Uff, that´s really pretty windy here in Croatia… I just want to say THANKS to everyone I met on the road so far! You really made my trip very special!
I`m sorry that I did not write about my time in Croatia so far. But actually, I didn`t want to spend my time writing the blog… Instead we had a really good time with my mates from the hostel visiting the city and drinking some beer. But lets start in Istria…
Right on the first day after my stay at Rovinj, I had a really good ride. Coincidentially I passed Rasa, the town Florian was telling about at University. If I would have wanted to visit it, I would never have ended up there… I was quite surprized! Then, after the steep uphill section after the small, architecturally interesting town I wanted to look for a place to set up my tent. At the end of a very small and a little unsafe looking road, I asked an elderly woman if I could camp in her garden – and was immediately invited into her house. Wow! MERCI BEAUCOUP MADAME GOJTANIC, merci pour tout!
On the next day, I cycled along the beautyful coastline towards rijeka – passed the rich lovran and opatjia, finally also rijeka, and slept on a soccer field in a small town in the hills. You know, soccer fields are perfect campgrounds – flat and covered with grass!
BURA.
Bura means a very typical strong wind in Croatia. I heard about it several times while riding in Istria. Its a cold wind, coming from north, from the mountains. Well – until Crikvenica it was windy all day long, but not that strong as everyone told me. So I was quite naive and thought thats it, the bura… Okay, now I know better!
But I have to start different. In the morning, right at the time I was having my 10 o`clock break in Kraljevica, a guy asked me if he should drive me all the way to Novi Vinodolski, cause it`s obviously easier to go there by car than by bike. That would have been around 20km I guess. But, well it was early in the morning, nice blue sky, a little wind as usual, and I really wanted to ride that good straight road on the nice coast… We left, both separately their own way. After lunch in Crikvenica, I quickly passed this Novi Vinodolski. Uff! Okay, THAT`S bura. The wind was so strong, that it was quite impossible to ride the bike. The usual wind level was high – but the gusts were crazy! I was struggeling, rode about five meters until the next gust arrived, stopped, put my feet on the ground and covered my head or held the bike. Just to wait until I could ride the next couple of meters… Actually it was dangerous, cause the wind could have also blown me onto the lane or into the guard rail. Okay, so I was fighting meter after meter, as suddenly a transporter-car passed and stopped right in front of me in the middle of the street. It was the same guy, I met in the morning! Without any discussion, we packed the bicycle into his van, and he drove me to Senj. Wow!!!
Senj is said to be the center of bura. The strongest winds are here. Well – i think this might be true… My helper Zeljko drove me to Senj, helped me to get some food and water for the next day, and finally drove me to his friend Pavle in Sveti Jurai – where I could stay one night in one of his appartements. THANK YOU TWO GUYS SOOO MUCH!!
The next day the weather changed. No more bura, good for me. Instead the wind from south brought warmer weather – and thunderstorms. Everyday there was rain, every night a thunderstorm. Even in the afternoons, I had several coffees while waiting the hail to stop…
In Split, I could stay at Tomislavs place – a laid-back guy I contacted via warmshowers.org – THANKS! I cycled on, a little slower than the days before, saw the old pirates-town omis and went through the hills to the cetina canyon. A very nice road, quite high. Winnetou was also filmed there, a postman told me… At that time, I estimated the snow level to about 750 meters above sealevel.
Although the wind should have changed his direction – i felt like all the time. Wind directly in my face. Tja… The landscape changed all the time while riding the Adriatic Road, from meager and stony to quite green and cliffy. It`s nice to see all those little changes everyday. The weather got a little better, and one day I had only fog, but no rain. Hooray! Around Ploce, I got a lot of oranges, mandarins and lemons from very kind people where I was camping. Thanks a lot – although it was too cold for me to eat them at that time. I carried the quite a long distance with me, shared them with the people at the hostel in Dubrovnik, and ate the last three lemons now in Montenegro.
On Saturday the 7th of February I reached Dubrovnik. That`s a very unique and special city in Croatia, and I stayed there for three nights. On the first day, after having a shower and washing my clothes, I met Luca in the evening. Luca contacted me, cause he heard about me on the road. He`s also cycling to the East… Have a look here http://velorosio.tumblr.com/ Cool guy!!
When I came back to the hostel, I met Angela in my room. Unbelievable, to meet two other crazy cyclists at the same evening, right?! Angela is cycling from Bavaria, Germany, to Rio de Janeiro in Brasil. Cool and crazy girl, have a look at her website www.holario.de
With all of the guest of the hostel – in total we were three people; Sam from New Zealand, Angela and me – we went visiting the old town, drinking coffee, eating burgers, drinking beer, eating pizza, etc. etc. We just had a great time!! After two nights, Angela and I wanted to leave – but the bura was blowing again and we couldn`t cycle. So we stayed one day longer than expected. My first longer break since my start – and finally I could attach my figurehead onto my front rack! Thanks Carla, now I`m riding with my little pony in the front…
