Day 53: Matulji to Subotica, Serbia. 600km, 8 hours, 20degC

A perfect day on the road.

Moderate temperatures hovering around 20degC

400km motorway. 

Interspersed with stops at gas stations which had excellent cafe facilities... And toll plazas. 140kn or $NZ23 for 400km of motorway. 

Viaducts, tunnels and bridges linked the road through the hills and the valleys.

Excellent road surfaces - comfortable riding for me as pillion.

Maybe that had something to do with the new shock absorber.

We think we may have been in Bosnia temporarily

The landscape beyond Zagreb was filled with corn fields, sunflowers, and other green leafed crops which may have included alfalfa.

The border crossing from Croatia  into  Serbia was on a small country road. 

Our passports were inspected and there was a vague request for something to do with the bike. It came to nothing and we were soon crossing the Danube into Serbia.

The Danube river is the border.

There is a noticeable drop in the standard of housing and facilities in Serbia.

We saw horse drawn carts, older tractors, Yugo cars, cyclists.

We received lots of friendly waves from folk and that was very heartwarming.

We stopped at Sombor for coffee and decided we were OK for another 80km to Subotica which is in northern Serbia  the Hungarian border.

Dick booked a hotel room and we set off for our home for the night.

The lovely receptionist at the Galleria hotel suggested a nearby restaurant that served local food.

After a cold beer and a meal  we agreed it was a good start to the next stage of adventure.

Tomorrow we head north to Hungary and east to Romania.

 

Trsat castle, Rijeka 

 

This is my armchair. A lot of people have asked me where exactly I sit on the bike.

Here is my nest. 

It is very comfortable which is just as well because everyday I sit here for more or less eight hours with breaks every 1.5hours. 

I use a fair bit of energy in my nest. Rarely do I sit perfectly still. 

There is enough space for me to do some Pilates and other exercises.

 

This is the shiny new shock absorber. 

 

We had a very smooth run on the motorways today.

The toll plazas were busy though.

Monday is Croatia's national day and lots of people are on the move - mainly toward Rijeka. 

This scene is the toll plaza in Croatia near Zagreb.

It cost 42kuna ($nz8) for around 150km. 

 

 

Hay, ripening corn and  sunflower were in abundance.

 

Public and commercial architecture is very modern.

These buildings house cinemas, a supermarket and stores.

 

We leave the motorway and get to see villages up close.

 

At the Croatian border control. One way mirrors.

 

The Danube river forms the border. As we cross the bridge we see a river cruise boat cruising downstream.

We had friends on one of these boats a couple of weeks ago.

 

Welcome to Serbia in Cyrillic and familiar text.

 

A sneaky manoeuvre gets  us closer to the border control.

 

We see many church from now on in Serbia.

Many with twin towers.

 

Horse drawn carriages, too.

 

Harvest season is underway.

That is good - we can expect some cooler temperatures from now on.

 

 

The lawns get mow. On Saturdays here. This man is using a scythe.

 

We arrive at Subotica...

 

Tree lined avenues welcome us to Subotica.

A third of the population is Hungarian (we are close to the border). The remainder are Serbs and Croats.

We looked for some local food.

The goulash was delicious. Paprika and tomato sauce (no cream, or very little if there was).

It was served with pasta and a white cheese.

The pork kabobs were good, too,  

We enjoyed the local Serbian salad of white cheese, tomato, onion, capsicum and hot peppers.

This feast with two beers cost RSD1,900 or $NZ 23.90