Croatia 31 March 2019

Our last two days in Varazdin have been spent seeing all the sights and getting to know the town.

Shooting Range Zelendvor

One of our favorite restaurants is the Kineske Kuhinje which actually means Chinese Cuisine, but no Chinese Cuisine in sight at all. They served the best Squid and Pomfrit. Meals, beer and wine are on a par with South Africa cost wise.

Varazdin Cemetry

Everything in the supermarkets is pretty much the same and we are slowly learning what everything is in Croatian.

We drove out to Zelendvor where there is a hunting lodge and

King of Varazdin

behind the restaurant, we found a trap, skeet and sporting range. Looks like we can easily live in this are.

Varazdin Castle

On our way back we stopped at the Varazdin Cemetry with the most beautifully kept gardens. Graves date back to the 1800's and they even have sections honouring the soldiers who fought for the different wars of Croatia. History is very important to the people.

Today, which is Sunday, we made our way to Zagreb where we will stay for two days before we go off to the National lake Park.

Zagreb City Centre

We went into the city which should have been quiet as it is Sunday, but Spring has sprung and every person in Zagreb is eating out and going for a walk or a bike ride.

A very scary experience is when you are driving through th city centre, on the right hand side of the road and you have to share the lane with an enormous tram.

Croatia 28 March 2019

The last three days have been really hectic for us.

Our "Hope To Be" Home

There is so much information to take in concerning the Croatian land law and who can and who can't buy land. Which land you can buy and which land you can not buy.

When I get into bed at night I am over informed and have to sift through the information and process it.

View From The Bedroom.

We have found a really good property but we have to open a Croatian company to buy it. That would mean, setting up a PTY and getting an accountant to do your administration every year. This is all a load of legal work but if we go about it the correct way we can overcome the obstacle it raises.

We now have to see an accountant and a lawyer to see if we are

Varazzdin Street Market

able to apply for temporary residence, seeing that this property needs a Croatian company to purchase. This we will do next week.

In the meantime loads of decisions but it is really interesting and would love everything to start falling into place.

Slovenia - Just Past The Border Post

We visited what seems like a junkyard market held in Varazdin every Thursday and Saturday. We have also been shopping like the locals in the supermarket trying to see if we can overcome the language barrier and so far, so good.

The mobile comes out ever so often with a translating app but for just being here a week, I think we are coping. It is a really difficult language to master and I don't think we ever will, but slowly you can pick up the words and I think after a few months and lessons from a language teacher, you will be able to converse a bit.

Yesterday we went into Slovenia and drove up to Maribor, which should we be living here, will be

Leštakovec

where we can do some clay target shooting. It is just as beautiful as Croatia but the Croatian village roads are much better.

It is a pleasure to drive on all these roads with no aggressive drivers such as the drivers back home. Croatians have patience on the roads and there is no excessive speeding on the roads.

Loving it here.

Croatia 25 March 2019

Breakfast in Varazdin

We have settled into our apartment in Varazdin which is really comfortable. Slept like a log on Saturday night and only showered and dressed at 10.30. A real treat for us.

Drava River - Varazdin County Side

We explored the Drava River and forest and as it was Sunday the
local residents were out there enjoy the beginning of spring. Couples and families were strolling along the river chatting and the kids were out on their bicycles.

Drava River - Medimurje County Side

We stay in Verazdin County and across the river is the Medimurje
County where, on the banks, people have wooden and mobile homes for weekend getaways. They were out doing the barbeque and it seemed like a different world to this side of the river.

Country Home in Leštakovec. 

In the evening we met with Paul and Sanje who will be showing us properties in the morning. Went for a drive out to the hunting lodge in Zelendvor and then off for a pizza at a nearby restaurant.

We woke to rain this morning - it felt like we were in the UK - but jackets on and we were going to see the properties as arranged.

View From The House

The countryside is beautiful and a mist hung over the valleys and forests that we passed through. We have definitely decided we do not want to live in the suburbs so have already narrowed down our list. We saw one very promising home but could not get inside and will be going back before the weekend.

Croatia - 22 March 2019

Home This Morning

The day has arrived and after some nail-biting organizing and reserving (I am always nervous about having all my ducks in a row) flights, car, accommodation and liaising with real estate agents, we now just have to pack the last of the necessities print our boarding passes and order the Uber.

Doha Airport

This morning as I looked out at an overcast sky, everything is still quiet outside. There is great excitement inside me as there always is when we travel. I think we are privileged to be able to see this wonderful world as we do.

What an amazing thought that in a few hours we will be on the other side of the globe.

Half Hour From Landing In Zagreb

We are flying Qatar Airlines for the first time so will stop over at Doha and then on to Zagreb,

Varazdin

Croatia.

At the security check in, they stopped Richard because he had a toy gun on his key ring and at Doha he was pulled aside again because he had two empty casings in his backpack. We had a delay of nearly an hour at Johannesburg International and then at Doha, we went straight onto the plane to Zagreb. 

We collected ur car and tonight we are in Varazdin. We stocked up on groceriess wll have a good night sleep and start the adventure tomorrow.