Balkans 2023 - yes it is going to start

We are almost ready for another trip to begin. This is the one that was going to be in late Spring but was postponed, as we couldn't get away in time to avoid the heat of the Summer. We made a promise that instead we would try to visit Greece in the late Summer / Autumn and so the idea of a two trip 'season' was born.

As a particular treat we have booked the Hull - Rotterdam ferry, which means we have a lovely 80 mile Sunday afternoon drive to the port, rather than a 5 hour drive to Kent.

The route is roughly the same as the one we took on our return trip from Greece in 2015, which means crossing the Alps in Austria and Slovenia, before taking the coastal route down through Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and into Greece.

We had considered taking a ferry from Italy to Ioannina but the Dalmatian coast is quite a draw, in-spite of us never having driven past Emilia Romagna in eastern Italy.

Of course the Landy has needed plenty of attention and is still refusing to allow sign-off, with an annoying spill rail leak that refuses to be sealed. A snorkel has been fitted and a replacement rear exhaust. The footwells and floor plates have been sound-deadened and the window blinds are getting improvements made by the interior designer / fixer. So we will be ready. Only four more sleeps.