Bound for Greece: the Postojna Caves

a different road back to Italy from Yugoslavia

TRAVEL DIARY - YUGOSLAVIA

The four of us set off for Greece in the camper.

Friday 28.07.89

We leave Milan at 15.45. We take the motorway the whole way. We have dinner at Palmanova, at the last service area in Italy. We fill up with diesel and pay the motorway toll. Once across the border at Gorizia, we change a little money into dinars. We stop to sleep on the motorway before Ljubljana.

Saturday 29.07.89

We leave Ljubljana at 8.30. We pass through Zagreb, then take a detour at Nova Gradiska towards Nasice, Osijek, Vukovar, Novi Sad, Belgrade. Lunch before Nasice. We have dinner on the motorway and at 22.00 we stop to sleep after Nis.

Sunday 30.07.89

We leave Nis at 7. After Skopje we fill up with water. We hit a queue at the Greek customs, 15 min. Once through Greek customs at 11.30 we have lunch. We reach Thessaloniki and at 15.30 we arrive at the Armenistis campsite. The itinerary continues in Greece.

TRAVEL DIARY - YUGOSLAVIA

This account follows on from Greece. Sunday 20.08.89 We leave at 10 for the Prespa lakes. We had planned a less steep route, following the valley floor. The road is narrow and for 7 kilometres it's dirt. We get as far as Psarades, a small fishing village, growing beans. Lunch on the pass between the two Prespa lakes. Then we set off for Italy. Florina, Bitola, Skopje, Belgrade.

Monday 21.08.89

In the morning at 6 we're in Zagreb, where we stop for breakfast. We have lunch at Postojna. THE POSTOJNA CAVES A little town in the Karst on the Pivka river, famous for its fantastic caves. Paid visit with an Italian-speaking guide, opening times vary by season. They are the second largest in the world and among the most beautiful. They were even known in the Middle Ages. At the cave entrance, where the walls are black from the explosion of a German fuel depot blown up by the partisans in 1944, you board an underground train that runs for about 5 kilometres. Along the way you admire the beautiful vaults and the enormous halls. You then continue on foot towards the Concert Hall, where symphonic concerts are actually held. There's the inevitable bar and souvenir shops.

The tour continues on foot through a series of halls that lead back to the Concert Hall, from which you take the train again. THEY ABSOLUTELY DESERVE A VISIT!

Inflation is galloping and to pay for the motorway they don't even want money but goods or food. We decide to travel all night and my parents take turns at the wheel to reach the Veneto and see friends by the evening.

Tuesday 22.08.89

After dinner we set off around 1.30 at night and we arrive in Milan at 3.30.