Thursday, April 12/Friday April 13
Depart 4.35 pm for Rome. The flight was fine but Homer was sick upon landing in Rome. After a slight delay, we flew to a very rainy morning in Venice where we were met by the rep, Blaze. We boarded the bus for Opatija at 12.25 pm and had a rest stop in Friuli before clearing the Slovenian border and then the Croatian border. We arrived in the beautiful town of Opatija at 4.15 pm where the Bristol Hotel was centrally located. Our room was spacious with good views. We met for an orientation meal and were introduced to our tour guide Kristijan and our group. The buffet was quite good. The water was drinkable and good.
Saturday, April 14
We didn’t wake up until 10 am and missed breakfast but dealt with our jet lag! We walked around Opatija and grabbed a coffee along the seafront. In Park Angiolini, famous faces of Croatians and visitors to Croatia were painted along a wall spelling out Opatija/Abbazi. We had a light lunch at a waterfront restaurant (tuna salad, burger, prosciutto/cheese sandwich HRK 70). We saw the statue of the Lady with Seagull, Church of the Assumption, and went into a small museum. The weather was a mix of sun and cloud. We had ice cream and bought beer at the grocery store Konzum which was around 6K/$1 with a 20c deposit. We had supper at the Bockerija Grill (bbq pork, steak, burger/fries 240K/$43 (tip around 10% in cash)).
Sunday, April 15
Departed 8.15 after buffet breakfast (it was poorly set up and it was hard to get coffee). We drove in the rain along the Istrian coast stopping at Senj for coffee. We arrived in Zadar one of the oldest cities on the Adriatic sea. Toured ruins of Roman Forum, cathedral, and St Donat Church. We had an hour by ourselves to look around at all the post-war improvements. The next stop was at Sibenik, the sun was shining and it was 18 degrees. Visited St Jacob’s church in a pretty square and stunning waterfront where Homer played in a playground.
We arrived in Split at 6pm staying at the Radisson Blue, great sea view, tiny room. Homer had a cough all day. We had supper in the Caper hotel restaurant which was awesome (Dorada, pork medallions, garlicky pasta trio with drinks 420K/$75). Slept well.
Monday, April 16
Departed 8.30 am after a good buffet breakfast for a tour of Split with Jelena. We walked through the ruins of Diocletian’s Palace from 3 AD. Temple of Jupiter and cathedral of St Dominus. Lots of Ivan Mestrovic sculptures including giant Grgur Ninski with golden toe which you rub to make your wish come true. Shopped at the local market and had a beer in a waterfront cafe.
Continued on seeing a large canyon at Omis and then lunch at Makarska (pizzas/chicken/brie sandwich with thin soft bread, rainy and cold but would have been pretty in the summer).
Saw the 7 sisters lakes (Bacina) and arrived at Dubrovnik 6pm La Kroma hotel smallish room and not much choice for food (150K buffet/bar food). Watched Blades of Glory then to bed.
Tuesday April 17
We headed for our tour of the walled city at 8.30 in driving rain which luckily held off shortly after we entered the Pile Gate. Our guide Mateja gave a very informative tour of the main street Stradun, the old harbour, St Laurence Fortress, Franciscan Monastery and Sponza Palace. We had lunch at a tiny pizzeria (seafood pizza/lasagne/beer 250K/$50). Then the rains really came down hard again so we took the local bus home (10K/$2) and went swimming. Ordered room service for supper (225K$45) bath then bed.
Wednesday April 18
Woke up to beautiful blue skies and after a leisurely breakfast and, joined by Nancy, we took the bus back to the city to walk the walls. It took us about 1.30 mins to walk the 1940 m and it was not too busy so we got many great photo moments. We lunched at Pizzeria 5 and Pupa Seafood (340K/$70) then had a lazy afternoon including swimming.
Thursday April 19
Full travel day. Departed 8am with and crossed the border into Bosnia again stopped for coffee. We had lunch in Sibenik overlooking the picturesque town of Zaton on the Krke river. We arrived in Zagreb at 6pm which was very urban and covered in graffiti on the outskirts but the old town was more really nice. After checking in to the Westin hotel we walked into town and found a wonderful local fish restaurant called Ribice I tri Trokice (Tuna/Sea bass, wine 260K$50).
Friday April 20
Began our tour at 8.30am with a drive around the city and then a guided walking tour with another Jelena included the Jelacic square, St Mark’s Church with coloured tile roof and the ornate Church of the Assumption. We had lunch in a cute little street pub the headed for Slovenia. After a reminder from Kristijan I discovered I had left the passports in the hotel safe but luckily we were still in the city so Kristijan efficiently recovered them from the hotel and we were on our way. Once we crossed into Slovenia the views were stunning with countryside, Julian Alps and churches including town of Smarna Gora perched high on a hill on our way to beautiful Bled. We had supper in an awesome restaurant beside the lake (Ostaria Peglezn, pork, squid, pasta, beer 48 Euro/$72). Went swimming and hot tubbing with stunning night views of the castle.
Saturday April 21
Morning tour of Ljubljana, about 50 minutes away including the Cathedral of St Nicolas, Cobbler’s Bridge, with beautiful frescos and magnificently designed bronze doors depicting the 6 bishops of Llubljana. Had a great lunch at Sokol, a traditional restaurant with rustic ambiance (mushroom soup in bread bowl/salad, in house brewed beer (27 Euro/$40). Checked out the local markets and had gelato before meeting the bus to go to Bled Castle. The views from the castle were spectacular afterwards Jordan and Homer spent time at the pool while I walked the 6 km path around the lake catching beautiful photos when a rainbow came out. We finished off the last evening with a buffet dinner with the group.
Sunday April 22
Traveled 3.5 hrs to Venice. Our hotel at BW Bologna Venice Mestre was located in a busy part of town across from the train station and our room was very spacious with separate bedroom area. The trains were on strike so we were advised to buy a 24 hr pass (18 Euro) that allowed unlimited use of bus and water bus (vaporetto). We took the #2 vaporetto which traveled on the outer canal and arrived at St. Mark’s Square. It was busy but not heaving as we wormed our way through narrow side streets to the Rialto Bridge. The buildings were water beaten and faded but had such charm and were peppered with colourful mask shops and all manner of restaurants.
Monday April 23
We enjoyed a good breakfast then took the bus to the island midmorning revisiting sights and discovering new areas then had a nice lunch before returning to the hotel by train. We packed and went to bed around 7.30pm as had to be ready for airport transfer at 5am.