Sunday 3rd
June 2012 – Monday 11th June 2012
Plitvička Lakes, Croatia; Bled, Slovenia; Lake Como, Italy
Plitvička Lakes gained UNESCO World Heritage Site
listing in ’79. Gee they must have been handing these distinctions out willy-nilly
as UNESCO sites are everywhere. The
Lakes are beautiful - turquoise in colour.
The walks among the waterfalls were peaceful and scenic but it’s not up
to world-heritage standards in our book - nice nonetheless. You can
ramble, walk, ascend scenic points and take the boat on the lake – if you’re
lucky you may even be joined by a local brass band playing as you chug along on
the boat.
The next day it was
on to Slovenia, past the shell-damaged buildings in Croatian towns such as Karlovacka
– forever a reminder of how lucky many of us have been not to experience war
first hand. Croatia as a country seems
to have recovered from these battle scars and will join the EU in 2013. We bade farewell to the world of the kuna currency
and re-entered euro-world. Slovenia is a country that was once Roman amongst other things and
then was under Hapsburg rule 500 years ago, for a short time it then had French
rule and it then became a part of Yugoslavia in 1918. It has been independent since 1991 and joined
the EU in 2004 and seems like “little Austria” with its graceful architecture,
rich buildings and Alpine mountains.
It all seemed like a bit of a surprise to all
of us as to how wealthy it appeared. We
crossed into Slovenia, now with 6 in the car and much luggage squeezed around
the back seats, so we were glad to make our first stop at Ljubljana (thank
goodness for spell check) for an ab fab lunch….and what better place to dine in
this old part of town than in the restaurants that flank the river Llubljanica. The old town is picturesque; the
bronze doors startled us as we walked past, with the carved faces nodding out
to us. A walk up to the Castle perched
above the town shows great views…or so the lycra-girls, Ali and Lark, told us!
The team of six then piled back into the car,
legs wrapped around luggage as we head for Bled. Bled has a world-renowned
rowing course (probably world heritage!). So staying near the lake is highly
recommended – take a walk around the lake and the boat trip to the island to
see the beautiful Church of the Assumption…and make a wish as you ring the old
bell….it’s all a photographer’s delight.
Bled Castle is atop the hill and from its ramparts the views are
spectacular. You can see the Alps, the lake,
the Church on the island and even the bright yellow lane markers of the rowing
course.
We farewelled two of the team at Bled after a
fab couple of days and once again it was just us - the Volvo driver and his
three hot chicks. Ahhh - time to reapply
the lippy Ali!!! Driving close to the
Austrian border we headed for Italy choosing to take the non-coastal route down
past the Dolomite Mountains towards Vicenza and on to Verona. Lunch was in the mountainous village called Lorenzadi
di Cadore…not a special lunch by any means, but cooked by a local and his
mumma….very welcoming and fun to eat with the local workers enjoying their 3
hour lunch break. We went on past towns
with names like Belluno and Bassano del Grappo (the home of grappa) and skirted
Vicenza…..we made a mental note to come back to this area again. Italy is such a special place and there is always
so much to come back to…..one day.
Verona – ah what can we say…the city of love –
or is it really just all soppy fiction?
To see once again the famous Arena where we
once saw Aida. Tonight has a performance…judging
by all the dolled up teenage girls we thought it may be Kylie. But it was no less than “Laura Pausini”. She sounded pretty good when we walked back
after our bite to eat that night (Jim enjoying donkey for entrée and snails for
main) and we’ve since heard she is famous!...hmmm, must be getting old. As usual there were flocks outside Juliet’s
house after hours standing by the locked gates, so we’ve learnt to go after
dinner when it’s really quiet, then go into the souvenir shop next door and
take a piccie of the deserted courtyard when no-one’s there. You get that photo of Juliet and the balcony
with no one on it…the balcony that is!
It’s a delightful old city and is architecturally stunning.
We left the bustling old world of Verona steeped
in its Shakespearian fiction and headed for Lake Como. We took a little deviation to nearby Lake
Garda where the Giro d’Italia riders had recently raced through. The flying
vista we had of the lake was of spectacular boats, marinas and plenty of
hotels. We pressed on along the bustling
motorway with its endless stream of trucks, headed for Laglio. We’d arranged to dine with George at 8pm…and
we couldn’t be late, could we!
Lake Como is a mecca for famous people like us
to come and relax and to “be seen”. We
didn’t let it down. Highlights in the
city of Como were the walks around the marina and lake and seeing the Duomo (14thC)
alongside what was once a Moorish Boletto (Town Hall) c13thC. The cruise along the lake past the beautiful
villas, temples and homes of the rich and famous was fairly amazing. Our destination was Bellagio for a late lunch
at one of the lakeside restaurants on the promenade…as you do!! Well the fact is we settled for a coffee and
sanger up the hill after a bit of a power walk around the place. We took the ferry back across the lake to
Menaggio so we could then board the high speed bus that collected the buildings
on the sweeping corners to drop us off (if you knew when to pull the stop cord
in time) at Laglio right outside our motel…..that’s if you didn’t miss it and
end up at the next place, 2km further on.
As we said farewell to Lake Como we once again immersed
ourselves in the endless traffic on the motorways that skirt Turino and Milano,
headed for St Rémy de Provence. We chose a route we have not done before…through
the Italian French Alps. It was
delightful and scenic to go SE on the less busy route towards Briançon in
France rather than through Aosta and Grenoble. Once again we passed more of the
mountainous forts designed by the famous Louis XlV architect Vauban to protect
France from invasion. Briançon, probably
world-heritage again!!, is the highest town in Europe (1320m) and has its own
fort high above the old part of town. We
enjoyed the stopover and recommend it as an overnight place to stay when
crossing through this part of the Alps. The
old town has ramparts and gates and a cobbled street with shops and
restaurants. In Winter it’s popular for
skiing and so we decided to try out a local restaurant that offers fondue and
raçlette - being cuisine terroir, of
course!!
The next day we pushed on past yet another world-heritage
site – a fort by Vauban, past turquoise lakes popular for water sports
(Savines-Le-Lac) and entered the area of Provence famous for its lavender. The Provence Princess was very upset that the
L’Occitane factory at Manosque was closed, so it was with reluctance we left, sans achets, and headed for the hilltop
villages of Saignon, Bonnieux, and into Sault.
The sun was shining as we sat atop this pretty village with its views
over the Luberon mountains, famous for its grape vines, lavender and dolomite
cliffs. We bade farewell to our B &
B lifestyle as we headed off the next day for our deadline at St Rémy where our caravan awaits us.
