Dubrovnic

Our paths crossed once more with our friends Liz and Colin who are now travelling around Europe in their Bumblebee VW van. They are keeping a blog of their adventures on the road which also features a section on their cooking while in the van. Inspired, we may try to copy this soon with a special post on our one and only meal we cook over and over again. Stay tuned for our lentil curry post! Anyway here's their blog = http://bumblebeetakeseurope.wordpress.com/
Dubrovnic was a great spot to catch up for a few days and relax while washing mounds of our smelly socks. It is very affordable to rent a flat privately in this part of the world, especially if a few of you are sharing. We were glad to be indoors for a bit as there were amazing storms thundering across the sky on and off. Between the rain however it was quite warm and we visited the rocky inlets to swim and read. 
                Dubrovnik's walled old city is very picturesque. It sits on a small peninsular that slopes steeply to the sea giving the town its long narrow alleyways of stairs. There are no cars or even bikes within the walled city because there is no room on the ancient narrow paths. It's very touristy here with the town looking beautifully restored and filled with restaurants and boutique shops. However, its tastefully done and retains its lived in charm - but we have been warned that in high season it can be hard to move in there for all the tourists.  Off season definitely seems like the way to go on the popular parts of the med coast.

a la paris hilton?

sea food banquet!

bye bye Team Bumblebee!!

the life of riley (between steep climbs)

The photos below are mostly taken on Peljesac which is an island-like peninsula off the Croatian coast. We spent a few days basking by beaches, hauling ourselves up steep inclines away from beaches, then barrelling down hills to other beaches. We imagined the Croatian islands would mean nice, flat riding around the coast but this didn't turn out to be the case. The islands are formed from mountain tops which have become islands due to a rise in sea level once upon a time. These partially submerged mountains make for steep island cycling and beaches are all at the bottom of plunging mountainsides.

 

 

We took the coastal gravel road on our return journey back across the peninsula to the mainland. There were amazing views and no traffic as the road was pretty rough (even involving lifting the hefty bikes up winding stairs through a village at one point). It also meant we got to see a lot of the vineyards that were bursting with fruit and sample a few sneaky grapes. It was harvest time so very busy with locals out working the fields. We met a family taking a break from the midday sun to have lunch in the shade. The old father led us to his adult son who could speak English and we had a drink of their home made grape rakija. It's a schnapps made from a white grape and includes eight herbs which he pointed out were growing about. It tasted good and was apparently medicinal. The son explained that this area is known for its wine, with excellent grapes resulting from the steep sun-facing hillside plus extra sunlight reflected from the sparkling water below. Despite having no prior interest in wine tours/tasting/talk, we nevertheless found it really nice to learn a bit about the process firsthand in such a casual way. 

(the praying mantis is for you nich)

 

Northern Croatia

We left Hungary still following the Danube trail into the very top of Croatia, a region called Slavonia. Croatia currently marks one of the borders of the Schengen area so things were a bit more official as we pulled up to the border gates in comparison to our other crossings. We had stayed a few days over the allowed 90 days in Schengen but had heard generally this is overlooked if it's obvious you're travelling - these rumours held true for us and to our relief there was no mention of our overstay. Having left the Schengen area we officially need to stay out for 90 days before we return, but again we have heard its not very strictly enforced so won't let it control our plans.

Slavonia saw fierce fighting during the Balkan conflicts of the 90s and the scars are still evident.The area is known as Croatia's breadbasket, consisting mostly of vast areas of agriculture and small rural towns. It's a strange, moving contrast having these lovely sleepy towns mixed with signs of brutal modern warfare like bullet pock marks and bombed homes. Despite the war-ravaged look of much of the region it felt like the hostile times belonged to the past and people were smiley and kind. We got lots of encouraging toots from cars and friendly waves. We felt like perhaps they were happy to have visitors return after their isolation during the conflicts. We especially felt this in the young people we met - that they were keen to interact more with the rest of Europe and beyond.

Signs indicating suspected mine areas. 

We were very wary of the danger of landmines which still remain from the war. Many have been cleared but perhaps because the work is so painstaking lots of areas are marked with signs warning you not to enter in case you are unlucky. It gave us the heebie jeebies and we were careful to camp in areas that had been plowed or farmed recently. Landmines are terrible things and thinking about them kept leading me to dwell on the most awful side of human nature and what people do to one another. We felt terrible that local people have to live with this danger daily, it must be so stressful for parents who have children roaming about. At one point Matthew stopped to go to the toilet next to a cornfield and as he slid down the embankment a loud bang rang out. It was a bird scarer but gave us a huge fright and sent us into fits of nervous giggles!

bleak deserted bomb-blasted house

A larger town we passed through, Vukovar, was particularly sad and we were shocked by the extent of the damage that still remains. I couldn't stop shaking my head and ranting about the useless and despicable nature of war. The water tower pictured has been left as a memorial of the war but really there is not much of the town that doesn't still show obvious damage. It wasnt just public infrastructure affected but lots of apartment blocks and houses are still pocked with bulletholes and some were destroyed completely, remaining a pile of rubble and parts of walls. We stopped to get supplies in a shop that had a huge bombed out factory and silos looming behind it. It was strange being served by the young attendent, upbeat and normal while we felt shaken and a bit in awe of the apocalyptic scenes. It made us wonder at people's resilience.