Romania into Slovakia

June 21:  BRAN, ROMANIA.  We saw Bran Castle.  Bram Stoker fictionally wrote Count Dracula, in 1897, based on this place.  Vlad Draculea (who actually ruled in another region) gained the name Tepes, meaning the Impaler.  He ruled in the mid 1400’s and punished his enemies by inserting a wooden stake into the anus, through the body, and emerging through the mouth.  We saw more Americans today since it is coach tour stop!

June 22:  SIGHISOARA, ROMANIA.  We saw a lot of horse drawn carts as we drove through the villages and near farms.  They use them to haul hay, people, and various products.  The houses in the villages in Romania are very close together with fences around them and there is typically a barn in the back.  The farms in Romania have been individually operated as opposed to corporate size farms that we have seen in other countries.  We saw people plowing the fields with a horse or very old tractor. 

We found the area very diverse.  We saw large box stores like REAL and METRO as well as the small grocer or produce stand.  We also saw the Roma (Gypsy) population and their less than desirable living conditions (European Roma Rights http://errc.org).

June 23: near DEBRECEN, HUNGARY.  Ukraine was to be on our list of places, but we had to delete that off our list.  After talking with people, we found that since we are in a rental vehicle, we may not get into the country.  The Ukraine border can take up to 5 hours to get through and between border patrol, police stopping you for whatever reason, and requiring bribes for everything we decided best not to take a chance. 

June 24-25: HIGH TRATAS (Vysoke Tatry), Tatra National Park, SLOVAKIA.  We drove to the north central area of  Slovak Republik, Slovakia, into the Carpathian Mountains.  The High Tatras are the tallest range of these mountains and are only 25 km wide and 78 km long.  Our camp is at the base and the highest peak is 2634 meters.  The EU is spending millions of Euros to get this area further developed as a ski and outdoor sports area.   

We took the lift up the mountain and hiked around.  It was cloudy, then cleared, then cloudy again and it even snowed.  We were amazed at the number of hikers.  We took an electric train along a 20+ km route.  It had a dozen stopping points for hikers to get on, or off, and many areas with hotels and restaurants.  Other than two guys from England, we heard no other English spoken. 

Hungary and Romania

June15:  ZAGREB, CROATIA.  We spent the day in Zagreb and walked around the Upper and Lower Town.  This is a real working city.  The architecture reminded Jim of some locations from the Bourne Identity movies or WWII spy movies.  Fiddler on the Roof was filmed here.

June 16:  near PECS, HUNGARY.  Today’s drive was a vast area of rolling hills and large fields of corn and other crops.  Our camp was excellent (it had cabins, campsites, and a hostel) and we were the first Americans to ever stay there.  We walked to a mineral water swimming resort where they had several pools.  Each pool had a different temperature ranging from around 70 degrees to 90+ degrees.  We sat in the sauna, steam, and aromatherapy rooms.

June 17: SZEGED, HUNGARY.  We stopped in PECS.  It is a “must see” city besides Budapest, which we have been to before.  We drove to Szeged and camped right next to the river adjacent to the old town.  The camp site had thermal pools.  The night came alive at about 11 p.m. with rave music which lasted until 4 a.m.  Too bad we were not there and only listened to the great music from our little camper!

June 18:  SZEGED, HUNGARY.  We enjoyed the thermal pools and then walked around the city.  In the evening, we walked around a park and found a great little bar that had live music with an eight piece band.  They were really into the Rolling Stones!

June 19:  near SIBIU, ROMANIA.  We drove in to the Transylvanian Alps.  In entering Romania, there were no freeways and all major highways were two lane.  We will no longer have freeways in Romania, Ukraine, and most of Poland.  The side roads appeared to be dirt/stone from what we have seen so far. Our camp was in the hills by a small village and is owned by a German woman.  We enjoyed a fabulous meal of Transylvanian style pork and polenta with an egg on the polenta.

June 20:  near SIBIU, ROMANIA.  We noticed a large number of stray dogs and last night we heard them howling real close to us.  We took the bus into Sibiu and walked the ancient walled city.  For a city dating to the 1200's and before, we found there was a diversity in religion. There was a Romanian Orthodox Cathedral, traditional Catholic, a Synagogue, as well as a Lutheran Church built around 1400.

CROATIA

June 11: DUBROVNIK.  We walked around the Old Town, within the walled city streets, most of the day.  This area was founded 1300 years ago. 

June 12: KNIN, CROATIA.  We drove to the border of Montenegro and got in a discussion with the border patrol.  Other countries, like Austria, charge a Vignette fee for using their roads and we’ve purchased a 7 day pass.  Montenegro wanted us to pay a yearly tax and Jim said no, since we were only going to be there one day.  So we turned back north and drove go Knin.  On Sunday most places are closed so we felt it was a good day for a drive.

We stopped in Bosnia (that little strip of land along the coast of Croatia that belongs to Bosnia) and had a fabulous lunch of roasted lamb that had been on a spit all morning.  We had noticed these through out our trip, but it was our first stop to enjoy the local flavor (they either fire roast a pig or lamb).

We did our first night of free camping, and our stop was an area between a soccer field and a tennis court in the city.  Free camping is like anchoring out on the boat.  You find your own space and stop for the night.  A soccer game was going on so we took that in and talked with a police woman to be sure we could spend the night.

June 13:  SLUNJ.  Most of the day was spent at the PLITVICKA JEZERA NATIONAL PARK, or National Park Plitvice Lakes.  It became a national park in 1949 and it “represents a phenomenon of karst hydrography”.  The lakes are known for their cascades, small to large waterfalls, and 1267 different species of plants. 

June 14, Tues:  ZAGREB.  Zagreb is the capitol of Croatia.  Today we took a day off and sent it leisurely at the campsite.  The picture for today is one of a Toilet/WC.  Several of the commercial WCs are set up in this fashion and require agility and balance!

CROATIA June 8-10

 June 8: We camped near ZADAR.  We drove down the scenic coastline.  It was rugged and rocky terrain with islands out in the distance.

June 9: SPLIT.  Split is where the Roman emperor Diocletian chose to put his vacation palace.  It is on the most indented part of the Adriatic Coast. 

Side note:  Mike, my brother, and his family wanted to jump in our suitcase and come along on the trip.  Well they did, and here is a picture to prove it (look between the Romans!).

June 10:  DUBROVNIK.  Along part of the drive to Dubrovnik, we saw vast valley areas with fruit groves and vendors along the roadside selling fruit, olive oil, and honey.  We also drove along the coastline and saw a multitude of islands.  In fact, there are over 1000 islands along the coast.
Today we went through about five miles of the country of BOSNIA to get to the southern part of Croatia.  A small section of land that borders the sea belongs to BOSNIA.
For our boater friends, we are putting a picture of a bad day at boating.  This boat hit the rocks and was sinking.  It was near a beach where we were swimming.

To end this, we would like to share what our friends, John and Karen Siscoe, have on their last update:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain

Slovenia to Croatia

June 4: BLED, SLOVENIA.  We traveled through hills, mountains, and valleys of Austria.  When it came to the mountains there were huge tunnels as long as 7 miles long that we drove through.  The scenery was spectacular with trees, cliffs, and house along the hillside.  We camped in Bled, which is near the north border.  We walked around Bled Lake as there is a church on an island in the center of the lake and Bled Castle on a hilltop. 

June 5: NOVIGRAD, CROATIA.  We drove south and stopped in Ljubjana, the capital of Slovenia.  We crossed the border to Croatia and were stopped by border patrol since they are not part of the EU (European Union).  We camped along the Adriatic Sea.  The campground was like a little city in that many campers were set up with semi-permanent structures, like outdoor patios, that they may use for the summer season or year round.  So far, we have paid between $17-$28 per night for a campsite.

June 6-7:   CRES, CROATIA.  An interesting part of our trip is not knowing where we will go next.  We stopped in Porec and walked around the Old Town.  We saw the narrow Roman streets and the Basilica.  As we drove out of Porec, we looked on a map and saw the island of Cres.  We decided to take the ferry and we drove along some high, and winding, roads.  Our campsite was great and part of it is marked Naturalist, which is the nudist area.  It may be shocking from western standards to see men and women au natural at their campers and along the beach.  We stayed in the “textile” area which means we had to keep our clothes on.  We could freely walk to the “non textile” area though for a swim or a walk. 

MUNICH and SALZBURG

May 31-June 1.  MUNICH, GERMANY.  We stayed at a campsite within Munich proper, which is owned by the city, in an area called Talkirchen (Tierpark).  The campground had a river running through it where the water narrowed and people were kayaking through the small rapids.  Young people were also jumping in off the edge on their surfboards (in wetsuits, of course) and rode the wave before tumbling down the rapids.

We took the underground to the city center and watched the famous carillon (Glockenspiel).  Saw varied churches, the Viktaulienmarket (a great food, produce, meat, and art vendor market).  By then we needed a beer stop at the Hofbrauhaus.  We then went to the 1972 Olympic Stadium and the BMW Welt (fabulous showroom with headquarters next door) and Museum.

June 2-3.  SALZBURG, AUSTRIA.  This is the third time we have been to this lovely city.  We stayed at a secluded campsite and took a bus to city center.  We walked around the old town, learned about Mozart, went into churches, and took in the scenery.  Tomorrow we are off to new lands for us.  We will start in Bled, Slovania, and continue south along the Adriatic Coast before heading north at some point.  As our good friend says, our plans are firmly implanted in jello!