Portugal, Sicily, Greece and the Balkans

[Scash]

Forgot to post this photo showing bullet holes in the building next door to our hotel. There are numerous buildings around the city that are pockmarked with bullet holes and some with even larger holes from bigger artillery.

 

[Scash]

Our last stop of the tour is Belgrade where we get to spend two nights in the Radisson Collection Old Mill. The first night is a free night and we wandered around a bit and had dinner on the boardwalk at what seems to be a fairly new shopping centre.




The locals call this building the upside down tomato sauce bottle .




The next morning we did a tour to the Church of St Sava, Belgrade Fortress and the Old Town.





The Sava River meets the Danube.



Stari Grad

 

[Scash]

And later that day we did a “Genius and the Leader” tour which included a visit to the House of Flowers which is Tito’s final resting place and the Nikola Tesla Museum. I don’t know much about Tito but what I did know wasn’t flattering. He seems to have been a polarising person and depending on your views you either loved him or hated him. He did a lot of good for Serbia but at the same time was a typical despot.



The Tesla museum was interesting but really not a lot there. Tesla's ashes are kept in the sphere as he is strongly associated with spheres and is credited with the invention of the plasma globe.

 

[Scash]

A bit of fun at the Tesla Museum

 

[Scash]

Well that’s it for the Balkans tour but there is more to come as we now venture off on our own to Slovenia. This is only the second group tour we’ve done and I have mixed feelings. Our first tour was Vietnam and Cambodia in 2019 and I really enjoyed it. This time probably not so much.

There was a lot of bus travel which is understandable given the ground we covered and the geographic’s of the Balkans, and also the fact that we visited 8 countries and I think 15 towns/sites over 14 days. The drive between towns also took a lot longer as we were often traversing mountainous roads. However I also think the itinerary was too full as we often didn’t arrive at the next destination until late in the afternoon, and then would have a walking tour followed by a group dinner so there was limited down time (and hence why I am so far behind in my trip report ).

The upside is we didn’t have to think too much. Basically everything was done for you. The itinerary was set, you arrived at your hotel and bags were delivered, you woke up next morning for breakfast and bags were collected, you hopped on the bus and off you went. We also met some wonderful people.

The additional bonus and the main reason we did this particular tour and not on our own was border crossings and transport between countries. If we were on our own I think we may have struggled at times not knowing exactly what to “provide” to the border patrol. Some seem to require a simple thing like water, others soft drink or coffee, some maybe beer or other hard drinks and then there were ones that needed “tipping”. The tour directors are aware of the dynamics so are prepared for most scenarios. Also tour buses sometimes had a separate lane so we did sometimes get through quicker than private cars.

Sorry for the rant but maybe the pros and cons of organised tours should be the subject of another discussion, if it isn’t already. I have learnt from this tour that if I do another one I will look at the itinerary a bit harder and actually map out the travel time, look at what each days activities are and estimate times we arrive at the next destination.

Anyway, onwards and upwards (or as they also say “go big or go home”).

 

[RooFlyer]

I don’t know much about Tito but what I did know wasn’t flattering. He seems to have been a polarising person and depending on your views you either loved him or hated him. He did a lot of good for Serbia but at the same time was a typical despot.

our guide in Bosnia who was born after Tito was deposed spoke a number of times in quite glowing terms of him. Called it the golden age of Yugoslavia. I suppose after he was deposed, it was pretty much war all around so perhaps I can see what they’re talking about

 

[Scash]

Following the end of the tour we made our own way to Slovenia by private transfer to Zagreb where we stayed the night. Next morning we caught the early train to Ljubljana and then a bus to Lake Bled where we stayed for two nights. For those that haven’t been there I only have one word…GO! This place is stunningly beautiful and a photographers dream.

 

[Scash]

After leaving Lake Bled we had a couple of nights in Ljubljana and happened to be there on a Friday evening when they have a street food festival. It was a great way to spend the arvo with food, music, drinks and just a good vibe.

The next day we did a trip to the Postojna caves and Predjama castle. Slovenia has an incredible cave system created over millions of years by underground rivers. The photos I took just don’t do it justice. Slovenia is worth visiting just for the caves and Lake Bled alone!

Predjama castle




Postojna caves. The tour starts with a 15 minute train ride in to the bowels of the cave.

 

[Scash]

Ljubljana has a bit of weird/eclectic thing going on.



The towns oldest pub, although it only opened in 1992! Enlarge the Did You Know part to read about it. Had a pint there just because



This is a water fountain but not sure what a kangaroo has to do with the town

 

[RB]

Skippy and the Green Dragons of Ljubljana

 

[Scash]

Skippy and the Green Dragons of Ljubljana

That’s a cool story. I hope you don’t mind me resharing it. Where did you get it from?

I did google it to find a story but nothing like this came up.

 

[RB]

That’s a cool story. I hope you don’t mind me resharing it. Where did you get it from?

I did google it to find a story but nothing like this came up.

Just did a google search & scrolled through until I got a story. Long time since we were there, did you try the horse meat? Share away

 

[Cossie]

The next morning we headed to Sofia with a stop at the small village of Arbanasi. The village is an architectural reserve known for its 17th and 18th century Bulgarian National Revival architecture and a lot of the town has been preserved or recreated. During the 17th century it was a prominent settlement and a major trading hub.

View attachment 451921View attachment 451922View attachment 451923View attachment 451924

Squat toilet
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Not sure make or model of car but guess it’s not 17th century . It has been well cared for.

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And just because I thought they looked cute.

View attachment 451929

@Scash. Snap. It is a Soviet car, Volga, GAZ Volga - Wikipedia

 

[Scash]

OK...time to finish up the report. Apologies for being MIA but I just ran out of energy after being on the road for 2 months including the 16 days Balkans tour which was full on.

The plan after leaving Slovenia was to train to Zagreb for a couple of nights before joining a day tour to Split via the Plitvice Lakes. We had actually been to Zagreb twice before but each time was just a stop over for the night on the way to somewhere else. This time we decided to have a couple of nights to explore the town but mainly to relax a little.

We had an OK apartment (some minor issues with door lock, internet, bathroom) in Lower Town close to the train station and also the mall, with plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants. We only had 1 1/2 days so didn't do anything specific and just wandered around. We did find some nice places to eat and drink though!

Our apartment.



Finding a place to eat when you're travelling can be a challenge, and by this stage we were a bit over the local food offerings. We hadn't eaten Asian food for some time so did the usual google search and came across Namaste Indian Bistro. This place rated well and I can only concur. We had some of the best Indian food that I think I've had, and if your ever in Zagreb I would thoroughly recommend. It was a funky little place and the floor had clear sections where you could see below. Forgot to take photos of the food but I still remember what we had...Namaste Chicken Tikka (very nice) and Chicken Lababdar Curry (outstanding).

 

[Scash]

The next day we explored a bit more and caught the tram to big shopping centre as Mrs Scash need some retail therapy!

Book stores and record shops are rife throughout the Balkans and other European places we visited and wish I still had my record player as the offerings were vast.



Tribute to Nikola Tesla.



Monument of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Zagreb Cathedral. the Cathedral was closed for renovations so we couldn't go in.

 

[Scash]

After all that wandering refreshments were in order and luckily we found this wine bar!




And a rooftop bar for sunset and a nightcap. The building in the background is the Zagreb Cathedral with scaffolding around the spires.

 

[Scash]

As mentioned earlier our plan was to head to Split via the Plitvice Lakes on a day tour, and from Split we would fly out to Edinburg to see our son and future DIL. On the day before we were due to leave I received a text from the tour company advising that the tour had been cancelled due to "technical" reasons. There was a bit of back and forth but no real explanation was given as to why it was cancelled. They then asked us to cancel the trip which I refused to do as the trip was booked through Get Your Guide, and as it was within 24 hours of departure we would lose our money.

I wasn't getting anywhere with the tour company so I then contacted Get Your Guide and explained the situation. They were most helpful and they arranged for the trip to be cancelled and for our money to be refunded. We explained to Get Your Guide that our main reason for going to Zagreb was to do the trip to Plitvice Lakes and then get to Split for our flight to EDI, and that we had incurred costs to get to and stay in Zagreb, which we wouldn't have done otherwise.

Get Your Guide then asked for evidence of our Zagreb expenses and they managed to get us $600 AUD compensation on top of our tour refund!

We looked at other tour companies to take us to Plitvice Lakes but unfortunately they were all booked out. The upshot of it all was that we then had to arrange last minute transport and ended up flying to Split and missed out on Plitvice Lakes .

 

[Cossie]

Cathedral doesn't look much different to how it was in 2023, it was closed as well back then.

 

[ellen10]

Thats a shame about missing Plitvice lakes. We loved it there. Stayed overnight there so we could explore both the upper and lower lakes.
A real highlight of our Croatia visit.
I also agree about Slovenia, for a small country and often missed by the general travellers, it has some amazing scenery and sights.

 

[Lat34]

Plitvice Lakes is indeed a beautiful place to visit but it can be very, very, very busy at times (thousands of day-trippers!). The upper lakes offer a more serene experience as fewer people make the effort/ have time to visit this part of the park. As you are heading for Split, I'm hoping you were able to find the time to visit Krka National Park. Although the park is smaller, the waterfalls / cascade are stunning and surrounded by some very impressive natural beauty.