DAY 3 - From Opatija to Plitvice

Last day along the coast, in the afternoon we will move towards east, reaching Plitvice lakes. But let's start with a coffee stop in the picturesque old town Krk, on Krk island.

Happy Will with his granita walking around Krk.

A brand new and big ferry is waiting for us, in about 90 min we will reach the next island, Rab.

Wayne admiring the deep blue water.

By far the best lunch stop of the tour: terrace restaurant Astoria overlooking Rab Marina, sea food is simply delicious. Thank you Larissa and all the kind staff to welcome us every time we come to Rab!

Scallop Istria style.

And hand made gnocchi with shrimp, pine nut and rucola. Divine.

We still have a bit of time before the next ferry, and Shelley jumps immediately in the water in the harbour. Yes, this is the harbour... hard to believe uh?

Pikes Peak 2014 Multistrada and new 2015 Multistrada, two very sexy ladies!

Last photoshop along the coast, bye bye beautiful Adriatic sea, let's climb mountains now!

Afternoon coffee in Otocac, inland in Croatia. Here the sign of the Yugoslavian war are still tangible, as you can see from the bullet holes on the facade of the houses.

AY 2 - Rest day around IstriaT

Second day of the tour, and already a rest day? Yes because the area around Opatija is just to beautiful to skip it, so we enjoy a late start and we ride along the coast till we reach a cafe with a spectacular view over the Kvarner bay.

Blue water and clear blue sky, what a great day around Croatia!

Hari and Franz posing after the morning coffee.

So many Vespas around Croatia these days: they are all going south, because in Dalmatia there is an enormous world meeting for Vespa lovers! Here we met a group from Ferrara, Italy.

Every village of Istria has plenty of historical buildings, this one is Pican with its several centuries old church tower.

Limsky fjord (well, it's a bit different than Norwegian ones, but still...), famous for its mussel production.

A special treat for the group: Safari Bar at Cape Kamenjak, a wonderful natural reserve at the southeast point of the Istrian peninsula. There is even a cute Dog's bar... and where is the dog?

Here he is of course! He is jumping all over welcoming the guests...

Bamboo and refreshing shade, what a fantastic gem, Manuel's favourite in Croatia.

With such a beautiful day we definitely need to go for a swim, and this rocky bay is very tempting...

Even the parking lot has a stunning view!

After the ride we end the day with a tasty dinner on the Lungomare restaurant, not too bad the setting eh?

Yummy calamari filled with cheese and Dalmatian ham, a local delicacy already worth a trip to Croatia.

Today is also Denie's 66th birthday, let's celebrate then!

The waiter did quite a good job with the dessert tray.

DAY 1 - From Klagenfurt to Opatija

Blue sky, really warm early summer in southern Austria. A fairly mixed group that stretches from New Zealand (Denie, but he lives in Vegas) and Australia (Wayne and his brother Will, Aussie born but with roots in China) to United States (Shelley, Stephanie, Dane, Paul), passing through Lebanon (Wael and Morel, although they live in Qatar), Finland (Jari, but living in Seattle since 20 years) and Switzerland (Franz and Martin). What a great company of the ring eh? Ah what's missing? Manuel, the tour guide is from Italy... and the tour starts in Austria and goes through Croatia and Slovenia. Alright, confused enough with geography?

First coffee stop in the little town Kropa, just before starting a narrow mountain road.

Caves of Postojna, Europe biggest cave open to public. There is even a small electric train for the first part.