Zadar

Tired, rundown, spent, cold and hungry. Not exactly but enough at least to deserve a break in the surprisingly surprising city of Zadar that marks the Northern entry to Croatia`s Dalmatian coast. A couple of days after the last update we spent a memorable time among the canals of Venice before getting on the road again from Chioggia where we had left the bikes as it is forbidden for anything other than pedestrians or boats to circulate on the island city. I was a bit shocked at first by this revelation but on closer inspection it is impossible to move about on Venice with a bike. Bridges were the first reason and this is no lie as with over 400 of them, some tiny and all with steps it would be a nightmare with our heavy train/convoy. Venice is beautiful, it is extremely expensive but if you visit it for only four days of your life, it is definitely worth it. Going out to eat if you don`t know the places to go can be very hit or miss as we found out on our first day with a coffee which you don`t really need to know the price of! Vaporetto`s or water buses are 5 times the price for tourists as they are for residents which may be a good thing if they use it wisely and an hours trip on a gondola can run you up to 120 euros which we obviously didn`t indulge in. We did however take a Traghetto which in someone else`s words is a poor man`s gondola as it is actually a gondola but only costs 50 cents as it is used to cross from one side of the Grand Canal to the other when you are quite far from a bridge. There may be 400 of them but only three, one of which is the famous Rialto, our big and cross the biggest canal of all, the backwards S of the Grand Canal. Once you get to know the place however, there still exists places where you can hide away from the crowds especially in the low season. In homage of Tom from ABC in Montreal l found a magnificent little cafe that served John Martin`s Original Ale so had to have a cheeky pint even if it was only 11 a m. We stayed in San Polo and l recommend it to anyone interested as the best location for a stay in Venice.

Italy we found out is also full of bargaining. Everything is negotiated, this is probably hugely affected by the fact that it is the off-season and that there aren`t many tourists around but it seems to be very accepted and there is no such thing as a fixed price. I felt like it was Kenya all over again. It is also very gender orientated and age is very important in terms of respect. The women do their thing and the men do their`s. All the cafes/bars where we stopped to take a quick espresso/cappuccino/macchiato were virtually all occupied by men and the women were often seen coming back, often in groups from the morning market. At home it is probably different again but we didn`t have the pleasure of appreciating this facet of Italian life. The women probably rule! The elderly however are very important; you must get out of the way if you see an ageing Italian lady close to you as we learnt by accident a few times. In winter they are very easy to spot with their long fur coats. They are very agreeable but you must not get in their way as the look will soon be one of death. It is another interesting cultural fact.

The last time l wrote, we were cold but a family decision allowed us to continue along our happy way. Life is sometimes difficult but when we see disaster after disaster as we have noticed to the critically poor of Haiti it is hard to justify complaining about a bit of cold. We are really lucky, it is sometimes hard work travelling with the responsibility of a child but again we are really lucky and we have chosen to do what we do. We had a choice. We have camped in a garden by invitation, next to a petrol station which had great coffee, a very good thing about Italy being that anywhere you are you can always get a really good espresso. This is very important when you are on a bike and a bit chilly and need some enthusiasm. We stayed a day in Trieste to write postcards among other things before climbing up into Slovenia and into Croatia. Our one night in Slovenia was bitterly cold, surrounded by snow which had refused to melt and in the shadow of an abandoned home. Although l was cooking under the stars, it was better to be in the tent but even that, although not cold was a bit fitful during the night. Coming into the tent these days, l arrive smelling of unleaded petrol as that is all l can find to run the stove at the moment. It works well enough however. We then sometimes have a disco session with our flashlights on flash mode to the beats of `l like to move it, move it`. Oceanne particularly likes this one and it uses up some energy before bed! It`s an interesting life. Hotels, we realize in Croatia are well over anything we can afford as we found in Rijeka so when we are not camping we are staying in Youth Hostels which are much cheaper here than elsewhere and we virtually have the places to ourselves to catch up on the news and send e-mails like this one.

The coast of Croatia so far has been incredible. Sometimes it is very windy with gusts that could take you off the road if you are not prepared and with some hills but the photos will l think do it justice. The night before we arrived here in Zadar we had just put the tent up in a strategic position behind a small thicket of bamboo to shade us from the fierce wind when Miladar and his wife spotted us from his car. I think the first thing he said was, 'What language, English, German' etc etc! Then he said 'you will have my house if you want, you can't sleep there'! I said we were perfectly fine but we certainly didn't want to refuse his hospitality and hence accepted his kind invitation. Later we had our own apartment in the village of Dinjiska, not heated but slightly better than the tent and we enjoyed Croation Schnaps with his wife Milka who also brought us soup and then coffee in the morning. Oceanne recieved a big blue soft dog before we left and we couldn't refuse it. A very gentle couple, himself a retired sailor. I really love it here but because it is still winter we may have to have a slight break in Dubrovnik before taking on the mountains that create a true barrier between here and the Black Sea and Turkey. The whole of the former Yugoslavia and part of Bulgaria is just one big mass of mountains. There are valleys that can be followed in Albania which is what we might do but we are not certain yet. If anyone wishes to come out and see us we will most likely be around Dubrovnik between the 10th and 20th of Feb. Ryanair flies to Zadar l believe....! Dubrovnik and Split are two of my favorite places ever to have visited and l can`t wait to see them again arriving by bicycle.

And now a quick note to reply to an occurring theme. Various questions have been asked as to why we are travelling in winter. Very simple answer. Unlike travelling from North to South, we are following more or less the same latitude for 15 months and therefore had to spend a least one true winter somewhere. Southern Europe seemed to be the best option as we have no mountains to cross and the climate, compared to China, Scotland, Central Asia and the mountains of Turkey which are all under snow, is relatively mild.

I really hope you are all well; Rupert, Dorothee and Oceanne.

4151.1 km's, 11 flats and 4 tyres.