Saturday and Sunday
What a treat to stay in a hotel even though it was a budget one. We chilled out with no pitching tents or packing up. Today we went shopping in the local market. Alan bought some sandals and me a tie dyed dress. We sauntering through the streets in the old town, imbibing the atmosphere, sitting out in the street cafes and occasionally, taking a nap.
Monday, 15 September 2008
to Split
Saturday
After a morning swim, we packed up and left Novi Vinodolski, south along the dramatic coast road. The islands of Kirk, Rab and Pag were out to sea, looking very barren. At Ravanjska we decided to head inland to give some variation to the scenery and relief from the dangerous road. It was aquiet road with fruit orchards at first and then a river. What we didn't expect was to wind up on a dirt track, take a detour, need to shelter from a thunderstorm or to end up in the middle of a festival!
Arrived in Split around 6pm uncertain if we would find a suitable place to stay. We got directions to a youth hostel right in the centre and were assured we could ride the bike there although cars were prohibited. It was this that gave us a false sense of licence. The YH was full but we were told to go down to the harbour where the ferry boats come and aparently little old ladies hang out in order to direct tourists to a lodging. That is how we ended up riding the bike down the main pedestrian walkway, stealing the limelight from the busters who watched us open mouthed. And as we got to the end of the street we rode right into a Policeman. 'Where can we find a place to stay?' I pipe up. The cop is completely uninterested in either our disregard for traffic conventions or our accommodation plight, so we park up and Alan allows me to go in search of lodging. Meanwhile he links up with some bikers, press and general festivities happening right where we'd parked. A couple of blokes were having a big send off for their round the world trip. I returned having been successful in my room hunt to find Alan was just about to join the cavalcade and we roared off with lots of other bikes accompanied by fireworks and great euphoria.
Arrived in Split around 6pm uncertain if we would find a suitable place to stay. We got directions to a youth hostel right in the centre and were assured we could ride the bike there although cars were prohibited. It was this that gave us a false sense of licence. The YH was full but we were told to go down to the harbour where the ferry boats come and aparently little old ladies hang out in order to direct tourists to a lodging. That is how we ended up riding the bike down the main pedestrian walkway, stealing the limelight from the busters who watched us open mouthed. And as we got to the end of the street we rode right into a Policeman. 'Where can we find a place to stay?' I pipe up. The cop is completely uninterested in either our disregard for traffic conventions or our accommodation plight, so we park up and Alan allows me to go in search of lodging. Meanwhile he links up with some bikers, press and general festivities happening right where we'd parked. A couple of blokes were having a big send off for their round the world trip. I returned having been successful in my room hunt to find Alan was just about to join the cavalcade and we roared off with lots of other bikes accompanied by fireworks and great euphoria.
into Croatia
Thursday
We'd packed away our knife and had no room to carry a melon we'd bought so decided this was a good opportunity to share it with our neighbours and get a chance to be nosey and see what it's like inside a winnie bagle. They were equally fascinated to see our paraphernalia reduced to a size we could load onto the bike.
We continued south on the edge of the J Alps, following the river Idrijca on a small twisty road. There wasn't a lot of traffic and the frequent roadworks meant we could manoever to the front of the queue and had a clear road without doing much overtaking. Navigating was becoming a little more difficul
t and sometimes required stopping for a coffee to have a better chance of finding someone with the time and patience to study the map with us and correct my poor pronunciation.
iving a pinky haze. This part of the coast looks industrial and we give up an idea to visit Rijeka. Instead we hit the busy coastal road. It was the opposite of love at first sight for me. Despite the spectacular views, it was dangerous with twisty, steep narrow places. The traffic was horrendous and we saw more than our fair share of crazy drivers. I felt a great sense of relief when we could finally leave it hundred of miles later in Montenegro.
We'd packed away our knife and had no room to carry a melon we'd bought so decided this was a good opportunity to share it with our neighbours and get a chance to be nosey and see what it's like inside a winnie bagle. They were equally fascinated to see our paraphernalia reduced to a size we could load onto the bike.
We continued south on the edge of the J Alps, following the river Idrijca on a small twisty road. There wasn't a lot of traffic and the frequent roadworks meant we could manoever to the front of the queue and had a clear road without doing much overtaking. Navigating was becoming a little more difficul
t and sometimes required stopping for a coffee to have a better chance of finding someone with the time and patience to study the map with us and correct my poor pronunciation.We crossed the border into Croatia at Prezid. It is a sleepy border post and we were the only ones around. The road deteriorated and was chaos as it was being dug up manually until we were diverted onto a rough gravel track. Alan asked if we were in Albania already! We rode towards Cebar, an area of small farms , wooded hills and flowers and geraniums everywhere, even in houses still being built. I wondered if people were in fact living there.
We stopped for coffee and TV starved Alan managed to find a telly. It was incongruous hearing Angela Lansbury's voice blaring out in this small village where no-one spoke English.
As we climbed higher the farms petered out and we were in the forest with trees obsuring all but the occasional view. We rode for 50km with barely a car passing until we started descending again. The other side of the mountain range the land is dry and sandy with rocks and scrubby bushes. As we finally reach the coast the air is polluted and smoggy, g
iving a pinky haze. This part of the coast looks industrial and we give up an idea to visit Rijeka. Instead we hit the busy coastal road. It was the opposite of love at first sight for me. Despite the spectacular views, it was dangerous with twisty, steep narrow places. The traffic was horrendous and we saw more than our fair share of crazy drivers. I felt a great sense of relief when we could finally leave it hundred of miles later in Montenegro.We found 
a camp site and pitched our tent right on the cliffs. We even had access down a rocky path to the water and no longer did we have to brace ourselves for cold water. There were even hot current in patches! That night we walked down into the little harbour and had pizza on the small quay side.
a camp site and pitched our tent right on the cliffs. We even had access down a rocky path to the water and no longer did we have to brace ourselves for cold water. There were even hot current in patches! That night we walked down into the little harbour and had pizza on the small quay side. The next day we spent reading, swimming and lolling about. Late afternoon we walked into Novi 
Vinodolski for dinner. What a shock it was to go from our laid-back sleepy village into a throbbing tourist resort with all the worst trappings. We found a fish restarant on a back street which was pleasant.
Vinodolski for dinner. What a shock it was to go from our laid-back sleepy village into a throbbing tourist resort with all the worst trappings. We found a fish restarant on a back street which was pleasant.Kobarid
Wed Suddenly it's got hot; very, very hot. Went shopping for sandals for Alan but as we were crossing the bridge, decided swimming would be a more appropriate activity. People dive off the bridge into the milky green water below for a competition at some time in the year, but we took a safer route, scrambling down the rocky side of river and then wading over to a small island formed by a sandy bank from where we could swim, sunbathe and watch various water sports. The water was icy cold but refreshingly so and we were invigorated by it. Later we were going to walk up to a famous waterfall, but, by that time, thunder was rumbling in the background.
We found another good restaurant that evening, also in a residential area, but this time purpose built, modern with a somewhat arty architectural style and tasteful furnishings to match. However, we sat out on the terrace admiring the garden and ordered fish platter to share. Five kinds of fish came along with candles to keep it all warm. The waitress, who spoke impeccable English, offered to dress the fish, which we readily agree to. With great panache she split one of the fish in two, cut off it's head and whisked away the bones all in one clean swoop. The fillets then fell off the skin under her expert handling and we were left with some melt-in-the mouth tasty 
fish to eat. She left us to deal with the other fish but we weren't able to totally imitate her proficiency. It was fun trying though!
Thursday, 11 September 2008
into Slovenia
Monday 
28th July
Alan caught me having lettuce for breakfast. Good ride today, through the mountains, and over three superb passes. Light showers at first, but later sunny and getting lots warmer... I'm
down to only two layers. Alan even peeled off to t-shirt level. The first pass was Mauria (1298 m). Although it's an important east-west artery, the road is quite narrow and there wasn't too much traffic. Pity about the clouds. We kept overtaking some Brits in their small van and when we stopped for coffee at the restaurant on top and the Brtis cheerfully waved as they passed. We left the main road (and
traffic!)to follow the river Raccolana up into the Julian Alps to Passo di Nevea (1190m). This seemed to be a little known road, very pretty and was almost deserted...except for cyclist and o
ther biker and oh...there was that van again!! As we got higher there was evidence of skiing activity and new construction after the completion of avalanche preventive measures. We continued on this twisty picturesque road which we had almos
t all to ourselves with views on all sides and far below Lake Raibl, with its green and turquoise shimmering waters. We were greedy for another pass and Passo di Predil (1156 m) obliged by leading us to the Slovenia border.
28th JulyAlan caught me having lettuce for breakfast. Good ride today, through the mountains, and over three superb passes. Light showers at first, but later sunny and getting lots warmer... I'm
down to only two layers. Alan even peeled off to t-shirt level. The first pass was Mauria (1298 m). Although it's an important east-west artery, the road is quite narrow and there wasn't too much traffic. Pity about the clouds. We kept overtaking some Brits in their small van and when we stopped for coffee at the restaurant on top and the Brtis cheerfully waved as they passed. We left the main road (and
traffic!)to follow the river Raccolana up into the Julian Alps to Passo di Nevea (1190m). This seemed to be a little known road, very pretty and was almost deserted...except for cyclist and o
ther biker and oh...there was that van again!! As we got higher there was evidence of skiing activity and new construction after the completion of avalanche preventive measures. We continued on this twisty picturesque road which we had almos
t all to ourselves with views on all sides and far below Lake Raibl, with its green and turquoise shimmering waters. We were greedy for another pass and Passo di Predil (1156 m) obliged by leading us to the Slovenia border.
Misurina
SundayIt's always nice to have a send off and our new Dutch friends gave us a good one. We were packed and away relatively early. There was a bit of a scare. Would we make it petrol wise. We'd been having problems using automatic petrol stations and, as we hadn't found any (open) that weren't, we were running low on juice. My heart lept as we found a lone pump in a small village but sank again as it kept rejecting our E20 n
ote. Finally, with a little help from locals, we had our tank filled and were back on our way. This was another good route with a great surface and with a combination of hairpins, medium fast sweepers and some long straights to clear out our carburettor (officer)!It felt like the Tyrol again and we came across a fete with music dancing food and drink . Here, again, was the characteristic flat top on a vertical monolith of limestone rock, unique to the Dolomites. But therein lay the bad news. Come a nice sunny Sunday like today, the roads are packed, tourists taking in the scenery at a gentle 15 mph. We went through a few small villages, then up to the Passo di Falzarego(2105m).
On decent there were plenty of hairpins but no real steep bits. Scenery mainly trees and meadows and finally the town of Cortina below. The traffic magically disappeared but there were some uncomfortable, difficult to see bumps. 
We stopped to camp near the lake. Camping was basic, a field in the mountains and there wasn't even hot water. We walked around the lake looking up at the Tre Cime (Three Chi
mneys) and had a romantic dinner sitting outside watching the light change on the water and finally fade behind
the mountains.
mneys) and had a romantic dinner sitting outside watching the light change on the water and finally fade behind
the mountains.
A side trip to Trento
On Saturday, we headed into Trento late afternoon. It was a wonderful ride; canyons, lakes, mountains, amazing bridges, castles, through vineyards, lakes, villages. Enjoyed sauntering through the town's streets and 
squares, exploring. There were lots of steet cafes and bars. Noticed the clouds gathering so we went into the only restaurant we could find. For once, we were pleased to be inside since although the outside was full of diners they all had to be evaculated later and they sure looked a sorry sight as the wind got up and the storm sta
rted with a vengeance. However we didn't escape its peril and we had to drive back through thunder lightening gusts of wind and heavy rain. The small twisty road became tretcherous as the darkness fell. But we made it! Our Dutch neighbours helped us to unwind as we drank beers with them at the bar, the only dry place for a camper.
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