On Friday morning, April 5, we treated ourselves to breakfast in the campsite restaurant in Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. It was a feast of omelettes, meat, cheese, bread, fruit and yoghurt for only €14 each. We had enough food to provide for lunch over the next two days! Having filled up with water as we knew we wouldn’t be in a campsite for a few days, it was time to move on. Just before we set off we noticed that the engine oil light came on so we checked it and found she needed a bit of a top up. Not bad going as we’d done over 14,000 miles since her last oil change.

We had decided that Zagreb would be our final stop in Croatia before moving onto Slovenia. Whilst Belgrade and Sofia had underwhelmed as capital cities, Zagreb didn’t disappoint. It felt a lively, buzzy place helped, no doubt, by the warm, sunny Spring like weather. Even so, there were large parks, interesting tunnels under the city streets, cathedrals and grand architecture. We had found a parking spot in a central car park that only changed €2.80 per hour and had no height restrictions (P4N#233856). It was a bit tight getting in and eventually we found a spot – our fault for arriving at 13.00 on a Friday! A short walk later and we could take in the sights.

We left a couple of hours later and drove a few miles out of the city to the Mirogoj cemetery. It was built in 1873 and currently has 60,000 graves and 355,000 people buried. The place is full of family plots with some of them having 9 members buried in them. As it’s a municipal site, all denominations are buried there. Fascinating place.

Our border crossing into Slovenia couldn’t have been easier. No waiting at all but of course we were in the EU. We then drove onto Ljubljana, the capital. It should only have taken a couple of hours from Zagreb but roadworks on the Slovenian motorway added at least another 30 minutes. We also stopped at the Adria factory at Novo Mesto so Dora could see where she had been born which meant that it was nearer 19.30 before we got to our park up by the canal and getting dark. It took a few turns around the block for a big enough space to open up but we got there in the end (P4N#464539).

Before we knew it, it was 20.30 and we couldn’t be bothered to cook so we went out to find a restaurant. We found a lovely pizza place called Nasa Hisa in the old town and had a fantastic meal. I think I had one of the best pizzas ever there!

Despite being parked on the road and at a jaunty angle due to the camber, we both slept pretty soundly and were ready to explore this city. We had already got good vibes about Ljubljana the night before and it was confirmed the following day.

It was a gorgeous city with the canal meandering through it with lots of interesting bridges. But what was amazing was that it was litter free and completely pedestrianised. Add in wide boulevards, stunning architecture (courtesy of the architect Plecnik) with cafes and bars lining the canal. We spent the day wandering the streets, visiting the castle, museums and having a boat tour. We went out (again) for dinner at a lovely restaurant called Julija that served traditional Slovenian food. Funnily enough the two ladies sat on the table next to us came from Harpenden too and were away for a long weekend.

You do need to be careful of the bicycles as there are so many of them but I think we may well have fallen in love with the country already!

Miles driven since last post: 174

Total miles driven this trip: 3,309

Tolls: €38 (including 7 day vignette for Slovenia)