Post 9 Last days part 2 – Italy and Austria!

On Oct 17, 2018Oct 17, 2018 By anneandchrisbIn austria, Bird watching and Nature, Camping locations, Food and Drink, History and Architecture, Italy, Money saving ideas, Planning and Resources, Roman, Things to do!, Travel3 Comments

We like to ensure that our travel days are holidays as well, so we look for interesting things on, or near, our route. At the NE corner of the Adriatic, in Italy, we found 3 little gems.

Firstly, the Riserva naturale della Foce dell’Isonzo is a bird reserve where a 2km walk took us past summer breeding scrapes, and wetlands where wintering birds were starting to arrive. We have also never had such great views of snipe, and, bizarrely, Carmargue ponies!

Then, the drive to the pretty town of Grado, and across the causeway, waving a sad goodbye to the azure sea. The next seawater we encounter will be the colder, and greyer, English channel!

Just north of Grado is Aquileia! This was once the Roman regional capital, and main trading port, long before Venice existed. They are still uncovering ruins, revealing remains of a huge city. They are only ground level ruins, but a short walk revealed the site of the forum, and the vast remains of the Roman wharves, dock ramps and warehouses.

Best of all is the church, or Basilica, which was built in 1031 on the site of an early Romano christian church . Bishop Poppo, in 1031, had a red tiled floor laid over the original 4th century floor. That has been uncovered and is stunning! It is the largest paleo christian mosaic floor in the world. The detail is remarkable.

But look up too. The intricate wooden carved ceiling is 15th century!

The basilica had another treasure – the crypt of frescoes. More stunning wall and ceiling frescoes, painted in the 12th century, preserved because they are away from light.

Really worth a visit, and it set us up for our long journey north into Austria.

Being us, we don’t do things the easy way. We chose to go due north, taking the less used route over the beautiful Carnic Alps. Autumn colours were everywhere. Gorgeous.

Having reached Austria, we decided to take the route over the Gross Glockner pass, as it was a glorious day. Be warned. This is not for the faint hearted, nor a dodgy vehicle. You climb, and descend, steeply up to 9000 feet, with 38 hair pin bends! Just short of the highest point, Boris appeared to give a little hiccough. We had visions of spending the night up thete, but thankfully a few minutes rest to cool down and he was fine. Stunning, if bleak views from the top!

Then down to the glorious scenery of the lake at Zell am See, and the luxury of the Seeland campsite, which had a super restaurant – I had the best fresh trout I have ever eaten, while Chris went for a meatier option! Then the luxury of hot showers, with underfloor heating!

Next morning, we walked around the Lake to the town. Our amazing luck with the weather continues!

Zell am See is in the very traditional Tyrol, so no shops open on Sunday. St Hippolyte church was built in 1514, and is worth a visit.

Then we set off on our long drive through Austria to Switzerland. To use motorways and some other main roads you need a Vignette. Austria do a 10 day pass, costing 9 euros, for vehicles under 3.5tons, like Boris!

Beautiful scenery all the way.

Post 8 Last days….part 1!

On Oct 16, 2018Oct 17, 2018 By anneandchrisbIn Camping locations, Croatia, Food and Drink, History and Architecture, Money saving ideas, Roman, slovenia, Things to do!, TravelLeave a comment

Our last day in Croatia was spent on the Istrian peninsula, nearly at the top of the Adriatic sea. Colonised by the Romans, and Venetians, it has a rich heritage, and was part of Italy for many years, only regaining it’s Slavic identity after World War 2. There is a definite Italian feel to the architecture and cuisine here!

Many smaller Autostops for campers have closed by October so we stayed on 2 large coastal sites. Lovely waterside pitches, nice showers and facilities and quiet.. but our idea of hell in July and August with 500 crammed pitches, pool, entertainment and queues for showers! Also, many of them are more than double the price in high season. We count our blessings that we can travel out of season.

We have also had 3 weeks where temperatures have mainly been between 20 and 27 degrees C. Perfect. Others have told us it was up to 40 degs in summer and unbearable.

Our first visit was Pula for it’s remarkable roman heritage dotted throughout the town. The Hercules Gate, Temple of Alexandra and most impressively, the amphitheatre, all date from the 1st – 3rd century AD.

Don’t miss the little church and monastery of St Francis, with it’s 13th century cloister, and beautiful polyptych .

Then up the coast to Rovinj, a truly charming pedestrianised town and port, with a warren of alleyways, and waterside paths with lovely views of the sun setting over the sea.

We walked from our campsite, passing the fishing fleet. A merging of old and new. Sailors sat repairing their nets, next to brightly coloured stacks of plastic trays, giving an idea of the size of the expected catch.

The imposing church of Euphemia is at the highest point , and the atmosphere was made rather surreal by a guitarist outside singing ‘Wish you were here’, by Pink Floyd in a strong Croatian accent!

Inside, a nun was praying while her companion studied her phone!!

We found a tiny, local restaurant, Ulika, hidden away in the old town, and had a wonderful meal there as our farewell to Croatia.

Croatia – conclusions:

1. Beautiful coast and inland, but tourism is huge so areas are feeling quite commercialised, with the potential for Huge crowds. Personally, we would avoid between mid June and mid September, and seek out more remote spots and islands.

2. Quite expensive. No cheaper than UK and in some places more. Most churches and museums charge and entrance fee, only £2 or £3 pp but it quickly adds up.

3. We aren’t beach bods, but met quite a few people who were surprised that the majority of beaches are rocks and pebbles. Sandy ones are rare and get very busy!

4. We ate out a few times, and had to really hunt for non touristy menus. Lots of Pizza everywhere!

5. Island hopping was a lot more feasible with a camper than we thought, and fairly reasonably priced. Not every route takes vehicles. Get a good timetable!

Next, back into Slovenia for a day visiting their 47km coastline, especially beautiful Piran. We parked Boris in neighbouring Portoroz, by the old salt warehouses

and walked the 2km coastal promenade path to lovely Piran, passing this hostel on the way!!!

What a delightful town. Again, very Italianate architecture, with a lovely atmosphere.

Climb up to the Cathedral of St George to see a beautiful ceiling, and statues.

There was a square here, almost filled by its Bellini fountain, with an interesting guttering arrangement.

We had a coffee gazing out over the sparkling water, feeling sad to head inland and leave the clear blue Adriatic.

Inland for 2 last amazing Slovenian surprises. A tiny detour to the middle of nowhere brought us to the church of the Holy Trinity at Hrastovlje, fortified against the Ottomans. Inside are the most incredible, original frescoes, painted in 1490 to illustrate bible stories, morality and the cycle of the seasons to the population who couldn’t read.

The dance of death is the most famous section.

In the UK we have churches with fragments of original wall friezes, mostly plastered over thanks to Henry VIII . This is what our churches might have looked like. A blaze of colour! It was incredible.

Secondly, onto the caves at Skocjan. We have visited many cave systems, but can honestly say these were by far the most impressive. We visited 2km of cave, with huge chambers full of wonderful formations, but the thing that set this system apart was the river, thundering through far below us, still cutting down and illustrating how this amazing place was formed. At times, it had a Lord of the Rings quality!

No photos allowed inside, so these 3 aren’t mine! And yes, I did manage to walk across that bridge.. gulp!

We said a very sad Goodbye to Slovenia, which wins the prize as our favourite country on this trip. Wonderful in every way.

We crossed into Italy and wildcamped in a car park by the cliffs overlooking Trieste Bay.

A very multinational spot. 5 campers there, representing Italy, Austria, Germany, France and GB. Our exact route home!

Post 7 Waterfalls, waves and…Waterfalls!

On Oct 11, 2018Oct 16, 2018 By anneandchrisbIn Bird watching and Nature, Camping locations, Croatia, Food and Drink, History and Architecture, Museums, Roman, Things to do!, Travel, Walks2 Comments

Plus a few other things but I like the alliterative title! Heading north from Trogir, we stopped at the small coastal town of Sibenik. The old town is a warren of Venetian era alleys, stairways and churches.

If you could teleport a resident back here from 300 years ago he would probably recognise it immediately. In these towns we love to wander, and it is often the small details that catch my eye. Ancient carvings, or decoration above a doorway, indicating status or family links.

The tiny, kneeling figure is Marko, the town doctor and surgeon, who paid for this window in St Barbara’s church in 1419!

This stone trough at the foot of a wall, was a 14th century water bowl for dogs.

We discovered a 15th century monastery garden with a sweet cafe on the way up to the fortress.

The churches were lovely, especially the eastern orthodox church, and the richly decorated, 13th/14th century cathedral.

These carved heads date back to the 15th century! Some look so modern!

A good, free museum too, and a shoe shop with latest Italian solutions for the shorter lady..

Then we drove back to Skradin, to the sweet autocamp where we stayed a week ago. They remembered us! We were duly presented with a pomegranate because we came back!! An evening walk through the nice village, also revealed some battle scarred buildings at one end of town, as yet unrestored. Our reason for being here is to get an early boat up the river to see the Krka waterfalls before the crowds. We managed it, had a superlong walk, and the pictures speak for themselves.

A very early Hydroelectric plant was set up here, under the influence of famed local electrical genius Nikola Tesla, and nearby Sibenik had the first electric street lighting in Europe powered by AC (alternating current).

Chris took the opportunity to do some dead weight lift practice!

Next we drove to Lake Vrana, the largest natural lake in Croatia, encountering a croatian style traffic jam!

In winter, 100,000 coot call it home. Today, pygmy cormorant, and a stray spoonbill were our best spots. Next, Boris had an adventure, climbing the twisty lane up Mount Kamenjak, for incredible views over the coast and islands.

Mixed emotions here. A small chapel commemorates local people who were massacred here in various conflicts, while outside, the flag flew proudly to commemorate Croatian independence day.

The season is ending here, and many campsites are closing. Wild camping is illegal, but some people do it, using the great app Park4night. We had to resort to this at Zadar, using a former campsite on the waters edge. In fact we had a great sunset, and a peaceful night with the waves lapping a few feet from Boris!

Next day a visit to Zadar, an ancient trading port which had been colonised by Greeks, romans, slavs, Venetians, Hungarans, Austrians. It was heavily attacked in the recent war due to having 5 military bases. Now those same building house schools, university buildings and clinics! One modern restaurant facade hid an early christian church, which in turn had reused roman columns!

We did some shopping in a very modern supermarket, with an unmodern system for service. I had put 1 cucumber, 1 pepper, 4 tomatoes, 2 apples, 2 bananas, a courgette, an orange and some spring onions in my basket. Suddenly, 2 women came running towards me shouting. Firstly, every item had to go into a plastic bag. Separate bags. I protested at the use of plastic but was firmly told off! Then, one woman ran back and forth to the counters shouting a code number for each item. The other wrote it on a scrap of sticky paper and stuck it on the bag. This then was input at the till. But the lady at the till couldn’t read all the numbers… so she had to call the women over.. who ran back to the veg counter and shouted the number …aaaagh!!

Highlights of Zadar were the remains of the roman forum, and a lovely ancient glass museum. All the locally found glass was between 1800 and 2000 years old! Some undamaged, yet so delicate and ornate.

A stunning glass ‘pin’ from 3rd century AD.

Lastly, the lovely feature of Zadar was it’s new promenade, ending at the sea organ. Huge pipes have been laid on the sea bed. As the waves move in and out they play haunting tunes which constantly alter. Quite mesmerising to sit here and listen.

Next a drive inland, where autumn has arrived! We are heading to Plititze, and another huge waterfall system. We stay at the charming Kamp Bear…becauae bears and wolves live in this region. We are greeted with homemade Schnapps by the owner! Wow..quite a kick.

Again, an early start to beat the many tour buses that come here on day trips. It was busy in October… July and August would be hell. We were walking by 8.30 and had much of the first section to ourselves. It is a huge area of 16 lakes with waterfalls cascading down. We took route H which visits most of the lakes, and includes a boat ride down the longest lake. 6 miles in total, all beautiful.

Spot the people to get the scale!

Finally back to the coast to our final part of Croatia, the Istrian peninsula. Again, Boris’ wheels are nearly in the sea. Night night!

South in 15 days, North in 2!

On Nov 3, 2017 By anneandchrisbIn Bird watching and Nature, Camping locations, Food and Drink, France, History and Architecture, Money saving ideas, Museums, Parking, Roman, Spain, Things to do!, Uncategorized4 Comments

We left Seville Tuesday morning and headed north, using the excellent, and toll free, route 66 through eastern Spain. We had a stop at the fascinating city of Merida, which was once a hugely important Roman city. This is evident from the extensive buildings which remain interspersed with more modern buildings. We could only visit the amphitheatre, classic theatre, temple of Diana and casa del Mitrio, however you can buy an inclusive ticket to all the monuments. and the museum.

In addition, the 9th century moorish castle contains a fascinating well. It is housed in a building and reached by a divided descending stairway so that donkeys could be brought down to collect water and go up the other side.

After Merida we pressed on Northwards to a city I have always wanted to visit, Salamanca.

We arrived at 8pm and found the free parking under the bridge. We walked into town because we had heard it was wonderful at night. We were immediately bowled over by the network of historic syreets and beautiful sandstone buildings, all illuminated. The Plaza Major is a jewel. We ate delicious tapas at the Vegetarian Cafe Atelier and wandered back to Boris.

Salamanca is full of history, and home to one of the oldest universities in the world. The next morning we explored the city again, climbing the Bell Tower and visiting the Old and New Cathedrals, which are woven into one. They contained some of the best mediaeval wall painting and altar paintings that we have ever seen.

Our time was limited so we did not visit inside the Old University buildings or the architectually lovely Art Deco museum .. we are saving that for next time!

We did find a super restaurant, En La Parra, for a final special lunch… a delicious and creative tasting menu for 37 euros. A great end to the Iberian part of our holiday. Luckily we have done lots of walking so we havent put any weight on! The food has been marvellous everywhere.

LThen a long drive north almost to the Spanish border with France. Another free night opposite Orio before some Spanish supermarket shopping to buy ‘essentials’ like my favourite Salmorejo soup!Crossing into France we stopped at a bird reserve and with the help of a Grey wagtail, a Greylag goose and a humble blue tit took our bird list total over 100 for the trip.

Finally our drive north continued to Pons for 2 days with friends before sailing home from Cherbourg on Saturday. What a great trip!

We will have driven nearly 3000 miles.. this map shows our route.

Portugal’s Venice, Romans and the edge of Europe!

On Oct 25, 2017 By anneandchrisbIn Roman, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Sunday night we had arrived at our camping spot in Vila Nova in the dark! Monday we awoke to find we were nearly on the beach! The Atlantic coast here is spectacular. In Vila Nova nearly all the seaside houses are candy striped… very jolly!

We spent the day exploring Alveiro, known as the Venice of Portugal, and walking in the Reserva de San Jacinto on a neighbouring false island that you reach by ferry.

We also discovered Ovos moles de Alveiro… fake soft eggs made with a yellow patisserie filling. Rather yummy!

We then drove south to spend the night on the carpark of Portugal’s most intact roman town. It was in a lovely spot, seemingly miles from anywhere, and it felt as though ghostly roman soldiers might march past at any moment.

Visiting Conimbriga this morning was a revelation. Excavation is ongoing, but it was very extensive, with layouts for baths, shops houses and a huge forum. Many mosaic floors were in very good repair. Admission was just €4.50! Chris (alias Indiana Jones) was rather sad that there wasn’t much left of the tavern!

We then drove south to the lagoon at Foz do Arelho for a picnic lunch, followed by a quick shopping trip at E Leclerc… where you can do your laundry in the carpark!

Then a visit to Obidos, a hilltop fotified town with walls intact. Not sure what happened to EU regulations, but there were no handrails and sheer drops, so I didn’t venture far up there. The town was charming, and it’s most remarkable feature was the 600 year old, 3km aqueduct running to it.