14252

Croatia / Bosnia And Herzegovina: Split, Marjan, Tribistovo Lake and Lake Blidinje

With Nada we woke up in Split city center and our first task was to explore it. Diocletian's Palace and Marjan hill were our main sights. Around noon we moved on and crossed the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina. We drove around Buško Blato, one of the largest accumulation lakes in Europe, visited Tomislavgrad and then picked up a few geocaches near Tribistovo Lake. Finally we reached our destination, Blidinje Lake, where we stuffed ourselves with big plate of meat. We settled in mountain lodge Orlova stina, where the rest of the cyclists joined us in the evening.

 

Split is mainly built by limestone, quarried on Brač. Statue of Gregory of Nin, a medieval Croatian bishop of Nin.

Old meets older

 

Bell tower dedicated to Saint Domnius.

  

Exploring narrow streets

 

Marko Marulić was a Croatian national poet and Renaissance humanist, known as the Crown of the Croatian Medieval Age and the father of the Croatian Renaissance.

One of many squares

View to Split

 

Church of St. Nicholas, a favorite saint of fishermen, and top of Marjan hill called Telegrin

View from top of Marjan, 178 m

 

Nada, Croatian flag and the cross, built in 2013.

 

Stone house near the beach

View from the ground zero

 

Nada and Marjan, many times.

Finishing the trip around Marjan with a view to Kašjuni beach

 

Sustipan peninsula - In the early Middle Ages, there was the Benedictine monastery of St. Stephen, called 'Sub pinis' (under the pine trees), erected on this remarkable site, i. e. on the remains from the Roman and Early Christian times. The monastery was first mentioned as St. Stephen's monastery in a document dating from 1020. According to the oral tradition, established on historical documents, Croatian king Stephen lived in the monastery after he had been secluded there in the late 11th century.

 

Church of Holy Trinity, a Pre-Romanesque style Roman Catholic church.

Arrived to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Buško Blato, one of the largest accumulation lakes in all of Europe with  an area of 55.8 km² and a total volume of 782 million m³.

The Saint John the Baptist Church in Podhum

 

Driving towards Tomislavgrad

 

Testing the offroad capabilites of Angie

Tribistovo Lake

 

Man-made improvements of nature

Arrived to Blidinje, nature park established in 1995

 

Royal Tomislav beer and a little bit of meat. We ate in the motel Hajdučke vrleti, the seat of republic Hajdučka Republika Mijata Tomića.

 

Saint Anthony is one of the favorite saints in Herzegovina and a chapel was built to honour his figure and work.

GeoCaches found:
- Diocletian's Palace, GC670QE
- Cathedral of Saint Domnius, GC65H0R
- Miljenko Smoje, GC6BY0T
- Marjanske skale - na pola puta, GC5QV28
- Marjan or up, up, up in Croatia, Mystery, GC1BK88
- Marjan - Crossroads, GC5QV44
- Marjanski vidikovac, GC1V1D7
- Marjan - Prva voda, GC53282
- Marjan - Druga voda, GC5329D
- Secrets of the sea, Multi, GC6E086
- Sustipan, GC63250
- It all starts with the painter, Multi, GC6DERB
- Tribistovo Lake #1, GC744KD
- Tribistovo Lake #9, GC7A89D
- Tribistovo Lake #2, GC796FA
- Tribistovo Lake #10, GC7A890
- Stop in Blidinje, GC74RCJ
- Kapela svetog Ante, GC74ZKY

14251

Slovenia / Croatia: Driving to Split

Our 5 day mountain biking journey began and as usual, the first day is all about the afternoon driving to the destination. After work, Nada and me picked up 2 passengers, that were looking for a ride to Dalmatia. Couple of hours of driving and we reached our destination, city Split. Passengers were delivered to desired locations and with Nada we had to find our apartment in the city center. Parking spot was quite quickly found and we settled in a nice small basement apartment. Since it was already late, we decided to have a nice fish dinner with wine and afterwards we did a quick walk in the well known Diocletian's Palace.

Approaching to the second-largest city of Croatia, Split.

 

Narrow streets of Split and location of our apartment 

Delicious fish plate

Cheers and Bon Appétit

Peristyle

14247

Slovenia / Croatia : Mountain Biking to Trdinov vrh / Sveta Gera and Vinska vigred

Vinska Vigred (Wine Spring) is the biggest Slovenian cultural, tourist and wine festival for more than 30 years. Every year Vinska Vigred takes place on the third weekend of May and also this year Nada and me decided to visit it. We arrived yesterday with a car to Dolnji Suhor pri Metliki, where we spent the night at Puljak / Borojevič family.

In the morning we saddled our mountain bikes and started riding towards Trdinov vrh / Sveta Gera. After a few kilometers we passed the border in Radovica and entered Croatia. Nice scenery through less settled villages and forests led us to the peak of Trdinov vrh or Sveta Gera, 1178 m. Quick 2 caches on top and the fun part on our way down began. During descenr we also stopped at Planinski dom pri Gospodični mountain hut, 822 m, where we had a quick lunch. Soon we continued to our starting point.

Trdinov vrh (on Slovenian) or Sveta Gera (on Croatian) it is a highest summit in large ridge Gorjanci (Slovenian) or Žumberacka gora (Croatian). The whole main ridge is on a border between Slovenia and Croatia and so is some natural separation line for people on each side of mountain. The peak was originally called Sveta Gera in Croatian and Sveta Jera in Slovene (Mount St. Gertrude) after the 15th-century church of Saint Gertrude some hundred meters from the highest point of the peak. In June 1921, however, the president of the Novo Mesto Mountaineering Club Ferdinand Seidl proposed to rename it after Janez Trdina, an ardent describer of the region. The proposal was submitted to the central Yugoslav government, which published a decree on the new name on 1 July 1922. On 15 August 1923, the peak was ceremonially renamed by a Slovene girl, while the accompanying ecclesiastic rituals were performed by a Croatian priest. Since 1991, when Yugoslavia fell apart, it has been a border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia, mostly in times just before the elections, so luckily it doesn't affect the hikers and cyclists from both side of the border.

 

Entered Croatia and visited St. Nikola Chappel in Badovinci

Mercedes in every barn

Nice gravel road led us to the peak

View to Slovenian side

 

Exploring the summit

 

Thirsty and hungry, but not for long.

 

Final descent on a path with many trail names

Mountain biking with Black Mamba and Black Beast - Garmin Connect

  

Barbecue and pizza time ...

  

... and cherries from the neighbor.

 

For the end of the day we visited the Vinska Vigred (Wine Spring) in Metlika.

GeoCaches found:
- Sveta Gera - Pogled, GC7HP45
- Sveta Gera, GC6ANE4