Croatia Part 2

Trogir : Camping Rozac - 6 to 7 August

Oh, this was our favourite campsite for 2019, I think. Right on the beach with a ferry into town and a surprisingly good restaurant on site.

Trogir is a picture perfect little walled city with a promenade along the waterfront. The best way to experience it is to get lost wandering the streets and finding a cafe or bar with outside tables and a view of a square and people watching.

There's a ferry to Split about 5 times a day and it's so much better to stay in Trogir than the over touristy Split.

You do need to go to Split though. While the streets are packed with cruise boat day trippers dragging along in groups behind their guides, the bars and restaurants always have seats. There's talk of limiting the number of cruise boats in Croatia: I think the businesses, restaurants and hotels realise they don't make a penny from the tour groups who hardly even spend on an ice cream or a beer.

Dubrovnik : Solitude Sunny Camping - 8 to 14 August

We loved Dubrovnik but it was really hot. Up in the 40's. So we would go to the beach during the day and head into the old walled city later in the afternoon. 

Morcheeba played in the campsite one night. We made sure we got a pitch as close as possible. We watched the concert from our camping chairs next to the van.

We walked the walls of the old town in blistering weather.

 Our restaurant at Copacabana Beach, close to the campsite was great as before but they really know how to charge. It's good in a way because you always get a table and as long as you have a couple of bottles of wine and something to eat you can sit all day.

Tracey arrived from SA.

Stephan and Andrea headed off.

A few days later Christo and Christine had to bid adieu as well.

Then we were down to just 3.

We did a day trip to Lokrum Island.

We hung out at the beach during the day and in Dubrovnik in the evenings.

Trogir : Camping Rozac - 15 to 18 August

We were very happy to be back in Trogir for four more nights. This time with Tracey.

We enjoyed the beach, Trogir evening wandering and we visited Split again.

Pula : Arena Stoja Camping - 19 to 20 August

Pula is on the Istrian Peninsula in Northern Croatia. It's one of their wine growing areas and we did eat and drink pretty well. Pula's other claim to fame are it's Roman Ruins, with a particularily well preserved amphitheater.

Croatia part 1

Zagreb : Camp Zagreb - 31 July to 1 August

So Homer and Daisy are best buds as we head into Croatia. We have this van life down pat now. The campsite in Zagreb is great and after setting up in record time we Uber into town to meet up with Andrea and Stephan. It's a good little city to explore with lots of stops for jamon, cheese and wine.

You have to visit the awesome Museum of Broken Relationships. A couple were splitting up, amicably I believe, and didn't know what to do with all the sentimental things they had collected over the years. The exhibition toured the world,  collecting artifacts and stories from other broken relationships as it went.

Each item is displayed with a story;  some funny, some sad, some poignant and some totally crazy. There're stories of family feuds and people separated by wars, migration or tradegy as well as stories of holiday romances, unrequited love and being ditched at the alter.

Plitvice Lakes : Autocamp Korana - 2 August

A nature reserve and a World Heritage site with beautiful turquoise lakes and great walks. 

The park can be overrun by tourists but we entered at 4pm after most of the day trippers had left. We did the recommended route in reverse and avoided any queues for boats or busses.

Zadar : Camp Matea, Bibinje - 3 to 5 August

Zadar is a small coastal city in the north of Croatia, with castle walls, historic churches and atmospheric squares.

It's far less touristy than Split or Dubrovnik and it has some great bars and restaurants. Our campsite was in Bibinje, just south of Zadar.

Christine and Christo joined us here in their rented camper. Our group is growing.

We rented an old wooden boat for a day out on the ocean and it was one of the most fun days of our trip.

Sadly we had to say good bye to Rina and Menon who were heading back to the UK.

Homer 2019: Eastern Europe and a bit more...

I have separate blog posts for the memorable Restaurants, Bars, Cafes, and Wine Experiences of Eastern Europe and Croatia. Please check those out too.  Van Life is pleasant and relaxed. Our days are a mix of walking and sightseeing, eating and drinking. We cook in a bit and manage to do our chores, shopping and admin in between everything else. We try to keep driving down to no more than four hours on any day and prefer to stop for more than one night in each destination.

Dublin : The Thompsons - 6 and 7 July

We flew in to Dublin briefly- 2 nights and 1 full day - to visit Tommy and Mandy in their new home town. 

Munich : Campinhplatz Thalkirchen - 8 to 12 July

On  8 July, we took an early flight to Munich and by early afternoon we were unpacking and preparing Homer for our 12th summer roadtripping Europe in a campervan.

The next day Homer met Daisy, Rina and Menon's brand spanking new campervan. She has all the bells and whistles and aircon!

It was so exciting to have travel mates! Welcome Rina and Menon to travelling the Greenie way! We caught up with friends, hung out in beer gardens and had a little party for Neil's 60th at Christo and Christine's. Thanks guys!

Regensburg : Azur Camping - 13 July

Just a night. Time to see the old town, drink a few beers and have dinner at the great Orphee Restaurant, a surprisingly good French restaurant.

Prague : River Camping - 14 to 16 July

I love cities with Uber. For 4 adults it's no more expensive than public transport.

We met up with Gareth and Carmen.

We found The Irish Pub ( that's it's name ) to watch the Wimbledon final. The World Cup Cricket final and the Grand Prix were also showing. The atmosphere was electric with all 3 events blaring from different TVs across the pub.

Prague is such a beautiful city and really walkable. We explored the Old City and the Castle and one night we went to a Keb Mo concert.

Brno : Autocamp Abora - 17 July

Near one of the Czech wine regions. We travelled through the pretty Lednice and Valtice areas.

Poysdorf : Camp Veltlinerland - 18 July

Austrian wine area.

Vienna : Camping Neue Donau - 19 July to 21 July

There's so much history and culture in Vienna you have to choose just a few attractions each day. We walked a lot. We went to Belvedere Palace and saw The Kiss by Gustav Klimt. We saw the Hofburg Palace and the Vienna library.

I can highly recommend the Globe Museum, especially if, like me, your passion for travel was sparked by primary school geography lessons where the teacher would wheel the big world globe down the corridor and into the classroom.

Hunderwasser Haus is curious architectural and social experiment.  We all found Vienna a bit bland and souless compared to the other cities on this tour.

Bratislava : Area Divoka Voda - 22 to 23 July

The campsite was far out of town but Bratislava is a neat little city and worth a day trip.

Budapest : Camping Haller - 24 to 26 July

Budapest is one of our favourite cities. There's enough history and architecture to get you going but it's the vibey cafe and bar culture that keeps you busy. The old Jewish quarter is now the coolest of nightlife areas. The ruin bars, which were local hangouts created in derelict buildings during the revolution are full of foreigners on stag nights now but still retain a grungy feel.  Do avoid the Gozsdu- udvar in 7th district,  which has become too touristy though.

Lake Balaton : Camp Eldorado - 27 to 28 July

A summer holiday haven for Hungarians. The rain didn't put us off - we were wine tasting not swimming.

Maribor : Camping Centre Kekec - 29 to 30 July

A neat campsite in Maribor, the centre of one of the Slovenian wine areas and also a ski resort in winter. Very small city. Very quiet but we still managed to paint the town red.