I must
be getting used to these early mornings because I was awake at 5.25
am so I looked out of the window and took a photo of the dawn sky
over Mostar.
We
were both awake, bags out, breakfasted and ready to go by 8.00am. We
drove out of Mostar, with yet another reminder of the 90s war with
building damage.
We
had another drive back along the way we'd come and back through
Customs into Croatia. Not such a long wait this time, only
20minutes. Then we were back on the motorway.
Our
pee stop was one of the most picturesque of the whole tour,
overlooking the river and a lovely old town which dated back to Roman
times.
There
were several food options and plenty of areas to sit and eat.
Unfortunately one of our group walked around the back of the
buildings, still in a public, grassed area, and got too close to the
guard dog. The dog lunged at him and was literally at the end of its'
tether, luckily just his trousers felt the bite, not his flesh, but
he was badly shaken.
Then
we left the motorway and headed into the countryside and the National
Park of Plitvice Lakes.
We
were a little behind schedule and there was a bit of discussion
between Antonia and our driver about when to drop the bags at the
hotel and when to drop the tourists at the Lake. In the end the plan
was to go to the hotel, drop off the hand luggage, take the tourists
to the meeting place with the local guide and then the coach could
return to the hotel and drop off the main bags.
Michael
jumped ship (coach) with the hand baggage and headed off to our room.
A walk around the lakes on steep inclines was not for him.
When
we got to the Lakes and the meeting point, 8 of us decided on the
easy option.
The
full option involved a 6 kms walk which took you through a cave, over
waterfalls, a couple of short boat trips, across more waterfalls, and
then a climb us 240 steps before a steady uphill climb to the hotel.
It
wasn't the 6 kms that put us off, it was the 240 steps at the end,
and as it was a one way trail there would be no turning back.
Ralph
and Hanny were with me and another 5 who joined Antonia on the easy
option (both Ralph and Hanny have had ankle surgery in the last 18
months).
The
easy option was definitely the right choice, we did a little walking
and then got a ride on the local 'train' (a truck pulling a couple of
carriages). We rode to the top of the trail and Antonia very kindly
shouted us a coffee.
I
had been expecting a very dramatic view, over the lake and waterfall
but it did not have the WOW factor (that Lake Bled had).
Then
we rode down again, to the hotel, arriving around 6.00pm.
I joined Michael in the room and started to get ready for dinner which was scheduled for 6.30pm. None of the main group were back so dinner was delayed until 7.00pm
Antonia
had prepared us for a 'much lower standard' hotel (it was chosen for
it's location, not it's furnishings).
It
was something out of the 1970s (or earlier).
There
was a lobby area which had nothing but a huge wardrobe in it, this
lead to a sitting area. This had a large vinyl couch, a small table
and two chairs, a cupboard with bench top and a tv. This lead to the
bedroom, which had a large double bed and a large screen tv. Leading
off the bedroom was a large bathroom with the most amazing shower
unit. I was first to use the shower and was laughing so much that
Michael came in to see exactly what I was doing.
Once
in the shower unit one turned on the water tap – the first position
caused water to flow out of the bottom tap, filling the bath. A
further turn and the water came out of the hand held shower rose.
Another turn and it flowed down through the high level spout ,
waterfall style. A final turn of the tap and the six jets along the
side of the shower sprayed water along your body. An absolute,
amazing delight, the sauce of my hilarity. Once I'd finished and
climbed out of the bath, Michael was keen to have a go.
Freshly
showered we got ready and joined the group to head off for dinner at
a local restaurant.
We
all realised how fortunate we are in Australia with our wide 'No
Smoking' laws. We had had our starter when one local, solo diner,
arrived and sat nearby; the first thing he did was light a cigarette.
Michael asked Antonia to ask the waiter to do something, and he did.
He asked the diner to please not smoke or move to the other side of
the restaurant. The diner stayed where he was but didn't light up
again until he'd paid his bill and was leaving. The restaurant had to
balance between a major company, tour group and one solo, regular
diner. The outcome was a happy medium.
The
meal, sadly was not great and the service was very poor – probably
the surliest, rudest waiters of the whole tour. Why it was that our
group meals were less than average I don't know. The countries we
visited can produce great meals, some of the meals that we had in
local restaurants proved this. Do these restaurants resent group
bookings or feel that as it's pre-booked and probably pre-paid that
they don't have to make an effort?
My
feeling is that you get a better meal, and better service by finding
a small, local restaurant and not going along with the group outing.
The
next day, the last day of our coach trip.
We
were up, bags out by 8.15. We headed down to breakfast to discover
that bags out time was actually 7.15!
This
explained why there was no one else from our group in the dining
room. I went upstairs from the dining room to explain to reception
that we were an hour behind schedule. The girl immediately sent
someone to collect our bags but Antonia was already on the ball, had
realised that there were 2 bags missing, that they were ours and had
personally gone to collect them.
The
departure time was actually 8.30am. We had a hasty breakfast, back to
the room at 8.25 and made the pre departure meeting in the lobby with
a few seconds to spare.
We
had to back track (again) through the National Park to the highway
and head out to Zagreb.
We
had a pee stop at a bar/ cafe. We were first off the coach and
despite calling, knocking on the bar and shouting no one seemed to be
serving coffee. We decided to just use the 'facilities' and then
wander around the garden, eventually someone did appear to serve
drinks to a few patient die-hards.
We
arrived in Zagreb and after a lovely tour around the one way system,
met our guide.
For
the first time on this trip our guide was male!
We
walked through the pedestrian area towards the main square but
stopped to use the FREE toilets on the way.
Free
toilets are courtesy of the town's mayor.
Our
guide took us up a fleet of stairs to the old town.
Only
about 140 stairs, but when we got to the top we stopped for a look
over the town – standing next to the funicular railway station. We
had climbed 140 steps, the funicular took 90 seconds! Everyone, apart
from our guide, thought this ironic.
We
then wandered along the old streets up to the square and St Marks
Church Square.
St Marks Church has an amazing patterned, ceramic roof. It was a public holiday in Zagreb and there were 2 ceremonial guards on the steps of the church.
Everyone had taken their photos and we were about to move on and leave the square when we heard the clatter of horses' hooves. The tour was delayed a few minutes whilst we enjoyed the pomp of the 'changing of the guard'.
St Marks Church has an amazing patterned, ceramic roof. It was a public holiday in Zagreb and there were 2 ceremonial guards on the steps of the church.
Everyone had taken their photos and we were about to move on and leave the square when we heard the clatter of horses' hooves. The tour was delayed a few minutes whilst we enjoyed the pomp of the 'changing of the guard'.
Our guide had to drag us away and we entered the old town, through the old gate, passing the shrine of the city's patroness. We walked through the old town
passing this statue of St George and the Dragon (which in this statue actually looks more like a catfish than a dragon), we had a glimpse of the market, and some lovely shopping streets before heading on to the Cathedral.
Here, our guide had to pause his tour as there was a national dance performance. An amazing, colourful sight. Our guide let us enjoy the spectacle before continuing his tour.
We
had got the hang of these tours now, so as soon as possible headed
off to the nearest suitable restaurant that we'd passed on the tour.
The
first only seemed to serve drinks so we carried on and found a 'pub'
which served a selection of burgers and great beer. We had a beer
each and decided to order a 'small' burger each and share a portion
of chips. We ordered the beers, the waiter returned to take our food
order and it was a few minutes later that we realised that we had
forgotten to order 'small' burgers. When they arrived, they were
indeed large meals but we gave it our best.
We sat on bar stools at the front of the bar, people watching and then we were approached by 2 young beggars. Girls aged around 7 or 8. I'd seen them coming so we were prepared, we told them to go away and their eyes got bigger, with more appeal. We said it again, more firmly and incredibly their eyes got even bigger. The third 'go away'd was not as polite and they did leave.
We sat on bar stools at the front of the bar, people watching and then we were approached by 2 young beggars. Girls aged around 7 or 8. I'd seen them coming so we were prepared, we told them to go away and their eyes got bigger, with more appeal. We said it again, more firmly and incredibly their eyes got even bigger. The third 'go away'd was not as polite and they did leave.
We
had a very leisurely lunch and as we left the restaurant, we bumped
into others from our tour, all of us joined up to head back to the
meeting point. We boarded the coach and drove across town to our
hotel – the Double Tree Hilton. We were delighted, a hotel that
met all of our expectations, no bling, no pretentions, all that you
need in a hotel room. We were all given a freshly baked, still warm
cookie upon check in. Hilton has been in the hotel business for a
long time, time to perfect it, but we are really pleased with this
place.
We
unpacked and I hung Michael's shirt and trousers up in the wardrobe
to reduce the creases. Michael took a couple of Panadol and went to
sleep, as the time approached to get ready and head out to the
Farewell Dinner, Michael decided to sleep on, missing the dinner. I
got dressed and met the others in the lobby. We boarded the coach and
drove over to the restaurant, passing through a lovely leafy suburb
that could have been in any city of the worldl; it reminded me of
some Adelaide suburbs.
Once
again the food at our 'dinner' restaurants was only average and there
was heated discussion over the drinks bill at the end of the evening.
In the end, Antonia just paid the total and we would pay her back in
the morning.
(Antonia
then took one of our tour off to the emergency department as she had
a bad cough which we all thought was turning into bronchitis. )
We
returned to the hotel around 9pm, I packed the bags ready for the
morning and our drive to Budapest where we were to board the boat
for the next part of the tour – The River Cruise.
No comments:
Post a Comment