We have had terrible weather since we got to Holland but that has changed now we are in Croatia. We hired a car in Dusseldorf and left for the South in pouring rain. Very difficult driving on the Autobahns. We stayed the night in Baiersdorf with Nick and Monika and then the next day headed south through Bavaria and crossed the Alps to the South Tirol in Italy without hardly seeing an Alp! The South Tirol is a charming part of Northern Italy where German is the main language and not Italian and consequently many Germans go there for their holidays. It has lots of guest houses and we stayed in one for the night before heading further South through the Dolomites (Limestone Mountain Range on southern edge of Alps) to Italian speaking Italy.
The rain continued!
As it was raining so much we decided to visited the Postojna caves in Slovenia as the weather doesn’t matter underground. The caves are outstanding. You first take a train journey along them for around 2km. Then its out onto your feet and a circular route through cavern after cavern. A very extensive set of caves and one of the biggest in Europe.
Next day we drove to a farm in Croatia. Had a spot of bother crossing the border from Slovenia (which is in the EU) to Croatia as the sharp border policeman noticed that we had stayed in the EU for more than 3 months. He was going to fine us 400 euros but when he discovered we were married (albeit at present with different surnames on the passport) and Wendy was using a British passport (no limits on a stay), that changed everything and we were sent on our way.
We stayed at an Agro Tourism bed and breakfast in Northern Istria, a province of Croatia. They have to make everything that they serve for breakfast and dinner from home grown or raised produce. So outside our bedroom was the pig sty. They had olive trees everywhere and made their own delicious wine. Food was basic, meat orientated but very good value. Using the farm as a base we explored the villages of Istria. We went down to Pula the capital and saw ancient Roman ruins including a huge amphitheatre.
We visited the picture postcard ‘fishing’ port of Rovinj and the lovely town nearby of Porec.
One day we drove to the Limski Canal a long fjord like waterway pushing inland for a long way and had a lovely lunch of local mussels and oysters overlooking the ‘fjord’.
We visited Groznan and Motovun ancient hilltop towns dating back to the 13th century. The weather was fine by now which made a huge difference, though there was evidence of flooding everywhere from the torrential rains.
Then it was a long drive to Plitvice National Park where there are the most amazing lakes that descend one to another with waterfalls in between each lake. The park is quite simply the best water land paradise in the world. It is set in a beautiful valley has lovely walkways going over falls, under falls and around lakes. It is fabulous, amazing and stunning. Go there before it is too late!
This is our final blog for this year and the final blog for Le Fabuleux as we have put her up for sale in Holland. She is not suitable for cruising France as she is too high and too deep. We get by but it is a chore. So next year we are off to the USA and Canada where we will be buying an RV and touring the high roads and by roads for a few years before returning to France in another boat. Stay Tuned.
