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.
Snack at Dino’s
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.”
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 fortressCathedral entrance
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.
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.
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.
Walking in the gorge
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.
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??
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)
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
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.
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.
Wall of sardine tins
Shop entrance
By the canal
And then of course being with all the family.
Playing Rummikub with cousins
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.
We eventually reached the campsite just outside the Monfragüe National Park where we came a few years ago. Lovely relaxed campsite with good facilities and a restaurant. On our first day we went for a walk in the national park alongside the beautiful river Tajo.
Monfrague River Tajo
Beautiful bridge
Strawberry tree
Dehesa
The countryside in Extremadura is known as the “dehesa “. It makes very good pasture for sheep, goats and cows. Its main trees are holm oaks and cork trees.
Transhumance
Part of our walk in the Monfragüe National Park was along a “cañada” (drovers’ trail). These drovers’ trails criss-cross parts of Spain and date back to the time when “ Transhumancia” (Transhumance)” was common. This is the practice of driving herds of cattle many hundreds of miles from their winter pastures to their summer pastures and back again. For more information about transhumance and how it is being adopted again, see this BBC article https://www.jamon.com/pig-raising.html
Cycling
Monfrague via verde
Spain has 126 via verdes spread throughout the country. Cycle paths, mainly on old railway lines and the campsite is just next door to one. We went off on it the following day, but rather than follow the route we turned off to the nearby town of Malpartida de Plascencia and there we discovered the town square just right for coffee, and in addition various sculptures.
Town square
Covid memorial
Recognising house work
The cycle path sometimes followed alongside the railway line (we never saw a train)
Donkey along the way
Valerie’s adventure to Monfragüe Station
Monfrague station dance
After Judy and I finished cycling along the via verde from Malpartida de Plasencia, I decided to continue on to Monfragüe station since I had read online that there were some interesting buildings to see there. When I got there I did see quite a few big buildings which all seemed empty, then I heard talking and laughter and wondered if there was a café so I wheeled my bike round the corner and found a whole group of people sitting at a long table, drinking coffee and eating cakes.
As I like practising my Spanish, I said hello and asked if it was someone’s birthday. They said it was and I was immediately invited to join them for a coffee. They sat me down next to the birthday boy, Antonio, and brought me a wonderful cream cake to eat with my coffee.
Antonio told me that he had been born there 22 years previously (I think there was a bit of poetic licence here – possibly add a further 50). It turned out that they were all cousins and they had all been born there. In its heyday Monfragüe station was an entire village of about 1000 people who all worked for the Spanish railway company, RENFE, because Monfragüe was a major hub. The trains from Salamanca to Cáceres and from Madrid to Cáceres went through there. It had its own church, school and doctor, all paid for by RENFE. However now only a very few trains go through there. With the demise of the steam train, and a new railway line was built.
Some of the cousins still live in the area, but many now live in other parts of Spain or even further afield – Antonio lives in San Diego, California, and another of the cousins lives in Miami. Whenever they can, they all meet up at the station for a family reunion. They were sitting outside what was the village school and inside on the walls they had put up lots of black and white photographs of family members over the past 50 years, including lots of class photos of the school children.
As I made my goodbyes they had just put on some music and two of the cousins were singing into microphones while others started dancing. It looked like the party was going to go on for quite a while still.
