Author: kvnrowe

26 September 2018

I thought it was time for a quick summary of my observations so far of travel in China along with some of my recent experiences.

Hotel Beds

If you travel to China be prepared for hard beds.  The beds here  are consistently hard but I have to say I sleep very well and wake very refreshed.  I might need to go to a firm bed when I get home.  The Chinese tourists complain when they travel to the West that the beds are too soft.  So before you come to China practice by sleeping on your floor to get yourself prepared.

Electricals

In the past it’s been plumbing and shower systems that were a challenge to understand.  In China it’s the hotel light switches that require some time to understand. In one hotel the sensor lights came on every time I rolled over.  This required me to manually turn off the lights which off course caused me to move and hence the sensor lights were back on.  I seemed to be caught in a never ending loop.

Tourism In China

Imagine a David Attenborough documentary about the migrating wildebeest moving across the Serrengeti Plain.  This is tourism in China.  Amongst the masses of wildebeest are small herds of zebra and antelope.  We are those small herds amongst the masses of wildebeest.  On the side of the great herd are the predators.  These are the hawkers selling small trinkets.  They spot vulnerable prey like someone on their own and dart into the herd to surround their prey with offers to sell their tickets.  Their prey either succumbs and agrees to buy or with determination and commitment shakes off the hawkers.  And so the herds relentlessly move on.

Development

Its crazy the pace of delopment in this country.  Cities that 30 years ago had no cars and a population of 100,000 are now 4 million strong with cars everywhere along with excellent highways and railways, and forests of apartment buildings.

Along with the new China seems to be making great effort to preserve the past and some of the old towns including ancient trading cities dating back to the Tang Dynasty.  This is in spite of the destruction caused by the Cutural Revolution between 1966 and 1976.

Ethnic Minorities and History

As we travel west we see more of the ethnic minorities and less of the Han people.  These ethnic groups have histories all of their own and often can be traced back to Kublia Khan and the Mongol invasions of China.

These ethnic groups have their own customs and unique local foods.  Their costumes  provide information on the marital status of the wearer avoiding any need for social media or internet dating apps.  In many instances the head dress worn by the women indicate whether they are single, have a boyfriend or are married.  Contact with parts of these head dresses by a male would indicate your intentions and would be interpreted as a commitment to the young lady.

Very little English is spoken out here and so a greeting in the local dialect or in mandarin will go a long way.  It is amazing what a translator app on a smart phone can achieve. The people are so friendly, always with a smile and often a request to be photographed with them.

21 September 2018

Our departure from Guilin was via a four hour boat ride down the Lipang River.  The river excursion was through a classic Chinese karst landscape of limestone pinnacles.  The view from the river is replicated on the ¥20 note.

As in all popular Chinese tourist destinations there are many, many people also enjoying this river trip.  There is a long procession of river boats all full of tourists with their smart phones recording this amazing scenery in countless photos.

Our destination was the town of YangShuo which until about 2004 was a small agricultural town, it’s only claim being the end of the boat ride from Guilin.

In 2004 a night time spectacular named the Impression Sanjie Liu was created and now what was once a sleepy town is home to some 300,000.  The show employs 600 locals and is set on the Lijang river with the limestone pinnacles as a back drop.  An amazing song and light show entertains 2000 people at each of two shows a night.

Pace of life

On another travel adventure a Cambodain woman  offered a comparison on the pace of life between Cambodia and Vietnam. She explained Cambodians were walking while Vietnamese were running.  If this analogy is correct then the Chinese are sprinting.

This was well demonstrated when we were warned the Chinese would leave the Impression Sanjie Liu show before it even finished.  Sure enough at that point when it looked like the one hour show was soon to finish the locals were up and heading for the exits.  They clearly had somewhere else to be and were not interested in staying to the very end of the performance.

Tai Chi for Travellers

After a Tai Chi lesson I have realised there is a more modern version waiting to be taught.  Tai Chi is based on the martial arts, this new version is based on international travel.  The following explains some of the Tai Chi for Travellers movements.

Security Scan

This movement will prepare you for the body scan process in all airports.

Spread your legs wide apart and extend your arms up and out from the body at 45 degrees and hold the position.  Repeat 10 times.

Stopping the Traffic

For those moments when you are trying to cross a busy street and there seems to be no rules.

Legs spread, head looking over right shoulder and right arm extended with fingers pointed up.  Left arm pulled back like an archer.  Stare straight ahead over your shoulder as you imagine the traffic stopping.

Checking Overhead Baggage Compartment

This will strengthen the body in preparation for checking the overhead baggage compartment to make sure there is nothing left behind.

Lift up on the tips of your toes and hold the position. Continue until you feel the stretch in the back of your legs.

Searching under the bed

A must do exercise for when you check the hotel room on your departure.

Bend the knees and bend  your back at the hips.  Move the upper body in a circular motion.  Continue until you find that lost item under the bed.

Holding a Backpack on Your Chest

This movement should prepare you for those moments when security tells you to wear your backpack on your front eg if you visit Harrods with a backpack.

Extend your arms out, forming a circle in front of you.  Hold the position.

Placing baggage in Overhead Lockers

This movement is similar to Checking Overhead Lockers.

Reach up with both hands, extend the reach, stretch and hold the position.

Attracting a Friend

An invaluable exercise for busy airports.

Raise both arms above your head and stretch as both arms move in a circular motion.  Continue as you search for your missing friend.

The Line for Immigration Check

This movement replicates the process of ensuring the traveller in front of you in the queue moves along toward the immigration check and doesn’t dawdle.

Bend the knees and extend the right arm in a forward thrust, open the hand, rotate the fingers and withdraw the arm.  Repeat with the left arm.  Continue as you imagine the person in front of you moving along in the queue.

Empty Your Pockets

A useful exercise for when security asks; do you have anything in your pockets.

Raise your hands above your head in a stretch.  Bring your arms down on each side of your body, down over your shirt, over your trousers and down your legs until your hands are touching your toes, and hold. 

Packing Your bag

Finally:

At the end of each movement clasp your hands together and push down. This movement replicates the process of compressing your suitcase so you can zip it closed.

 

 

19 September 2018

A 12 hour overnight train ride brought us to Xi’an the ancient capital of China.  The 1200km trip was taken in soft seat cabins.  In comparison the hard seat cabins must have been a plank of wood.  We all survived and the shared cabins with four bunks all added to the experience of travel in China.

The terracotta warriors are something special.  There are about 2,000 restored so far and 8,000 to go.  I am guessing that somewhere down the track they will find more buried treasurer in what was once the capital of China.

There are a lot of people in China and I might be repeating myself but the numbers are a little overwhelming.  We are in a small city tonight; it’s only 4 million people.  The pervious cities were 24 mil in Beijing and 9 million in Xi’an.

Being the capital Beijing has restrictions on night time city lights.  That’s not the case in Xi’an (Shee Arn) which resembles a combination of Las Vegas and Times Square but over a massive area of the city centre.  There are 6 power stations surrounding Xi’an, probably powered by Queensland coal and their output is pretty obvious at night.

We are now in Guilin (Gwaylyn) a city surrounded by a limestone karst landscape.  Nearby are amazing rice terraces some 500 years old.  The countryside here is more like Asia but more ordered and clean in comparison with other less developed Asian countries.

Recent observations:

Personal space in China – there is none just get over it.  How to walk through a crowd of people; in a straight line, no deviation.

Domestic travel is huge and you can be sure of massive crowds at any railway station, airport, tourist destination, pedestrian mall or shopping centre.  And all of these venues are overwhelmingly covered by cameras.

You can be confident all souvenirs are made in China, no foreign imports here.

Being a centralised government the newspapers are full of happy news.  No car accidents or shootings, no crime or political intrigue, no scandals or depressing news about the environment and global warming or the price of housing – it’s great.

 

September 15, 2018

Welcome Back.

Its been many months since I last wrote and that has been largely due to not travelling since October last year.  The travel drought has now broken and we are back on the road, this time it’s China.

Airport Design

I have to say something about airport design that we have all experienced.  Modern airports are amazing spaces accommodating huge numbers of people.  These public spaces are flooded with natural light through the expansive use of glass.  The downside is the early morning flight and the rising sun blasting through the airport. It’s like a death ray and it’s always where you are trying to enjoy a coffee or worse, deal with security.   The solution; between 6.00am and 8.30am everyone gets free disposable sunglasses.

Beijing

We have all heard about the air pollution and those stories are not exaggerated.  However apart from the air the city is very clean and well ordered.  No graffiti, no homeless people, no beggars, no litter.  The traffic is heavy but well behaved and no road rage.

This is a city of 24 million people, more than the entire Australian landmass.  And yet it is a very safe city with very limited crime.  The police don’t even carry guns.

How is this achieved I wonder.  It seems the answer is cameras, lots of cameras, thousands of cameras.  Cameras are everywhere from the tops of buildings, to poles in the street, on building corners, in hotel corridors and on traffic light poles.  Everything and potentially everybody is covered by a camera.

Beijing is a place where things get done.  In just twenty five years they have gone from 2 urban rail lines to about 38 commuter lines today.  Long winded consultation or community protest does not interrupt this city’s drive to modernise.

Beijing is a high tech city.  Everyone has a smart phone and yes chatting or texting when driving is as endemic in Beijing as in major city.

A cashless economy is reality for young people who are rapid adopters of new technology.

The streets are filled with VWs, Audi, Lexus, Range Rovers, Porsche and the majority of the motor scooters are electric which makes for relatively quiet streets.

In contrast to this acceptance of high tech is the China firewall.  This firewall is as great as the Great Wall with a similar philosophy behind its design, to minimise disturbance of the social order.

 

 

A traveller to China must be prepared for no Facebook, no Google and slow or interrupted email services.  Of course the upside is that you can enjoy the isolation like the travel experience of 30 years ago when daily contact with home was simply not feasible.

Beijing is a city of multi storey shopping centres filled with Prada, Gucci, Rolex and Cartier stores.

Final comment on Beijing:  I will be more understanding of Chinese signs in Sydney and Melbourne after appreciating the English signs in their capital city.
Continue reading “Log Forty Three – The Great Firewall of China”

16 October 2017

This is the twelfth and last log in the Europe series.  We have been on this odessey for some seven weeks and next it’s the long haul flight back to the antipodes.

I thought I would finish the series with a few awards for outstanding or memorable people or events.

Best Tour Guide

Our Austrian tour guide who directed the Eagles Nest tour managed to get 30 tourists through a very crowded tourist destination with Germanic precision and timing.  No one was lost, no one became emotional and we all got to see everything we needed to see regardless of the crowds.

The staff at our hotel in Split were fantastic and our host in Budapest was super helpful in arranging an apointment with a local doctor.

Taxi Driver Rip Off

A German taxi driver who thought what might have been our change would make a good tip.  Just another holiday expense.

We have felt safe everywhere we have been and were only approached once by a dodgy purveyor of red roses.

Most Memorable Social Event

Oktoberfest was a standout event.  So many people, all having a great time.  The company we were with, the German beer and the whole atmosphere of the day not to mention the snuff made for a lifetime memory.

Worst Roads

The only place we drove was in southern UK and the roads are all good except in Cornwall some looked more like my driveway, in fact my driveway is wider and you can see further than Cornish country lanes.

Most Memorable Sights

This is really hard.  Everything was memorable from old cities through to coastal scenery.  Seeing your bags on the carousel is always a pleasant experience, just knowing they weren’t lost.  Here are few standouts:

Dubrovnik

Split

Venice

Cornish fishing villages

Buckingham palaceBest Meal

There are a few categories here.  The roast duck in Budapest will be talked about for many years, it was the best.  The cream tart in Croatia is something to be enjoyed at least once in your life.

In the UK I am a huge fan of the Cornish pastie and clotted cream on scones.

I am a man of simple tastes and on this trip it’s been the local fare that I have most enjoyed.

Best Beer

German and Czech beer are exceptional.  The Reinheitsgebot or German purity law is 500 years old and it requires that beer can only contain barley, hops, yeast and water.  It’s a good law; no hangovers.

Best Wine

This is very difficult because we sampled wines from many countries and all were good.  The most unique would be GRK, pronounced gerk, which is only grown and sold on the island of Korcula.  It is supposedly from a very ancient Greek grape variety.

Worst Meal

Worst ever was a meal in Dubrovnik just outside the old city.  It’s always good to have a low end benchmark against which you can compare future meals; I now have mine.

Best Accommodation

This is also very hard as the accommodation was all good and so varied. It included cottages, apartments, bed sitters and hotel rooms.  The settings included cities, the grounds of country clubs and golf courses, through to the heights above Dubrovnik and in the garden surrounding Lake Bled.

If I was to consider the best room in terms of comfortable bed, quantity of shower and hot water, room temperature, size and value for money it would be the Premier Inn in Cheltenham.  Yes, that was a surprise for me too.

Best Trains

You can’t  beat the German trains.

Biggest Challenge on the Trip

You would meet a local who would give you a huge list of things to see in their town.  Explaining that you only had two or three days in that location would not dismiss their enthusiasm and in fact would only encourage them to list more ‘must sees’.  You would walk away with your head full of destinations that would require several weeks to accomplish.

Biggest Challenge on Return to Normal Life

Culling the photos I have taken down to a reasonable collection.

 

 

13 October 2017

The last two weeks of this odyssey is upon us and it’s hard to believe that we are suddenly running out of time.  In the last seven weeks we have spent at least one night at 16 different locations.  Our accommodation has been very different from 4 star hotels and cottages through to small one room bed sits.  We have travelled on planes, trains, ferries, busses, cars and by foot. The weather is becoming more like autumn as it gets cooler with showers a little more regular but nothing to stop our adventures.

Observations of Southern England

Town Planning

Port Isaacs

What has been most striking is the revelation that the town planners who designed Dubrovnik, and Split on the Dalmatian coast and the people who designed St Ives and Port Isaacs in Cornwall all went to the same town planning college.  The planning college I am referring to is the ‘narrow, steep streets, unsuitable for cars’ school of civil engineers.

Padstow

The old fishing villages of Corwall are wonderful for wandering about and discovering the back streets and quirky architecture of the small terrace houses that make up these villages, just don’t drive into town or expect to find parking.

TV Shows and Movies

Doc Martin’s Surgery

After visiting the locations for Game of Thrones, Star Wars and some of the Bond movies in Dubrovnik and Split we are now in BBC country for Doc Martin and Poldark.

In both instances you can understand the choices of these locations as the scenery is stunning.

Tourist Impact

Port Isaacs

I had a wonderful chat with a local in Port Isaacs.  She had lived in the village for 20 years and regretted the day the BBC arrived and made the Doc Martin series in her town.  Since that time Port Isaacs has become so popular the locals have started to move out and local homes are being converted to holiday rentals.  In her cul de sac she is the only local living year round, all the other homes in her street are holiday rentals.  It is sad to see these villages lose their local feel and their heritage as fishing villages.

Food

In Corwall it’s all about cornish pasties and clotted cream, not together of course; the clotted cream is for the scones.  Every bakery in Cornwall sells ‘world famous’  or ‘prize winning’ pasties.  This sort of food can only be good for you.

Preservation of History

HMS Victory

The Brits do preservation so well including the 500 year old Mary Rose and HMS Victory along with the villages and stone buildings you find throughout Cornwall and New Hampshire.   In many instances on quiet country lanes you will come around a corner and be confronted by a stone house, barns and other farm buildings that must be many hundreds of years old, still operating as a functioning farm.

Leaps in Technology

The view of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth from Nelson’s window in HMS Victory

It is conceivable that a sailor from the Mary Rose from 1545, could 250 years later step onto HMS Victory and be able to function as a member of the crew.  Both ships were square rigged with muzzle loading guns.  However, for a crew member from the Victory to step on board the Queen Elizabeth in 2017 it would all appear to be black magic and way beyond comprehension.  Where to in the next 200 hundred years?

A Curious Anomoly

In our travels through Eastern Europe and Germany we enjoyed so many fine Czech, Croatian and German beers.  We assumed when we arrived in the UK these products would be available for purchase.  Munich is after all only 1.5 hours away in a plane and at this time everyone is part of the EU.

Alas we were shocked to find great quantities of Budweiser, Coors and other US beer with very little or no German or Czeck beverages on the shelves.  What is the UK consumer thinking or maybe they don’t have a choice; I despair.

 

The final log for this adventure will probably be written from an airport lounge as we face the long flight home.

 

October 5, 2017

Maß (pronounced mass)

I am not talking about a religious service but the beer glass that is served at Oktoberfest.  A Maß is 1 litre and there are over 7 million consumed over the two and a half weeks of the festival.  Some 6 million people visit Munich for the festival.

Of those 6 million visitors the largest group of foreigners are the Austrians; they are just over the border.  Next are the Italians; their numbers are so great one of the Oktoberfest weekends is referred to as the Italian Weekend.  The third largest group are the Australians.

Australians always want to strive to be the best and Oktobestfest is no different. In the 2.5 weeks of the festival there are 7,000 injuries that require hospitalisation and of those 5,000 were Australians. The Australian government even establishes a temporary embassy at the festival just to handle lost passports and other issues experienced by their citizens.

The beer is excellent,, the food perfectly matched, the company outstanding and the snuff perfect for blowing your sinuses clear.

To summarise Oktoberfest: there is the beer, lederhosen for the men, dirndl outfits for the women and large tents of inebriated people.  It’s the best!

Munich

Bike Riders

A guide said to us the bike riders are either suicidal or homicidal.  That pretty much sums it up.  If you have any doubts just get out of the way.

History

In Munich you can’t avoid the history of the Nazis and their time in this city.  What intrigued me is that the Israel embassy now occupies the site of Gestapo headquarters and Hitler’s offices are now occupied by a modern jazz ballet school.  I love the irony.

90% of Munich was destroyed in WW2 and the rebuild was only complete in recent years.  Some 3 million bombs were dropped on the city during the war and they are still finding ones that never unexploded.

The Germans are reliable credit risks.  In 2010 they paid off the debt that came out of the Treaty of Versailles which brought an end to WW1.  That’s 90 years after the treaty and after Germany was so destroyed during WW2.

Beer forms a major part of Greman culture.  (I would add the same applies in the Czech Republic and other countries we visited on this trip.)  Back in the days of the 30 year war Sweden invaded Munich.  Who knew the Swedes invaded anybody.  After being occupied for two years the Munich locals paid the Swedes to leave with gold and a thousand of barrels of beer.  Sounds like a good deal.

Munich is a city of history, museums including the BMW museum, art galleries, beer halls and magnificent gardens.

From Germany our travels take us to southern England which will the subject of the next log.

 

 

 

28 September 2017

It’s been four weeks since we left the Antipodes and there is still about three weeks of our odessey to go.  We have just squeezed in an unexpected trip to Venice during our three night stay at Ljublana.

Here are my latest ramblings.

Ljubljana

What a gem; Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia is based on the Ljubjlana river under the gaze of the Ljubjlana  castle.  It seems every Eurpoean town of any size has its own castle on the hill overlooking the town.

Ljubljana has wonderful pedestrian avenues lining the river with all sorts of restaurants, bars, bakeries, markets and shops.  In the old city the streets are narrow and winding.  There are streets trams and buses but walking through the city is a real pleasure.  There is the graffiti we have seen in all of the European cities we have  visited but in the old part of Ljubljana the streets are clean and the buildings neat and tidy.

You get the district feeling Ljubjlana is working hard to become a destination of choice for tourists.

European Women

During our visit Ljublana was filled with school groups all on excursions with assignment booklets tucked under their arms.  What was so European was one of the teachers who was so elegantly dressed that she included her Prada handbag on her school trips.

Cutest Scene Ever

A group of about ten three year olds were on an excursions through the city.  Their teachers were escorting them across a pedestrian crossing and as they crossed the road each one of the kids raised one hand to the traffic essentially telling the trucks and cars to stop while they crossed the road.  They were each no more than one metre tall and yet they controlled the road.  Everyone who could see this scene broke out with a chuckle or at least a huge smile.  This was about be the cutest scene for this entire trip.

Hapsburg Inscription

Over the entrance to the Ljublana castle were the initials to the inscription: Austria is destined to rule over the entire globe.  I guess that strategic outcome never came off and I wonder if someone had it on their performance agreement.  The statement does illustrate the number of empires that have ruled over what is now Europe that have come and gone.

My knowledge of Europen history is not good but so far we have heard about the Romans, Huns, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Ottomans, Hapsburgs, National Socialists  Workers Party (Nazis), Comunists and now the EU.  I am sure yet this list leaves out huge chunks of history and I apologise for that.

Currencies

So far we have used British Pound, Czech Koruna,  Hungarian Forint, Croation Kuna and now Euro.  The mental arithmetic you apply every time you make a purchase to get a quick idea of what it is costing in Australian dollars is a great brain exercise.  Working out the change you have in your pocket and whether it applies to the country you are now in is also a challenge.

It’s a very sad look when one is left standing at a cash register with a handful of coins trying to work out the correct amount under the gaze of a very amused check out assistant.

Venice

What an amazing city.  The photos you have seen do not do the city real credit.  Exploring narrow streets and canals is a fascinating experience.  The history of the city is quite overwhelming.  The Republic of Venice operated for 1,000 years, only coming to end through the efforts of Napoleon.  There is no country in current time with a history of 1,000 years.

So the result of such a long history is the amazing wealth accumulated by the city which you can see today in the basilicas, palaces, public and private buildings. However as Venetians move out of the city it is rapidly becoming a tourism destination rather than a living city.  About 2,000 Venetians leave the city every year.

The population of Venice today is about 20,000 and falling.  There are times when 75,000 visitors can arrive in one day!

Another curious bit of trivia:  Venice is built in a lagoon with the islands created by driving timber piles into the mud on top of which stone foundations were laid.  The interesting bit is the timber came from cutting down forests along the Dalmation coast which sort of explains the lack of trees in Montenagro, Split, Dubrovnik etc.   The word Dubrovnik supposedly meant oak forest; we didn’t see any oaks.

Groceries

We have as far as possible stayed in self catering apartments.  This has meant visits to local grocery stores to buy our supplies.  These stores  are ofter very small and quite intimate.  So far we have been quite successful in our purchases and have not come home with cans of cat food which we thought was tuna.

25 September 2017

Our travels have taken us inland and away from the balmy weather of the Dalmation coast. The weather has turned from sunshine and warm days to overcast skies and showery days.

Some random observations:

Buidings

The buildings throughout Eastern Europe are of a very solid construction generally masonry with a finish in stone or alternatively solid stone.  This makes for very solid homes which are very quiet and warm.  Putting speaker wires through those walls or a new power outlet however must be a challenge.

The entrance to our apartment in Zagreb

The apartments we have stayed in have been recently renovated and are fitted out with very modern fixtures.  However they are generally in old buildings with a street frontage that gives no hint to what the apartment might be like. You often enter through large double doors into a entrance hall from which you then ascend the stairs or if you are lucky there will be a lift.

Train Travel

Village of Lake Bled

Customer service has a slightly different emphasis or meaning in Eastern Europe.   Our train arrived in what turned out to be our destination.  There were no signs on the platform announcing the name of the town that we could see, nor were there any announcements on the train.  A casual enquiry of a the conductor as whether this was our destination brought forward the exclamation ‘yes, yes, you must get off, quickly’.  Always good for the relaxed ambience of the whole travel experience.

We virtually threw our suitcases off the train which continued to sit at the platform for several more minutes.

Adoption

During our visit to Split we were invited by a young woman at a souvenir shop to adopt her and take her back to Australia.  When prompted she agreed washing and cooking for us would be part of the deal.  When her mother arrived she just shrugged off her daughter’s ambition to migrate to Australia; it seemed to be of no concern to her.  I think the young woman wanted to avoid going back to her university studies in the next couple of weeks.    I wonder did we just miss an opportunity for a live-in house keeper?

Accommodation in Lake Bled

Our digs at Lake Bled was once one of General Tito’s residences.   It seems he had many throughout the old Yugoslavia but this one he used to entertain foreign heads of state and other senior diplomats.  The villa is now owned by the Slovenian government and its a very comfortable place to stay; very old school.   The hotel has retained some of the old charm including doors  that you lock with a key.  Imagine a modern hotel where you used a key to lock your door.  Our suite included an entrance hall, a bedroom, lounge and bathroom.

Lake Bled

Lake Bled is located within the Julian Alps or so they say.  Our time at Lake Bled aligned with a weather pattern  that ensured the mountains were covered in cloud and the days were wet and cool.  These are the risks you face when travelling for several weeks, the weather is never going to be perfect.

More to come as the adventure continues…….

 

25 September 2017

The Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic is a stunning setting for these medieval towns and villages.  The sea is azure blue and the water crystal clear.  The perfect setting for the expensive playthings for the rich and powerful.  The yachts and motor launches are everywhere.  I can only imagine the  congestion of these boats in the peak summer season.

Game of Thrones

Everywhere you go, from Dubrovnik to Split there is a setting that became part of the HBO series Game of Thrones.  The locals have made good use of this fact and in many places there are references to how specific scenes were cast. There are also many Game of Thrones tours you can do to see exactly where specific scenes were filmed.

It turns out many films have been filmed in this area including James Bond, Star Wars and Robin Hood.  I am going to have to watch all these movies again so I can spot the Dubrovnik or Split scene.

Beer versus Coffee

Its a great country where you find the price of a beer is about the same as a coffee at about $3.00.  You will not be out of place ordering a beer at say 10.30am and sipping it in the sunshine on the main boulevard of Split watching the people and boats go by; bliss.

European Wasps

Yep, I know how they got that name and their bite is memorable.

Croatian Language

Croatian is a Slavic language which means there are few words that are recognisable or similar to English words.  The challenge I faced was that dogs understand the language when spoken to by their owners and yet I was completely ignorant of what was being said. I am not sure where that leaves me in comparison with Croatian dogs.

Stone walls in olive groves

Croatian Food

Black risotto is a traditional seafood dish.  The black comes from the use of octopus or cuttlefish ink.  I am told the cuttlefish ink is a more refined flavour.  It was certainly delicious.

The Drinking Water

We have been told on many occasion that the tap water is safe to drink.  It seems to be a matter of pride for Croatians that their water is safe and maybe it’s an illustration of their progress as an independent country following the civil war of the 1990s.

The Wine of Lumbarda

Lumbarda and GRK Vineyards

The village of Lumbarda holds the unique claim of being the only place where the GRK (pronounced gerk) vine is cultivated and GRK wine made.  GRK is a white wine that supposedly came from the Greeks.  This is probably a wine variety with an unchanged heritage as old as the settlement of the island of Korchula and the village of Lumbarda  specifically.

TV

It’s a bit disconcerting to watch MASH, or maybe The Big Bang Theory all dubbed in Croatian.  Alan Alda speaking Croatian is a bit disturbing.