Leaving behind Vienna, the fine Viennese café and the delicious strudels we crossed beautiful hilly landscapes of Austria and arrived in Slovenia about the end of September.
After cycling in a not so easy area we overnighted in Kirchschlag in der Buckligen Welt, a mountainary village. The humidity was unbearable! We tried to put our tent in a park, but unfortunately for us this was not going to happen. A group of elderly men with their way would not let us camp there. So we had to find a hotel in the area or a cozy place to spend the night. it finally turned out to be a better solution. The cold was unbearable, it was getting dark and we were very tired.
Early noon we reached Oberwart that is mostly an industrial, labor town close to Hungarian borders. We had decided to stay there the night, so we tried free camping to save some money. Eventually turned out a bad decision, the cold and the humidity were too much. However we had pleasant times.
Continuing our tour next stop was Gleisdorf, a small town close to Graz. The weather conditions were almost the same as Oberwart and it wasn’t easy for us to find an economic accommodation. So the solution was a free camping again!
Next morning we left Gleisdorf the last town we’ve been in Austria and crossed the borders of Slovenia.
Beautiful Slovenia, so green and natural! First night our ”warmshower friend” Anton so warm and friendly welcomed us in his ranch, that is close to Maribor, the second largest city after Ljubljana.
The first night in Slovenia couldn’t be better.
September 26-27 we stayed in Maribor, a student city with smilie people rich in culture and with a rich past in industry.
Next overnight was in Gorenje pri Zrečah up to the mountain. Then in a small town Litija as we were going to Ljubljana, we found coziness and hospitality in Marjan’s home. Chatting we this family it was great, we’ve learn a lot about there culture and their habits.
The weather was ideal for cycling and easily approached Ljubljana after leaving Marjan’s home.
Also when we arrived in Ljubljana a happy moment for us was that we saw Lukas again an experienced cyclist from Poland that we had met in Maribor.
Ljubljana is a very interesting capital with artistic events.
Among other things something that drew our attention was the very important role and history of Slovenian puppet art.
Photo from the book: IMAGES OF SLOVENIAN PUPPETRY ART. 1910-1990, Permanent exhibition at Ljubljana Castle.
The city from Ljubljana’s castle.
Café, Restaurants and Souvenir shops.
The central market of Ljubljana.
The Dragon Bridge.
It was really pleasant in Ljubljana. Continuing with direction Zagreb…
A night in Novo Mesto and we were in Zagreb.
We didn’t saw a lot of Croatia, was approaching the end of our journey and the weather was getting worse.
So the next day we took the train to Belgrade and from there we returned back to Greece by train.
In the train station we’ve met Burko, a lovely cyclist friend from Turkey and we traveled together till Thessaloniki.
There after a coffee and a lot of chatting, we got different directions, Burko to Kavala and then to Izmir and we continued to Florina and then Kastoria to our home.
End of this almost two months tour.
We are looking for the next with new experiences.
Bike Trips-The Joy Of Cycling 