Photos from Bled, Slovenia to Palma, Mallorca

Hello from Mallorca! It has been over a month since we have been able to post photos to the blog. But, alas, we have photos and some time to write a bit. It’s been a while so I will see what I can remember about Slovenia, Italy the Mediterranean and Spain...

Well, we were in Salzburg and trying to figure out how we were going to get to Italy. The weather was good for a few days in Salzburg but then turned to rain so we knew we needed to head south. The ride through the mountains towards Italy would have largely re-traced our route North from Switzerland and we were longing for warmer, dryer weather so we decided to get on a train from Salzburg to Bled, Slovenia. We didn’t know anything about Slovenia other than it was South and likely to have better weather so we got a ticket and went for it. After a couple train changes and some rather flustered Slovenian train conductors who didn’t know what to do with our bikes we arrived in Bled. We had no guide book, map or know where we were going to stay so we just headed toward what we thought was town. Within 10 minutes of leaving the train station we ran into a really nice couple who lived in the area and told us (in perfect English) all about the area and where the best camping likely was. At the campground that they recommended we found yet another friendly Dutch couple and talked with time for half an hour about their travels in Croatia and Slovenia. I love the Dutch. By far the friendliest people in Europe.

After looking at the wonderful map at the campground we decided that we should stay at a different place on the other side of town. This is typical of the helpfulness of the Slovenians, on the area map at one campground, they show where their competitors are located! We stopped by the Tourist Information office on the way to the other campground and the lady there was absolutely the most helpful TI person that we have encountered and they had excellent free literature and maps of the area. What a change from Germany. The campground was perfect, located right on the lake with excellent facilities.



We awoke the next morning to beautiful weather and decided (based on the fantastic TI info) to head to Soteska Gorge near Vintgar. It was beautiful. Some dude like a hundred years ago build this crazy walkway along the length of the gorge.



We walked the entire length of it and then hiked a few more kilometers to an old church above the town of Bled. From here there was a great view of the whole valley except for the lake which is hidden.



From Bled we cycled to Kranj where we stayed with a wonderful family in a really beautiful home.



Bozo took the day off and showed us around the town of Kranj and then led us on a super cycle tour of the surrounding area.



The weather was really nice and we had a great time there. They also arranged for us to stay with their daughter in Ljubljana which was fun. We went out with her and some friends and partied till 5 in the morning. I think we went to every club in Ljubljana and Janja knew every bouncer so we got to the front of the line and in for free at every place. Very tired the next day but who cares after such night!



From Ljubljana we cycled south towards Croatia where we planned to do some island hopping with our bikes eventually arriving at Dubrovnik where we would catch a ferry to Italy. We made it to Postonja and visited the caves there which were very cool. They go for like 200 kilometers and have been transformed into a Disneyland like ride with a train and lots of very cool lighting.



At the hostel in Postonja we checked our email to find that a gentleman we had emailed about crewing on his boat had replied. The Internet is great. We used this website called Float Plan to connect with people from all over the world that need help on their yachts. Of the many people we contacted this guy sounded like the most fun. We had contacted him early in our trip but it wasn’t going to work out since he needed us in a couple days in Greece and we were in Switzerland. So we told him to let us know if he needed help later in his journey. He did! So... we worked out that we should meet him in Southern Italy in one week. From Postonja, Slovenia we had to travel all the way to Southern Italy in a week and still somehow see the "must do" places in Italy. So we got on the next train out of Postonja to Italy and by some wonderful turn of fate it terminated in Venice. So much for Croatia. It looks really nice there though and we decided we must return.

We booked a hotel while on the train using one of the recommendations in Rick’s book and it turned out to be just perfect and very near to the train station which is good since you can not bicycle in Venice. Heather tried to cycle but within 10 meters the police stopped her and made her walk the bike. Even without bikes or traffic Venice is crazy. Rick Steves puts is best when he says that the city is living on the "artificial respirator of tourism." The place is nuts. Everything has to be delivered by boats or by hand. They have garbage boats, DHL boats, UPS boats, ambulance boats, taxi boats and construction boats.





The first floor of most of the old canal-side buildings is flooded or floods regularly and is therefore abandoned. Most of the city is less than 50 cm above sea level and it floods over 100 times each year. They have these walkways setup all over the island so that when it floods the tourists can still get to the major sights. It’s sinking and no amount of money will save it from the rising waters. But, this has been a problem in Venice ever since they built the place so check back in another 2000 years.



It is a wonderful place though and we had endless fun just strolling through the streets with no particular destination and just trying to get lost, which is very hard of course since you are on an island.



So we got on some random ferry of which we had no idea where it went and ended up on some other island near Venice where they blow lots of glass for the Japanese folks. Speaking of Japanese folks, Saint Marks Cathedral and Square are awesome except that they are over run by pigeons. There are these vendors all over the place selling 5 Euro bags of pigeon feed which the Asians think is great fun. You hold the (pigeon birth control laced) feed in your hand and they swarm you until you can’t see the person holding the feed! The funniest actually was when this guy bought some feed for his girlfriend but when he motioned to give her the bag of feed he actually threw it in her hair! I almost pissed myself laughing.



After two days in Venice we caught a train to Florence where we had a place to stay with someone from the Hospitality Club. His place was great and we spent two days just wandering around the city looking at the oldness of it all. We did see David which was impressive but skipped the Uffizi since the line was hours long and the reservations were booked until January. Simply wandering around the old town was a perfect way to spend two days. And Florence has the best gelato too, which you can’t eat in the Uffizi.



The churches in Italy are amazing. St. Marks in Venice is just over the top as far as decorations go. The mosaics that line the ceilings and adorn the exterior are very impressive and the marble must have come from every corner of the empire. The Duomo in Florence is equally impressive but more so because of its size and green, pink and white marble exterior. The inside was rather dull except for the ceiling of the dome which was quite elaborate and colorful.




On Friday night the guy we were staying with, Nicola, had about 10 friends over for dinner and drinks, Italian style. We ate some wonderful food and laughed continuously for hours as we talked about all sorts of things. Mostly just giving each other a hard time about some silly thing or another. We had a blast and were sorry to leave the next morning as I am sure Nicola would have welcomed us for much longer. So continuing our journey south we headed to Sienna where Heather connected with another Hospitality Club member. Leonardo showed us around Sienna for an evening and told us all about the town. It was quite an interesting place with a great old town. I think we could have spent a few days there just exploring narrow alleys and small plazas but we left the next morning for Rome. We didn’t know where we were going until we got to the train station and found out which trains took bicycles so it was kind of difficult to plan things. Only the regional trains take cycles which makes getting from the North of Italy to the South of Italy quite difficult. But with a little luck we managed to get to Rome and find a train that would get us from Rome to the port town of Crotone on time to meet the boat. This meant we would arrive in Rome at 4:00 PM, have the whole next day to sightsee but then would have to catch the 5:45 AM train out of Rome to get to Crotone by 6:00 PM that evening. But when in Rome... you have to see Rome I guess?

On the train to Rome from Sienna the conductor took quite an interest in our adventure and even though he did not speak a word of English we had an engaging conversation with him for the better part of the 3 hour train ride. When he learned that we did not have a place booked to stay he got really worried so we got on the cell phone right away. We tried 5 or 6 places that Rick lists but they were all full, just like the conductor warned. But, Heather’s persistence paid off and we found a place 2 blocks from the train station which worked perfect. They even took care of our bikes which was very nice of them.

Well, Rome is big. Very big. But not so dirty like I have read and while the traffic was crazy it was manageable as a pedestrian. However, there were no cyclists. Or at least none that are still alive. In our usual fashion we spent the first evening there just walking around the city venturing to the Pantheon and then to the Spanish Steps.





At night Italians take to the streets and simply walk. It’s made possible since they have so many pedestrian streets around the city. Every Italian city we have been in feels more alive at 8:00 PM than at noon. Why the hell can’t the US figure out how to make cities more walkable? Look at all the people at the Spanish Steps. Only maybe 10% are tourists, the rest are locals just hanging out.



We went to bed early so we could get up early the next morning and head to the Vatican. We arose at about 5:30 and got to St. Peters before 7:00 when it opens. St. Peters is by far the most grand and awe inspiring building in the Universe. It is friggin´ huge. Just to boast they put marks on the floor of where other church naves would end if placed inside of St. Peters. Not one of them even makes it to the transept of St. Peters and even the biggest one would actually fit completely inside of St. Peters. It’s only made more interesting by the fact that the church sold "forgiveness" to finance the construction which is apparently why we have Protestants today. We saw PJP´s tomb and then hiked to the top of Michael Angelo’s grand dome where we got the best view of Rome possible.



Look how small those people are! Just from the base of the dome it was frighteningly high.



The balustrade "hands" of the church welcoming you in...



We then walked to the Circus Maximus that held 300,000 people.



Then to the Coliseum where we were accosted by American students trying to scam tours and promising to bypass the many hour long line. While there was a line to get tickets that was long, we just walked across the street to another ticket office where there was nobody, bought our tickets and walked straight into the Coliseum. Dumb tourists.



Then we walked over to the old Roman Forum and saw where Julius Caesar lived and ruled from. We saw the senate building too but not the one where Caesar was killed. They were temporarily meeting somewhere else.



Public bathrooms are virtually unknown in Europe with the exception of Switzerland which has them everywhere, Austria and Bavaria. So in Germany you just go anywhere, like the Germans do. But we found that American businesses have great bathrooms, they don’t care if you use them and they are very clean. And what American businesses do you find everywhere in Europe?



After a wonderful Italian dinner we headed back to the hotel to sleep before our 12 hour train ride to Crotone. We got up before 5:00 AM and headed to the nearly deserted train station. After a bit the sun came up in the most beautiful light but from a train it’s hard to capture. The photo is about as blurry as our heads were foggy after getting up so darn early.



Alas, after 12 hours of travel and many train changes we arrived in Crotone at the Southern end of the East coast of Italy. We were met at the train station by Antonio who manages the marina and didn’t want us trying to cycle through Italian traffic. A few hours later Jose showed up and we headed out for a most wonderful dinner in Crotone. The food was amazing. In fact, Heather and I both agree that it is the best food that we have had the entire trip. Just some simple fish antipasti and some pasta but it was really really good. I think it must have been the best restaurant in Crotone.

The next morning we set about taking apart the bicycles to stow them for the trip. Antonio drove us around town and helped us find some bubble-wrap and foam to protect the bikes while on the boat. In a most Italian way, two guys poked fun while I took apart the bikes so we cold stow them. The guy with the sunglasses (talking to Jose) owned a coffee shop at the marina that was open for maybe 3 hours each morning. The guy on the right as far as we can tell doesn’t work at all and just hangs around the marina all day. This is very Italian. Our host and his friends in Florence had warned us not to go to Crotone as it is run by the mob and the police don’t control anything. They thought for sure that we were going to get on a boat, get taken out to the sea, asked for money and then dumped overboard! But, after seeing this guy just hang around the marina and do nothing one begins to wonder if he was just keeping track of things for somebody. In any case, we liked Crotone, and we liked the boat, the food, and our host.



Don’t want a storm to wash the bikes off the deck!



At the helm of our American flagged "Danny Blue".



The trip from Crotone to Messina took about 20 hours and we arrived just as the sun was coming up. We slept most of the fist day and ate another fantastic meal at a local restaurant. It is hard for me to sleep on the boat (we were in the bumpy bow) so after a long trip you need to rest for a few days to get ready for the next journey. So, the second day in Messina Jose rented a car and drove us down the East coast of Sicily to the old town of Taormina where there is a well preserved Greek, and the remodeled by the Romans, amphitheater.



After wandering around town for a while we got back in the car and drove further South to Catania, the "capitol" of Southern Sicily. Catania had a wonderfully crazy outdoor market with some of the best looking and least expensive food I have ever seen in my life. You could get the most beautiful bell peppers by the kilo for $0.50! There were olives, cheese and meat everywhere. If you like good food, this is the place to be. At the outskirts of the market we took a couple photos. Notice the guy getting a shave on the right. The barber just makes the rounds to all of the vendors. Very Italian.



Sailing is hard work. Very demanding.



We had lots of good instrumentation so sailing at night was fairly easy. Just have to watch the radar for big ships and scan the horizon for lights every few minutes. We usually took 4 hour shifts although Jose was up a lot. I don’t know how people do this sailing for like 3 weeks across the Atlantic. I would want a crew of like 6 or something.



Jose is hoping to produce a documentary of sailing the Med so he was constantly grabbing his video camera.



The volcano island of Stromboli. We sailed around the other side of the island at night and watched the volcano erupt several times. It was awesome to see it spew chunks of lava hundreds of meters into the night sky. If only we had a better camera and weren’t on a boat. Sorry, you will have to go see it for yourselves or wait for the documentary. But we do have an evening photo of the island.



From Stromboli we traveled to Ustica Island where we spent a couple of nights before our long journey across to Sardinia. Ustica appears to be supported by tourism and fishing. The fishing boats are just pulled up on the beach which is covered with garbage.



Somewhere between Ustica and Sardinia we hooked into a 6-7 kilo red tuna and Jose and I managed to get it on board without a net. Quite a feat and quite a feast! Jose is an excellent cook and made up some excellent tuna meals. Here is Jose with the fish in the galley.



That night we got into a fairly good storm. It wasn’t quite gale force winds blowing up to 30 knots with 4 meter waves. While I was on watch I got soaked by a rogue wave. Heather and Jose woke up instantly and came running out apparently to see if I was still on deck. It wasn’t a very big wave and it is easy to see how someone could get washed off and never be found on dark stormy night. In any case, Heather and Jose took the helm for the rest of the night and everything worked out great. How can you go wrong when you have fresh tuna for breakfast! We finally arrived at Porto Corallo which is on the edge of nowhere in Sardinia. Jose managed to talk the only person around (a local pizza joint owner) into renting us his wife’s car. It was an Italian piece of shit FIAT Uno but it worked great and we ventured through the mountains to Cagliari. The guide book we had for the island warned of bandits in the mountains that abducted tourists and demanded ransom from family. However, we encountered no bandits as we were well disguised in our piece of shit car.



A happy sailor!



From Porto Corall we sailed around the Southern end of Sardinia to the Western island of San Pietro and the port of Carloforte. Here is "Danny Blue" in port. Notice the Med style mooring, stern to the dock. It sucks but minimizes the amount of docks that have to be built. Instead there are "laid moorings" in the water that you use to hold the bow in place. These suck and regularly get tangled with propellers, keels and other moorings.



The wonderful town of Carloforte. It was really beautiful but mostly shut down since tourist season is over. We did however find some really nice restaurants.



After leaving Carloforte we headed back to the open sea 205 NM to Menorca. On the way we were visited by many migratory birds and even a couple pods of dolphins.



We stopped for a swim on the Abyssinal plain which was almost 10,000 feet deep! We had to rig a rope with a buoy on the end so that we could catch the boat again. The wind was picking up and blowing the boat at 2 knots without the sails up. Don’t want to go for a swim and get left behind!



Then the wind really started to blow and we got to put up the spinnaker. Downwind sailing is so nice, smooth, quiet and fast.



We made port in Mahon, Minorca just about the time it was getting dark and got a spot on the dock right in town. The port of Mahon has a long history and was used as a quarantine station for Spanish sailors returning from adventures to the New World. The port of Mahon is a wonderful natural port and was very strategic for many centuries. The British, French and Spanish all fought over it and took control of it many times.



One of the military quarantine islands in the port of Mahon.



From Mahon we sailed 100 NM to our final port of call in Palma, Mallorca. Jose immediately headed off to Barcelona to catch the boat show there and hopefully buy a new and larger boat for next season. The 42 Bavaria Ocean that we were in was just right for two couples but Jose would like to be able to accommodate more people to make the longer crossings more comfortable. More people means more sleep and the ability to make longer crossings more comfortable. So Heather and I have spent the past few days staying on the boat and checking out Palma, cleaning the boat, putting our bicycles together and catching up on the business parts of life. Yesterday we rented a car and drove around the island. It’s very beautiful and reminds me both of California and Nevada in its vegetation and geology. The North coast is rugged with little white sand beaches tucked into the rocks here and there. A perfect place to sail around and anchor at your own private beach.

The bay of Palma and the wonderful, miles long, white sand beach with warm water that is only slightly less attractive because it is full of fat Germans in Speedos.



Even though the island of Mallorca is Spanish, the mayor of Palma is German. The island is basically German. Most things are written in both Spanish and German and there are Germans everywhere. It’s their Mexico I guess.

The rugged North coast.



Our rental car, a Nissan "Micra". It worked great on the small island roads. Shown here by a sexy sailor.



We drove to the North Eastern most point on the island just in time to catch the sunset. There are nice sunsets and then there are really nice sunsets. I have rarely seen this ones equal.



Sunrise from the boat. A boat is a great place to wake up each morning.



This was taken this morning from the "hatch" in our "v-birth" on the boat.



Tomorrow we leave the boat and catch a ferry to Barcelona. We plan on spending the next two weeks traveling around Spain then heading up to Paris for the last week of our trip before we fly home. According to the timer on this computer I have spent 5 hours and 32 minutes updating this so I think it is time for food. We have been enjoying the comments that everyone has posted and we look forward to telling you more about our adventures when we return.

Buonas noches!