Istrian Coast & Northern Dalmatia

ZADAR: is a beautiful coastal town in Northern Dalmatia which has its town centre on an island.

The island is scattered with roman ruins and byzantine architecture, as well as some more modern additions. Below is the 'sun salutation' which is an art-feature with solar panels by day and a light show at night.

The same artist created the 'sea organ' which works on waves - the water knowcking against the walls creates wind, which makes music through the organ - this is something quite spectacular. I tried to upload a video, but my tech skills don't take me that far.

It is on the Adriatic, which is very calm - calm enough to have permanent water polo

OPATIJA: This is a holiday town, which is for me, Cuba meets Cannes. It was once the fav haunt of the Viennese upper crust during the Austro-Hungarian empire. It is now a family spot for locals and Italians - Italy is an hour drive away. It is also bikini town. Every woman - fat, thin, old, young (and even the hobo lady with her plastic bags) is in her bikini strolling around the boardwalk, or on a sunbed. Everything is about the bikini. The most popular watering hole is called.... 'Monokini'

This is me, parasailing. What an incredible experience - I was 300m above sea (literally).

Slovenia

Slovenia is a small country with only about 2 million inhabitants. It was part of former Yugoslavia, and is now part of the EU.

I arrived to Ljubljana (cap) in the evening, and went to a pub closest to my hostel. I had fantastic beer, called 'Lasko' and the friendly Russian waiter got me a 2 for 1 deal. On the menu, at the same bar, was cannabis ice-tea.

I started my first day in Slovenia by taking a 90 minute bus to lake Bled, which is a stunning teal colour and has a medieval church on an island in the middle of the lake.

I am staying at a hostel called the Pod Lipo, which is in Mirje street (thought that was quite ironic)

I strolled accross to the local supermarket to see what was on offer, and voila... a taste of home. Ceres in Ljubljana.

I hired a bike this afternoon to tour around the city and went west through the Tivoli Park (below), which is scenic and they say safe, even at night. Ljubljana is reputed to be one of the safest cities going. Well, its actually a town, as it has less the 300 000 inhabitants.

also took the funicular up to the Castle (Ljubljanski Grad) which overlooks Ljubljana.
Its been wonderfully renovated and is a fantastic mix of old and new, stone and glass.


Below is a pic of the door of the St Nicholas Cathedral, in the old part of the city

Some sights of the town. This is the town hall and in front, the fountain of 3 rivers.

A pic of the 3 bridge, and a feel of what Ljubljana is like

Phew - all of this in 1 day, I'm exhausted and ready for bed.

Taking about beds: I am not sure if this is a central European thing - and at the risk of sounding like the princess in the 'princess and the pea' but so far, all the beds have been hard as rocks. The current bed (and the one I'm sleeping on tonight) feels like metal springs with a sheet on top. I honestly think they forgot to add the padding. In true SA fashion, 'n boer maak 'n plan - blankets and towels will now serve as mattress padding.

Czech it out

Two days in Prague:

I'm writing this after a 12 hour train trip from Prague to Ljubljana and am rather exhausted, so please excuse the lack of creativity and also any spelling mistakes....

Arriving from Paris, I was met with no passport control at Prague Airport - the wonders of the EU. Prague is indeed the Paris of the East.

Prague is very beautiful with many mixed architectural styles. Fairly small city with a very rich history.

The public transport is very good AND cheap - less than R10 for a bus into town.

On the left is the 'Piss Statue' just outside the Franz Kafka Museum. It is basically two anamatronic dudes pissing into a puddle shaped liked the Czech Republic. Dodge?

This is the

Astronomical Clock which has saints and a skeleton sing on the hour

St Wencelas Ave and in the distance, the statue of St Wencelas and the Museum. This is Prague's version of the Champs Elysees


Changing of the guard at Prague Castle (the largest Castle complex in the world).

To the left, the Jewish Quarter, the 'Old New Synagogue' which is the oldest intact synagogue in Central Europe and borders the Jewish Cemetary.

The Jewish Quarter is the fancy barrio of the town and where all the boutiques can be found. It was also where Kafka grew up - although at the time, it had not yet undergone the renovation which made it the beauty it is

today

Some typical Czech food - Suickova (switchkova) - beef with bread dumplings and a creamy carrot sauce. Was yum. The only reservation was the dodgy bathroom decor at the restaurant (see below)....

FAIL!

DIJON- FRANCE

Today I took the TGV speed train from Paris Gare de Lyon to Dijon, the prinicpal city in the Burgundy Region to the South.

Dijon is a quaint, medieval city, famous for, amongst other things: mustard, escargots, kir, creme de cassis and Mr Darcy (not our Jane Austen hunky hero, but the man who made sure the the TGV train passed though the town).

This is a sculpture done by Pompom (reknowned dijonaise artist) in the Darcy Park, not Grassy Park.

One of the town's symbols is the Chouette (owl) which has been carved into the side of one of the most famous churches (pic below). Approaching it from a northerly direction and then touching it, brings good luck. There are also gold arrows with owls on them in the streets, to direct tourists towards the major sites.

Dijon mustard, made world famous by Maille (say, "my")

Ahh, the perfect Burgundy lunch: escargots, bread and red wine on a perfectly sunny day.

Thanks Simon for being the best guide to Dijon!

The A380

Last night I flew from Jo'burg, to Paris on AirFrance's newly acquired Airbus A380 Superjumbo, double decker jet (pic taken shortly before boarding - notice the double gangway system).

This is the largest passenger plane in existence, and transports just under 600 people.

6am arrival at CDG - in the pilot's words a 'merveilleux' machine. The take off, effortless, and one of the smoothest in memory (could also have had something to do with the tranquilizers).

Its quiet and spacious and the bathrooms even have digital water tap temp controls (tres cool). Its like being on a cruise liner, only without the smoking deck.

All I can say is, chapeau Airbus!

(A390 pic from www.aviationexplorer.com)

The Trip

I'll be flying on the new Airbus A380 superjumbo to Paris, and then on to Prague (Paris of the East) and training on Czech locomotives to Slovenia. From there, boating around and on to Hertz - just to ensure that all modes of transport are covered.

This is the road trip - the bit where I will be driving on the wrong side of the road, along a beautiful coastline (mostly)