DAYS 43 - 61
The Balkans
Having done Greece it is time to start heading north. A bit of a shame as that is the direction of home, but I suppose we have to head home one day and we will be arriving back in the UK in late June in time for the lovely English summer, so it's not all bad. Oh - and it will be nice to see our family and friends again. Hopefully you will have missed us after almost three months!
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And a reminder for all those of you sensible enough to have taken the precaution of reading this diary. Providing you can answer three simple questions to prove you have read it then you are totally excused from any further anecdotes, pictures, boring reminiscences - you get off scot free!!! See, told you it was worth keeping up to date.
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Anyway, the plan is ............
ALBANIAN - To start at the Albanian border and enjoy a wrangle with the guards, then head north along the coast. Probably Sarande, Flores, somewhere else nice (which ended up being Skhoder), and then over the border into ................
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MONTENEGRO - There we will head for the trendy resort of Tivat. Depending on it's trendiness or otherwise we will stay a day or two (we actually stayed three days in Perast, much nicer), before moving on to ..........
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CROATIA - The plan there is to stop off in Dubrovnik (we didn't) and then drive on north to Split (we didn't) , then car ferry over to Hvar for a weeks holiday for Sara. Then we move on to ..........
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SLOVENIA - Where we are going to visit Lake Bled before leaving the Balkans for ..................
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THE ALPS.
SPEAK FOREIGN MADE EASY
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Here you will see the simple process Sara and I employ to speak fluent Foreign.
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We write out cue cards that we practice in the car, time and time again, mile on mile, until we have got them down pat.
Then when we come to have use the actual phrases - I get the card out of my wallet and read directly from it.
Neither of us can remember a single word for longer than 10 seconds. It literally takes us days to get a handle on even these few phrases. Is it age? Is it the drink? Is it the heat?
No - it's classic 'early onset stupidity'. A simple case of us being English and congenitally incapable of learning foreign. But boy, do were persevere, to the point of embarrassment with Johnny Foreigner trying to make us understand (in English) that he speaks perfect English.
ALBANIAN ROUTE
About 10 hours behind the wheel.
START - IGOUMENITSA GREECE
A. SARANDE - A resort
B. GIROKASTER
C. VLORE
D. SHENGJIN - Margate
E. SKHODER
MONTENEGRO ROUTE
About 8 hours behind the wheel.
START - SKHODER ALBANIA
A. BUDVA
B. PERAST - TIVAT - KOTOR
C. MALI STON CROTIA
D. WEIRD BORDER AT NEUM BOSNIA
D - Bosnia borders
CROATIA & SLOVENIA ROUTE
About 15 hours behind the wheel again, poor wheel, poor car. Poor driver - loved it really. Ace roads, no traffic, good drivers, beautiful scenery, roof down, sounds on, what more could a man ask?
START - DUBROVNIK (but we stayed in Mali Ston, just a bit south of A)
A. DREVNIK -ferry port to HVAR
B. HVAR TOWN - 10 day stay
C. SPLIT - en route north
D. ZADAR AREA - two day stay.
END - LAKE BLED in Slovenia, two day stay.