Two long days riding through rural Croatia and onto the Island of Cres. On the way to Labin from Pula the war memorials in villages had as many Italian names as they did Croat. There's a strong Italian heritage that goes beyond pizza with more Giuseppes than I could count on one memorial. Two were 18 years old. Most visitors here are either German or Italian. Very few Brits.
George Daniel's power stone that he gave to his younger brother, Seth, to help him get up Mam Tor is still with me having been across France and the Mekong Delta. Here it is in a cafe in Sisan. Thanks boys. It's working wonders!
Bit of island hopping from the mainland to Cres and then a relentless and hot climb of 500 metres over 10 kilometres. I need to keep my speed on climbs above 7 kph. Below that the mosquitoes can land and have dinner on me. Lycra is no obstacle. They look upon it as me being shrink wrapped for freshness.
Most places I've passed through advertise themselves as the home of Croation cuisine or the place to invest in extra virgin olive oil. The island of Cres is different and tells visitors this is the homeland of Cres sheep. Apparently they speak English. Good to know.
Lovely views after the climb. Hard to capture the vista in pictures. Here's an attempt and a picture of my bike. Nice innit.
I've just spent a good hour or so calculating what time I need to get going in the morning to make the next ferry. There's a climb to do, so like this morning I should be setting out about 7'ish. This retirement malarkey isn't all it's cracked up to be.
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