Robin has also put herself  on the waitlist for Spain in Sept 2012,  just in case, as she put it, she can “finagle it”.  I love that word:  finagle.  Finagle away, Robin!!!!

Robin and John are both strong bikers even though they probably don’t get quite as many miles as they would like.  They both have lots of other stuff going on all the time.  None of that other stuff seems to slow them down when on the bike though.   Robin is a great climber and she will be able to put that skill to good use in Croatia…..and, if she can finagle it, Spain.

This will be good.  We now have two Robins on the same tour.  What are the odds of that?  Any other Robins out there?   Robin Williams, maybe?

It’s great to have you guys in for this.   If you liked the ride in Corsica, you will like the ride in Croatia.  It’s Corsica with truffles.

Robin in front of the Intercity Hotel in Vientiane back in Feb 2010. She started with our longest tour..Tour d'Indochine...700 miles.

Robin can motor. There is no doubt about that. This is Indochine in 2010

John on the way to Evisa in Corsica, May 2011

John and Robin at Col de Verghio in Corsica, May 2011

Eating by the beach in Sagone, Corsica.

Robin and Annette are troopers.  They were on our Lao tour way back in February, 2008.  We’ve stayed in touch ever since.  They always have had an active interest in Big Brother Mouse and other worthy causes.

Robin and Annette have some really nice Rodriquez travel bikes too.  You don’t see many of those.

It’s great to have you on board, guys!  It’s been way too long.

****

PS- We’ve met Rick’s group at the Pri Mraku in Ljubljana several times.  We have never seen Rick himself in LJU, but we have run into him (figuratively) in Arco de la Frontera, Spain.  He signed a napkin for us.

In Laos in 2008

This is one of Robin and Annette's pics from back then. I forgot all about it. We were lucky enough to run into an Elephant Parade in Luang Prabang that year.

I can tell this wasn't in Laos.

What to wear?  A scarf blowing from your neck is good.  A waist length leather coat is good.  Sun glasses?, sure….big ones.  Cell phone?  Yes, of course, you need to be in touch.  Bike shoes, no.  Helmet,  no.  Spandex?, you can't be serious…..  only if you happen to be on your way to or from a bike race….that you are actually entered in.

On my last day I endeavored to capture the look on film.  Given that most people are in motion and my camera skills are not so great, it was kind of hit or miss.  But I gave it a shot, just the same.

First, the bike.   Not every bike is in motion, so this is a little easier to capture. 
 

The brakes are important. I loved these which are not uncommon.

No messing with brake cables when solid metal rods will do.

Chain guard is mandatory. It keeps everything neat. A chain tattoo on your white pants would be not good.

And a good brand name helps a lot. "Zanski" has some panache and I imagine it works well in any Slovenian sentence.

Basket and a rack maximize utility.

OK, now for some action shots.

If you have an instrument, it's an added plus. Big, but not too big. Cello size is about perfect.

Love the light under the basket and the wheel guard to keep your coattails out of the spokes. The derailleur not so really needed though. There are no hills in town.

I like the rack....and the coat...and the white pants and the swooping dual top tube.

A work truck of a bike.

Kids as passengers are common. So is the cell phone. Helmets are generally considered kid stuff, but I guess there isn't much car traffic so perhaps not so bad.

The sunglasses and scarf work. So does a non-moving chat on the mobile from the bridge near the main square. There is no better place to see or be seen.

There is a LOT to like about Ljubljana.

We ran across a corner building with a bunch of old cars with dust on them:  an early 50's Oldsmobile hearse, a similar vintage BMW, an old humpback Volvo, something called a Wartburg (Huh?  new to me too).  They all appeared to be awaiting restoration.  It looked like they had been waiting a long time….and would probably be waiting forever.

We headed back to Maribor and spent another couple hours at the week long evening wine tasting event (the people there keep telling us we should come all week).  Lat night it was sausage and wine.  Tonight it is chocolate and wine.  Tomorrow it will cheese and wine.  I think we will miss tomorrow.  We need to get to Celje and eventually find our way back to Ljubljana.

View of Drava River in Maribor

Watch out for the cyclists!

The view towards Austria

My brohter had one of these old Volvos

One eyed BMW

Take your best guess.

The ever popular Wartburg

Evening shot in the Square. The Monument is to The Plague of 1674

Brian with Mojda, the gracious lady from Lucifer Chocalates hosting the wine and chocolate tasting. She lives in Celje (where we are headed next) and invited us to visit her.

Brian at the tasting. They are fun events....and reasonable....5 euros.

Onward to Celje…….

We went to a wine tasting in Maribor tonite.  it's been raining all day and we virtually had the place to ourselves.  We learned a lot…not necessarily about wines, but about the noises that we heard all along the bike ride the prior week.

Eric though there was something wrong with his bike…and then I did.  We heard noises that roughly corresponded to our speed.  It wasn't our bikes, It was wind rattles.  They are things that look like small windmills that put out different pitched noises.  Their purpose is to scare birds away from the vineyards.  The birds have grown accustomed to them so they are no longer effective, but the tradition of wind rattles continues.  They date back to the 1500's.  The place where they had the wine tasting has a small museum devoted to them.

Brian checking out the countryside from the Grad in Ptuj

At the wine tasting in Maribor, Slovenia

Early depiction of a wind rattle.

This vine was in front of the place they had the wine tasting. It is the oldest grapevine in the world! Over 400 years!!!!

A "wind rattler"

We hopped the ferry over to Valbiska and and then made our way to our lunch stop in Krk on the island of Krk before heading on to Vrbnik.  No Well, we finished up in Ljubjana right on schedule.  The weather the entire trip was just about perfect.,,From Beli we climbed back up to the ridge of the island before descending back down to Merag.  On the way we were fortunate in that we came across 8 or 9 Griffon's vultures soaring on the cliffside.

I don't think the pictures will really do them justice.  The are majestic.

No one seemed to have much trouble finding our hotel (it is the only one in town).  That was the good news.  The bad news was that there was a big padlock on the door.  I called their number.  No answer.  That is not good sign.  No amount of confirmations or pieces of paper can do much good at that point.  I beat it over to the tourist office (Mare) where Helena did a great job of helping me out.  We ended up in very nice private suites by the beach and went swimming in the Adriatic followed by a nice dinner at the Gospora restaurant down the street. 

The following day we biked 14k to Silo and met our Superfast Croatian Speedboat which gave all of us a lift (all at the same time!) back to the mainland.   The remaining part of the ride to Brod Na Kupi on the border with Slovenia is the toughest.  Myself, Ann and Andymann rode the whole enchilada. 

When we arrived in Brod Na Kupi, guess what?  No room at the hotel…AGAIN!  Kind of hard to believe it could happen two days in a row, but somehow Croatia just seems to be of that nature.  6 of us ended up in a house and Ann and I had a couple rooms next door.   It was fine, but still, I and everyone else could do without the uncertainty.   Our hosts were fun….they offered homemade "raki" made from apples.  Regardless of where we stayed, there is no beating the Hotel Mance for food.  It is out of this world.

Our last day took us past the Turjak Castle where we stopped for a tour (a real dungeon! and a 400 year old tree in front!)  We then made our way down to the old Ljubjana road, which is spectacular and carries virtually no traffic.  Everyone foundour hotel…the Pri Mrak U after arriving back in LJU….eventually.

Eric and Andy and Frank are back in the US by now.  Ann left for Frankort,  Geoff and Mary (from Australia) are headed to Venice and then Verona.  Brian and I are headed towards Hungary with our bikes and panniers for some exploring.  We plan to take the train from LJU to Ptuj ("pooay") where we will start to ride to….wherever.

Best,  Bob

We walked around in after dinner. It is down right spooky at night. There are only 45 full time residents

The view on the ride from Beli in the morning.

The ferry at Merag

Brian contemplating a dive in the Adriatic in Vrbnik.

Frank looking like he is going under....while smiling!

Beli...the mainland is in the background.

Our bikes lashed to the "Superfast Croatian Speedboat for the 10 minute ride to the mainland

Gettin set for launch. The van takes a bridge to the mainland and meets us up the road.

Andymann and Eric wondering if they will ever see the van again.

Disembarking in Crikvenica

This is one of the places we stayed at in Brod Na Kupi.

Ann got along very well with Marco, the owner.

...as yo.u can see

In front of Hotel Mance

We had some great views on the run back to Ljubljana

Beli is an old town.  There are no streets…only passage ways.  The town only has 45 year round residents.  The buildings are all stone and give every appearance of dating back to the Roman era origins of the place.  We walked around town after dinner.  Spooky.

On the ride in to Beli I spotted a Griffon's vulture perched in a tree. This area is known for them and there is a sanctuary right next to La Tramontana, where we are staying.  The young  birds are startled by gun shots
and or the noise of tourist boats.  They can't fly and plummet to the see where they are frequently rescued by the folks from the sanctuary.

Dinner outside in Motovun. There was a big a concert next door...free music.

The view in the morning from Motovun. Motovun perched right at the top of a hill.

The archway entrance into Motovun. Everyone goes up the single cobblestone road.

The sunrise view from the wall that surrounds the village.

I gave my camera a workout. It is hard not to.

Motovun in the distance as we rode away the next morning.

Brian and Andymann on their way to Rabac...we take a small road out of Motovun....kind of steep in parts actually.

Mr. Eric with Motovun in the background

Everyone taking a break at the Castle in Pazin. The gorge next door inspired Jules Verne to write some of his books.

Ann and Eric enjoying the deck of our hotel in Rabac

Ann checking out the map at the overlook. We are headed to the ferry which we take over to Beli on the island of Cres.

Geoff cruising to the Ferry boat.

This is the high point of the Island. We ride along the top of the ridge.

Ann on Cres

A griffon's vulture in the top of a tree.

The town of Beli. It dates to Roman times. There is an old Roman road leading to town.

And then there was this display right downtown.  The explanations were in Slovenian…so I can't tell you much about it….except it reminded me of some Board Meetings from a prior life:

I hereby call this meeting to order

"I move we dispense with the reading of the minutes"

say, what's the meaning of this audit report?

This is the start of the 100 meter bike/foot race. The finish line is just past the blue banner. It was on cobbles. I came back later in the evening....they had moved on to POLE VAULTING!!

Anyway, we are all here except for Ann T.  Her flight from San Fran was canceled.  She has been rescheduled.  She'll only have 12 hours in LJU before we start the ride.  That's a "piece of cake" for "Le Annimal".

Brian's home away from home, Le Petite Cafe in Ljubljana, awaits him.  Brian is in for Croatia.

Brian and I plan to poke around the following week and perhaps scout some new territory.  Brian will need to go shopping for some panniers before then.

Ann is very athletic (hence her nickname "Annimal").  In addition to cycling, she is an avid tennis player.  We once followed her all over Bangkok in search of a tennis court (it was on the map, but did not exist).

We are thrilled she is making it on our ride across the Istrian Peninsula and onto the islands of Cres and Krk.  As you will see in the pics, Ann is always, always smiling.