Welcome to our Balkans Trip

 This blog is a record of our trip around the fascinating Balkans - most of it with like minded travelling members of the Camping and Caravanning Club. There are more details to be found in the header pages and, on the web version, in the sidebar menu.

If you're mad enough to want to read in trip order START HERE (next post: select < (phone/cell) or newer post in the web version at the foot of each post

or you could just browse, of course!!

Home: The End

From Bruges, it's an easy drive to the Eurotunnel terminal, a bite to eat and an easy crossing beneath the waves: our much preferred way to cross to and from this island of ours.

Driving up the M20 reminds us of Serbian roads as we bump along. An accident is  causing gridlock at the tunnel so we attempt to stop at Folkstone services......virtually no spaces for caravans...  and they're all full with delivery vans anyway so, with a gnashing of teeth, we carry on to the next services and stop in the caravan slots, almost all being full of vans. The parking spaces are exactly the same width as the van so I have to lever myself out of the car after some deft manoeuvres. Welcome home.

I don't mean to be negative but certainly this part of the UK is absolutely NOT friendly to us caravan users. I blame Jeremy Clarkson. Anyway, after sitting in a jam for another 3.5 miles we're home!

It's been a fascinating adventure, far exceeding our expectations. Wonderful. I'll say why in a brief summary, as usual, with a link from this page - when I get around to it, that is.

In the meantime, after washing, cleaning car and van, putting stuff away etc etc, it's my birthday barbecue weekend! So, it's time to say Goodbye; hope you enjoyed the read.

photo: Alessandra Arnott 

Travel Safely

Geoff & Sue

Breathtaking Bruges: Last Stop of our Adventure

We take around three hours for a steady trip, with a fuel and coffee break, to travel from Maastricht to Bruges, although finding somewhere to stop involves a diversion off the main route as fuel and cafés are like hen's teeth around these parts. The fuel station is all automatic when we find one - incomprehensible instructions that magically turn into English once the credit card is inserted.

The campsite is great... it's fully automated as well; I punch in the reservation number we got off the interweb a couple of days ago and get an allocated pitch and entry card zooming out of the machine. We also get 1 hour internet tokens on demand from another dispenser. Pitch is tightish but perfect for a city visit. I can even get RTL television on the satellite receiver to record the British Grand Prix tomorrow. Oh Bliss!

We take a bus into the city (bus drivers are incredibly helpful around these parts) and walk into the Market Square....
...I defy anyone not to be moved by the magnificence of the architecture: another wow moment... and there have been a lot of those on this trip.

We take it all in as we walk the busy,  busy streets before sampling a magic 'Chocolate Cappuccino' (it's Bruge) overlooking the river. Then we visit the Basilica and a working flour mill just off the street. Just look at the water powered mill.

We'll bus in again tomorrow for a last fling on the adventure. We'll probably take lunch out... moules frites is anything from 22 - 30 Euros though....

..... it's tomorrow now 🤔 and we DO go for the moules frites which go down really well with a glass of sauvignon blanc....well, it's our last day and there is a kilo each...

We also take a boat trip around the canals which is well worth doing indeed, giving a different perspective on the history of the city.

As we wander through the streets we are given a flyer by some girls from the Stephen Perse Foundation schools in Cambridge who are performing a short concert in the Cathedral and we duly attend before we head back to camp... but we are so, so glad that we did this. The quality is extremely high as they perform works from Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach and more. The Ave Maria by Caccini leaves leaves us all verging on tears. A really nice end to our Bruge visit.

We will be back; there is more to see and the campsite is a great stopover, too.

Home tomorrow via Eurotunnel, all being well

Homeward Bound

Sadly, very sadly, we say goodbye to the Balkan countries as we turn around and head out of Slovenia; it's been a revelation... but more of that later.

Unable to get our minds completely into homeward trek mode, we drive for a couple of hours into Austria and stop for two nights at a lakeside campsite near Millstatt on the Millstätter See. Very nice, too...Sue swims in the (warm) lake and we explore Millstatt before we plan the route and likely stops on the way back home. We plan to head through Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France to the UK.

Interesting fact: Millstatt got its name from Emperor Domition who, as an early Christian convert, tossed 1000 heathen statues (Mille Statuae... got it?) into the lake. 
Here he is, looking a bit manic to be honest...

So it's heads down as we as we head for our appointment with Eurotunnel on the afternoon of July 17 ABW.... so it will all be a bit brief from now on - but you never know what we might find on the way....

.........
11/ 07
Near a lake in Germany

....
12/07
Near river Lahn, Diez, Germany in a thunderstorm.
.....

13/07 Rolling along - well, taking a break anyway.



.....
13/07 for two nights.
Valkenburg, Netherlands, near Maastricht; it seems so long since we stopped here on the way down....

Drinks in the square in Valkenburg again then Maastricht by train for day two.

Bikes In Maastricht

Heading for the centre across the river

Nice place indeed: full of history, both ancient and modern

Maastricht from the 'Red Church' tower

We have a good meal here before heading back to the van. Off to Bruges (Brugge) for two nights before the tunnel. That probably deserves a post all by itself don't you think?

Do you want to read this?....

Maastricht has become the symbol of the key EU agreement which cemented the workings of the EU and, at the same time,  initiated the internal strife (war?) within the Conservative Party that destroyed John Major's government as the party divided along pro EU and Eurosceptic lines, thus opening the door for New Labour under Tony Blair. 
(Recommended: 'A Kind of Blue' by Ken Clarke)

Still going on today, except that Labour is no longer pro EU, is it? 

Who represents the 48% who wanted to remain? Tell me that, Mutley...