Day 41 - Friday 28th August

Day at Lake Bled

We woke early to watch the sun rise over the lake whilst the girls slept:

This campsite is in such a fantastic location, right on the shore of the lake - "Bleddy camping" as we've named it:

We hired a row boat and all had a go at rowing until we made it over to the island to have coffee and look around:

Back to camp for a swim in the crystal clear green waters of the lake.  Anna and Gordon swam to the island and back - 1.5km.  Took them just under an hour.  Rest of us swam around the shore - spotting fish and picking up stones from the bottom.  Magical place.

Had a quick pasta lunch at the van and then we took a taxi to the Vintgar Gorge:

Girls did really well to walk nearly 5km up and down the gorge and back.

Taxi collected us and dropped us in Bled town on the other side of the lake from our campsite.  We had a quick look around and decided our side of the lake was nicer!!  Took the land train back to "Bleddy Camping" so we could have an Aperol spritz on the beach and another meat platter dinner at the restaurant!

...and no day is complete here without having a go at the brilliant archery shooting range!  We all had a taster tonight.

Packed day today - tomorrow we leave early for Vienna.

Day 40- Thurs 27th August

Ca'Savio Beach - Drive to Bled

When all the 5 girls woke up from their sleepover, we headed over to the beach for breakfast.  It was beautiful first thing in the morning, very few people and freshly raked sand.

We decided to spend a few final hours at the beach before the drive.

After a final ice cream and a fond farewell to the Pindorias we headed out of Italy.  The van started no problem after its 10 day rest in Ca'Savio.

 

 

After a quick stop to buy a vignette for the toll roads (or rather vijneta as they say in Slovenian), we crossed the border into Slovenia.

 

 

Our route took us through the capital Ljubljana.  No time to stop unfortunately, but it looks an interesting city - a mix of Western and Eastern European architecture, with wide tree lined streets, large squares and bridges.

 



 

 

We arrived at Lake Bled half an hour later, passing through large areas of rolling tree lined hills, completely uninhabited as far as you could see.   With the towering Austrian Alps on the right as we left the motorway, the road headed down into the valley and we caught our first views of the lake with its picturesque island and castle overlooking from a cliff.

Just time for a fabulous heaped platter of grilled meat for dinner and C to show her skill with a bow and arrow, killing 1 wolf, a pig and 2 eagles.

Day 39 - Weds 26th August

We spent the morning relaxing at the beach and building sand sculptures:

Took the boat to Burano with the Pindorias, for a wander through the quiet (ish) streets and a look at the lace museum:

Had a very nice dinner (thank you Dinesh!) on the piazza in Burano:
Caught the boat back to Treporti and walked back to camp via our favourite Pasticceria.

Girls and Leo spent a final half hour playing mini golf and bouncing on the trampolines before the girls had a sleepover at the Merritt camp.

Day 38 - Tuesday 25th August

Day in Venice / Kayak Tour

Early start and into Venice, lunch all together at Arsenale.  Plenty of fish spotting for Ellie and Catie!

G needed to catch a ferry to Certosa for his Kayak tour so the girls spent some time around the Biennale and the quieter streets around the Arsenale area.  The Hong Kong exhibition was a bit much for the younger Merritts - spooky music and rippling lights in a series of empty darkened rooms!

Gordon kayaked around the Grand Canal:

...while the girls shopped and sight seed:

Evening in the City, caught the boat down to Giardini and walked back - getting a taste for Aperol Spritz at a bar on the way.  Dinner - Gordon's choice of restaurant.  Enough said!  Watched the sun setting over the City and the lamps turning on, soaked up the evening atmosphere before catching a late boat back.

Going, going, gone!!

Day 37 - Monday 24th August

Lunch with the Pindorias in Ca'Savio:

We all spent the rest of the day in Venice, mostly wandering without a plan; you can't go far before you hit a piazza or a canal.  Spotted a lovely mosaic hiding under an archway and a white heron admiring its own reflection at the vaporetto stop.

Took a break for gelato:

Back to the camp to try the climbing centre (in the dark!!)

Day 36 - Sunday 23rd August

Day at the beach with the Pindorias

The beach is right on our doorstep, but this was our first day there.  Perfect day for it - 24/25 degrees so nice and cool.  6 children played together (mostly harmoniously!) for many hours while the grown ups chatted and caught up. 

Take away pizza on the beach for lunch and one-pot camp rice for 10 for dinner at our camp. 

Showers for everyone - Ellie covered in sand from head to toe after her burial in the "car"!

Finally an evening walk into Ca'Savio to soak up the holiday atmosphere.

Day 35 - Saturday 22nd August

Visit to Murano

The island famous for hundreds of years of glass production.  The factories and demonstrations are all closed for August unfortunately - but there were plenty of retail outlets open!  Hundreds of glass shops provided an amazing spectacle (if looking through the window - 3 children and backpacks inside was not so much fun!!).  Girls loved admiring all the animals and objects fashioned from glass - both large and really tiny. 

We visited the glass museum (backpacks safely in a locker!!).  Learnt how the different types of glass were made and saw some examples though the ages.

Ellie loved watching the shoals of tiny fish which collected under each boat in the canal - easily visible in the clear green water.

Boat back to Treporti this time.  Walked back to Ca'Savio, stopping off at a fantastic Pasticceria for cakes and coffee and the fun park for the girls to bounce on the trampolines.  Final stretch back to the campsite, Anna said wouldn't it be funny if the Pindoria's drove past us... and just at that minute they did.  Quick catch up with them after their long drive from Switzerland while they checked in and then off to bed.

Day 34 - Friday 21st August

Boat trip to Burano


A fellow tourist said "its Balamory brought to life".  Well, not really, but it is one of our favourite places so far.  Some of the magic of Venice - but more colourful and without so many tourists.  Quite a quiet place - with green shady areas and artists workshops as well as the inevitable tourist shops and cafes.

 

 

 We stayed into the evening before catching the boat back to Punta Sabbioni.



 Walked back to Ca'Savio, stopping for an hour to watch a circus show happening in the street.  Same gags as the Camp Tahiti circus - Italian clowns seem to be taught the same things in clown school!

Day 33 - Thursdaty 20th August

Trip to Venice

We took the boat from Punta Sabbioni and half an hour later arrived in Piazza San Marco.  Our most crowded destination yet, but well worth it!  Gondolas, canals, bridges, narrow streets, stunning architecture and bustling shops - lively, colourful and beautiful.  First stop - Doge's Palace in St. Mark's Piazza:

We spent at least 3 hours looking around the Doge's Palace, including having our packed lunch in the cool court yard.

Crossed through the Bridge of Sighs from the justice chambers into the prison - seeing the prisoners last view of Venice from the elaborately patterned windows and their view of the canal from the surprisingly spacious cells - the first purpose built prison.

We walked to the Rialto Bridge and took a vaporetto boat to Ca d'Oro where we stopped for drinks and polpetta in a quiet little bar before meandering back to St Mark's Square.  The evening brought a reduction in the crowds and a glorious change in the light..

As we caught the boat back, we were surrounded by thunderstorms.  Wet walk back to camp, especially for G with no raincoat :-(

Fantastic day - definitely more to see on another day.

Day 32 - Wednesday 19th August

Trip to Venice rained-off

We packed for a day trip, but decided to get Ellie's insect bite checked out first - a trip to the chemist followed along with a thunderstorm and several hours of heavy rain, so it was an afternoon of DVDs instead.  Venice can wait until tomorrow!  Ellie's antibiotics mean she has to avoid sunlight... not sure the other tourists here will appreciate our hope that the forecast low 20s weather and cloud persists for a few days more!! Next week looks set to return to high Mediterranean temps.



Sodden streets of Ca'Savio

The girls decided to be industrious by creating competition for some of the German children who had set-up stalls selling loon bands and stones.  They found shells and painted them different colours and with German, French and British Flags.   Total taking for the day was 40 cents, versus the next stalls 14 cents!!

Day 31- Tuesday 18th August

Day at Camp

Quiet day spent at camp sorting out the van and washing clothes.  The girls amused themselves making peg dolls

Girls played in the play areas and went for a swim in the afternoon

We wandered into the town in the evening and the girls went on a trampoline.

Day 30- Monday 17th August

Drive to Venetian Coast

The thunderstorms continued through the night, turning the baked clay surface to heavy mud.  The van wheels kept slipping and we needed to have a push to help get out of our camping pitch.

The plan is to drive to the IstriaAqua Park after lunch before continuing our journey to Italy after an afternoon of splashing around..   We are still covered in mud from the campsite so we stop off at Haweii Beach near Porec and find a beautiful quiet spot to dip our toes and have lunch.

 

We arrive at the Aqua park at 2pm only to find that it was closed due to the poor weather.   Girls and Daddy are disappointed so the journey continued towards Italy...

Little did we know it would take us 3 hours sitting in traffic before crossing the border into Slovenia.   Girls did very well to hold their bladders while we queued, with the help of a DVD - their first screen time in over 3 weeks!

Once we got to the border the guard only gave us a cursory node before letting us through, so not sure why this took so long.

The next Slovenian town was PortoRoz where we stopped to have tea and stretch our legs.

We have been pleasantly surprised by the Slovenian coast, it has a cote D'Azur / Riviera feel.  They don't have a lot of coast line but what there is is beautiful, and the food is excellent.  Still have two and a half hour drive.  

 

We arrive at Ca'Savio campsite at 9.30pm.    The site is a huge megasite, a virtual town and very different to our quiet family run site in Croatia.

 

Day 29 - Sunday 16th August

Thunderstorms

Today we had major storms so we spent the morning at camp but we were told the chef would not be cooking that evening due to the weather (he does cook outside).  So we decided to go for a drive up to the coastal town of Fazana which is the gateway to the Brijuni National Park.   It was very quiet in the rain, but still quite pretty.  After a quick paddle in the still warm sea, we drove inland to Vodnjan, but the town looked closed given the rain.

We drove back via our favourite Croatian Supermarket "Plodine":  as Anna says we can just Plodine and then Plodout.  We were amazed by the choice of Frankfurters and hams.

We returned home via a pizza restaurant and drove into our campsite only to get stuck in the mud.  No point in moving the van today so went to sleep where we were stuck!!

Day 28 - Saturday 15th August

Day trip to Pula.

Looking at our German neighbours' immaculate pitch, we decided to tidy up camp before heading to Pula!!  Thunderstorms are due tonight, so we have battoned down the hatches in preparation.

Pula is most famous for having the second best preserved Roman amphitheatre after the Coliseum in Rome.  Girls were disappointed by the modern toilets (no sponges on sticks), but delighted by the large number of "Roman" geckos basking in the sun.  An incredible place, must have been an awesome sight 2000 years ago, particularly arriving into the harbour and seeing its grand scale.

Pula's old town was well worth a visit, with its other beautifully preserved Roman gates and temple.

And souvenirs?  No tacky fake Roman statues for us.  Remember these Rubiks snake modelling toys from the '80s?  They are popular here in Hrvatska with the locals and our girls alike!!  Gordon has showed off his skill and misspent youth modelling all sorts of animals and other objects.