DAY THIRTEEN

Arrival in Split - and Goodbye

Although I did not know it in the morning, this would be our last day together. I had convinced Rolf that Split was worth visiting and that I had a better chance of a flight back to Germany at short notice. The scenery was breathtaking once more. High mountains and river valleys with a large reservoir-lake in between.





Hence we drove overland again from Sarajevo towards Split with a stopover in Mostar. In Sarajevo, we had seen signs of the war that had taken place here 30 years ago: there were still bullet holes in some walls, and signs of repairs to many houses that clearly indicated enemy fire (in residential areas). Sarajevo had been besieged by Serbian troops and the bridge at Mostar was blown up. It has now been rebuilt with contributions, Italy and the Netherlands contributing some millions. Now the small city is bustling with activity again.





    

After lunch in Mostar we used the motorway to reach Split. The border crossing is actually situated on the motorway, and thankfully there was only a short queue and friendly officials and we took just half an hour to get through.

The motorway is situated behind the first row of mountains which guard the coast, and the road is then surrounded by mountains on both sides. In this area there is little agriculture- there are few even areas. We arrived in Split and had lodgings at a student complex to the west. The first thing we did was grab our swimming things and make our way to the beach - a cold swim and a warm sundown!




Afterwards we went for a stroll in Split. We had booked two nights here and I fully expected to take photos on the second day. No chance. I had not yet booked a flight home. Back at the hotel I checked flights for the two following days and there was only one direct flight to Stuttgart: 7.50 next morning. Without knowing, today was my last day with Rolf.

After 3,500 km together, and travelling through seven countries our journey had come to an end. Rolf will continue but I had to return to Germany.

Goodbye!






Go to DAY ONE - CLICK HERE.
Go to DAY TWO - CLICK HERE.
Go to DAY THREE - CLICK HERE.
Go to DAY FOUR - CLICK HERE.
Go to DAY FIVE - CLICK HERE.
Go to DAY SIX - CLICK HERE.
Go to DAY SEVEN - CLICK HERE.
Go to DAY EIGHT - CLICK HERE.
Go to DAY NINE - CLICK HERE.
Go to DAY TEN - CLICK HERE.
Go to DAY ELEVEN- CLICK HERE. 
Go to DAY TWELVE - CLICK HERE.

For a list of my other (mainly map) blogs - CLICK HERE.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 DAY ONE Meeting in Weiden  Today I took German Rail to the edge of Germany - to a spot 29 km from the border with the Czech Republic to be precise. With German Rail this is not always as easy as it should be. Renowned for being late and cancelling trains at short notice, I too, was affected. Originally I had wanted to be in Weiden at 3 p.m. but my train was cancelled in the morning due to personnel (the driver?) being sick at short notice - but then it was a Sunday!! At least it was announced early enough. Why Weiden! My friend Rolf loves driving. And if you had a modern Mazda MX5 maybe you would too! He has driven it all round Europe and last year we travelled through Poland together. This year he opted for a trip to Romania and asked me to join him. I never say NO. As he had to travel from Hamburg, Weiden was a convenient meeting place. The train that was cancelled had a warning - expect high number of passengers - so, obviously, the intended passengers had to travel on the later tr
Read more
Image
 Day Two From Weiden to Brno Today we almost crossed the Czech Republic from west to east. Travelling mosly on "A" roads (that is German B roads), and avoiding the motorways, we passed through countryside which could have been southern Germany. Rolling hills, lots of forest areas and an abundance of agricultural land. This last was mainly wheat and the fields were full of the huge straw bales looking like the wheels from some super size mega-truck. Maize was still growing and was lush and green. However, the villages were different; here the houses were neatly arranged beside the road, each with a large door to admit a horse and cart, or today a tractor or motorised vehicle. Our first stop was Pisek: a quaint town situated on the banks of the Otava River. Here is the oldest stone bridge in the Czech Republic. In the past it was a staging post for the "Flösser", the men (and women) who took rafts down the river to sell the tree logs that they had felled earlier in th
Read more