The X-files

Great news! I mentioned a while ago that we lost a heap of photos when a German computer decided it didn't like the memory card, well now that we're home, Deena has recovered the images! I have no idea how she did it, but I'm sure there was some sort of witchcraft, and maybe a deal with the devil involved (or maybe she is just more computer savvy than me).

Anyway here are some of the recovered images.

Lunch in Dubrovnik. The seafood was awesome here, this particular restaurant sourced it's fish from the port five minutes walk away, from small scale subsistence fishermen.

The owner's brother lived in Glenorchy in Tasmania for a number of years, explaining all the Aussie parephenalia behind me.

No national pies though.

The view from our hotel balcony. The water was so warm and salty, it was possible to literally sit around in three metres of water, and you would have to try really hard to drown, even I had trouble sinking!

Just to prove we ate healthy from time to time, an anchovy and tomato salad. The anchovies around the mediterranean were so tasty, not at all like the pizza anchovies back home.

The beer is of course light, low carb, or something.

Me sitting around.

One of the many gratuitous bikini shots I've taken of Deena.

Probably the only one I can publish and keep a G rating though.

Croatian bees.

The views along the coast road were kind of ok.

Some Slovenian bees. This was on the way out a of small village, but still surrounded by houses. I guess the beekeeper bribes the neighbours with honey.

After driving through Slovenia, we spent the night in Austria, driving into Italy the next day, to find the start of the Stelvio pass.

The hairpin corners on the Stelvio were a little bit tight...

... and there were a hell of a lot of 'em as well!

At the top. The look on my face is actually pleasure, whether that is due to being in a revhead's paradise, the outstanding bratwurst I'd just scoffed, or being stoned on a lack of oxygen I don't know, but I was happy.

There was a proper big grin after driving down the other side on this road!

Me being environmentally and culturally sensitive while writing my name in the snow.

Snow in the middle of summer? This place is crazy! It was very strange to be in the snow and still comfy in shorts and a t-shirt, though my toes were a bit nippy in thongs!

Man and machine. More like stupid big kid and machine, but you know what I mean.

Some of the roads were a little bit tight, and if you missed a corner you had a choice between a bloody big bank, or a very long drop. Easier just to stay on the road really.

A couple of days later we ducked into Stuttgart to visit the Porsche museum, the first exhibit we saw was this East African Safari 911, very tough looking.

I did think at first that the museum was pretty crappy, but then I realised we were still in the carpark!

Not quite where it all began for Ferdinand Porsche, but certainly where he hit the big time.

Deena now really wants a 356 coupe in forest green, but I prefer silver.

I guess we'll have to get two then.

Two of the most iconic colour schemes in motorsport, a Gulf Racing, and a Martini 917 Le Mans cars.

I don't know how one of these would go in a Tassie winter, but I wouldn't mind giving it a try.

God I wish I had a farm, just so I could get a Porsche tractor.

If you want to hear "Oh cool, the Barbie Porsche!" said in 12 different languages by 35 year old women, this is the place to be.

Oh, and that is a really weird thing to want.

For the record, my sister had the Barbie Corvette, which was also quite cool, but it's no Porsche.

Not that I ever played with it of course.

After the tour we had a light snack for afternoon tea. The cakes in Germany were top notch, but the cream! How anyone lives past 40 is beyond me.

Anyway, as I said at the start, we're back home with the fur and feather kids, friends and family which is really nice, but we did almost cry when we went into a supermarket!

I've still got another few blogs to do in the next few days, so until then, see ya, Dave.

A lot has happened since the last post, so it's time for a new one. But first, I'm on a Czech computer, and while the keyboard isn't as bad as some (the French ones in particular), some of the keys aren't in the 'right' place, and I haven't figured out how to make some of the others work, so apologies in advance for any crap spelling and punctuation.

This is me in the bathroom of our luxury cabin on the SS Sunk With All Hands on the way to Dubrovnik. The toilet had an excellent flush, and the shower was hot, but the phone didn't work.
The luxury part was a bit of a fib, the cabin was so small, we had to go outside to change our minds.

The port in old Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik (old and new) was fantastic, stacks of beaches, mostly rocky but still nice, fantastic food, and beautiful buildings and views.

The Croatians are mad for meat (who can blame them), this is a selection of local specialties, pork, chicken, beef, duck, livers, and vegetables. Chips are made from potatoes, and potatoes are vegetables, ok.

All of Croatia turned out to be fabulous, it was a real pleasant surprise, especially as it wasn't part of our original plan. The people were really cool too, with amazing accents, and a very blunt way of speaking (from an Anglo perspective) that reminded us of movie villians from the cold war era. The scenery was just amazing, even inland on the motorway, and the coast road was one of the best day's driving of the trip.

After Croatia we drove through Slovenia and into Austria, to Italy, and back into Switzerland over the Stelvio and Galvio passes (both over 2500 metres altitude), pausing to play in the snow, before heading to Germany.

This was probably the most scenic four or five days so far, and amazing driving on iconic alpine roads. Unfortunately I can't put any photos up, as a bastard German computer decided it didn't like the memory card, and disappeared them, along with most of the Croatia photos.

Apparently when we get home they are recoverable, but it requires geeky black magic beyond Deena, much less this Luddite. By the way, if anyone feels the need to tease Deena about this, I wouldn't (this means you Watson).

On to our current location, Prague, in the Czech Republic. A very nice place, with a beautiful old quarter, which is a bit like Paris.

A bit wet though, what with the constant rain (and I mean rain, not drizzle) since we arrived. Could we worse though, I'm still wearing shorts, and the car is the cleanest it's been since we picked it up!

On the highway on the way in we passed this old Skoda, good to know the classic car sickness is international.

Our first Czech meal was tea, courtesy of the hotel. We normally avoid hotel eating like plague, except breakfast of course, but decided to give it a run, mostly because it was free, and we are cheap.

I went for the roast pork shank, with coleslaw and potato pancakes (veggies again), while Deena picked the mixed plate of local specialties, duck, pork, ham, potato dumplings, with pickled cabbage.

When I read 'Pork shank' I didn't envisage half a bloody leg.

The picture below proves that I managed to finish it off, only so I didn't offend anyone, of course.

I will say that it was quite a struggle, with the meat sweats making an early appearance, but I just rolled up my sleeves, had another sip of beer, and pretended it was shearing time at Colebrook. Plate clean, me full of porky and cabbagy goodness, and nobody offended. Result.

I will say that I didn't think I would eat pork again for a very long time.

At least until lunch the next day, pork ribs, sausages, and garlic bread, all washed down with beer. Yummo.

Anyway, only a bit over a week until we leave, although there has been talk of shipping the dogs over, selling up and keeping on going, but the possibility of us supporting ourselves by selling our bodies becomes ever more distant with each meal.

Mind you if we could get a price per kilo, we'd be set.

As the Czech's would say, nashledanou. I think that is goodbye, either that or I may have said something really bad to a nice old lady today.