So our time on the magnificent Adriatic Coast has come to an end - such a picturesque region, with scenic views at every turn, and quite the equal of the Mediterranean.
With another beautiful day weather wise we hit the road, passed through Bosnia Herzegovina again and then at Ploce we turned north, getting onto a brand new freeway (tolled of course) and passed over the mountain range.
We stopped briefly at some roadside stalls selling the local produce of the Neretva area - all the jams, pickles, dried fruits etc that you could imagine as well as Limoncello and a similar sweet liquor made from oranges! There were tastings of all types and the four of us bought a bottle of the orange one to have as a night cap in Zagreb.
Once on the other side of the mountains the country was much greener and we saw many farms start to appear! Mostly quite small with a few animals and growing cereals and vegetables. The rolling hills and heavily wooded areas were a great change from the rocky terrain of the coast!
Now that the road was super smooth I was able to catch up on my blog and got a few days done before we stopped at the Skradin Bridge over the Krka River for lunch. There was a nice cafe there overlooking the deep gorge and the huge, arched bridge. We could also see the little ancient town on the banks of the river.
It was quite hot and we enjoyed a beer in the shade of some trees, until it was time to be back on the coach for the last leg to Zagreb.
The landscape became more like the green areas of Slovenia and Austria we had seen on the drive down and we actually retraced our route for a few kilometres before arriving onto the huge plain that the Zagreb region is built on. There was a little more industry in this area - quite different to the subsistence agriculture of the south.
We had a last comfort stop about 90kms from Zagreb and again Gasper shopped some local brew for us - different varieties of grappa! He sure had found a way a passing the hours of driving and keeping us all entertained - his commentary at various times along the way was very informative too, as his local knowledge was excellent.
So it was a pretty chirpy bunch that survived the 8 hour drive to the outskirts of Zagreb and we passed through several large industrial areas sporting names of goods very familiar to us. There were also some pretty rough looking communist era apartment blocks, but the biggest thing to hit us smack in the eye was all the graffiti - every building had it - apparently there is little or no crime in Zagreb (quite surprising really) and as there is not a huge police presence on the streets and so with a fine of about $20 being no deterrent, the young ones spray to their hearts content!
As to be expected the city, being very old, and with a relatively poor economy, Zagreb has large areas of rather ugly buildings and we saw plenty of them on the roads to our hotel. There is a great public transport system with trams and trains, but there are also lots of cars and with parking at a premium, many just pull up on the footpath!
Our hotel,The Westin, is one of the largest and best in the city, and before long we had joined the half dozen other coaches in the park and were waiting to checkin. Our rooms were old but very comfortable, with nice beds and bathrooms and free WiFi.
We had a buffet dinner after a freshen up - the meals on tour have been extraordinarily good - and time to chat with the others before doing some washing and hitting the sack.
So our tour is nearly at an end - only tomorrow left and it will be a big one, with a city walking tour, a drive out into the country for lunch at a farmhouse and a gala farewell dinner at night!