Into Eastern Europe

Still we chug onwards through Europe and now into the Balkans. This post is from Zagreb where we've decamped in sweltering heat at a lovely hostel on the fringes of the city. There is a palpible change of feel with the transition to Eastern Europe, perhaps magnified by the almost casual affluence seemingly characterising the German and Austrian places we visited. It was striking passing through an 8KM tunnel to enter Slovenia earlier today to see the extent to which the width of a mountain can change the human elements in a landscape.

Like Austria, Slovenia is a very attractive country to gaze upon through Tonka's windows, not withstanding the predominance of Soviet era housing blocks over wooden Heidi houses in the settlements we passed. However, our only proper chance to get to grips with the Slovenes was over lunch at a roadside terrace bar. We had a truly excellent meal, though this was accompanied by what I can only describe as techno glockenspiel music that was being pumped out at high volume from a series of heavily caged and wall mounted speakers. Presumably the high security was in an attempt to prevent enraged clientele from ripping them off the walls.

At the Croatian frontier we almost ran into trouble when the authorities decided that Tonka was a truck, and accordingly was not allowed to be driven on a Sunday. Claire was quick to reassure them in her best Kiwi Croatian that our vehicle was in fact officially registered as a bus. So I guess that'll be the last time Ron and I get told off for calling her a bus then!