Croatia here we come
Saturday 30th September
Today we are heading out of Italy, into Slovenia for the relatively short stretch before entering Croatia. Before that though, time to stock up on a few provisions in the local Lidl and then on our way again.
We had not been to either Slovenia or Croatia before so this next leg of our journey was going to be uncharted territory. Crossing into Slovenia was uneventful and almost un-noticed but the drive through Slovenia to Croatia was beautiful, a very pretty, picturesque route with tree lined roads and lovely well-kept villages.
Spotting that the fuel prices in Slovenia were considerably cheaper than Italy (and not knowing what they would be like in Croatia) we took the opportunity to fill up. We also grabbed a couple of coffees from the service station machine, but I only hope the fuel is better than the coffee.
Similar to Italy, we found that the speed limits and road markings were not treated with much regard and again, like Italy there seemed to be quite long stretches of road with relatively slow speed limits. I know they say ‘when in Rome’ but I do like to respect the laws of other countries when visiting, it seems right and courteous.
As we approached the border with Croatia there was a customs and passport check and by this point there was quite a tail of traffic behind us. Our understanding was that Croatia has applied to join the Schengen area but in the meantime, has to maintain border checks. Most people were having their documents checked and there was quite a queue building, however as we approached the control point we were just waved through. I think the traffic behind had had more thorough checks because it was a long time before we again had traffic on our tail.
Our first stop in Croatia was going to be Krk town on the island of Krk. There is a toll bridge over to Krk but you only pay one-way – it is free to leave! The bridge provides spectacular views as does the car park at the end of the bridge where many stop for the view.
The drive down to Krk town was straight-forward and our destination of Camping Bor was well signed and easily found. We had read mixed reviews of Camping Bor but we found everything just fine. We had read some reports that the owners were not that friendly but we didn’t find that at all. OK, so their English is limited but it’s a darn sight better than our Croatian, and we gather that some Croatians are reserved by nature. This is a family run site and all of the family seem to speak good German, which is hardly surprising as just about everyone staying on the site were German. We saw one other couple from the UK, and the odd one from the Netherlands.
After we had checked in we were driven around the site in the golf buggy and shown all of the facilities and a variety of pitches of which we could take our pick. We happened to choose one without a water and drainage point but it was a lovely spot with a great view and so we were happy.
Our pitch, in fact the whole site is dotted with olive trees and is perched on an elevated position above the town of Krk which makes for a very pleasant setting. The owners, beside running the campsite also produce olive oil, together with wine, and flavoured brandy. We had been given a voucher for a free glass of wine when we checked-in so we would get to sample their wine very soon.
We set ourselves up on our pitch and then wandered down to the town with the dogs for a look around. There was a bit of a market going on but nothing like the one we had seen in Iseo a couple days earlier.
Krk town is an historic settlement which is centered on an old walled town that has now been engulfed with present day development of houses and apartments. There is a large harbour which accommodates a mix of pleasure craft, local fishing craft, and a few larger and more commercial fishing vessels. This is a tourist town there is no mistake, but it also seemed very nice and we would explore more of it in the next couple of days.
