Today we set off for Croatia. First stop Pula, on the Istrian Peninsula. Looks like a fairly long drive, so freeway travel is the order of the day. Northern Italy must be the crossroads for road transport into central and eastern Europe. There are literally hundreds of trucks on the freeway traveling in both directions. Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Polish, and Croatian number plates are everywhere.

After an hour or so, we leave Italy and enter Slovenia, before we get to Croatia. This is where we receive a major shock. There we were barreling down the freeway, halfway through Slovenia, when we are flagged down by the police. "Damn," I thought, "A speed trap." Nope - if only it was a speed trap! After we stopped we were approached by one of the policemen (there were about 6 of them) who demanded to see our passports and rego papers. He then proceeded to inform us that we were stopped because we didn't have the appropriate sticker on the car to enable us to drive on Slovenian freeways (a vignette). "Oh well," I thought, "I suppose we'll just have to buy one." Nope. No such luck. We were being fined. And not just any fine. An on-the-spot fine of 150 euros!!!!! If we refused to pay the fine then our car could be confiscated for a period of up to 6 months, and then we would be liable for a 300 euro fine!! Welcome to Slovenia. Have a bloody nice day!!

Anyway, after a bit more grumbling about eastern European hospitality (or lack thereof), we were soon on our way out of Slovenia and into Croatia (we actually got two more stamps in our passports - one for exiting Slovenia, one for entry to Croatia). Not much to say about the rest of the drive. Flat featureless countryside. Non-descript towns. Even Pula doesn't show much to be excited about. Our hotel is 3 or 4 kms the other side of town. When we got there we were very much surprised. Flash new hotel which wouldn't be out of place on the Gold Coast. For the price we paid (not very much), it would have to be the bargain of the year.

We checked in and did a bit of research on Pula (thank you Google.com). It seems there is more to the place than meets the eye. There are a number of ancient Roman Sites worth a look. And since our accommodation is superb, we've decided to spend an extra day here to do a bit of exploring.