May 16th. A few km after we entered Croatia, we arrived in Varaždīn. Thomas continued towards Ljubljana and we went to the old town for photos and ice cream. As usual. After that, we went to the campground that was marked in my map, but there was none. Just a lot of old caravans, turned into low-cost bungalows. We asked a couple for the camping and they told us that we could camp in their garden. It was next to a beautiful lake made by the river which was great for pictures and the usual “look where we are…”.
The next morning we went towards Ptuj in Slovenia, which was another lovely surprise. Beautiful road (bit busy though) and a charming old town. After lunch we rode back towards Croatia, following the road on my old map. That road was now a highway, so we had to improvise for a few km. After the border it was all downhill and we arrived in Krapina, a town that’s famous because of the Neanderthal site, which is the biggest in Europe. The next day was our last day together on the road, as we cycled to Zagreb. Busy road, stressful, like every time you enter a big city. Once we arrived we did the usual pictures and we went to our flat. Next day my family arrived and Dave had to learn Spanish to survive. We visited the old town and we all enjoyed the Museum of Broken Relationships.
Dave left to Vienna the next day (Sunday) and I stay in Zagreb with my family for a couple of days, which were great as every time we’re all together. Lot of stories that could turned this into a book but that’s not going to happen.
On Tuesday my family went back to Barcelona and I continued to Sisak, 70 km along the Sava river. That night I stay at Ivona’s, a very nice person with a funny dog. They showed me their town (another nice one) and the river. The next day I was ready to go but got lazy during breakfast and decided to stay in a hotel. Good decision. The following days I rode along the Sava, which in some parts makes the border with Bosnia. My last city in Croatia was Vukovar, which is divided from Serbia by the Danube. The city was sieged and severely damaged during the last balkan war. I’ve learned a bit of the history and visited a memorial at the cemetery and later the Ovčara farm. After that, I rode the last 40km before crossing to Serbia.
