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.

Comments

Charlie said…

The Landy is looking ravishing! Have a brilliant trip

8 September 2023 at 20:40

Mark M. said…

Wishing you safe and enjoyable travels.

10 September 2023 at 19:42

The empty map of Macedonia and into Greece

Continuing south towards the Serbia / Macedonia border, the satnav warned of a lack of detail, "do you wish to continue with this route?" However we are not intrepid explorers and Macedonia comes with a few " be careful" warnings, so we decided to stay on the motorway :-) We didn't explore Serbia; it will wait for another trip. So it was on to the border. Here, passport and V5 were required again and also proof of insurance. We didn't have any of course. When we rang the UK insurance company call centres prior to the trip, most had no idea where these countries are. They don't understand non-EU. "Macedonia - can you spell that"? The nice man at the passport office was already expecting me to say that I would buy my insurance at the "Green card office" and he handed back one passport and the V5 and put mine in his pocket until I had the necessary paper for the Landy. Unfortunately in spite of the Land Rover being classed as PL...

Remote mountains and how not to behave in them

Prior to the trip I had read somewhere that there aren’t any mountains in Portugal - at least I thought I read it. My preparations had, as usual, been focused almost totally on getting the Landy ready and Dawn, who had been doing all the other jobs was much better informed. “What? You are kidding aren’t you? Have you even looked at a map?” were some of the words she used when I told her this vital piece of information. As it became clear, there are mountains in Portugal - not massive peaks but high elevations are common and the extent of the ranges is quite large. The most remote and wild are the Serra da Peneda Gerês which rise to 1,440m but there are three others “Seras” in the Parque National da Peneda - Gerês, in which wolves roam free. First stop on they way there was the town of Guimarães, the day after “Portugal Day” and the castle and buildings were in tip-top condition. A Polish guy from Katowice who’s lived here for twenty years was selling bilberry jam in these c...

"I'm the dog"

El Berro and Camping Sierra Espuña are nicely positioned for walking in these 'low' Sierras and of course the obligatory GR XYZ long distance path crosses the village. The campsite people gave us a couple of short walk suggestions, written on A4 and translated by some English guy, Michael Ball. We waited until the end of the afternoon, so that the temperature was somewhat manageable and then picked one of the ~1 hour walks that start at the campsite. The walk is so simple that there's no description, just a small diagram that's well annotated with the type of path (wide main track / footpath), other markers (gate, incorrect route, fence). You can't go wrong, can you? Well the first part was easy. Follow the path out of the village, up a valley, through woodland, up and up. Then reach the ridge and the marked ring of stones. Don't turn right, carry on straight across. Then wander through a few trees and down to a dry riverbed, at which point you walk the (ve...

Peelies travels

Search This Blog