Cliffandger Grand Tour

[cliffanger]

Right - taking a short break from plucking and chunking lessons to update you on today's Meanderings..... We walked from the site, taking a 'Cliff's short cut' - I know - a mistake - but it turned out to be a brilliant photo opportunity!

Tomorrow I will smear on the SPF 50 (paying particular attention to my nose and ears) wait at least three hours after eating lunch...put on my wet suit, wax my board, and be ready to catch some waves - maybe barrel through a pumpline or two - YAAAAAAHOOOOOOooooooo......

It looks photo shopped, but that was an actual sign on the beach!

I then practised with the Aperture Priority setting on my camera......

But Cliff was far more interested in the cement mixer that had its own sand feeder/bucket type thingy....

We then walked round the park. I must admit I like the fact that the onus is on the man for once....

We walked to the memorial - there is one in every town around here - all the birth dates are in the 70's and all the deaths are in 92/93. In a small town like this you could say most of the local young lads were wiped out....

Look at the things you are not allowed to do on Omis beach - bottom left - NO FKK - the boob sticking out to the left seems odd until you know what it means....

No nudists on the beach! Now it all becomes clear!

We wander back and in the supermarket foyer, Cliff sees another idea for when his over enthusiastic pallet foraging gets the better of him.....

Ah well, the uke is calling so it's back to my plucks and chunks....

 

[Anthea M]

Cheered me up on a wet Saterday morning !! Thankyou! Love the way you have of showing the 'real' country !! And not just beautiful scenery!! Hilarious! Hope your weather picks up and safe travels!!

 

[cliffanger]

Well, the suns out, but there's a hurricane force wind to go with it!!! The only good thing about it is - if the Germans have put their towels on the sun beds, they will have blown halfway back to the Fatherland by now....

Undeterred Cliff is taking our sun beds over to the beach....

And I'm following on with books, iPad (for Graham Norton on Radio 2) and my Lawrence of Arabia Keffiyeh (for protection from the sandstorms.....).

 

[Ali n Tim]

Hi @cliffandger. Am really loving the blog of your trip. We are thinking of going to Croatia later in the year so will be taking notes

 

[Jamwitt]

Love reading the blog happy travels

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[Anthea M]

This is our second day at Camping Galeb, 38km up the road from Makarska on a lovely site in Omis - which is a much larger town. The weather has taken a downward turn over the last couple of days, so we are staying here as there seems to be much more to do.

Camping Galeb is right in the town, by the side of a sandy beach. We cycled in yesterday and paid a visit to the fortress - which was very high up ...
View attachment 106796
The last section was reached by a metal ladder fixed to the wall, through a very small hole...

View attachment 106797

I didn't feel particularly safe at the top, I could swear the tower was moving! Cliff told me (as usual) 'don't be so bloody ridiculous', but look how low the wall was....

View attachment 106798

The whole tower had been reconstructed after it had been hit by a lightening bolt, and the space Cliff is standing in was the biggest bit of open ground, the rest was about a foot wide, with lightening conductors running everywhere just ready to trip you up and send you straight over the edge .... (Yea, I know - don't be so bloody ridiculous!). But look!!!
View attachment 106799

On the way up we saw lots of little plants which seemed to be growing out of pure rock - I think even I could make this plant last for longer than a week!
View attachment 106816

We came back down to terra ferma, and wandered the streets for an hour before cycling back to the site and dinner in the beach restaurant.

Post has moved on and Today - Friday:

Omis is a lovely town, with lots of alleyways and tiny 'Obe wans' (Konobas - geddit?!) which we will be sampling in the next couple of hours for lunch! They were originally traditional family run, rustic restaurants in cellars, but now I think the term is generic for low cost, home cooking as opposed to fine dining restaurants.

Before we left Makarska we walked down to the main plaza and there was another one of those 'rub me for luck' statues.....
View attachment 106817

I thought oh yea, nothing for us girls to rub for luck, but then I looked closer........ But still found nothing.. But then Cliff said, this must be what the ladies rub for luck,,,,,

View attachment 106819

We draw the short straw again girls!

While we were driving through the Makarska Riviera we saw what looked like a blinder of an event, But alas we came here a month too late

View attachment 106820

And in the interests of research and finding places for you men to visit on the beautiful Dalmatian coast, I really should read the guide book/Internet BEFORE we leave the van and not realise what we've missed when we get back!

View attachment 106824
'TOUR OF THE OMIS 'GALEB UNDERWEAR FACTORY MUSEUM'
Where the river meets the sea, the blue meets green, and the wilderness meets calmness, that's where you'll find the underwear factory „Galeb“ (meaning „sea-gull“). The factory was founded in 1951 and is today the biggest and most important producer of underwear in Croatia. Having its own knitting plant, as well as equipment for finishing and production of ready-to-wear items, the company is able to quickly respond to customer demands.

A sightseeing tour of the factory also includes a visit to the factory shops offering a wide selection of underwear, as well as a visit to the store „Klase“ where products are available at reduced prices.'

Oh well, I would say we can do it tomorrow, but the sun is meant to be out all day, the beach is 20 feet away, we have just bought a new beach brolly for 6 quid, so I ain't going anywhere!

@JockandRita - we had what you had last night - absolutely peed down through the night, it's been overcast and rainy today, but the weekend is supposed to be good. Hope you're enjoying the lakes xx

Dawn, @Mousy We miss you both too, we would have had some real laughs on this trip. The Bosnian situation, for the van anyway, is that Safeguard regard the country as a war zone, and they won't give you insurance for the time you are there. Cliff said if you are there for longer than 4 hours you are automatically enlisted into the Bosnia and Herzegovina army (not sure he can corroborate that, but I wouldn't hang around just in case)...

I don't know the history of it all, but when the countries were carved up, it seems that Bosnia were given a stretch of coastline, under 10km, that sits in the middle of the Croatian coast line. It seems as though they are desperately trying to develop it with new hotels and apartments springing up in a tiny little area. We wouldn't have known anything about it, but luckily your Phoebe mentioned it when she sent us an email suggesting places to visit!

Well, we are back in the van, the rain is starting to come down again, so it's back to the plucking exercises.....

View attachment 106831

Love that cushion with your van on did you make it?!

 

[DBK]

This is our second day at Camping Galeb, 38km up the road from Makarska on a lovely site in Omis - which is a much larger town. The weather has taken a downward turn over the last couple of days, so we are staying here as there seems to be much more to do.

Camping Galeb is right in the town, by the side of a sandy beach. We cycled in yesterday and paid a visit to the fortress - which was very high up ...
View attachment 106796
The last section was reached by a metal ladder fixed to the wall, through a very small hole...

View attachment 106797

I didn't feel particularly safe at the top, I could swear the tower was moving! Cliff told me (as usual) 'don't be so bloody ridiculous', but look how low the wall was....

View attachment 106798

The whole tower had been reconstructed after it had been hit by a lightening bolt, and the space Cliff is standing in was the biggest bit of open ground, the rest was about a foot wide, with lightening conductors running everywhere just ready to trip you up and send you straight over the edge .... (Yea, I know - don't be so bloody ridiculous!). But look!!!
View attachment 106799

On the way up we saw lots of little plants which seemed to be growing out of pure rock - I think even I could make this plant last for longer than a week!
View attachment 106816

We came back down to terra ferma, and wandered the streets for an hour before cycling back to the site and dinner in the beach restaurant.

Post has moved on and Today - Friday:

Omis is a lovely town, with lots of alleyways and tiny 'Obe wans' (Konobas - geddit?!) which we will be sampling in the next couple of hours for lunch! They were originally traditional family run, rustic restaurants in cellars, but now I think the term is generic for low cost, home cooking as opposed to fine dining restaurants.

Before we left Makarska we walked down to the main plaza and there was another one of those 'rub me for luck' statues.....
View attachment 106817

I thought oh yea, nothing for us girls to rub for luck, but then I looked closer........ But still found nothing.. But then Cliff said, this must be what the ladies rub for luck,,,,,

View attachment 106819

We draw the short straw again girls!

While we were driving through the Makarska Riviera we saw what looked like a blinder of an event, But alas we came here a month too late

View attachment 106820

And in the interests of research and finding places for you men to visit on the beautiful Dalmatian coast, I really should read the guide book/Internet BEFORE we leave the van and not realise what we've missed when we get back!

View attachment 106824
'TOUR OF THE OMIS 'GALEB UNDERWEAR FACTORY MUSEUM'
Where the river meets the sea, the blue meets green, and the wilderness meets calmness, that's where you'll find the underwear factory „Galeb“ (meaning „sea-gull“). The factory was founded in 1951 and is today the biggest and most important producer of underwear in Croatia. Having its own knitting plant, as well as equipment for finishing and production of ready-to-wear items, the company is able to quickly respond to customer demands.

A sightseeing tour of the factory also includes a visit to the factory shops offering a wide selection of underwear, as well as a visit to the store „Klase“ where products are available at reduced prices.'

Oh well, I would say we can do it tomorrow, but the sun is meant to be out all day, the beach is 20 feet away, we have just bought a new beach brolly for 6 quid, so I ain't going anywhere!

@JockandRita - we had what you had last night - absolutely peed down through the night, it's been overcast and rainy today, but the weekend is supposed to be good. Hope you're enjoying the lakes xx

Dawn, @Mousy We miss you both too, we would have had some real laughs on this trip. The Bosnian situation, for the van anyway, is that Safeguard regard the country as a war zone, and they won't give you insurance for the time you are there. Cliff said if you are there for longer than 4 hours you are automatically enlisted into the Bosnia and Herzegovina army (not sure he can corroborate that, but I wouldn't hang around just in case)...

I don't know the history of it all, but when the countries were carved up, it seems that Bosnia were given a stretch of coastline, under 10km, that sits in the middle of the Croatian coast line. It seems as though they are desperately trying to develop it with new hotels and apartments springing up in a tiny little area. We wouldn't have known anything about it, but luckily your Phoebe mentioned it when she sent us an email suggesting places to visit!

Well, we are back in the van, the rain is starting to come down again, so it's back to the plucking exercises.....

View attachment 106831

Your "little plants" are Rusty Back Fern. So called because of the colour of the back of the fronds from the spores. You get it on cliffs and stone walls in the UK.

 

[cliffanger]

Love that cushion with your van on did you make it?!

Oh Anthea....... I will say it before anyone else on here that knows me does......

I found the lady on Facebook - Sheila Walker, her company name, and her FB profile is She Sews Too. All you do is email her a photo of your van, and within a week an embroidered cushion cover (complete with cushion) is sent back! I'm sure I paid Approx £25. I know it seems expensive but at least it's something personal to us!

 

[Anthea M]

Thanks for that Ger! Am I to take it that sewing/ knitting isn't your forte?

 

[cliffanger]

Well we've had a really lazy couple of days here in Omis. The sun came out yesterday, accompanied by hurricane force winds, but today has been just as sunny with no wind - so REALLY hot!

We took the sun loungers to the beach on both days and got the kind of spa treatment you'de have to pay a fortune for at Champneys! Yesterday we got a sun tan and skin exfoliation - the wind whipped the sand off the beach horizontally taking the Epidermis with it! We stuck it for 30 minutes but when the missing layer of skin was covered with a layer of grit we knew it was time to abandon the beach!

We went back to the beach today and with no wind, it was so hot that we went for a paddle in the sea. Within seconds we saw tiny little fish homing in on our feet to nibble off the skin that the wind missed yesterday!

We will be moving off in the morning for Trogir, crawling back up the Croatian coast nice and slowly.

We walked into town tonight, and it was nice to see some good old-fashioned pavement games still being played by innocent children in Omis ..... Hopscotch anyone.....

We found a bar and ordered half a litre of house white, enjoying the view of the fortress from the safety of street level! It looks a lot safer from the ground looking up!

We walked back to the site on a lovely balmy evening - hopefully the first of many!

Will be in touch again when we get to Trogir!

Happy Monday all!!

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[JockandRita]

Will be in touch again when we get to Trogir!

You lucky pair. We'll be driving through some horrendous weather into Switzerland today which hopefully will clear tomorrow at Locarno.

Cliff, do you fancy a spot of night fishing at Trogir?

Have a smashing time there.

Jock & Rita.

 

[cliffanger]

Thanks for that Ger! Am I to take it that sewing/ knitting isn't your forte?

Anthea sewing / knitting isn't my forte at all - did you not see the Christmas decoration I made with Dawn on our trip to the Dylan Thomas Centre - I did the mean (future) (hopefully) mother in law trick and gave it to Our Little'un and his girlfriend to hang on their 'first Christmas Tree Together'....so it has to be on display whenever we visit!

 

[Anthea M]

Ah I did see the lovely decorations and I'm sure your 'beauty ' we be in pride of place when you tell them you are popping round!!just like we did with a vase my Granny gave us as a wedding pressie!!
Happy holidays hope your weather has picked up!

 

[cliffanger]

You lucky pair. We'll be driving through some horrendous weather into Switzerland today which hopefully will clear tomorrow at Locarno.

Cliff, do you fancy a spot of night fishing at Trogir?

View attachment 107255

Have a smashing time there.

Jock & Rita.

Hi Jock and Rita et al - we've arrived at Camping Rozac, and this is the view from our pitch..... We'll be doing the walk into town later today - well report back!

 

[cliffanger]

Hi All, sitting in the van chilling, after our walk into Trogir. I have to say I am going to be Mrs Grumpy Old Git here - but I didn't like it very much! Another sanitised Old Town, with lots of lovely alleyways, but full of souvenir shops and restaurants - which would be fine if we were allowed to wander (and buy) if left unimpeded, but there are staff in every doorway trying to get you through the door! I know they have businesses to promote, but don't they realise that the harder they push the more it puts people off?!

Down one classy alley we saw the trashy to the religious - all in one window display!

Now - do you want a miniature Old Master or a Faux Faberge....?

Another fortress - another football match!

I thought I was back in Delhi!

But without the horns and pollution!

We sat in a riverside bar favoured by the locals, on the rive gauche, right at the top end of this photo - which reminds me a little of Kingsbridge.....

Only with paths on both sides, and cafes and bars along the Quay, no charity shops, and sunshine - so nothing like Kingsbridge at all really...!

Going by the speed this idiot drove past us, he had obviously done it before!

Now I THINK this translates to 'for sale'.

The bathroom needs a bit of a clean up, but apart from that.....

And then we were back - chillin...... Luvly....

I think we are moving onto Sibenic tomorrow, so will be in touch from there!

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[Anthea M]

Loving the tales and photos that could be a project for Ianthe Builder !!

 

[cliffanger]

We left Camping Rozac this morning in the rain! What had been our 'front garden' yesterday evening had been taken over by two bikers who pitched their tents there last night. That would have been fine, but they pitched up, then disappeared into the night on the bikes, returning at 4.00am! That would have been fine, but for some inexplicable reason one bike was parked on our pitch, right in the way of us getting off it!

Cliff saw one of the chaps get up and go to the loo at about 8am, so thought they were up and about - however, when he had to wake them up to move the bike at 10 - the chap was not 'appy! To be fair he did attempt to move it himself, but it was so heavy he left it alone, and promptly disturbed Hermann from his slumbers, and asked him to move it as we wanted to get out. Crazy thing was - if he'de parked it 12 inches forward, even though it was on our pitch, we would have got out without waking him - in the interests of Anglo-German relations we refrained from telling him it was well gone 10 and most of his compatriots had been up for hours donning sunbeds with towels........

We set off from the site into what can only be described as Bedlam!

Those paying attention yesterday would have heard me compare Trogir to Kingsbridge - well, there's a Caravan Club site at Torcross which is at the end of the road out of Kingsbridge and anyone who has towed a caravan up the last 3 mile stretch of road leading to the site at Torcross will know exactly what happened to us (and a lot of very unhappy drivers) this morning!

At Torcross you time your arrival and departure from the campsite after poring over the local bus timetables, so you don't meet one coming in the opposite direction!

We didn't meet a bus coming out of the site, but we met a caravanner, who I am sure will have got to the site and immediately put his van up for sale, so that he wouldn't have to repeat the experience on the way home!

Now for some reason or another, he stayed where he was, and his wife wouldn't get out of the car to give him an idea of what clear space he had at the side of him. They both sat there, as if in a dream (or a nightmare) as the queues both ways got longer, and longer, and longer. He had an open car park at the side of him that he could have reversed into, until
suddenly the motorhome that was behind him, @Mousy, got 'right up his arse' promptly closing off the only escape route he might have had!

Now I know I'm going to get flak from the girls for this next bit, but the silly man then started to take directions from the passenger of said motorhome who got out and started to wave her arms about telling him which way to go! He followed her instructions and went on completely the wrong steering lock and got himself into an even worse fix than he was before! She then started to wave her arms again, gesturing at him to reverse, having completely forgotten that her van was 'right up his arse' and in danger of being shunted by one of those extremely well built German caravans!

Her partner by this time had a very worried look on her face, and jumped out shouting at her to 'Get back in the bloody van and mind your own soddin business '. I don't understand German, but that's what Cliff would have said to me, if I'de done the same thing - and I think it was probably not too far from what was said - given the stern look on her face......

Somehow (and through no efforts on the caravanners part) things started to move and we got by - only to be jammed in ourselves, next to another motorhomer who I must say had a very bossy wife who refused to let her husband drive by us within two inches of our Moroccan mat! I was stood in the footwell directing operations and Cliff, as usual was as cool as a cucumber, with his side of the van millimeters away from a jagged concrete wall with rusty rails sticking out of it - so amidst shouts of 'you could get a bleeding bus through there missus' whilst carefully easing their windows past our wing mirror, we got by - but I have to say Anglo-Belgian relations took a bit of a downward turn for a while!

The incident had brought Trogir to a complete standstill and the whole town, including two bridges and a one way system was absolutely gridlocked! It must be happening all the time as the locals were quite stoically sitting in their cars, texting, eating and generally Chillin!

I mentioned Delhi yesterday and it definitely wouldn't have happened there - there are no 2 foot 'force fields' around vehicles as there seems to be in western society - if there's a half inch to spare, and if my horn works - I'll get by!

Anyway, we are here at Sibenic - at the Solaris resort - which is HUGE - we walked around it this afternoon and it took us over an hour - how's this for a beach bar......

We are planning a bus ride into the city tomorrow - the Internet here although free is woefully slow so I will try to post, but this one has taken me most of the day! Oh, and by the way - did I tell you - this is the view from our pitch.......

 

[Anthea M]

I was breathing in as I read your post!! Very hairy and sphincter flapping moment/hour for you! Love your last view let's hope the German bikers don't follow on and camp in the night! Safe travels!

 

[scousebird]

Well done for getting out of that situation
Loving your blog & pics

 

[Carol]

Gerri loving the photos and of course your descriptions, hope you get a pitch to yourself tomorrow .

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[cliffanger]

Gerri loving the photos and of course your descriptions, hope you get a pitch to yourself tomorrow .

No chance of that Carol - we are very cosy here in Solaris - there are three families around us, with what seems like 27 kids between them - they've got us surrounded!

As usual one of the men spoke perfect English and told Cliff 'you'll be OK next week, all the Germans are on holiday at the moment but they 'bugger off' back to their homes this weekend, so you'll be left in peace!

They're up early and at their stations already.......

.........

Luckily we are off to catch the bus soon for the day out as there is the canine version of a genny in the van opposite - owners have gone off for the day and - let's just say - he doesn't like being 'home alone'.

 

[Mousy]

Lovely to see the sunshine Ger, that water looks so inviting, I'd be in there with my pool noddle happily splashing about for hours.
I feel you are both being far too energetic on this tour...you need some sun bathing and pool noddle lovin...

Also being nosy...what are all the bottles on the beach tables? Looks like lots of water bottles? Triathlon arriving to a quiet beach near you anytime soon?

 

[cliffanger]

Hi @Mousy Dawn - those bottles were full of paint! They had set up the table ready for a lesson in landscape perspectives in oils I think! The other table was set up for a breakfast banquet and the towels were piled up ready to be spread all over the beach later!

We left them to it to catch the bus into town. I went into reception to get the timetable and the ticket prices, and the lady said the price was 70 kuna (£7) each, one way. We decided that as it was a lovely day, we needed the exercise, and so it would do us good to walk the 5km into town.

Croatia has many lovely things, but pavements ain't one of them! They also have a few dodgy things, lunatic drivers being at the top of the list! Putting the two things together meant we came into contact with another thing Croatia has in abundance - very prickly bushes!

We walked at a very fast pace, passing by some eeirly quiet derelict buildings with rusty razor and barbed wire lying amongst the already very prickly bushes, and soon came upon the huge aluminium factory, Sibenic's main industry, which was shattered during the four years of shelling by the Yugoslav federal forces in the Homeland wars. It has never been restarted so lays empty and, for an aluminium factory, very rusty....

Reaching the outskirts of town we saw what we've seen all over Croatia - many, many tower blocks. The only houses we've seen are dotted here and there on the coast and are clearly holiday homes for the rich, with most of the population living in apartments.

But unlike the flats in Bristol, which are deemed to only be lived in by those who have nowhere else to live, the flats here are the main form of accommodation and although rough looking, are obviously not abused. Also at home, if you have children, the flats are deemed a last resort, whereas here, everyone lives in them, however big the family is.

To compensate for 'apartment living' there are many parks and open spaces, and these basketball/football pitches are everywhere - space is made for them, and the kids use them.

By the time we got into town we were starving, so made the mistake of stopping at the first establishment we came to. Remember, if you come to Croatia - round tables = a cafe or bar selling drinks, and at the most, snacks. Rectangle tables = a restaurant or Obe Wan serving food to be eaten with cutlery on a plate!

In a land where the trendy coffee shop is king and I wonder if anyone does any work, because they seem to spend all day, sat outside drinking the stuff, we managed to find 'The Drug Addicts and Drunks Kozy Korner!

The only customers were a young couple sat hunched over two coffees that they had spilt into the saucers, smoking the thinnest roll ups I had ever seen, the girl whose eyes were like a frightened rabbit, and the man slurring his words when making many mobile phone calls. The only other customer was a drunk, who I was reliably informed by Cliff (Who had mis timed his visit to the loo), didn't have the most fastidious toilet habits!

As is usual with us, we didn't notice this until after we had ordered and were waiting for our cheeseburger and beer (believe me that was the best menu option).

Suffice to say there were no plates, or cutlery, and we've been waiting with baited breath for the Revenge of the Cheeseburger ever since!

Walking around Sibenic we saw evidence of the four years of shelling.....

Reading the first three lines of this information board, I got the feeling it was written by the tourist information officer for Gorica, who had been sacked, on his last day at work........

After wandering around a lovely town, we found the cathedral that was built with no wood, but just interlocked stone with no cement (or whatever the equivalent of 'muck' was in medieval times) only to find another bane of our travels - not only does the sun not shine on the unrighteous (and those unrighteous by association) - but there is no scaffold free monument for the Unrighteous either!

We did however find a femur of St Christophori - and there was a statue of St Christopher carrying the baby Jesus - so I'm baggin it as a relic!

Not wanting to risk 'Suicide Alley' on the way home we decided to sport the 14 quid to get back to the site, so we headed for the bus station and queued to get our tickets - 2 to the Solaris Resort please - ok, that will be 26 kunas please...... HOW MUCH!!!!! £2.60 in real money!!!! Oh well, I said, just as well we needed the exercise - not so sure the adrenaline rush was necessary though!

We are now at Camping Marina, just outside the Krka National Park, which is run by a son and his mother, who leapt out at us as we slowed down, and beckoned us in, pointing out our pitch, before we had even changed down from 4th to 3rd gear! We were going to stay here anyway, having had the site recommended by Vicky and Paul, the couple we met at Orebic, but as there is another ACSI site less than 20 metres down the road, mother and son have perfected the three point move: 1. spot camper, 2. Forward lunge, jump and 3. Wave arms frantically whilst pointing out pitch and asking for documentation for registration!

I've even watched mother jump out at campers (who have obviously overshot the other site and are in the process of turning round), fending off their desperate protestations of 'no, no, no', with a joyous 'this way, this way, this is your pitch, now your documentation please' and the only thing they can do is give up, follow her, and sign up for tomorrow's excursion to the National Park (as we did) before they know what's hit them!

A very interesting conversation with our German neighbour follows......

 

[cliffanger]

Last night we got talking to the German chap that had told us that we would be German Free next week - I know which way I will be voting - but I asked him for a European perspective on our Big Day next month... To paraphrase - he worked in the automotive industry and had spent six years working for McClaren in Woking, from 2004 to 2010. He had lived in a very affluent area, but moved to London because the rents were cheaper and the living was better for a chap in his 20s. That was his experience of the UK.

He then went on to say that if we left the EU, it would be a disaster for us. We, unlike Germany, manufactured nothing. We had 100,000 immigrants come in - which was NOTHING (today's figures alone show that he was well short of the mark in his knowledge) compared to Germany. The EU allowed us to keep our own currency, and they have bent over backwards, allowing us concessions that no one else has.

Britain gets away with things that no one else in the EU get away with, Germany puts in 10000000€ more than anyone else and gets nothing in return, but he is OK with that.

He then went on to say we are very short sighted to just be concentrating on the immigration issue - and he would welcome Turkey in - they had a lot to contribute.

He went on to say that if we left, Scotland would have another referenfum and would leave the UK, followed by Wales and Ireland. I said we could trade with the rest of the world, with no EU constraints - he said no one would want to trade with a tiny insignificant country like England.

He finished with, 'The right wing has won elections in Germany, and is on the rise. We wouldn't want a repetition of what happened 80 years ago'.

Everything was said with a calm, friendly manner, but you could tell he was passionate about the subject. He may have been talking sense, but I liked him a lot less at the end of the conversation than I had at the start.....

 

[cliffanger]

Back onto smilier things, the chat with the German chap was last night, We've since been welcomed into the Bates Motel - whoops I mean Camping Marina - and we are off on an excursion (whether we like it or not) to Krka National Park tomorrow!

We had a beautiful sunset last night and I got a few lucky shots -
We were walking on the beach when I spotted vapour trails in the sky....

Salvador Dali's Swans Reflecting Elephants has nothing on my X reflecting..... Well..... X...

It won't let me attach this one, so will show you my photographic artistry tomorrow!

And this was the view from our pitch as we went to bed last night.

This is the view from our site tonight - it is better than it looks and we will be eating in mother's Obe Wan when we get back from our excursion tomorrow!

PS - Another comment - and another reason why the sun doesn't shine on us - 'We only have to get St Paul's foot and we've got the full set......

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[Mousy]

Looks lovely Ger and I'm glad you are mixing with the locals
Excuse the thread hike but I haven't worked out how to add pics to a PM.
Thought you'd like to see this...
Simon collected his pilot wings, here we are in front of his wild cat helicopter.

We all had a lovely day, Martin climbed inside and had a play you both know how he likes to fiddle with knobs

 

[mitzimad]

Looks lovely Ger and I'm glad you are mixing with the locals
Excuse the thread hike but I haven't worked out how to add pics to a PM.
Thought you'd like to see this...
Simon collected his pilot wings, here we are in front of his wild cat helicopter.

View attachment 108082

View attachment 108083

We all had a lovely day, Martin climbed inside and had a play you both know how he likes to fiddle with knobs

we now all know how martin likes to fiddle with knobs

 

[Mousy]

 

[Chris]

Well done Simon.
#respect

 

[Granjan]

Really enjoying your blog and pics as usual .... Please keep posting
Great pic @Mousy

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