Zagreb, Croatia (Interrail with my mother)
The second big Interrail tour in this year was coming up. This time I wasn’t alone. My mother joined me. Interrail was big when she was young, so she wanted to do it again and I was happy to travel with her. We agreed to drive in direction east, meaning Croatia and Albania. In the end, we didn’t come that far south but still we had a good time.
The first part, a long ride all the way to the capital of Zagreb (Croatia). It’s a night train going there directly from our hometown. In Zagreb, I worked and my mother was exploring during the day. In the evening we went out to eat.
Zadar, Croatia
Next up was Zadar. A beautiful town on the coast. We took a direct bus which brought us within 4 hours there. In Zadar, we just stayed one night and continued in direction south to a very small village. There we booked a bungalow next to the sea. The place was just amazing and we extended our stay for a couple of days. It was very quiet since it was low season and the tourists were not there yet. Closeby there were some nice places to visit such as the island Vrgada, the waterfalls Krka or the nature reservoir around Vrana Lake. A very nice area with a beautiful landscape.
Trogir, Croatia
With a lot of joy, we continued our travels south to an old and tiny town called Trogir. The city is built on an island and for this reason limited in size. We booked a hostel in the middle of the city. Right next to the main square to be exact. To our surprise, we were the only guests at the hostel. That was again because of the low season. The friendly owner waited for us to do the check-in and told us about the area. After that, we had a private hostel for us.
The hostel owner told a couple of local dishes such as “Black Risotto” and “Pašticada”. We went out to tried both.
Split, Croatia
Split was located very closeby of our last stop. In the second biggest city of Croatia, we booked an Airbnb in the old town with an amazing view over the port. Split was way more crowded then we were used to in the last days. From the port, there are a lot of excursions to do, such as a fast boat tour to the Blue Cave and the island Hvar, which we took part on the next day.
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Our final stop in Croatia was Dubrovnik. The city is famous for the series “Game of Thrones”. Dubrovnik has also a nice old town such as all the cities we’ve been to, but way more crowded. Actually packed. So we prefered the other cities. Two days later we booked a ferry which brought us to Italy. While waiting for the ferry, which left late in the evening, we went down to the beach where I was working for a full day. To my luck, the mobile data connection was pretty good so I had no issues working there. What a great office.
Gioia del Colle, Italy
We arrived at the port of Bari in the morning. We explored a little and then took a regio train to Gioia del Colle. We got there a hotel upgrade and explored the tiny town and it’s surrounding. We found a hidden restaurant and went inside. To our surprise, it was a Micheline star gourmet restaurant. Absolute fair price and exceptionally good. Another lucky hit. Great food in Italy. Oh, how I love the Italian kitchen.
Closeby the town where had our accommodation, there are two famous tourist places — Alberobello and Matera. We rented a car and explored both places. They are very crowded but special. I felt in love with Matera. A town built into rocks.
Salerno, Italy
Next up, we crossed the country from east to west and arrived in Salerno. Closeby there’s the antic city called Pompei and the volcano Vesuvio. We took the train and dove into the history of that place. On the next day, we took a boat and explored the Amalfi coast. Small villages built in the hills and nice beaches at the bottom. One of the famous place there is Positano, a place very famous because of Instagram.
Salerno was the last place I spend with my mother together. Since I needed to be home around one week before her I needed to head north. She wanted to go south to Sicilia so we divided our path.
Rome, Italy
I took the train and drove north to Rome. I spend 3 days there. Explored the famous places like the Colosseo, the Vatican state, Pantheon, Piazza del Popolo or the Spanish Steps and also worked there. Since I was travelling alone now I was happy to meet some locals. So I did. I went out into some street restaurants with Couchsurfers.
Milan, Italy
My last stop in Italy was Milan. It was just a short stopover but I made the best out of it. I booked a hostel next to the main station and went into the city centre by electro scooter. I grabbed a hot chocolate in the only Starbucks of whole Italy — Starbucks Reserve. A very fancy one. Then I continued exploring the city and met a local Couchsurfer to have typical Milanese pizza (thick bottom), a nice chat and some drinks. It’s was a great stay.