Author: travurple

OK so, weeks since last blog: 2, music festivals: 2, blogs: 1 (this one) so we failed again, but in our defence, we have been too busy enjoying ourselves, and living, to be writing blogs as well!

Monday (21^st August), more eating out with Family, Dean’s Garden centre, near York, this time for lunch. A slightly strange set up, cafeteria style where you have to order at the counter, however once ordered they bring everything out to your table on a trolley. Good food all round!

Tuesday, we went to the Pocklington Arts Centre to the cinema, Nic worked in this building as a teenager when there was a privately owned slot machine museum, as well as a cinema. Lots of memories! We saw Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (AKA “Harrison Ford’s Pension”) an enjoyable film with lots of references to all the other Indiana Jones movies.

Wednesday, we spend the day packing up all the camping gear!

Thursday, we drove down to Hampshire, to volunteer at Carfest, a family car show/festival run by Chris Evans for Children in Need. Once we got there after a 4 ½ hr drive, we registered for our volunteering shifts and were offered the track crossings, which we happily accepted, it is a car show after all.

On Thursday evening we met the rest of the team at the Festaff briefing, then on Friday morning we were taken to our respective track crossings, where we would spend most of our time over the weekend. Nic got crossing point 4, a very busy crossing leading to the main stage arena. Our role was to close the track with the track Marshall and security, and then redirect the public over the foot bridge if they needed to cross. It was also interesting chatting with people who chose to stay at the trackside while the cars came past. Nic was very impressed with those (some of them very young), who could name the make and model of each car as they approached, sometimes at considerable speed!

Rog was allocated crossing point 5, which was not on the festival’s public map, so had less members of the public crossing, however it was one of the main (non-racing) vehicle access points on to the track so lots of contractors, in all manner of vehicles including, fork lift trucks, golf buggies, cars, trucks, and a Segway! It was also a VIP entrance, so got to spot famous faces, so even Rog recognised Richard Hammond (Presenter Top Gear (previously) and the Grand Tour), Chris Evans (Radio Presenter), Suzie/Eddie Izzard (Comedian), Rick Parfitt Jnr (Musician (Son of Rick Parfitt of Status Quo). Actually Rog didn’t recognise him, but Rick introduced himself as he need to find the stage! Jodie Scheckter F1 World Champion in 1979, is the owner of Laverstoke Farm Park, a 2,500 arce farm where Carfest is being held and now rides a Segway! Rog swiftly moved the barriers to let him through whenever he approached. Crossing point 5 was also just before the finish line and paddock, so had a great view of all the cars.

Each evening there was live music, including Boyzlife, Razorlight, McFly, Reef, Rick Parfitt Jnr, Rich Astley, The Feeling SuperGroup with Ricky Wilson & Tony Christie, Village People and Texas. All the music was great with the exception of Village People, who did not come on at the scheduled time, despite Chris Evans build up and introductions, when they finally did come on, we were less than impressed, they did a half hour (ish) set, when everybody in the audience only wanted a rendition of YMCA which they eventually did, and then left the stage. Chris Evans was obviously not impressed and showed his frustration!

The evening was saved by Texas, who always put on a cracking show!

All in all a very enjoyable weekend.

On Monday (28^th August) drove home for a rest, but not a very long rest, we spent a couple of days sorting all our gear out again.

Thursday (31 August) we drove back down south, to Norwich, Norfolk. This time to volunteer at ‘Sundown” weekend music festival. We were scanning tickets and “wrist banding” 2 x 8hrs shifts each for free entry to the festival, a very different type of festival, with a lot of younger people.

Friday and Saturday, we both did our shifts, it’s been a long time since either of us have done 8 hours on our feet, but we survived and then headed into the festival, to spend our meal vouchers! Listens to some music before heading back to our tent!

Sunday, we broke camp at the festival in the morning, and went in to Norwich city centre for a walk around as we had never been. A nice city, reminded us a lot of York.

We then drove to one of Rog’s old school friends for a very enjoyable evening of chatting, eating, drinking and sitting in the sun, then near the fire pit, dark skies with amazing stars. We spend a lot of time reminiscing, talking about and comparing our various ailments, a sure sign that we are getting old.

Yes, we know we have been slacking, our last blog was on 30 July so we have missed the last two weeks, you just can’t get the consistent bloggers! So thanks for bearing with us.

 Ok, so a round-up of the last three weeks.

You’ll, hopefully, remember from our last blog we were in Bethesda in North Wales. We continued to explore the local area and footpaths, found a lovely waterfall just on the edge of the village, once we found the public footpath through somebody’s garden. We managed to do a circular walk, back to the village and stopped for coffee/hot chocolate in the café.

The weather had been slightly better, so we planned a longer walk following Afon Llafar, a valley with little human impact, as the valley doesn’t lead anywhere, it just runs into the hills and stops at a wall of mountains. There were sheep and horses roaming. Again due to the previous weather the ground was very boggy. We took our coffees and lunch with us, so spent some time sitting enjoying to peaceful surroundings.

We were booked into the AirBnB until 9 August, but headed back to Pocklington a couple of days early for family business. We packed up and left on Sunday 6 August, also the only day when there were no Rail strikes/work to rule planned, so actually leaving early gave us a better chance of a smoother journey back, however it was not to be,

The bus from just outside the door to Bangor rail station was uneventful, other than the two young lads, who were still out and drunk from the night before, it was only 9:30 Sunday morning! Then the train to Chester, again uneventful, a quick change onto a train to Manchester Victoria. The train was actually going all the way to Leeds, but because of our cheap tickets, we had to get off in Manchester Victoria and get the next train to Leeds, rather than staying on this train, Rog did try to sweet talk the conductor to let us stay on the train, but she was having none of it. So a change it was, we only had about 20 mins, to wait for the next train to Leeds. Just enough time to eat our butties, better in the fresh air as Nic had egg mayonaise in hers! The next train got as far as Rochdale, then was cancelled due to a mechanical issue, but not before the driver  had turned it off and on again to see if it would work! It didn’t.

So we lost about 30mins, before the next train to Leeds arrived, obviously this one was now very busy including a lady who had booked assistance, so we helped her off and back on the train. We directed her to a seat and then stood by the doors, with the bags, next to a guy sitting with a very large suitcase and a boxed 42’ TV. 

We missed our connection in Leeds, a quick google search showed that the next train leaving for York was actually not the first train from Leeds to arrive in York. So we waited 15mins in Leeds and got a direct fast train to York, and still made our intended bus to Pocklington. Result!

Once back in Pock, We re-arranged all our stuff in our family’s loft and garage, went out for lunches and the odd drink. As some family are on holiday, we house sat for them, or should I say they kindly allowed us to use their house whilst they are away.

Nic’s niece and nephew came to stay and it was lovely to catch up on a day out to Whitby, with the obligatory fish and chips, and ice cream. The games came out and together with Rog in their team they won at Trivial Pursuit, there was also a concerted effort made to complete a jigsaw on the evening before they left.

Friends from the Isle of Man visited us for a couple of days, we had a great catch up and managed visits to Burnby Hall and Millington Woods, along with the essential eating and drinking that these occasions demand!

We are volunteering at a couple of festivals later this month, so we have checked all our camping gear, including putting the tent up to check no moths have got to it since we last used it!

Today (Sunday) after watching the women’s world cup final,  we have walked to Burnby Hall gardens, again, as there was the “New York Dance band” playing in the bandstand, as the weather is good it was well attended, we had a coffee and listened to the band from a distance. 

 

“We must publish a blog every week !…..”

“We must publish a blog every week !…..”

“We must publish a blog every week !…..”

“We must publish a blog every week !…..”

Another missed blog last week, but as we are in the same AirBnB for a month, with not the best weather, we do not have that much to write about, therefore we are going to step away from our daily narrative blogging style, as it would be very boring, so here goes:

We are in Wales in July, unfortunately so far the weather has not been kind to us, but at least the weather forecasts have been reasonably accurate, so we have been able to plan our walks for the short, relatively dry periods.

We have managed couple of good longer walks; For one we got the local community bus, the 8 minutes to Llyn Ogwen, a nice chatty bus driver, we were his first customers of the day. We walked around Llyn Idwal, replicating a walk we did with good friends a few years ago. The R.A.F. use the valley for low training flights, at times we were level with the planes!

On the walk back to our AirBnB we passed a load of film crew, the internet rumours say they are filming the next series of ‘House of Dragons” in the Games of Thrones saga, but we didn’t see any dragons.

Second: we headed up the east side of the valley, very wet underfoot on the plateau at the top, and this time we were above the planes in the valley. The path was a little tricky to follow, it was on the map, but not very well used, but the weather held to give us another good walk, all be it with soggy shoes for Nic by the end of it.

We have spent a lot of time, planning and booking travel arrangements for our future adventures, which include New Zealand & Australia and Central America, which takes us up to the end of April next year, it might sound crazy booking so much, so far in advance, but we have managed to get some good deals.

We have also had three sets of visitors, two just for the day and one overnight. It was lovely to see all of them, and with them all driving we managed to travel a little further away from our AirBnB than usual. Twice going to the Garddfon Inn in Y Felinheli, overlooking the Meni Straight and Anglesey. We went the first time because it was a Tuesday, and not that many restaurants were open and it was good so we went back again.

We were also taken over to Anglesey, we went to Red Wharf Bay for coffee and cake (or tea and bacon butty!).

The AirBnb is small, but four of us managed for a couple of days, and we would only recommend it with very good friends!  Much eating and drinking happened, including drinks in the garden, anyone would think it was summer! We also had a couple of good games of dominoes…..we know how to live!

Following eye tests when were back in Pock, we have both got new glasses, for Rog the first time wearing vari-focals, so struggling a little until he gets used to them.

Yes, we know we missed one, as this will be our 108^th we decided to take last week off!

So this week’s blog is a quick catch up from Monday 3 July. 

Still in Pock and spent the time catching up with family, helping out with a few domestic jobs, celebrating a birthday, doing some washing, getting haircuts, eye tests and packing for our next trip.

We also paid for annual passes for Burnby Hall Gardens, where we got married. They are lovely gardens and have a nice café, so we got our monies worth and managed 3 visits in the first week.

Saturday (8^th July) – we set off on our next trip, a lift to York station (thanks!) and trains to Chester via Liverpool, or at least that was the plan, unfortunately ‘Trans Pennine Express” had other ideas (or possibly “no idea”)! Our train was running a little late, then stopped in Huddersfield and the conductor announced that the train was now awaiting a new driver, who was delayed on a different train! A group of very young “drinking” football fans got on the train, being very chatty, including the comment that “we can’t go to Weatherspoons, as we won’t get served, they always ID people”. Thankfully the conductor then announced that there was a faster train to Manchester on platform 3, for anyone who wanted to transfer, the young lads weren’t listening to the announcements, but Rog was happy to tell them, so they all rushed off and a little bit of piece and quiet was restored!

After about 20 mins a driver did turn up and we set off again, only for the train to then be cancelled at Manchester Victoria, with the conductor advising anyone travelling on the Liverpool to stay on the same platform and get the next train! However the train after that was advertised as Chester, our final destination. So we checked our tickets, which allowed “Trans Pennine Express and connecting routes only”, as we’d been on a TPE train, we waited for the Chester train! Rog then applied online due to our delay, and got a full refund for the ticket. So in the end we got to Chester for Nothing! Hooray for train travel.

Stayed with family just outside Chester, had a good meal at the local pub on Saturday night.

Sunday, helped out with a few jobs, then watched some of the Wimbledon coverage.

Monday, after a lift to Chester station (thanks!), we got the train to Bangor in Wales. We then had to wait for a bit in Bangor station for our bus to Bethesda, which dropped us right outside our AirBnB accommodation. We are here for a month, as part of our 3 month UK stay in order to renew Nic’s passport (the Passport office currently says passports could take up to 10 weeks to renew).

Tuesday, we’ve booked our first ever Tesco shopping delivery for this morning, (other supermarket deliveries are available !), a cheap 4 hour slot, anytime between 9am & 1pm which arrived at 9:15. Our AirBnB is not the easiest to find, it is hidden behind our hosts house, but the Tesco driver loaded all our shopping onto a sack barrow and got it up the sloped path, nearly to our door.

Tuesday afternoon, walked along the A5 into the village, a busy road, so we managed to find another route back via the woods. Nic spotted bilberries growing, so in a break in the weather later in the day went back to pick a few.

Wednesday we managed a walk along the path through the woods, around the local park and dog walking circuit, then back through the woods again, only stopping for a brief chat with a grandma pushing a baby in a pram who had cried all day. The weather for the rest of the day was not great, so we stayed in and watch more tennis.

Thursday, the weather was predicted to be a little better, so we packed our coffee/tea and headed for a walk, via some woodland and up the valley, up being the operative word!

When we set off, the vague plan was to get half way up the north side of the valley, cross to the south side and return home, however due to all the up, and the weather starting to look ominous, we decided to turn around and head back the way we had come. 

Friday, another day with bad weather, after all it is July in Wales, so we only managed a short walk around the wood. Following our eye tests last week we both decided to order some new specs online.

Nic’s new passport was delivered to Pocklington, just two weeks from the online application and the old one being posted in!

Saturday, walked into the village, to the Londis shop, to get some bread. Every review of the shop online shows a picture of their beer selection, and for the size of the shop and the village it is an impressive selection. We got a bit wet on the way home. Then watched the Wimbledon Women’s final. 

Sunday, another walk while the weather stayed dry, this time up the south side of the valley, a much better path underfoot, it is a national cycle path and runs around the slate quarry. More tennis, the Men’s final this time, then a quick walk round the village to get rid of some of the adrenalin from watching such a good match.

 

 

 

Monday (26th June) check out of our accommodation, a 10 minute walk back to the rail station, it’s only 9am but it’s getting hot already. The train was the standard 30 mins late, this time we think the delay is because of works on the track between Bar and Podgorica.

Our reserved seats are in an open seated carriage, rather than a six birth compartment. Again our seats were already taken, so this time we decided to just sit somewhere else. Especially as our reserved seat were facing backwards. A nice chap moved seats so we could sit together. A 10 hour journey returning to Beograd all in one go. Our carriage was a little older than the last one, the windows were mucky and steamed up, so it was not as easy to see the stunning views.

We were about 20 minutes late arriving in Beograd, but our AirBnB host had offered an station pick up (for a price) but this was much appreciated!

Tuesday, we walked through the back streets of Belgrade to the waterfront on the River Sava, the old border between the Austro-Hungarian and the Ottoman Empires, there is now lots of building work happening, mainly new apartment blocks. We then wandered to St Sava church, the largest Orthodox Christian Church in the world, an impressive building and a beautiful gold interior. We ended the day with dinner with one of our fellow travellers, before he flew home the following day.

Wednesday, started off as a wet day, so we had a lazy start, before walking to Belgrade Fortress and the surrounding park. our fellow traveller had recommended a pizza place, so we headed there for dinner, it was indeed a very good pizza! Made with good quality ingredients by a passionate chef, it was a tiny place, we were the only people there, and Rog watched the pizza being made.

Thursday

So we have a flight from Beograd to London Luton with Wizzair, so arranged a transfer to the airport with our AirBnB hosts, not the cheapest option, but definitely the easiest one, he came to the flat to pick us up.

The take off was delayed due to air traffic control congestion over Croatia (no idea what was happening to cause that), but after nearly an hour the pilot informed us that our flight had been rerouted north to avoid Croatian airspace. Despite Wizzair wanting to charge us for seats together, we refused to pay, and on check in got seat 19D and 34D, when everyone had boarded, the rest of row 34 was empty, so we moved together.

The interrail journey in figures:

10,076 Kms (trains)

90 Days

54 Trains (incl. 2 Sleeper trains)

42 Different accommodations (incl 2 sleeper trains)

30 1/2 Books read (Nic x 30, Rog x 1/2 unless we include the European Rail Timetable!)

15 Countries (England, France, Switzerland, Italy, San Marino, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia (twice), North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro (twice) and Bosnia)

11 Buses

5 Boats (incl 2 where the train went on the ferry to/from Sicily)

3 pairs of trainers (Rog x 2, Nic x 1)

2 hair cuts (both Rog)

0 Work! (Sorry)

Friday, started with unpacking and getting some washing done, we also returned to Beverley to take Rog’s new rucksack back to Millets, as one of the main shoulder straps had started to split, Millets replaced it no questions asked.

Saturday, Rog crewed for his brother, who cycled with a mate from Pocklington to Whitby, 65 miles and lots of uphill! Rog was glad to be driving.

Nic went to a matinee performance of ‘Six’ a musical about Henry VIII six wives in York. We met up later for drinks and a curry.

Sunday, recovered from the drinks, Rog and his Brother went to watch our nephew play cricket. Nic started some of the jobs we had agreed to for family whilst we are around

Monday (19th June) checked out of our accommodation, stood outside attempting to call a taxi, using the local app, but not managing it, thankfully our host came out and offered to order us a taxi, which turned up in 5 mins. We needed a taxi, because despite being walking distance from Sarajevo’s main bus station. The bus we need to Belgrade (‘Beograd’) was going from Sarajevo East Bus Station, 7.5 Kms east of the city centre. Sarajevo was updating its transport infrastructure, so no trams were working. We were nice and early for the bus, so managed to pay the ‘bus station tax’ (??) and get a coffee before the mini bus turned up for our 8 hr trip!

The mini bus was a pleasant trip, being used like a local bus, picking up and dropping at what seemed like random places, but the bus was never overcrowded, and stopped at couple of cafes for 20/30 minutes. We arrived in Belgrade about on time, then had a 20min walk to our accommodation. Another AirBnB, it had to be said a slightly old and decrepit one. Rog ran the kitchen tap, at first the sink didn’t drain, then it did in to the cupboard underneath, the pipes were not connected properly!! We informed the host, and just told them we wouldn’t use the kitchen sink, we were only going to be there 2 nights. Turns out the host was on holiday in Greece, so he apologised and sent a nice photo of a Greek sunset!! One to notch up to experience.

Tuesday, Belgrade is another city updating its transport infrastructure, all trains now leave from Beograd Centar train station and neither of the two old stations. As Nic’s foot was still not great, Rog went for walk to the rail station, to get seat reservations for the next part of the trip, doing the scenic train route through Serbia and Montenegro. After 1/2 hr in the international train office Rog managed to get the reservations we needed, with no English spoken and yes, Serbia is the only language you can’t download offline in Google Translate, and there is no mobile signal in the station, but got there eventually, and only time will tell if it worked!

Went out to dinner at the restaurant on the corner, very close to the apartment. Rog ordered cevapici (sausage shaped meat balls) and got 10 with 5 chips! Big chips but only 5 of them. Nic ordered Pljeskavica (meat patty) which was huge and got slightly more chips!

Wednesday, we had a hot walk to the station for the train to Uzice, about 4hrs (the train not the walk)! , the reservations sort of worked, a lady was sitting in one of our seats, but the two seats opposite were empty, so we sat there until she got off after about 1 1/2hrs. Then moved and spread out a bit! A short walk to our accommodation. The door was open, and there was an honesty box for the cash in the hall, we never saw anybody!

We had no reason to visit Uzice, we’d never heard of it before, but it was on the scenic rail line and we could get some nice/cheap accommodation, so we planned a stop!

Another dinner out where the portion sizes were ridiculous, Nic ordered the local dish Karadjordjeva, and got twice what you would expect, before we ordered we’d laughed at what we now realise was a only half portions being delivered to a table of older ladies, the half portions still looked big.

Thursday, Nic’s foot was doing a lot better, so we planned a walk along an old railway line to the ‘Great Dam’, an enjoyable walk out of the city, thankfully there was plenty of shade, because it was a hot day.

Friday, back on the train from Uzice to Podgorica (Montenegro) the train was coming from Beograd, and was 30mins late arriving, once on board, found that one of our reserved seats was occupied, we were just working out what to do, when the conductor arrived asked if everything was ok, checked out ticket and threw the guy and all his luggage out of our reserved seat. It’s scheduled for 7 hrs so we were pleased to get our seats. The train kept the 30 min delay through Serbia, but because of the 40min scheduled stop at the border, and a quick passport check leaving Serbia, we were back on time. 40 minutes later we had the Montenegro passport control, still all good. Then at the next station everything ground to a halt in an amazing thunder and lightening storm! There was some brief explanation given, which we did not understand, then the conductor got off the train and sat at the station cafe drinking coffee and smoking. From the multi lingual rumours on the train, there was either no electricity in the overhead power line, or a problem with a goods train ahead of us on the tracks or both! Anyway after 1hr 30 mins we were on our way again. About ten minutes before we got moving again, 2 Swedish passengers in our compartment declared they were getting a taxi as we could be stuck there all night! It gave us more room in our compartment, and we chatted a bit more with our remaining travel companions.

The scenery from the train was spectacular, the further south we got, the more spectacular it seemed to get, we are definitely glad we have done the route.

We arrived in Podgorica about an hour and half late, attempting to keep our accommodation host up to date with our progress, which was not easy given the number of tunnels, causing issues with both the mobile phone signal and also the GPS, so we didn’t know exactly where we were.

A 10min walk to the accommodation, then Rog had to run out to the local bank to get some € to pay!

Saturday, we had a walk around the city centre, it’s not very big, we have to keep reminding ourselves that Podgorica is the capital city of Montenegro. We stopped for coffee and cake at a little art gallery in the old town.

For dinner we had pizza, whilst watching attempts to install a new sun canopy on the café opposite, we finished our dinner and left, they were still trying! A couple of hours later a huge thunder storm arrived, which lasted several hours, we did think of the guys potentially still up ladders trying to secure their new sun shade!

Sunday, walked to, and around the local park, nice view over the city and also the surrounding hills. Had coffee, near the cafe with the new sun canopy to see if it had been finished, they were still working on it, but a couple of the men were sitting under the main section, so they obviously had confidence in their work.

W/c 19 June

2 trains

468 Kms

Totals

51 trains

9,726 Kms

Monday (12 June)

An early start for a 6:10 bus from Bar, Montenegro to Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina. A 6hr journey, with a few stops, and yes, some people ended up standing for some of the journey. It was a nice surprise to see a couple of people who were on our last bus ride, get on this bus too. It’s a small world! The border crossing was OK, not the fastest, but OK.

Our AirBnB host intended to meet us at the bus station, but we were a little delayed, so we arranged to make our own way to the flat.

On leaving the bus, we made plans to meet up with our fellow travellers from the bus, on Tuesday evening.

The AirBnB was great, the host’s granddaughter was waiting for us outside the house, and acted as a fabulous translator, aged 12!

We went for a wander around Mostar, the AirBnB is only 20mins walk from the old bridge.

Tuesday

We headed for a longer walk around Mostar, calling at the Partisan Memorial Cemetery, St Mary’s Cathedral, Lucki Bridge.

Met our fellow travellers for ice cream, drinks and dinner, a huge plate of grilled meat, bread, salad and sour cream to share.

Wednesday,

Nic had some insect bites on her feet, so did want to walk far today, so had a ‘lazy’ day, Rog went for another stroll around the old town.

Thursday

Despite the fact that it was predicted to rain all day, Our AirBnB host insisted we should go and see the Dervish Monastery, we kindly agreed and took up the offer. However by the time we got in the car and set off, with her granddaughter translating, she was going to take us to:

A bridge older than the old bridge in Mostar and the bird sanctuary

It did indeed rain all day, and after the 4 1/2 hr trip was over, we had also been to a mosque and another church.

All really interesting places, and we would not have managed to see any of them by ourselves. A truly remarkable host! The flat was £25 per night, and we did leave some extra cash, as she wouldn’t even let us pay for any entrance fees or the coffee and Fig cake we stopped for!

In the three days we had been there she had also provided fresh herb tea (she’d been collecting mountain herbs that day), home produced honey, a bottle of wine, and 1/2 litre of raki, for Rog to drink and Nic to put on her insect bites.

We then headed to the train station for the evening train to Sarajevo. Our fellow travellers were also on the train!

The conductors on the train did not like our Interrail Passes, and said that we should have been to the ticket office, after we told them we had been to the ticket office, where we were told we didn’t need a reservation, they shrugged their shoulders, and moved on.

A short walk in the rain to our accommodation, another well equipped flat, including a washing machine to be able to keep on top of the laundry!

Friday

Another rainy day, but went for a walk to Sarajevo old town, due to the weather it was relatively quiet. We passed the Eternal Flame, a World War II memorial. The cathedral, the old bazaar. Stopping at ‘Wine Not’ for a drink then ‘Eat Me’ for a burger. Found out that ‘eat’ in Bosnian is ‘Jedi’ !

Saturday

We had a later start today, walked south of the river, past the university, across the Latin Bridge to the site of the assassination of the Arch Duke Ferdinand. To the city hall, towards the Sarajevo brewery, St Anthony’s church, then back the old bazaar for traditional Bosnian coffee and baklava. Unexpectedly large pieces of baklava in this case!

We then met our fellow travellers again for drinks and dinner at ‘the Singing Nettle’ restaurant, which served traditional Bosnian food, lots of which did indeed include nettles. We ordered dishes to share between the four of us, as they were all so good.

Sunday

Nic’s insect bites still not completely healed, so rested up for the day. Rog went out for a walk to the Yellow and White fortresses, back along the river.

W/E 18 June

Only 1 train and 129 Kms

Total

49 trains

9,258 Kms

Monday (5th June)

We got a boat trip down lake Ohrid to the St Naum Monastery, at the southern tip of the lake.

Past the bay of bones, a reconstruction of an old settlement whose homes were on wooden piles driven into the lake floor. As the museum is closed on Monday, we continued straight to the Monastery landing jetty.

We walked a 2km circuit around the springs of lake Ohrid, past the Holy Mother of God Church.

Had lunch over looking the lake, then visited the Monastery, with peacocks in the grounds. Had an ice cream.

Then got the boat back to Ohrid, a nice ‘holiday’ day out!

Tuesday, we walked up to Samuel’s fortress, through the park, back down on to the Bridge of wishes. We visited the paper museum, hand made paper and printing pictures on a replica of the Gutenberg press.

Wednesday, we had an early start to catch the bus to Tirana in Albania.

We stayed in a lovely family run hotel, more like a cafeteria with rooms, near the local university but was nicely done out. After dropping our bags off, we walked into the city centre, and were really surprised by the modern architecture, we were not expecting that!

We had dinner in the Cafeteria, a beer, homemade red wine, main meal with bread and pasticia (local type of pasta bake!) for the total price of £9!

Thursday, back into the city centre, we walked via the Tanner’s Bridge, the Grand Park of Tirana, And government buildings, which were surrounded by security, as the President of Estonia was in town, we asked one of the security detail.

We had lunch in a restaurant in the old castle, which sounds grander than it is! Had a local set menu, lots of courses, and we ate too much. It was all very good.

Friday another early start to catch a bus to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. A grumpy old driver who shouted at people, and threw bags around, when people queried the 2 Euro charge being levied to put bags into the hold. Nic was holding a 5 Euro note ready to pay for our bags. Other passengers then distracted the driver as he was giving Nic her ticket for our bags, and before we knew it we were on the bus and Nic still had the 5 Euro note in hand! We sat tight and the driver didn’t seem to notice!

The town before before the border, a lot more people got on the bus, standing room only, or actually sitting room in the isle, they were all young western travelers! Aussie, Kiwi, Americans.

The border was the same mix of somebody collecting passports, disappearing with them all, coming back and handing all of them to the first person on the bus! To find their passport and pass them back, thankfully before we got the pile, one of the Americans, did a roll call and handed them out. But we then had to get off the bus with our passports and attend the booth, so we had no idea what the first collection was about. Everybody back on the bus, then drive 100m and everyone off the bus again this time to enter Montenegro.

The bus ride was quite sociable, with lots of chat due to the close proximity of other passengers, one sitting on Nic’s feet and leaning against her legs.

We got off the bus at Podgorica, giving up our seats to those continuing to Kotor.

We had a flat with a lovely sunset view in Podgorica. We were met by our host and did a quick load of washing to go out on the balcony to dry. Then headed into town for a stroll to find a cash point which did not charge to withdraw cash, ( 5 machines later!), and do some grocery shopping at the local mall on the way back.

Saturday, we headed via a few notable buildings to the local park, a very hot day, but a lovely walk followed by lunch in the town. We shared a Tomahawk steak and side dishes with a glass or two of wine. As we were about to pay the thunder and lightning started followed by the rain, so we had a digestif before, risking the walk with our trusty brollies at the ready.

Sunday, back on a train, from Podgorica to Bar, still in Montenegro, a busy train lots of people heading to the beach. In Bar our accommodation was just opposite the rail station and the bus station. Our first job on arrival was to get bus tickets for Monday, but they would only take cash, we had some cash € but not enough, so we had to walk into town to find a cash point. Back to the bus station with more cash to get tickets to Mostar in Bosnia & Herzegovina, but that’s for next week’s blog.

After securing our bus tickets, we could not be bothered to walk back to town again for dinner. Luckily there was a place just round the corner, local barbecue restaurant. As we arrived Novak Djokovic was just winning the French Open, and there were several locals gathered round the TV.

We found a table and ordered a drink. The chef/ waiter spoke very little English, but with the aid of a photo of their menu on Google maps, we managed to order some chicken, cevapici (local meat sausage shaped patties), salad and some bread. There were no frills, but boy was it good, fresh, tasty and tenth of the price of the meal the day before !!

W/E 11June

1 train

56 Kms

Total so far

48 trains

9,129 Kms

Monday (29th May)

We went to the bus station to buy tickets for tomorrow’s trip to Skopje, North Macedonia.

Then we investigated the local market, bought some strawberries, which turned out not to be great, very disappointing.

We visit Nis Fortress, built in the 18th century.

Tuesday, headed back to the bus station for the bus to Skopje in North Macedonia, an interesting journey, through the centre of some towns we would otherwise not have seen. Another easy border crossing, they even put the two passport control booths next to each other, rather than 100m apart.

In Skopje we had a 20 minute walk to our hotel in the old Bazaar area of the city. Went for a walk to find a drink and dinner, ended up in the Brewery tap!

Wednesday, we headed to the south of the river, through Macedonia Square. Skopje had suffered major damage in an earthquake in 1963, after which the city was rebuilt in a predominantly modern style. However in the square and along the river there are buildings, built in the past 10 years, which look very grand, and copied from different architectural styles/eras, together with a lot of very large statues and fountains, giving it a slightly surreal feel.

We walked via St Clement of Ohrid’s church, toward the city park and the national stadium.

We returned to the hotel along the river, via the Fortress, which has not been restored, so it is overgrown with wildflowers. It also has smashing views over the city from the top of the walls.

Headed out for dinner to find a restaurant called “An” on the map. It looked like it was in the middle of a large block, we had to walk around the block before finding an entrance, but still no signs for the restaurant, we finally found it and was worth the hunt. A lovely local restaurant, Nic had courgette moussaka, Rog had veal meatballs in an onion and rice sauce!

Thursday, we walked around the old bazaar, then via a couple of small parks, containing lots more statues, then along the river in the other direction.

Lunch sitting watching the world go by on Macedonia Square.

Friday Skopje to Bitola train, one of our busier trains, there are only three trains a day, and it looked like lots of people were using it to do their shopping. According to the interrail app there should have only been 5 stops, but there were lots more than that. At nearly every stop someone stepped off (or just hung out of the door) to smoke, even for just a few seconds!!

From where we were sitting we could see the on board toilet, before we even left Skopje a teenager had used it, and had to call his friends, because they arrived and prised the door open, as he obviously could get the door open from the inside. For the rest for the journey people (including the conductors) either couldn’t open it from the outside, or couldn’t lock it from the inside. Hours of fun watching families guard the door, and stand poised in case the door suddenly popped open when in use.

It never actually rained whilst we on the train, but we watched a very impressive lightning storm over the Mountains in the distance.

We also saw whole fields of poppies and storks in the fields, another journey with lots to see.

As we were only in Bitola overnight, we booked a private room in a hostel near the rail and bus stations. It had mixed reviews!! It was very old and a bit odd, the chap who ran it was really welcoming, the beds were clean and the shower was hot, we only paid £19 for the night! So can’t really complain.

After grabbing a burger at a roadside cafe, we walked into the town centre. We were surprised by the number of people walking around and the number of bars and restaurants, all doing a brisk trade.

Saturday, to the bus station for a bus to Ohrid, the bus left 10mins late but the driver took up the challenge and arrived 20mins early in Ohrid, it was only supposed to be an 1hr 48m journey anyway!

On the outskirts of Ohrid there were lots of cars packed on both sides for the road, everyone was at the cemetery, but it was not a funeral, it was just lots of people visiting lots of different graves. Maybe a traditional thing for a Saturday, or maybe a special date? We never solved the mystery.

We checked in to our “booking.com” apartment, a grand total of £61 for 4 nights, so £15 per night, our cheapest so far. It is a great little place, a bedroom upstairs, a kitchenette and shower room downstairs.

Did some shopping, at the supermarket and the local market.

And an early night, as Rog had not slept well in the hostel!

Sunday, we were rudely awoken at 7:20 by what we first thought was a Heavy Metal Band practice, we later discovered that today is the Ohrid half marathon, which started at 8am and the Band was the warm up act! The loud music continued until 12:30, supporting the runners. We headed down to see some of the action.

In the afternoon, we walked along “The Bridge of Wishes” a slight dodgy boardwalk along the edge of the lake.

Went to the Church of St John, around the outside of the fortress, passed the ancient theatre, the Church of St Sophia and back to the flat.

This week’s trains, or should we say train!

1 train

178kms

Total

47 Trains

9,073 Kms

Monday (21st May)

Our friend was leaving us today to fly back home, so after depositing them in a taxi, at the local taxi rank, we finalised our packing and got a taxi back to the train station. The taxi driver was asking where we were going by train, when we told him Plovdiv, he offered to drive us there in an hour. We declined and got the slow train, no reservations required, which took 3hrs 43 mins, we are, after all, on an interrail trip.

The train stopped at nearly every station on the way, our stop was number 34! At some of the “stops”, you can’t call them stations, there was absolutely nothing there, not even a platform, let alone a “station”. Rog helped an older gentleman man with a crutch, and a shopping trolley, get off the train at one of these “stops”, the gentleman then headed across a field, heading to who knows where, the 1930’s we suspect.

We had a 20 minute walk to our AirBnB in Plovdiv, a nicely appointed flat, a little bit 1980 retro, lots of primary red detailing, but large and clean. Only one pan, a large frying pan, which gave Nic a pleasing culinary challenge. Good job one pot wonders are a speciality.

Tuesday. Our first mission of the day was to see if we could buy tickets for a couple of music events we had spotted online, for Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. We succeeded in finding the ticket office, a small old fashioned ticket booth in the main square, paying a total of BGN100 (£44) for 2 tickets each.

Plovdiv, as one of the oldest inhabited cities in Europe, means you pass, at every turn, Roman ruins, even in the basement of some shops! We also headed towards the “Old Town” which paradoxically was full of 18th Century houses, preserved as museums. Beautiful buildings in peaceful cobbled streets.

Next we visited the Large Basilica, no longer a church, but the mosaic floors of the old church, now preserved by the building of a what looks like a warehouse over the entire site. Discovered when building works were taking place. On entry you had to use a machine which vacuum packed your feet, so you didn’t take any dirt on to the site. Very intricate mosaics from two different eras of the church laid on top of each other. Fantastic mosaics, many of birds, none of which we photographed as we were too mean to pay the fee to do so !

We had an early dinner so we could attend the first of our music events. A choral concert in the small basilica, essentially another mosaic floor in situ under a smaller warehouse. Sneakily photographed by Rog under the glass floor! The choir ‘Gaudeamus’ were very good. The audience was made up of lots of family members, many carrying a couple of long stemmed flowers, it seems to be a tradition in Bulgaria for most occasions.

Wednesday, we headed out and came across a large procession of school children of all ages, with church bells ringing out. Later we found out that today is a public holiday in Bulgaria, St Cyril and Methodius Day, Cyril as in the Cyrillic alphabet! We walked back to the “Old Town” as following more research, we worked out that we’d missed a few of the houses. We also found the Ancient Theatre, the venue for the nights concert. So we would be back there later.

We then walked to see the “singing fountain” set in a park, but not singing today. We sat in a cafe and were fascinated by what we assumed was a bride and groom having photos taken, the “bride’s” dress had an enormous hooped skirt, and was a dramatic dark blue!!

We walked up the local hill to a large statue, with views over the city, partly as it was in the same direction as the supermarket for more supplies.

After dinner we headed back to the Ancient Theatre for a concert of Vivaldi works, the Ancient Theatre is a Roman outdoor amphitheater. The concert was wonderful, despite the musicians struggling to keep hold of their music in the wind, and various cars and motorbikes rallying around the area outside the theatre, blowing their horns and revving engines, which appeared to be a bank holiday tradition!

There was also some fun people watching at the concert, one family decided to keep their child’s not unsubstantial sized bike with them, despite sitting in the very middle of the seating. Also a teenaged guy purposefully marched right across the seating area disturbing everyone, whilst carrying two drinks and a guitar case across his back, but when he arrived at his intended destination, a woman with a very distinctive green coat. It appeared as if he’d got the wrong woman and had to march all the way back again, we never saw him again!

The concert was wonderful as it included Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, although it did include an audio visual display in Bulgarian which went mostly over our heads!

Thursday, the original plan had been to head towards Turkey, as we needed to leave the EU, due to complicated rules about the validity of a UK passport, which had been issued for more than 10 years. Anyway given the Turkish election on Sunday, we decided to head towards the rest of the Non-EU Balkans, starting with Serbia. So we got the train back west to Sofia.

In various countries we have seen flocks of animals, goats, sheep and cows in fields, usually with a shepherd and at least a couple of dogs. Out of the train window we spotted the usual flock, but the shepherd was sitting watching his flock from the drivers seat of a large, old Mercedes car in the middle of the field! After a few hours an older lady joined us in our carriage. When she realised our Bulgarian was not up to much she decided to read the station names out for us. And with sign language made it clear what she thought about graffiti on trains! We waved her goodbye as she headed off with her shopping trolley, a few stops before us, towards the local Lidl.

Friday, as there are currently no trains between Sofia and Serbia, due to upgrading of the tracks. This means an early bus for us from Sofia to Nis, Serbia’s second city. Thankfully we’re able to check in to our AirBnB early as we arrived in Nis at 10:30. A nice flat on the banks of the river 5 mins walk from the centre of town for only £29 per night! The only drawback we found is the Greek restaurant next door playing music until 1am!!

Saturday, walked through the city park, visited the Skull Tower, a gruesome relic from the Ottoman Empire, built using the skulls of their fallen enemies.

Visited the Cathedral, but there was a wedding party gathering so we didn’t go inside.

Walked down ‘Tinker’s Alley’, we imagined small local shops selling handmade crafts, nope it was just full of bars and cafes. Apparently it once was the centre of tin working but sadly no more.

Tried the local pastries one called, ‘Burek’ , filo pastry stuffed with cheese and spinach, and a sweet dough roll stuffed with cherry jam, both lovely! This part of the world does have a lot of pastry shops, virtually one on every corner. Up until today we had done well to resist!

Sunday, we set off walking to Bubanj park, to see a famous monument, the park is on the edge of the city, so we had a fair walk to get there. We ended up taking a very small overgrown path through the east side of the park, before arriving at the said monument.

We also visited the old monument in the same park, then plotted a route back to the flat. We ended up down a farm track, with lots of green in the middle, and evidence of horse and cart use. We were slightly unsure but we kept walking, and it did finally turn into a road and lead us back to the city. We only had to shelter from the rain once! It was not supposed to rain today.

Ended the day with a beer at the Irish bar, just on the other side of the river from the flat, we would not usually search out an Irish bar, but this one is the closest bar to the flat, and right on the riverside.

As we have now left the EU, our mobile contracts no longer give us free roaming data (12GB per month) so Rog has set up an eSIM, a separate facility with ‘FlexiRoam’ to provide data cheaper than the roaming charges on our ordinary mobiles, but only because we signed up when they had a 75% off sale! Currently it seems to be working well. We will continue to book accommodation with WiFi.

After promising to include our weekly train numbers and Kms, we only appear to be able to deliver every other week, sorry! so after missing last week again! Here’s the catch up.

W/E 21 May

5 trains

757 Kms

W/E 28 May

2 trains

312 Kms

Total

46 trains and 3 Buses (Kms not included)

8,895 kms