Eastern Europe

We travelled into Eastern Europe not really knowing quite what to expect as we will be travelling in many areas that do not get a lot of tourists. Firstly we will be heading into Slovenia, followed by Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, then back into Austria for a few days to visit Vienna and then into Czech Republic.

SLOVENIA

Well, where do we start? Slovenia is a Beautiful little country. It was part of former Yugoslavia and under communist rule for many years and then in1991, after the fall of communism in the Eastern Block, became its own free state (republic). We loved the country and its beautiful people, and overall really enjoyed our stay here (although it wasn't long enough).

First stop was Lipica (pronounced Lipitza) where the very first Lipizzaner Horse Stud in the world was founded in1580 by an Austrian Archduke. The Lipizzaner horses are used by the world renounced Spanish riding school of Vienna. Mum (who LOVES horses) went to a presentation of their famous white stallions and a tour of the stud.

We stayed the night there and then moved on to the Skojan Caves the next day. My brother Sam and I went on a tour through them. It was absolutely facinating They were made up of an amazing system of underground chambers, rivers and waterfalls including the 'Murmuring Cave.' which is 300m long, 100m high and supposedly the world's largest subterranean canyon. It is also the only underground wetland in the world. At the end we went through the archaeological and historical museum which held many Celtic, Greek and Roman artefacts found in the area.

Skojan Caves

Onward and upward intro the mountains to visit the Predjama Castle built in the 1500's and constructed in a cave system on a mountainside. The Castle was Amazing and the scenery beautiful. We stayed the night at the Castle and met a lovely couple from Sweden who have asked me to come and stay when I go there later in the year.

Predjama Castle

We continued on and travelled to the magnificent mountain lakes of Bled and Bohinj. Forests surround the lakes and they are now being promoted as top tourist destinations for Slovenia. We didn't stop but found instead a stunning river in the forest where we spent much of the day. The water was truly amazing, emerald green in colour and so clear that you could see the fish swimming and every rock on the bottom. I have never seen water that green before and were wondering if minerals in the soil could cause this astounding colour.

Leaving the mountains, we headed east through grazing land for the town of Ptuj which is the oldest town in Slovenia. A castle overlooks this charming town and we were able to have a good walk around even though it was raining on that day.

Slovenia is busy building new road systems and are preparing themselves for an increase in the tourist trade. However at this stage much of Slovenia is unspoilt with 47% of the country being national parkland. The Slovenians were some of the friendliest people we met and we are very pleased to have been able to visit such a beautiful country.

CROATIA

We travelled from Slovenia through the north of Croatia on our way to Hungary. The western coast (Dalmatia) of Croatia is supposed to be lovely and is regarded now as one of the hot new holiday destinations but we were travelling through the north where there are few tourists which although very interesting, we decided not to stay.

Croatia is very poor, well at least in the region we were in. Many buildings show evidence of the war, many were falling down and there were slum areas through the countryside. Few people spoke any English at all and the police at the border each had two guns, one in a holster plus one in their hands and were quite abrupt, looking in the motor home etc. Even the officials at the tollways were very surly so we decided that this region was not for us and headed across the border into Hungary.

HUNGARY

Our next stop after leaving Croatia was Hungary. We really enjoyed our visit to Hungary and found both the scenery and the people delightful. We drove from the west of Hungary towards Budapest, stopping off at the beautiful lake, Balaton where we 'splurged' and had lunch at a lovely restaurant looking down on the lake. This restaurant was established 130 years ago and the food was fantastic. We have all decided that we love Hungarian food.
Hungry In Hungary

We met a very interesting German chap, (in his fifties) while we were there who has a holiday home on the Lake and is moving there permanently in a few years. He said that many Germans are moving to Hungary as the land is cheap and the lifestyle more relaxed.

Many Hungarians are still very poor and yet there is certainly a sense of pride in their homeland. The crime rate is low compared to many other European countries and we felt very safe at all times.

The countryside is lovely with many areas reminding us of the country around nothr. Crop after crop of sunflowers border the roadsides and you once again get the feeling as you pass small villages that you have gone back in time.

We journeyed on to Hezviz where some unique mineral hot spring baths were located but we were not able to try the 'therapeutic waters' as we had arrived too late in the day. Instead drove up to an old castle perched on a mountain top before we made our way to the Slovakian border.

We were thinking about going to Budapest but again time restraints prevented us. We want to spend a few days in both Vienna and Prague before returning through northern Germany to Düsseldorf where we bid farewell to the motorhome and get on a plane for Ireland.

Hungary is a great country and again, if you are planning a trip to Europe try and include both it and Slovenia in your itinerary. Their natural beauty, cultural and historical richness are well worth seeing.

Hungary Pics

SLOVAKIA

The parts of Slovakia that we travelled through were very interesting with some beautiful farming land. Lots of healthy crops cover the countryside reminding us so much of the land over the Great Divide in Australia. However that is where the similarity ended. We did not see many villages but rather towns that were on the whole an absolute eyesore. Block after block of ugly concrete flats, all on top of each other litter the horizon, a legacy of communist rule. We could not believe our eyes when we came across town after town like this. Just awful!!

We visited the capital, Bratislava situated on the Danube River. Its city centre had some beautiful buildings and the old castle that gazes down on the city is quite imposing. However the suburbs once again feature numerous drab concrete bocks of units that seem to be a feature of past town planning in Slovakia.

Left Bratislava and headed north, venturing down a back road into forested mountains which we really enjoyed seeing. Then veered west and made for Austria (once again) in order to visit Vienna. Can't wait as this has always been a city that we wanted to see!!

We did not warm to Slovakia like Slovenia or Hungary but in saying this, we were not able to journey to the east which is apparently very beautiful with the High Tatras mountain range. It was just too far for us to go at this late stage of our trip so maybe our opinion would have been different if we had ventured further a field.

Tomorrow back to Austria and Vienna and then onto Czech Republic.