Three countries in one day

Our plan after Zadar was always to visit the Plativice Lakes National Park and although the weather has turned dull on us we drove inland to see it. It is claimed that this park is in the top 50 places to see in the world and it is surely unique. A series of subterranean rivers and lakes interconnect and flow through a steep gorge creating numerous large and small waterfalls. The natural flow is separated by travertine dams built up over time by deposits of moss, algae and bacteria. The colours range from green to azure and are probably at the most spectacular in the summer but it was also beautiful to walk the boardwalks with the trees and grasses in autumn colours for the return across the lake by boat.

We returned towards the Adriatic intending to stay in Rijeka but it was dark when we arrived and it was quickly evident from the smell and haze that this shipyard and oil refinery city was best avoided so we carried on further to Opatije. This coastal town boasts the best views in the country and for centuries was the playground of the wealthy of the Ausro-Hungarian empire. Some of the former villas were so large that they eventually became hotels. By luck we ended up at the amazing Miramar Hotel, perhaps the head of reservations took pity on us but for a pittance we had bed, breakfast, 5 course dinner and use of all facilities. As I sat in the sauna I was reminded of the stories of people sitting side by side on planes having paid vastly different prices and was tempted to ask the chap next to me how much he had paid! After a morning walk we drove to the border, a little apprehensive about the car but we entered SLOVENIA with no trouble. Slovenia is small, you never hear much about it but it has rich history. Stopping in Ljubljana the obvious place to visit is the castle on the hill, now a museum where we had a most interesting history lesson. We thought that we had seen evidence of some very old civilisations in Sicily but man first inhabited this area so long ago that the experts don't know who the people were. They first inhabited the marshes in houses built on poles, like Venice which provided ideal conditions for preserving artifacts and here is the (5,200 years) oldest wheel known to man.

The autostrada system is brilliant after weeks of driving on single lane roads. We began the long climb into the Alps eventually passing through the longest mountain tunnel (9.8km) we can remember, and once through we were in AUSTRIA. The change was immediately noticeable, the alpine architecture, green pastures and snow on the mountains was quite different from the scene at the other end. We spent a night in Flachau, a ski resort with a hundred hotels but only one open, in 2 weeks it will be a different story. Awaking to a brilliant sunny day it was on to SALZBURG.