Thursday, 1 August 2013

Croatia Opatija Monday 01 July 2013

Croatia are now part of the EU!
Before we leave we have a group photo taken at the front of the hotel and then depart at 08;15 for the long drive to Bruhl.
It is very busy approaching and around Munich with lots of lorries and the road is either going up a steep incline or down one which makes for irritating driving!
I stop for toilets opposite where we stopped on the way down and change the water again as it is still not quite right. This does the job as it is fine from now on.
I am going back a different way from Munich by taking the motorway to Nurnburg and then the A3 to Frankfurt and Koln.
It is very hot today as we stop for lunch at the second service area after Nurnburg before continuing our merry way.
An hour from Bruhl I stop again to fill up with fuel and also to call the hotel with my arrival time.
As I’m waiting for a lorry to leave the fuel pump another truck pulls in and when the lorry in front of me goes he tries to nick my space! I’m not having that and gesticulate through the windscreen my intentions to drive onto the empty pump. He relents by throwing his hands up in the air!
When I go to pay the driver comes up to me and we shake hands and smile at each other.
We have had a fairly trouble free, although very busy, journey back and this last stretch should be a doddle.
As soon as we pull out of the service area we hit a traffic jam!
Once we are through this hold up (a broken down lorry) It starts to rain and rain very,  very heavily.
It really is torrential but saves me a job of cleaning the windscreen later, in fact it has rained so hard it has washed the bus!
We arrive at the hotel half an hour late and I walk everyone around to the reception where there is a delightful young lady doing her best to cope with the sudden queue forming at the reception desk. We wait about ten minutes to receive our keys as she serves everyone with a smile, no problems.

Another nice meal and a good night’s sleep are in order.

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