Unesco World Heritage Park

Day: 339
Rastovača
Time: Most of the morning

We were treated with one of the most grand displays of nature I have ever been fortunate enough to see. The Plitvička Lakes National Park is a series of lakes tucked into the mountains in central Croatia. The lakes lie in valley of limestone cliffs and are separated by natural limestone dams. The water has, over time, created waterfalls, spouting rocks, hanging gardens and caves throughout the park. Plitvička was listed as a Unesco Heritage sight in 1979. This was during the first round of Unesco Heritage Sight listings. The park service has a series of tours and paths that lead around the park and tours can take anywhere between 2 and 8 hours depending on how many little nooks and crannies you care to check out. We ended up making a hybrid tour and checking out certain areas more in depth than others. We were glad we did our homework yesterday since the information booth told us to get there early before the tour buses showed up. We rose early and were in the park by the time it opened. In fact we had to wait at the ticket booth until the attendant showed up. Our first couple of hours in the park were spent in solitude. We didn’t see anybody until two hours into our visit. We were able to stroll the kilometers of boardwalks taking pictures, and exploring the little side trips. We timed it perfectly and arrived at the boat dock in time for the first boat of the day. In our tour we ended up walking a couple of hours, taking a boat the length of the biggest lake, walking a couple of more hours, and then finally boarding a motorized train for a ride back to the entrance. About two hours after the first tour buses were scheduled to arrive the trails and boardwalks filled with all humanity and we quickly made an exit for a bite to eat.
We headed on back to our room and spent the afternoon watching the international news coverage of the American Presidential Campaign. We were able to get a lot of coverage on BBC and CNN Europe.
Happy B-day to my sis. I was able to talk her for a little while. It was weird to hear our cell phone ring all the way over here, but it was cool to have a familiar voice on the other end.
Vote early, vote often, vote the environment
CK

All Things Plum

Day 338
Rastoke (Slunj) to Rastovača
Time: 2:22:00
Distance: 30.3 kilometers
Avg Speed: 12.8
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Location: 44˚ 54’ 33.15” N, 15˚ 36’ 34.10” E

It must be plum season here in Croatia. Last night we had the šljivovica and this morning we had a fresh plate of plum jam. It was actually the consistency of apple butter – very tasty. Chris and I managed to annihilate the entire plate of fresh bread just to make sure the fruity spread was used in its entirety. The wonderful little breakfast also included eggs, smoked meats and blintzes. All of these items were homemade and, as you can imagine, we were giddy like school children.
We weren’t in a rush to get on the road today as we only had 30 km or so to our next stop. We enjoyed a third cup of coffee on the bridge and then got the bicycles loaded. By 9 am we were headed south towards Plitvička National Park. There was no aggressive pedaling and we enjoyed looking at the heavily forested countryside. I was not expecting this sort of landscape in Croatia. It’s definitely a “getting back to nature” sort of area.
We planned to see how close we could get to the park without having to ride too much to the entrance tomorrow. Our last day off hiking was a bit too much so we’re going to try a different strategy. As luck would have it, we found a really nice guesthouse about 5 minutes away. We scoped out all of the logistics this afternoon at the park entrance and will get an early start in the morning. The main draw of the park is a series of lakes which are connected by cascading waterfalls. The park was formed in 1949 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage area.

Happy Thursday,
LK

Land of Extremes

Day: 337
Mostanje to Slunj
Time: 4:03
Distance: 58.1 km
Avg Speed: 14.3 kph
Terrain: Hilly

Location: N 45˚ 27' 59.7", E 15˚ 33' 34.2"

We slept in a little roadside town last night called Mostanje. We ended up at a Zimmer Sobe, or a private room. They are rated as 3 stars for a room with a private bath, 2 stars for a room that shares a bath with another room and 1 star for a room that shares a bath with multiple rooms or the homeowner. Prices are set by the tourism board for that area, and everything is priced pretty fair. Our room last night was above a bar and was full of truckers. It reminded us of rooms we had in Laos: small, smoky, noisy and clean enough. We went for a stroll around town last night to get some groceries and noticed some of the houses had bullet holes in the brick walls. Most houses had fresh stucco coatings and paint and you couldn’t tell whether or not they had suffered the same fate. The night went as we expected with a low murmur rising up from the bar and the 2 am stomp down the hall by the other tenants. We got up early and brewed a little tea in our room before heading out around 8. The riding was great as we rolled along back country roads passing big fields of corn and plot after plot of personal gardens. The houses in the countryside didn’t escape the shooting either since we saw just as many homes with bullet holes as in Mostanje. Toward the top of one hill we passed a plot of forested land that had a sign warning that it was mined area. I thought mineral mines, but Leslie said that it was land mines. I just can’t imagine growing up and living in a place that had experienced and is still experiencing such violence. Our little country, two lane paved road abruptly ended and we shifted gears on a single lane dirt road that was passage for the next 14 kilometers. It was marked as paved on our maps, but not only was it not paved, it was very rough in major sections. We made it to the next section of highway intact and danced with big rigs for 20 kilometers or so to our little oasis of Slunj. We stumbled on a great little zimmer sobe and were rewarded with views of cascading streams running right under our private deck. The whole area has rivers and streams carved into limestone runnels that have been dammed, and diverted over the centuries. The water is clear is can be and is teeming with trout and another local game fish that looks like a grayling. After arriving Leslie and I took a little nap and then got cleaned up before heading into town. We did a little grocery shopping and hit a fruit stand for peaches and plums. It is so nice to have timed it for fruit season. After getting back to our place our hostess offered us some coffee or šljivovica. We opted for the latter since we had grabbed a cappuccino in town. Šljivovica is a homemade (in this case by our hostess’ brother) plum brandy that is smooth as butter, but can knock your socks off. We both had a little tumbler and felt warm all over. It was a nice way to cap off the day.
CK

Buffet Strategies: Eat the High Dollar Items First

Day 336
Zagreb to Mostanje
Time: 4:04:00
Distance: 70.90 kilometers
Avg Speed: 17.4 kph
Terrain: Flat
Location: N 45˚ 27’ 59.7”, E 15˚ 33’ 34.2”

We enjoyed our second morning of a great breakfast buffet. Unfortunately, we haven’t been riding enough in the last few days and our per plate average was pretty low. Last evening I was getting psyched up for the feeding frenzy and discussing options with Chris. Should I start with the healthy stuff and then work my way to the eggs, butter and croissants? His cold, calculated response was “eat the high dollar items first, period.” I guess if you grew up in Reno you would know how to tackle a buffet.
Our first day riding in Croatia was very pleasant. We rolled out of town with a bike lane part of the way and then found the country roads fairly quickly. We are once again in farm country and passed row upon row of corn. We enjoyed all of the little villages along the way – familiar territory.
Time for the geography lesson…
Croatia is almost as much sea as it is land. The land area is just under 57,000 km² while the sea area is a bit over 31,000 km². The landscape is diverse and has both continental and maritime climates. Interestingly enough, it is possible to see ocean, karst topography, forests, mountains, and plains, all within 100 kilometers. The highest peak, Dinara, rises to 1,831 meters.
On the political front, Croatia has seen its fair share of war and conflict in the last 15 years. Independence from the Yugoslavian communist regime was declared in 1991 but heavy fighting broke out as minority rights were not guaranteed and many Serbs were dismissed from public service. The conflict lasted for six months in which 10,000 people died, hundreds of thousands escaped, and massive amounts of homes were destroyed. I’m sure remnants of those days will be visible at some point along the way. I’m also sure it will be a candid reminder of how good we have it in the States.
Finally, there are definitely a few interesting people in history that were Croatian. Nikola Tesla, scientist not band member, is responsible for many contributions to science. His most significant was the innovation of alternating current. Ivan Vučetić invented the modern fingerprint method called dactiloscopy.
Tomorrow we hope to pedal to Plitvice National Park, spend a rest day, and then make a push for the coast. We’re looking forward to discovering, as Alfred Hitchcock once declared, “the most beautiful sunset in the world”.

Hope all is well with you,
LK

Train Traffic Boogey

Day: 334 and 335
Budapest to Zagreb, Croatia
Time: All Day
Distance: A lot of train kilometers
Avg Speed: Stop and Go

We left the cocoon of our little Budapest apartment and headed out into the great big city. After spending a few days getting our bearings among the streets and buildings, riding our bikes in them was pretty easy. We went and checked out some more sites that our bus tour earlier only touched on. We went and spent some time at the Fishermen’s Bastion and the Castle Hill area. Both areas are in the Buda side of the city on Buda Hill. We checked out the cobbled streets and cafés before dropping over the hill and to the Deli Train Station. I was a little worried when we arrived and saw 500 people dressed as Pokemon characters chanting in a square nearby. The worrying was for naught and after hauling our bikes upstairs to the platforms I went to double check on the time of our train. I am glad I did, because instead of a 1:45 departure time it was a 12:55 departure time. We quickly got our act together and got on the train. We had planned to buy a little food at the station before getting on the train, but with our accelerated schedule the food lost out. Luckily we had a few packages of crackers to tide us over for the five hour jaunt. After arriving at the station where we were to make a train switch I went and got a few sandwiches to tide us over until Zagreb. The earlier train meant we had a longer wait, but it allowed us to get a plan for the next train. The trains in Hungary don’t have a lot of attendants, don’t announce trains in advance and aren’t very well signed. All of this almost made us miss our train because we couldn’t find the baggage car or an attendant to ask if this was the train to Zagreb. We quickly chucked our bikes in the barn doors and found a private coach to sit in. We decided that we would sit there until they kicked us out. The lack of people or help is a two way street because we had our private section all the way in to Zagreb. After arriving in Zagreb at 9:30 I grabbed every light we had to give us a little bling for our ride to the hotel. We found the place quite easily and quickly ate the rest of our crackers for dinner and settled in for a little shut-eye.
This morning we woke up famished and cruised on down to the breakfast buffet. I am sure the restaurant staff loved to watch us go back again and again for food. We like to eat big breakfasts when they are included in the room price. We were also making up for yesterday and trying to eat enough that we wouldn’t have to have any size of a lunch. After breakfast we headed into the downtown square area for a little map shopping, a haircut and some sightseeing. I found a salon for my haircut and before I could tell her what I wanted I was a getting my hair washed. After the haircut she washed my hair again and blew dry my fresh buzz cut. Leslie just loved seeing me get a hair dry on what I have left for hair. After that we shop hopped around putting together enough maps to get us where we needed to go. Armed with maps and knowing that we had some stinky clothes back at the hotel, we grabbed some laundry soap and Leslie started working on her forearms. I ran out to mail some post cards and a package home and missed most of the washing game. I did help out wringing and hanging, but the majority was done by Leslie. That flurry of activity did us in for the day and we spent the rest of the day hanging out and rotating laundry.
Tomorrow we try and figure out how to get out of Zagreb and start working our way south.
CK

Pool Time

Day 333
Budapest Rest Day 2

No drunk people last night – it was rather quiet. We had another “sleep in” morning and then ate the usual bowl of muesli and drank the usual cup of coffee.
Our plan for the day was a leisurely one – go to the park and take in the thermal baths followed by a café stop. Since we still had some time on our bus ticket from yesterday, we hopped back on and rode to Hosok Tere aka Hero’s Square. The area is a collection of beautiful bronze monuments dedicated to the 896 Magyar (Hungarian) conquest of the Carpathian Basin. We lingered a bit to take some pictures and contemplate the long history of this country. The most remarkable thing to me is that most of the city was destroyed by bombing in World War II and everything was rebuilt to the style and character of the city. Amazing…
After a short walk from the square we found Szchenyi Furdo, one of many thermal baths in Budapest. This complex was opened in 1908 and has both indoor and outdoor pools. The place was definitely a busy hive of activity and we enjoyed the people watching just as much as the water. I’m trying to talk Chris into changing his swimming attire from baggies to a banana hammock. I think something in shiny blue might be nice.
After a good soak we packed up our things and strolled down Andrassy, Budapest’s version of the Champs Elysees. The avenue is lined with beautiful trees and lavish homes. In the days of horse and carriage, this end of Andrassy had alleyways lined with wooden boards so that horse’s shoes would not disturb the affluent citizens.
Instead of coffee we had an ice cream at an up-market café called Lucaks. Apparently, it used to be the old stomping ground of the secret police. There is now a museum just down the street dedicated to their former exploits called the Terror Haza. We didn’t venture instead but read that it is quite the draw.
Tonight we’re going to venture out and see the city lights. I’ve read that castle hill, across the Danube, is quite spectacular at night.

Here’s to speedos,
LK

Café Hot Dogs

Day: 332
Budapest Rest Day 1


We slept in this morning after having a bit of a fitful sleep. A drunk guy in the next apartment spent an hour or so moaning and buzzing the doorbell trying to get his buddies to let him in around 2:30 am. He finally went away, or his friend let him in, or he passed out in the staircase. Bottom line is he finally shut up. We had our little apartment to ourselves this morning and had a leisurely breakfast of coffee and cereal. We slowly got ready and went to look for a café for a cappuccino and a croissant. Leslie was looking for a café reputed to be the local hangout of the Budapest intellectual crowd. I was bummed because I had forgotten my t-shirt that reads ‘Talk to me, I’m smart.’ Luckily we didn’t find it so we had to settle on a cool little spot in the theatre district. It made for good people watching and Leslie thinks she maybe finally had a cappuccino to knock the old #1 off of the list. That one was from a little café on the Great Ocean Road in Australia. After some proper caffeine we decided to play super tourist and take a bus ride around Buda and Pest. The bus tour was set up to be a hop on, hop off type, but as we got to our first stop and saw the driver turning people away we decided that were here to stay. The tour was surprisingly thorough and we took a lot away from it. The basic gist of the city is it has been created, pillaged and bombed for around 1000 years. WWII took care of the city’s bridges across the Danube, but the city persevered and rebuilt most of the bridges just like the originals. All in all, quite educational. We finally decided to hop off in the Jewish quarter of the city where several thousand Hungarian and other European Jews sought refuge during the war. We both were hungry and sat down at the first café we saw. The special was frankfurters or grilled sandwiches. We both opted for the frankfurters and had a really nice meal. Leslie joked that we were having café hot dogs or ‘lips and a-holes with a view’. I wanted to title the blog the latter, but decided against it. We then worked our way over to the train station where we lined out some tickets for a train to Zagreb, Croatia on Sunday. We had to buy one ticket for each of us and two tickets for each of the bicycles. After our Bangkok train experience, we know what kind of questions to ask and don’t mind buying the bikes a ticket.
Tomorrow we are off to one of the cities famous baths and then a tour of the park.
I am sure there will be more cafés in our future.
CK

Adventures in Hungary

Day 331
Esztergom to Budapest
Time: 4:48:00
Distance: 78.2 kilometers
Avg Speed: 16.2 kph
Terrain: Flat
Location: 47 29' 51.63" N, 19 04' 19.28" E

We left Esztergom at our usual time this morning and quickly found the bikeway along the Danube. We snuck out of town under the grandeur of the Basilica, a neoclassical structure that dates back to the 19th century. This area of Hungary actually bears some important and interesting history. From here to Budapest, the Danube Bend area was once a popular place for the kings of Hungary. Way back in time, Esztergom hosted the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd century. It was while he stayed here that he wrote is famous work, Meditations.
We had quite the mix of riding surfaces today. That, coupled with our sub par route finding skills, had us going in all directions. One of us would spot a trail with a bicycle sign and off we’d go only to find that the trail ended or diverted itself in the wrong direction. It’s always amazing what signs you find (to point you in the right direction) when you turn around.
About 15 kilometers out of Budapest we found a major trail route called the Euro Velo. We hopped on and figured we’d have a smooth ride into the city. In a matter of five minutes we were on singletrack dodging trees and potholes. Chris yelled back to me to see if I wanted to continue and I hollered forward to carry on. As long as we were heading south and along the river, I was ready for whatever terrain lay ahead. The trail soon turned back to hardpacked dirt road and didn’t pose too many challenges after that.
The first glimpses of central Budapest definitely took my breath away. Sometimes I feel like I’m traveling through all the movies I’ve watched in the past about Europe. The magnificent parliament buildings set on the left bank of the mighty Danube River is a memory I think I’ll have forever.
We made our way to the Szechenyi Lanchid (bridge) and crossed over into Pest. You see, Budapest is actually two cities, Buda and Pest (I didn’t know this before reading my Lonely Planet book). Buda is the more relaxed of the two, while Pest is the commercial center. Anyway, we crossed the bridge and then did the usual zig-zagging to get to our apartment.
Tonight we are tucked away four doors in and four floors up. Tomorrow we explore the city…

Here’s to Viennese coffee houses,
LK