Hlebec Winery

After the pool and the long walk up home, crashed.
Full meal deal for breakfast. Again Paul met us to program the GPS for the day. Easy flat 50km today. I slipped on the stairs last night at the pool, so wasn't sure how the knee was going to be today. On check out our hostess gave us a bottle of wine (love this country). On our way. Flat and downhill, great day thought the Slovenian country side. Best stop with out question is the ferry to cross the river. They are doing repairs , but still in operation, sparks and all.

Yep, that's the ferry.

Buy a beer, ride across for free. So here's the view as we drink our beer.

We arrived back at Paul's mill, where I waited for a lift, while Jack rode on. A lovely winery for the night. Lots of art work around. Every spring they have artists stay; drink and create. The last harvest for the year is under way.

Dad's 70+, enjoying life

This is the where they make the 'kognac'
The one year old is still a little harsh, but the seven year old is pretty smooth.
(Getting a bottle for you Terry)

View from my room

Great dinner, of course way too much food. But did save room for dessert. Chocolate ice cream, with pumpkin seed oil. Pumpkin seed oil is very big here. 

Kruplivnik - Moravske Toplice

A good night's sleep and we are ready to go. Again we go for the longer cycling option, 50km. The route will start off downhill then mostly flat and then undulating. Starts great and then the we hit the wind. 50/50,  so most of the day is spent riding into the wind. Two hours into the ride we decide that we will stop at the next town, which turns out to be around the corner. A cold beer and then we are back at it. Some of the undulations turn out really to be hills. The GPS once again delivers us to the doorstep of our hotel. A short rest and shower, time for lunch/dinner. Paul had warned us about the large portions, and he was not kidding. I barely put a dent in the plate of pasta. When the owner came by (he didn't speak English) but we explained that it was good, but just too much and we were full. He proudly stuck out and rubbed his belly. We all laughed, and then came the schnapps. This stuff made my toes curl, wow. Decided to walk down to the thermal pools. Paul says 2km away, Google maps tell me 4.5km (trust Google maps). Terme 3000 is a large complex. They have some great waterslides; I was planning in trying the kamakazi. Unfortunately the bigger slides are closed this evening, but the one that is open is awesome. Early night for us.

Dzaboka & Gruska

With the horrors of last night almost forgotten, a lovely breakfast spread and we are on our way.

Paul presented us with two options a 35km or 60+ km route. Since we didn't cycle yesterday we went for the longer route. It would be a lovely route with some rolling hills and a few "kickers".

So about those "kickers" a couple of them did get the better of me. There was a litte cursing going on. Jack was not happy with the 15% grade. They just seemed to go on forever. By 3pm (4.5 hours of cycling) we arrived at our destination. Tonight is an agro-tourism stay. It is harvest time, so very busy, but they made us feel welcome with a glass of homemade wine. They produce about 7,400 litres of wine, mostly white, very little red.

A little rest, a shower to freshen up and it's dinner time. We are the only guests. They bring us a bottle of wine and sparkling water (we don't know till later they drink spritzers). Then dad asks if we want an appertif, of course we want to be polite. Homemade cognac, Jack made an unusual sound as it went down and then gave the thumbs up. This got a laugh from the men! Dinner was soup, salad, meat and potatoes. Very tasty, we were hungry. A plate of sweets for dessert. There was also walnut liquer, and another not sure what it was, both were very nice. We had a visit with our host, Edita, she speaks Slovenian and German but less English. Then the 'big boss' (dad) came in and poured us more wine. 50/50 he says for the spritzer, but really more like 2/3 wine. His tumbler is down in two swallows and back to work. Time for us to retire, we have to get back on the bikes tomorrow.

Rain

So thunderstorms through the night, and a steady downpour this morning. We are not cycling. After breakfast we are given a short lesson in bee keeping. Our host is a bee keeper, hence the honey liqueur yesterday. Paul then drives us to Bad Radkersburg, Austria. Checking into the hotel they say they have a two bedroom apartment, would the be okay. We say sure...

My bed

Jacks's room

We go to the tourist office and pick up the town map and do the walking tour.

Really a quaint town, just not at its best today. After the town tour we  sampled various wines.

Then we went to the thermal pools. As we entered they asked if we wanted the sauna as well, sure we say. Little did we know at the time this was the naked part of the spa. Long story short, we got the hell outta there and back to the kinder pool and the water slide.

Tomorrow we are getting on the bikes!

Simply Cycling Slovenia

A little breakfast to start the day.

Picked up this morning by Paul from Simply Cycling Slovenia. Uneventful border crossing. A couple hours drive and we are at our destination, Banovci.

Arriving at our hotel we were treated to a couple shots of honey liqueur. Then we headed out on the bikes. 300 metres down the road lands us at Mama Mia, our first beer stop.

Actually we we were waiting to meet Paul, he was brining us our GPS. The plan was for a short cycle to try out the bikes. We headed to an old flour mill that Paul is restoring. Built in 1901.

A quick tour and back on the road.

Jack

Our route took us to a little country restaurant for dinner. Had the schnitzel, very good. The not so secret ingredient - butter! We mentioned that Paul sent us, and then appeared cherry and pear liqueurs.
Back on the road heading home. We added value few extra kilometres to our cycle. The GPS wanted to take us back to the restaurant. Not my first time being lost in a foreign country, so I know to trust my instinct. Made it back to the hotel before it got dark, so a success. We then went to the thermal pools next door and had a nice soak. This should be a great week.

Zagreb

Lovely B&B, breakfast was great. Meat and cheese, of course, and a local specialty - strukli. Yummers. Again forgot to take a picture, hopefully will have it again tomorrow. A couple cups of coffee, and I am off to explore the city. Zagreb Tourist Board has an awesome 'Step by step' publication outlining all the tourists stops. And signs around town pointing you in the right direction.
Spent the morning exploring the upper town.

Ban Jelacic Square

Earthquake caused the Cathedral clock to stop at 7:03:03 on November 9, 1880

St George paying respect the dragon he just slayed

Marina Juric Zagorka, first female professional journalist in Croatia.
I love how someone put flowers in the crook of her arm.

Dolac Market, "the belly of Zagreb"

St Mark's Church

The afternoon walked through the lower town. Lots of parks. Eight in an arc making up "Lenuci's Horseshoe". Saw the King Tomislav monument, the main railway station, the art pavilion, Hotel Esplanade, Croatian State Archives and the Croatian National Theatre.

Time for dinner.
Janet, they call them fried potatoes.

Tonight pulled pork sandwich with tomato jam, aioli and creme fraiche.

Jack finally arrived after his delay, thank you Air Canada. Out for a few beers.

Upper Lakes Plitvice Lakes NP

Morning visit to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Benefit to spending the night close to the park is beating the crowds. Still lots of people, but alone on many of the paths.

Leaving the park just as all the day trippers are arriving.
Nice drive to Zageb. Most of it on a slow road, very scenic. Last bit on the express way. A little concerned about navigating the streeets of Zagreb. Returning the car downtown, a few blocks from where I am staying. Ended up not being an issue.

Pleased with the accommodation here in Zagreb. Might be the most comfy bed so far, think I'll take a little nap before I head out.

Took the recommendation from the staff and went to Mundoaka Street Food for dinner. Great place, went for the Black Angus burger. For my foodie friends...

Plitvice Lakes National Park

On the move this morning. 30 minute walk to pick up my rental car (scoped it out on Saturday so I knew exactly where to go when lugging my bags!). Thanks for the upgrade, Audi A6. GPS took me the scenic, ie. back way, out of Split but wasn't long before I was on my way. A1 is a great highway, posted speed limit most of the way 130 kph. Wind was really blowing in spots, really grateful for the upgrade. Once I left the A1 things slowed down considerably. About 3 hours and I arrived at the park.

Plitvice Lakes was declared a National park in 1949, making it the oldest and largest (294.82 square kilometres) national park in Croatia. It was included in the UNESCO list of World Natural Heritage sites in 1979.
I walked both the upper and lower lakes, but these photos are only of the lower lakes.

And here's why I don't take selfies...