Escaping the Freezing Cold and Snow of Europe - Croatia Island Life in the Winter

Yesterday morning we pulled out of our campsite just outside of the beautiful city of Venice and we drove about three and a half hours and we were driving towards the east and then we turned south. Now that meant that we drove through the country of Slovenia and we did not stop, although we did try to stop at a few places, a little restaurant for lunch, but none of them were open. But do not worry, we will be back to explore Slovenia when it is a bit more warm. There's some beautiful hikes and stuff to do here, but right now we're actually running from the snow. So we are headed south. Now one thing we did do the minute we crossed into Slovenia is we pulled into a gas station because the fuel is cheaper here. More like a dollar 40 or a euro 40 a liter versus a euro 90 a liter. So that makes a big difference and made us very happy. Another thing about driving through Slovenia and also when we crossed into Croatia, we noticed that there are still border checkpoints in place. Now going the direction we're going, we did not get stopped, but we did see they were stopping some people coming north into more of the developed part of the European Union. So when we come back north, we may get stopped for some border checkpoints. We'll see when that happens. But we are in a hurry to get to Croatia for a very special reason, or actually two, three, three very special reasons. The first being we are going to go run into an old buddy of Kurt's from way back in the high school days. He's lived over here for years, so we're going to go run into him for a day or two and and see what life is like living over here. And then we have not one, but two very special packages to pick up, and that is at a little farm up more in central or maybe even eastern Croatia. And you may wonder how we ended up finding a place to get stuff delivered here. Well, we have some subscribers who have reached out to us, and it is Tim and Valentina. And Valentina is from Croatia. They actually met here when he was doing a multi-year bicycle ride through Europe, and now they're married and they live back in Florida. And her parents still live here. And one of our very special packages is actually a gift from them, and we'll tell you more about it when we get there. And the other one is something very cool that we had delivered in, and it's kind of big, so we needed a secure delivery address. So these guys have come through and saved us on that. So that is why we were kind of in a hurry to go ahead and get down here to Croatia. That, and of course, we're trying to get farther south because it's getting colder and colder and colder. But then we drove out onto the island of, I'm gonna call it Kirk. It is K-R-K. One thing we noticed the minute we crossed into Slovenia and Croatia is all the signs seem to be lacking vowels. The letters, the words, and the pronunciations change drastically when we get over here. But we will do the best we can. But we're at a campground out here, and it is a beautiful campground on an island with beautiful blue water surrounding us. Now it is cold, and it is chilly, and we are just about the only ones here because it is so far into the off-season that no one else except for one or two people will brave this place. But that makes it nice for a place to just settle in and rest up from the long drive. One of my favorite things about this place, the showers. Without a doubt, the best shower on the entire journey since we started van life at any kind of campground, hostel, anything. It was amazing. The water was so steamy hot. The pressure. It was clean. You had your own changing room. It had a rain showerhead. And then all along out there, they even have hair dryers on the wall, shaving stations. It is a beautiful facility. But from what we understand, if you come in here in June, July, or August, it is slam pack full of people. But it does sound like if you can squeeze back through here in March or April, that it might be a perfect place for an off-season beach visit. Now we don't know if that will fit into our schedule or not. We'll have to see as the road lays out in front of us. But this place is wonderful. There is a little kitty that has come to visit us at the door a couple of times, which Vanna and G are not too crazy about. But the little kitty's just trying to be friendly. Hi kitty, how are you? But we're parked here on this little protected cove. A little boat anchored out here. On that side, you can rent little mobile home cabins. And then here comes Kurt. How was that shower? The best shower on the whole journey? But that was our parking place. Now this is a premium spot that you would pay a lot more for, especially during high season. But Kurt sweet-talked the lady at reception. We paid for a regular spot, but got a premium one. So I've told them it doesn't hurt that there's nobody here. We have a place to ourselves. We're almost to Tim's house. Now Tim is the buddy from high school I just told you about. So it's been a long, long time. Since high school. Yeah. But on our way there, we're practicing a few Croatian words. And boy are they different. So how do you say hello? Stravo. Stravo. And thanks? Voila. Those are the two words we're going to focus on because it is a very different language. And you guys know good and well, we are linguistically challenged to put it nicely. So Stravo, Voila. Our two Croatian words that we're going to focus on. All right, we stopped over to have a little authentic Croatian dinner. I guess that's what I'm going to call it. That's not how authentic it is, but you're in for a surprise. And the chef was Mount Everest. And what do you call this dish? Yeah, I would call this like a goulash. No, we have goulash with meat. Okay. And that's only meat. And this be, I don't know, some, maybe juvec. Juvec. Okay. Yeah, but this is like a bit different. So there's beans, there's peas, there's carrots, there's chicken, looks like tomatoes and bay leaves on rice. I think it's kind of like almost like a tomato based sauce with a couple mushrooms. Looks pretty tasty. How is it, Snow? It is really, really tasty. I'm going to eat it all. So we're here on the island of Kirke and we're staying at a friend's house here. You can see the van parked right here, but it's a small, small little village up here on the hill. And I'm headed over to Tim's little cabin to meet with some of his friends, but we got really lucky. I haven't seen Tim since high school and it turns out, I mean, he's the same awesome guy he was back in the day, which is good, but I kind of expected that. But what's really amazing is he is like the expert, the expert on Bosnia-Herzegovina and on this whole Balkan region. He's even written the first travel guide and it's been majorly published for Bosnia. And so we're going to head over this morning. We had an amazing time last night, just hanging out, catching up and talking about all the exciting things that this part of the world has to offer. So we're going to spend some time with us. He's going to even take us on a hike tomorrow. He's going to take us on a little tour today. I'm off the charts excited. This has already been an amazing visit, but I'm headed over there now. We're going to have a little coffee with him and chat and set the plan for the day. Or in Ireland, they called it Irish coffee. Yeah. Wanted to experiment with the rakija. He wanted to make some cocktail with rakija. And that was like, story was like, story was like, because when they make, they drink. Yeah. And then he said, first day he was like, just like wake in the room and he didn't know what's happening. So that's the name of this. This is rakija. Yeah. It comes from a Turkish word and it's basically, it's brandy, it's schnapps. It's distilled plums, distilled pears, apples. All right. It's a cold day. We got G's jacket on. We're out going for a little walk. Hey. occasionally started eating meat. And then a few years ago, maybe two or three years ago, I became a vegan. I think this is rosemary. Yeah, this is rosemary. Okay. So rosemary. All right. So today Tim has taken us around the Island and showing us some cool stuff. We are starting with a lunch here in the city of Kirk that is on the Island of Kirk. And it's supposed to be an incredibly old, really cool city. And I already see a little narrow streets and all that. But first thing on the agenda is, well, we stopped by the vet first, but now lunch. So it's always a treat to walk through streets like this in the off season and see everything empty with no people. But at the same time, I can imagine that when all the people are walking these streets and all the shops are open, all the cafes set out, that it is probably truly a fascinating place. So I think the key would be to find it at the perfect shoulder season, which we're here in might be late March and into April when you start to get the good weather, some of the places start to open, but the huge summer crowds aren't here yet. Who knows? Maybe we'll be back when it's not closed up tight. Oh, this is pretty. Wow. Look at this. So we're taking a stroll around the old city and you can of course see the beautiful old walls that we love so much. We've gone in the church. Now we're walking past a medieval castle and we pop out to this beautiful view over this beautiful blue water. Now it's windy and cold today, but we're definitely going to walk down here and get closer. But I wanted to let you know that the city of Kirk is over 2000 years old, which is crazy the history over here. Great. So we just wrapped up a yummy lunch down there on the waterfront. Kurt had a tuna burger and some onion rings. I had a falafel burrito. Same thing that Tim had. All the food was delicious. And now we are going to leave the little town center, get back in Tim's car. And quite honestly, we don't know where we're going, but we've just been told it's epic views. So we know we're going to love it. So let's go. Oh, is there? Oh, these are all olive trees. And then yeah, the forest is mainly like. We're looking south. So the, wow. So that's the main mountains there. And that's the coastal road that you guys are going to go on. So, Oh wow. Yeah, I can see it. You hear that snow? Yeah. So we've made our first stop, just a quick one to take a peek over to this beautiful valley that's called the Boschka Valley. And we're parked right down here. So this is a roadside little monument here. And what we have learned is this is from the ancient Greek alphabet. I'm sure I'm getting the formal name of that wrong, but it is basically the letter A. I thought it was a big fork in a meatball, to be honest with you guys. Fortunately, we have an expert here who kind of straightened me out. Besides cracks, you can never do this. So we've been trying to map out and figure out our plan for our time out of the Schengen area. And Tim is really an expert on this Balkan region, has kind of been giving us some suggestions, some ideas. And in any event, we have to go pick up a package in Northern Croatia, but we are going to head south after that to get out of this cold weather. And here's a cold front coming through. You might even be able to see the snow on the mountains out in front of us. But this mountain range in front of us is to the south of the island Kirke that we're on right now. And if you can see that little line across there on the bottom, that is the road south. So when we get done with our business up north, we are going to be taking that highway north along. And we're just going to keep going south until we can find some warm weather, until we run out of road. But look at this beautiful view that Tim's brought us up to. And there's a little town down here and it's called Buska. And so I think we're on our way of butchering our fifth or sixth language on the journey. But anyway, what a beautiful viewpoint. And this is up at a mausoleum, church, and cemetery. And if you guys can see up there on the hill, there's some sheep up there as well sort of grazing. And we've come up through the olive fields where they have all the olive trees and stuff. Is it fields? Orchards? Olive orchards? Olive orchards. And what a stunning island. And Tim has been promising views. Y'all tell us what you think, but I think you know it. Just the beginning. And in addition to there being some sheep up here, you can see there's some old ruins. And I don't know if this is a house or some sort of defensive fortress or what have you. But you can just see how these things are just made with stones. Just like a lot of the buildings we've seen on the side of the road. And the archway, look at that, how it's shaped. And we can actually see right down into it. It's so cool and beautiful. All right, Tim has taken us to one last secret spot on his tour today. And it was a wonderful tour. But this one is going to bring us right down by the sea on the west side. And it looks like down here there's a nice little church. And there's a little nice dock where we can walk out to the water. I think Tim might even jump in today. I don't know. Tim, did you say you're going to jump in the water while we're here? One last stop for the day. The sun's getting ready to set. Tim's brought us down here to I would call this probably the west side of the island, not far from Tim's little village. He says he comes here when the water's a little warmer, the weather's a little better, and swims. It's a beautiful view. The sun's about to go behind that mountain ridge. They're still sharing old high school stories of basketball glory days. And just a little history funny tidbit on Kurt. In high school, Kurt was apparently really good at basketball and could even dunk. So I'm hearing all kinds of basketball stories. But look at this beautiful view. And of course, y'all know I love the sound of the crashing waves. What a beautiful day here in Croatia on the Adriatic. Kurti. That means you're a great cook and a great company. That's what that means. People want to hang out with you. Can I film the kitchen? All right, our second night of getting served yummy, yummy dinner. Oh, something looks good in there. And this is where the magic is happening in the kitchen. It's a good place, good energy. It's going to be good food and good company. What do you bring? You're a very good dancer, man. Cheers. Now, what is this called? And you said it's with walnut. Hello. Hello, hello. Steamy. Okay. Thank you, sir. Look at that. Okay, thank you. This is... What is this? It's a winter sweet. In this period, when we have a carnival. There's a place here around the Vieca and the islands. It's very famous here. What month is the carnival here? Well, after the new year, one week later, begins the carnival. So, dinner is over and it was delicious. And this is a traditional Christmas bread, right? So, we're getting to try some local. I think it's going to be a little sweet. Let's see. Got a little lemon. Oh, it's really, really good, guys. Good morning, everyone. What a beautiful morning here in Kirke up in Croatia. We are having an amazing time. Last night, we had a beautiful, authentic dinner. Another one with all the folks here Tim's introduced us to. And we just had some really good authentic food and company and traditional drinks. And we just visited and chatted and it was just fun and really special experience. But today, of course, we had the tour yesterday, too. But today, we're going on a hike. And so, we're going to hike. I don't know what exactly the hike is, but we're headed up right there. We're going to find out when we get over to see Timmy. Ready to go. Enjoy your day. All right, thanks. What a beautiful day, right? Perfect. We'll see you. Look at this ice. It's pretty thick up here, guys. If you're wondering what we're talking about when we say it's been cold, I think it's what you say, eight degrees today Celsius. So, last night it was zero, but the sun is out. It's 40 degrees Fahrenheit. For those of you who don't know Celsius. But we are on the way and it looks like this trail is turning into an asphalt trail. So, we can handle this. One thing we've seen a lot of since we've strolled around Croatia out here on the island is these rock walls that are just stacked here. And you can see they're on both sides of the road. Now, I believe, Tim, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but these are for sheep or for goat herds. And they use these as fences to kind of contain them and keep them in their areas. Yeah, it's sort of like one is to mark your property line. Two is because there's no place for the sheep or the goats to graze because there's so many rocks. So, you take the rocks off your land, you build a wall, and then your sheep and goats have places to graze. And you mark your property as well to keep the sheep and goats in. All right, we've been walking for about 15 minutes and mostly up either an asphalt or a gravel road. But now it looks like we're taking a little turn and quickly the terrain on the trail has changed. And you guys can see this is kind of like lime rock. And so this is a little bit more technical, a little more unsteady footing. I actually broke out the walking sticks for this, but it is a little more of a narrow path up through the forest. Look, we have more ice. Look, we have a big bear footprint. What do you think it is? Boys in blue. All right, we've kind of come up into an opening and it's more shrubby here. So, we're kind of out of the trees. We're up on a peak, maybe kind of above the forest line, at least for now it looks like. And we can see up at a peak in front of us. I think Tim said he thinks our destination is beyond that. We can't see it. Don't run, we are old. Slow down like Schwarzenegger said. Slow down. What's cool about all hikes that involve elevation is the higher you get, the viewpoints change. And we can see down into the city of Kirk where we were yesterday. And we walked through the old town and you can sort of see the marina and the seafront. And you can see the mountains and some of the little towns that we've ridden through as Tim's kind of taking us on tours throughout the island. And then over there to the right, if you can see in the background, and maybe you can't, snow-capped mountains. But down below that is the water that separates the mainland from the island and the bridge that we came in on. And as we get closer to the peak up here, you guys can see it's definitely gotten rockier. In fact, it's almost all rock. It's more like quartz than lime rock. So you have to watch your footing for sure. And the breathing also gets heavier. But we're about to get there. So this is not it. This is one. We've got 35 minutes more to go. We've got to go down a little bit and then go back up about 20 more meters than what we're at right now to get to the peak. Honest with you, I can't imagine a more beautiful day to be out on a hike. It's cool enough where you don't work up a sweat. And we've peeled off the layers and actually probably going to peel off a little bit more before it's said and done. I just heard from Tim. He's going to take his walking stick and bust this ice and do a little polar bear plunge up here in this little body of water. He's been talking about it ever since I've been here. He's going to take off his shirt and he's going to give me a big bear hug to keep me warm. So we're going to rub our moves together. No doubt this is a little place for watering the sheep. All right, we're up here on the rocky surface of the moon and we can definitely see the end destination up there. And we've thought a couple of these peaks might be it, but pretty sure that one down there is actually it. And fortunately there's a lot of really good trail markers along here. So you can see sort of the red and white bullseyes. And then there's also a light blue and white flag. And there is a Camino that goes around the entire island out here. And that I believe is marked by the white and blue stripe right there. So no doubt this is a hike that you could do off the Camino. But we still got a couple more peaks to go and a little farther than we thought. But we're in good shape and enjoying the day. So let's keep going guys. Let's keep going. So we've seen a lot of and talked a lot about these walls, these stone walls on this hike. And they were used for sheep herding. But I'm told that it takes a very special skill to stack these rocks like this. And if you come along here, you can see there they don't use any mortar. And the actual walls are really thin. And some of these walls are hundreds of years old. And so they've stood the test of time through the winds, the erosion, and all the other stuff. But apparently it's kind of a skill that's almost died off here. But something that's very specific to the region. I'm conquered. Good job guys. So we made it up to the top of Obsova. 569 meters. And the look to the south is absolutely stunning. You can see several islands down along there. We can even see some snow-capped mountains in the background. And we told you earlier that when we get done here, we are going to be heading south along the sea border of Croatia. And we can see the road right along there. Wow, what a stunning view. And across the sea and out there. And I'm not sure if we can see Italy from there. But I'm told on a clear day you can. I think most of what we can see out there is islands from Croatia. But the water is smooth and sparkling blue. And up here against this rocky sheep herding terrain. It is just a stark contrast and so stunning. If you like this video, be sure to subscribe to our channel and hit that notification bell so you guys know when we put out new videos. And don't forget you can always follow us over on Instagram to see what's going on in between videos. Cheers guys!