Prague and Central Europe 2017: Dubrovnik to Zagreb

Well, the day started out so well. Up at about 6.30 to pack and get on the road to Zagreb. We knew we had a bit of a long day traveling so got away at 7.30 to do the 650 kilometres to our hotel in Zagreb. Because we were taking the Autocesta we could cruise at about 130km/h. Pam would give me a little nudge if my speed got close to 150km/h, most of the day I behaved myself and avoided the people going crazy speeds. We called in to our B&B in Split to pick up Pams' shoes she’d left behind; we also took the opportunity to have some smoko in Split. Drove through some amazing country, the mountains are huge and the road system is first rate.

Back on the road and we made great time, got to the outskirts of Zagreb and the Sat-Nav indicated we still had about 40 minutes to travel, no problem, I’d organised the hotel to be on the other side of town so we’d get on the road early tomorrow. Maybe it was a lack of research, Pams suggesting it was stupidity, in the end I was wrong in more ways than one. The hotel I’d so carefully selected was, unbeknownst to me, a hotel designed, built and used for the ski season. Consequently it was 12 kilometres up a mountain, actually at the top of the mountain. As the receptionist said, “2,000 metres closer to the sun.” As it is sometimes, well okay, always the case, to get to these little gorgeous romantic hideaways there are a couple hairpin bends to get there. There may have been 37 but who’s counting. There was one other problem. It seems the Sat-Nav got the address wrong by about 500 metres which meant we overshot the driveway by that amount. Then there was one other problem. We were on a one way road which lead all the way down the mountain, thankfully only 27 hairpins on the way down. To add to the excitement a huge thunder storm came up, lightning, thunder, rain, the works. We got back down the mountain and the Sat-Nav tried to take us back along a number of one way streets which the car couldn’t fit down. Finally found our way back to the road up the mountain and through those 37 hairpins, in the rain, watching the lightning as the light faded. The road has a complete canopy of trees and the edges of the road drop away to gods knows where (not sure she has any idea either!!). Just to make things even more exciting we came across a few cyclists dicing with death, they nearly had their wish come true when we rounded those bend!!! All's well that ends well – made it to the hotel at about 6pm, beautiful 5 storey complex and we are the only guests. We have a receptionist, bar tender and three kitchen staff all waiting for us to make a move.

The most positive thing to come out of all this is the fact that Pam has stayed remarkably calm throughout the whole experience. I think I heard quite a few encouraging remarks during the 2 hours it took to find the hotel and I know she understands the pressure of having to drive like a rally driver for an extended period. I also think she may never talk to me again.

We now have beer and wine so you never know, a couple of wines and she'll be okay???