Judy and Valerie On the Road

Korčula

Whilst staying at Kučiste we cycled to nearby Orebić and then took the ferry to the island of Korčula, 15 minutes away. The medieval old town is gorgeous, a city wall, pale cream stone buildings, narrow alleys branching off the main. There were lots of restaurants, but we were on the hunt for a Croatian speciality we’d read about called “brodet” and we finally found it in a little restaurant along an alleyway where everyone else eating was Croatian. It’s a delicious fish stew served with slices of polenta.

Peljesac Peninsular

Our third campsite in Croatia has been a delightful small family run site on the Peljesac Peninsular called Camping Palme in the village of Kučiste. We are on the front edge of the site, right by the sea. Fantastic. The sea is crystal clear, calm and warm enough for swimming before breakfast.

We discovered a lovely little wine bar called Dino’s not far from the campsite where you can sample local wines by the glass whilst looking out at a wonderful view of the sea and neighbouring island. We asked if they had any snacks we could have with the wine and this is what they brought. Both the rosé and the white were delicious. Didn’t manage to get on to the red as we still had to cycle back to the van.

Cycling along the coast we stopped for lunch at a restaurant by the sea and had a variety of vegetable dishes – all delicious.

Lunch – Djuvec rice, chard with potatoes and olive oil and roasted mushrooms

On the way back Valerie took a detour up a mountain to a Franciscan monastery above Orebic. “It was a steep 1km climb, partly cycling but mostly walking, up to the Franciscan monastery above Orebic. But it was worth it for the view of Korčuk and the other smaller islands.”

Trogir

We stayed at Amadria Park Camping. It’s a very large site but extremely well run and with an ACSI card costs 23€.

From the campsite it was a lovely half hour boat trip to the medieval town of Trogir, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. With its narrow cobbled streets and beautiful buildings of pale yellow stone it’s delightful. Unfortunately that makes it a popular destination for cruise ships, so we kept becoming overwhelmed by large groups of people wearing identical red boxes round their necks (so they could listen to their tour guide).

The first pharmacy in Europe was established in one of the houses on Trogir’s main square.

The coffee is very good in Croatia so naturally when Valerie spotted a shop selling the Trogir speciality Rafioli , we had to buy one and head for a cafe. The recipe for Rafioli is of course a closely guarded secret but apparently its main ingredients are almonds, butter, rum and citrus peel. So, not surprisingly, it was delicious.

When things go wrong!!

Yet again we had tap problems! Water leaking/streaming from under the kitchen tap. Oh dear. Fortunately the campsite were able to give us the details of a mobile motorhome repair company operating in Croatia and cheery Mr Nottebohm came to the campsite in his green van and saved the day.

We needed a new tap and he had one of the right type in his van!! Within half an hour it was all fixed.

Paklenica

Here’s a picture of the view from our campsite in Paklenica. (Campsite NacionalNI Park). The campsite was very near the entrance to the Paklenica National Park. We didn’t stay long there because thunderstorms were forecast but we managed a short walk in the morning while the weather was still good.

As it was a public holiday for Croatia National Day (lots of red, white and blue flags 🇭🇷 everywhere), a lot of people were out and about. Many of them – some of them quite small children – were rock climbing or learning how to.

Stops en-route to Croatia

We took three days to drive to Croatia via Germany and Austria. After Belgium the stops were:

Car park in Hochspeyer (park4night) by an outdoor swimming pool. Very well set up stop with all facilities. N49° 26′ 28″ E 7° 53′ 35″
Car park in Siegsdorf (park4night) by a railway station. Went to a very nice Italian restaurant – Il Porcino. N47° 49′ 17″ E 12° 38′ 45″
Parking lot Vrhoulne, Croatia (park4night) – couldn’t quite make it to our destination N44° 51′ 7″ E 15° 25′ 27″

First stop Belgium

Spent our first night in a little town called Veurne just across the Belgian border. A pleasant town – completely dead by 9pm, but buzzy in the morning with people doing their shopping. Stayed in a parking area by a canal. Very pretty and it has somewhere to empty the toilet cassette. What could be better??

GPS N 51° 4’ 14” E 2° 39’ 56”

Greece via the Balkans 2023

We’re off on a trip travelling overland to Greece via the Balkans – Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria and then Greece. Returning on the ferry to Italy. Wow, what an adventure!

(Notes: if you want to only see posts for this trip, click on the link Greece via the Balkans 2023 under or to the left of the photo. Also, if you click on a photo you should see it full size)

Porto

We went to Porto for the day with my cousin Isabel and had coffee, lunch and tea, interspersed with a bit of business with a lawyer.

Cafe Majestic is a very famous cafe in Porto with a wonderful interior – definitely to be visited if you go to the city.

We also tried to visit Libraria Lello (a famous bookshop) which was the inspiration behind part of the interior scenes of Hogwarts in Harry Potter, but the queues went down the road and you actually have to book on line. Here’s a link to some photos

Lunch in a delightful restaurant down a little side street

Wandering around the streets we came across a few more sights. A shop named Coutinho so of course we had to have a photo of Isabel and myself outside, an amazingly old cash register which still worked, and a church covered in beautiful tiles.

Aveiro

We finally arrived in Aveiro which has become a beautiful city. The frontage of the old railway station is covered in azulejos, the blue and white ceramic tiles on the outside of buildings telling stories

Along the canal are the brightly painted moliceiro boats which used to transport seaweed but now take tourists on trips.

The salinas produce the flôr de sal sold in the shops and the restaurants serve delicious fresh fish and seafood along the waterways all go to make Aveiro know as Little Venice.

And then of course being with all the family.

CamperStop

There is now a fantastic new Camperstop behind the railway station in the carpark. There are 20 good size pitches and all the facilities you need except electric. The area is planted with shrubs and flowers and also has seats and some tables. A supermarket is just 5 minutes away.