New Parents, a Small Baby and a Van - Wieners & Nature's Finest

Sturm = yum.

Vienna (A.K.A Wien), Austria (from Krakow via Auschwitz Memorial) - 454 kms

Total Mileage - 3013.6 kms

New Mileage - 243,400.8 kms

Jimmi

As we left the Auschwitz Memorial with heavy hearts, we decided it was time to pick up the pace and point the van south away from the looming winter.  Ultimately heading for Croatia as our next major country, choices to stop on the way were either Bratislava or Vienna.  Not knowing much about either we finally decided on Vienna as friends of ours had lived there for a short time and had met some great people there.

Vienna is a pristine 1st world city, and although the tourist parts of Krakow in the old city have been beautifully preserved or fully restored when you venture away from the tourist hub the urban city was quite grimey, as is much of Poland.   Although at no point did we feel unsafe there, and I personally really loved the vibe of the locals’ Krakow.

Our friends told us to head to the Irish pub (of course!) in town to meet their mate the pub landlord.  Chris was such a funny and warm kind hearted man originally from Poland, who immediately invited us to stay with him having never met us - the new parents, small baby and a van.  We’re quite the package!  

We also met an incredible couple from Serbia that we chatted away to over a few beers.  The guy had just passed his masters degree, and explained that it was quite a struggle socially being autistic.  Despite his struggle, he achieved a feat many never do, and with Jade’s 11 year old sister being autistic it really resonated and gave hope of what the future could hold her.

As he looked at Séamus, the thing he said that will stick with us, was that despite his social inhibitions he could always comfortably look into a child’s eyes, as they are “pure, full of wonder and are incapable of judgment.”  This really is one of the greatest things about our trip - within the space of an hour, we met 3 of the most incredible people in a city we know nothing about.  Séamus is such an easy conversation starter, we are constantly being stopped in the street as people catch a glimpse of him and have a slightly awkward exchange in a foreign tongues.  Of course these proud parents oblige without hesitation!

Top - Michaelerplatz and Albertina Art Museum

Sightseeing around Vienna is quite spectacular.  However, I personally found the architecture and monuments ostentatious, like Vienna was trying to really prove itself as a leading European city.  The weird angel/cupid like features as part of the Mozart monument for example I found really strange, as well as the golden Strauss, himself a Wiener (what you call someone from Vienna - hilarious) surrounded by naked men and woman. Having said that much of Vienna was bombed during WWII so potentially lost its historic charm after it was rebuilt.  

The Wiener Strauss, the most photographed thing in Vienna, probably due to the nakedness

Mozart with his cupids - Austrian but not a Wiener

Being foodies, we loved the Naschmarkt food market, evidently been there since the 16th century .  So many things to taste, so little time!  Our taste buds were doing back flips as we passed by the endless stalls and shops.  We also sampled the young wine known as Sturm (pic at top of the blog), which was sweet yet refreshing with a light fizz on the tongue.  It was an interesting taste though, and evidently is only available during ‘Sturmzeit’ for a few weeks a year in September into October as it can’t be stored - corking the bottles may cause explosions due to the rapid fermentation process.  A.K.A a Sturm bomb!

Vienna is an expensive city, so we personally think is perfect as a city break destination for 3 or 4 nights.  I’d like to go back and do it this way as I don’t think we were really able to fully appreciate it as we know people that love it.  We didn’t visit the Museum Quarter, or the Schönbrunn Palace, see any art or take in a show at the opera house.  This trip though we quite often visit places just to soak in the vibe with our limited time - and I guess it is often is simple as we feel it, or we don’t.  

Our pitch in Duga Resa

Duga Resa, ‘Continental’ Croatia - 418 kms

Total Mileage - 3431.6 kms

New Mileage - 243,818.8 kms

We left Vienna and drove through the south of Austria, and the sat nav directed us through Slovenia and onto the greener waters of Croatia.

Driving tip:

Check your sat nav route on a map, as they often will direct you unnecessarily through a country (as it may be even just a few minutes quicker) that you will have to buy a vignette sticker for tolls.  We had to pay for Austria obviously, but then we also had to pay for Slovenia - we drove through it in fraction of an hour and had to pay (e)15 for the privilege and didn’t see anything but motorway!

As per usual on this trip, we didn’t know anything about Croatia other than the incredible Dalmatian coastline all the way down to Dubrovnik, but had heard that much of the landscape is beautiful.  We were pleasantly surprised about how stunning it was - even the view from the motorway services we stopped at was spectacular.  The Watford Gap services it was not.  

Looking at the map the obvious places to visit en route were Zagreb (the capital) to Zadar.  We didn’t read anything particularly inspiring about either of these places though and decided to head to the supposed winner of the best campsite in continental Croatia called Campsite Slapic, situated by the beautiful Mreznica River in the town of Duga Resa - essentially in the middle of nowhere. We pitched right by the river near an incredible little waterfall with an old wooden mill and decided to set up camp for a couple of days, chill and figure out our next destination.  We read amazing things about Croatia’s national parks, and found one listed as a  UNESCO World Heritage site on the way toward Split called Plitvice National Park, apparently the biggest.  In no way were we disappointed.  

Lunch

Plitvice National Park, ‘Continental’ Croatia - 77 kms

Total Mileage - 3508.6 kms

New Mileage - 243,895.8 kms

Some great hair

We arrived at our chosen campsite Campsite Korana which was at a truly spectacular location overlooking the park and it’s surrounding mountainous areas.  There are other campsites around the park which offer more activities but just a place to simply camp with a view was all we needed.  Just as we drove into Croatia, we realised we were coming into end of season, as we had our pick with the ideal location to make the most of the view outside our van windows.  

Sunrise from our bed

What's that over there?

The next morning we took the free shuttle to the park on the heavily oversubscribed bus.  The park isn’t free, but it does include a boat ride and shuttle as you make your way up the various layers of the park following the source of the waterfalls to its peak.  There are several different trails depending on ability and motivation but essentially you are looking at it taking a full day to get round it after you stop for breaks, lunch, etc.

As you walk through the ticket gates, the first sight you see is one of the most spectacular of the entire day.  Interesting they start with the money shot we thought - although I have heard that they also do that in porn films!

The money shot

Ok there were a few money shots

Not quite Iguazu Falls but beautiful all the same

As you follow the paths through the park reaching the various summits and water levels you are presented with yet more beautiful natural water features one after the other, of streams, waterfalls and lakes, each with the park's unique aqua marine/sapphire water colouring and clear as crystal.  You could see schools of fish swimming up to a few feet deep among the ducks meandering through the glass-like waters.

#nofilter

According to the park brochure, you could also see:

• Orchids
• Wild Bears
• Several types of bats

We managed to see exactly none of these but we assured that they exist!

We’d highly recommend visiting Plitvice National Park if you go to Croatia, and for us definitely became one of the most beautiful countries we’ve visited in Europe.  Croatia is not just about the coastline, the scenery throughout the entire country is all spectacular!  A quick shout out to our wonderful Facebook friends determined our next route - the Dalmatian coastline from Split to Dubrovnik which will feature in our next blog. Stay tuned!