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Apr 27

Almost like an after thought, I added the quote below to the Apr 25 post.

We arose early and took the 7:00 bus along the coastal highway. Eight and one half hours to travel 400 km (250 mi for USA readers) sounds like a long and boring way to get from Split to Rijeka Croatia. It was just the opposite. The road hangs on the cliffs above the Adriatic for about 85% of the distance, winding its way North with the Adriatic Sea and the coastal islands constantly in view and small villages tucked into every cove. Every cove is a docking place for boats and yachts of various sizes and configurations. Sail boats, speed boats, ferries, row boats, fishing vessels, cargo vessels, ocean worthy yachts, just to hit the various categories. This is like Highway 1 along the western coast of NA except that the Adriatic is like a lake because the island protect the coastline. This is a route that makes a cyclist drool. There were roadies and MTB bikes on the road here and there and the season is not really started. Got to come back and do that.

The coach was nothing special but the drivers were very skilled and took a 5 to 15 minute break every hour or 2. Carol almost cried when the trip ended in Rijeka. Three trips back and forth between the bus station and train station, about 500 m one way, led us to our next decision. We were a bit disappointed that only 1 train and no buses lead to Ljubljana per day plus there were no alternatives for other destination.

With the knowledge we had gain working up the coast by bus in about 3 days would be a nice alternative to staying in one place. The train was scheduled to leave at 20:45 and arrive at about 11:30, but it made connection with one from Ljubljana - Salzburg Austria - Munchen. We chose to go to Salzburg as it would give us a safe place to sleep and be about a 4 1/2 hour trip back to the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana. Or 2 hour to Munchen.

That seemed pretty smart at the time we made the decision, and it wasn't too bad, but when we got off the train a Salzburg it was cold and dark. However there were 3 young travelers freezing their behinds off in the station and one had a reservation at the YoJo hostel. They decided to go there at 6:00 and see if they could check in. They invited us to come along and we needed to walk to warm up anyway. We made a reservation for the night; check in at 11:00.

They had internet so we paid our fee and did some work. There was breakfast at 8:00. It was great. We still had 2 hours before we could get in a room, our new travel friends were comepletely shelled and could not even begin to think clearly, so we decided to go to the train station and check the local schedules. This was Austria and like Switzerland and Germany the local trains are the best transportation alternative and go most everywhere. We had just missed the 9:42 to Bergesgarten, but there was another in an hour, in fact there was one coming and going about every hour. Back to the hostel (600 m walk) and charm the receptionist into an early check in. That was good and at 10:42 we left for Bergesgarten.

The Alps are spectacular in Austria too. The snow covered mountains were all around us. There were bicyclists in profusion. Everywhere we looked there were bicyclists of every type, age and motivation all along the route from Salzburg to Bergesgarten. We spent a leasurely day hiking a circular path around the village and ended the afternoon with a beer and pizza at a local place.

It had been 34 hours since we left Split on Saturday morning and although we weren't wrecked we were looking forward to getting back to the YoJo and get a nap and a shower.

It was better. I think we can still do this. I had to laugh at the young women in awe of Gramma Carol with her back pack walking quickly down the street.

btw, we never made it to Istria and I think were will have to rent bicycles tomorrow if this wonderful weather continues.