Saturday, May 17, 2008

some views of Trogir. We are staying in an old hotel furnished with antiques, right in the old town. Arriving here was quite an experience as it was market day and the traffic was horrendous, people cars trucks all going over this tiny bridge and fighting for a car park! Tonight we are dinng in the hotel, supposedly authentic cuisine and music!!
The drive from Opatije, to Zadar was scary, moutains to the left,steep ravines to the ocean on the right, winding roads, bike riders with a death wish overtaking on blind bends, however we followed the coastline all the way so it was quite beautiful. We passed through many villages that had been ravaged during the war, many buildings with bullet holes, burnt or abandoned. Last night we stayed in a villa in Sukosan, just outside of Zadar, the owners were so friendly and made us feel very welcome, they also had a german shepherd. Mama Anton reminded me of Yaiyai, she loved her flowers and garden, and although she spoke little english, she tried in Italian and was always smiling and giving us a hug. The village 5km outside of Sukosan had been bombed and villagers killed, they say there is still a real threat to this day for Croatia. We had a funny little waiter in Lovran who we christened Manuel, he looked so weary and harrassed, the waitress we christened Helga. Coffee and wine are pot luck, some good, some disgusting. Cover charge for each meal is 7kuna each for bread,salt pepper,olive oil, we reckon it will cost us $70 dollars by the end of Croatia. Directions have been hilarious, mostly wrong, some due to language problems, which has made for many illegal u turns, going down the wrong way o one way streets, and once going through a red traffic light!!!! Had to go to the toilet urgently in zadar in the fish market, the stench was overwhelming and stayed in my nose and stomach for ages.
We were looking forward to a meal in Plitvice of Paprika chicken and veal schnitzel, instead we ended up with greasy chicken and even greasier potatoes, which we christened the Greasy Goose as George reckoned it was cooked in goose fat. Petrol is $2.00 a litre.































zadar old town, with a 9th Century old church, St Donats, surrounded by Roman Forum ruins



























room with a view and breakfast on the terrace.
View of old Lovran square

Wales, Bristol Zagreb,Plitvice Jezera

sorry it is so beautiful, here are a few more













































































the funicular to the old town in Zagreb and view of the cathedral. George sittng on the wall of our hotel in Mukinje, Plitvice Jezera plus George standing next to St George









































here we are in Bristol going along the canal with Richard and Gill, some of the pretty houses along the way, lunch was at a local Pump House





































































just got off the flight from Manchester, very jet lagged, visited my Aunt who lives in llanberis, foothills of Snowdonia mountains, had welsh Bara Brith (welsh tea cake) and of course a cup of tea
This is Criccieth where Alanna lives and Criccieth Castle







































Zagreb markets














































plitvice lakes, hundreds of photo's hard to choose