by Helen | Jan 7, 2019 | Lifestyle
When I ordered the SkyBox – the one that I thought would solve all of our TV issues – I hadn’t realised where it would be coming from. But early on Christmas Eve morning, I knew exactly where it had come from, as we’d brought it all the way back to England with us from Istria. To Heywood, in Oldham. About 10 miles from Didsbury. It was dropped off unceremoniously – I don’t think Tom wanted to engage with me about the problems we’d encountered, on Christmas Eve morning, when all he probably wanted to do was not be in his soulless office. However, prior to leaving for our Christmas roadtrip, we’d had a bit of a breakthrough and this time Mike helped us to access UK TV. From his base in Wythenshawe – yes, we come all the way to Istria and we’re still dealing with Manchester based companies – he used magic to get us connected. So, we do have a way of watching UK TV, which is brilliant, but it’s still not the perfect solution.
However, when we were back in England, we got a call from Mauro, the engineer from T-Com. Out here, you get the same guy coming out to you, so you do get to know them – and this does make things easier as you don’t need to constantly re-explain the problem. My understanding was that Mauro wanted to come and collect the redundant 4G router – we’d upgraded the 4G service prior to Xmas and a new router had been delivered, which we hadn’t had time to set up before we left. We arranged that he’d come out when we got back.
Our main issue stems from the fact that we still don’t have fixed line internet – depsite the fact that all of the infrastructure was all installed way back in April. We did have it for one day, and then the connection was “broken” and it has never been fixed. The frustration of the TV situation finally spurred me onto doing what I should have done months ago, and I emailed T-Com head office in Zagreb, copying in everyone, in the hope that my complaint would hit the right person. SUCCESS! Just after the call from Mauro, two emails pinged in from T-Com, one after the other…
Dear,
we are kindly asking you to write us back billing account number so that we can make necessary check of your technical difficulties. We advise you to register on the Moj Telekom portal for access to your accounts and current consumption and administration services. You can make a registration through a link.
Best regards,
Dear Ms. Corr and Mr. Ruane,
We apologise for the inconvenience You experienced when activating our services. We are letting You know that we have reported a connection trouble at your location, which should resolve the inconvenience. As a contact number we have set the mobile number 385993333797. Please be patient until the above mentioned difficulty is removed.
Best regards,
To be honest, we had no idea what the implications of the emails were, but at least they’d replied. Which, for T-Com, is a massive result.
Fast forward to Sunday morning. Sunday 6th January – a big day out here as it’s The Epiphany and even though it fell on a Sunday this year, it’s still a public holiday. You know, the kind of day when no-one is working. Not Mauro, however, who rocked up with all of his kit and set about doing what he needed to do – to get our fixed line reinstated… Yep, that email to Zagreb had worked and he’d been sent out to resolve the problem! Almost ten months later, we have a glimmer of a hope that we can soon have normal internet access.
We’re not quite there yet. We now have a landline, with a Croatian number – and we are now awaiting, with bated breath, a call from Mauro’s colleague, who will assess whether this line can be upgraded to accommodate broadband. And if it can, that means that all of our TV problems are sorted! We’re trying not to be too excited about this unexpected situation, but we now have another router, and it has to be said, the lights all seem to be lit up correctly. To be continued…
by Helen | Jan 7, 2019 | Travel, UK
Split by the River Esk, Whitby is one of my favourite spots on the Yorkshire coast. I always seem to have visited in the winter months, and although I am sure spring and summer are glorious (mostly!) – my impression of Whitby is of brooding and dramatic skies, and waves crashing in from the North Sea. The Bram Stoker association just adds to the allure of this seaside resort – I love that the vampire arrived in Whitby, from Transylvania, in the guise of a black dog…
But, strangest of all, the very instant the shore was touched, an immense dog sprang up on deck from below…and, running forward, jumped from the bow onto the sand. Making straight for the steep cliff, where the churchyard hangs over the laneway to the East Pier…it disappeared into the darkness.
St Mary’s churchyard is exactly what a churchyard should be – ancient, with crooked headstones & weathered inscriptions, sitting on top of a wind swept cliff. An amazing place just to wander – but, you do need to get wrapped up, especially if like us, you like a winter walk!
High up on the headland, exposed to the elements from all directions, sits the atmospheric Whitby Abbey, a 7th-century Christian monastery that later became a Benedictine abbey. Only the shell of the priory now remains, but it was one of the most important Anglo-Saxon religious places in the world. Like the graveyard, it is beautiful, especially under a winter sunset.
From the Abbey and the churchyard, you can walk down the famous 199 steps (or 198 or 200, depending on which way you count them), from the top of East Cliff to the historical centre. These steps were originally wooden, and before the 19th century, were often the way people were carried up to their final resting place in the churchyard. Wooden planks were built to enable the pall-bearers to rest the coffin on the way up – these are now benches where you can take in the view…
Once down the steps, it’s a joy to explore the older part of the town, located on the East bank of the estuary. This part of Whitby is a jumble of narrow, cobbled medieval streets and alleyways, full of rickety buildings, leading down to the beautiful harbour. Pretty cottages sit next to utterly beautiful gift shops. Proper old pubs nestle up against cool bars and restaurants. And then of course, there are the fish & chip shops. Oh, the fish and chips from Whitby. Sublime…
So, if the east coast is not somewhere you’ve discovered before, we’d highly recommend you investigate Whitby. And then pop a bit further down the coast, and you’re in the stunning Robin Hood’s Bay, a maze of tiny, cobbled streets, with a tradition of smuggling. In fact, there is supposedly a network of subterranean passageways linking the houses – legend has it that Robin Hood encountered French pirates who came to pillage the fisherman’s boats and the north-east coast. The pirates surrendered and Robin Hood returned the loot to the poor people in the village that is now called Robin Hood’s Bay.
by Helen | Dec 17, 2018 | Lifestyle
So, nine days after ordering, and paying for it, the Sky digi box and viewing card arrived. The UPS driver went away with a bottle of wine and we oohed and aahed over the delivery. A very exciting delivery and a very exciting day…
Everything was connected, the card inserted, the screen changed to a Sky screen – all good so far – and then we saw the message which we did NOT want to see…
Your Sky+ HD box isn’t getting a signal…
Prior to making the purchase, I’d had numerous email exchanges with the company, ensuring that a) they did deliver to Istria, b) that we did NOT need fixed line internet for this service and c) that the satellite we had in place would enable this all to work. I was advised that the digi box we had would not work with this system, so we purchased their Sky box – an additional expense but one we felt was ultimately worth it, if it meant we got UK TV finally. I was assured that our current satellite set up was perfect as we needed the Astra satellite and this is exactly what we had. Online instructions – and reviews – all suggested that this was a total doodle to set up, and I had no reason to believe otherwise as I read the experiences of people all over Europe, who were sitting pretty, probably watching “Strictly Come Dancing”.
Still no luck, though. Online chat was initially helpful, but it soon became clear that things weren’t going to be as smooth as we’d been led to believe. It was helpfully suggested that we get a local satellite engineer to look into this, and Oli left the live chat, making it quite clear he couldn’t really be arsed any more with my issue in Istria. Let’s just say the night we had planned in front of the TV didn’t quite pan out that way…
However, next day we felt a bit more upbeat. It couldn’t be that hard, surely? Everywhere you look around here are satellite dishes, so it had be resolveable. We found a shop on the coast that seemed to be the answer to our problems – we’d found out we needed a coaxial cable as well as an LNB and this shop had them. Hurrah! Investigating a little bit more, the guy in the shop didn’t think we’d need these as he felt we had everything to make it all work. All we needed was his man, Leonardo, to come over and hopefully just change the direction of the dish so that the signal from the Astra 28 (and this number is significant!) could reach us.
When Leonardo arrived, it all started out so positively. He could speak perfect English – always a bonus as our technical Croatian hasn’t advanced too far – and he made the right noises about signals and receivers etc. Unfortunately it all unravelled when he went to check the actual dish and spoke to a colleague. We’d need a MUCH, MUCH bigger dish (as in 3 metres wide!) if we were to have any hope at all of the Astra 28 signal reaching us. And, even worse, the signal would only work on a bright, clear day. Any fog, low cloud cover, rain, wind or snow and we’d get nothing. Zilch.
To test if we had coverage, he searched online. And there was the answer. We could see an outer lilac band, on screen, *just* about covering northern Italy, but skirting over the top of Istria. Yep, proof that we weren’t going to be getting UK TV any time soon, as the coverage did not actually reach us! A quick internet search revealed that it used to, but the footprint had recently changed, meaning that people who had previously been able to receive a signal in Italy, the Balkans and Greece, no longer could. So a dish, no matter how large, was never going to help.
By this time, I was utterly despondent as we’d made a fairly expensive, but seemingly useless, purchase and were STILL no nearer getting the TV we were craving. (If you’re still reading and wondering why we don’t do it via fixed line internet, that’s a whole other story, which we’re currently pursuing with T-Com in Zagreb). So, it was back on the internet. I couldn’t accept that there wasn’t a solution. People must live in much more remote areas than us, without fixed line internet, and be able to access satellite TV other than the rubbish Croatian offering. And, seriously, I don’t say this lightly – it is appalling.
A day searching online was well worth it. By a process of elimination and dogged determination, I found an answer, through a company based – believe it or not – back in Manchester! And, on Friday evening, as if by magic, we were at last able to settle down and watch *normal* television – and the added bonus we even got North West Tonight so got to watch was going on in the NW. The unveiling of the Emmeline Pankhurst statue outside Manchester Central Library, on BBC NorthWest, in northern Istria!
The set up isn’t perfect just yet, but Christmas came early to Istria this weekend and I was able to gorge on Come Dine With Me, SCD Final and The Apprentice Final. And, in a new twist, our brilliant builder/electrician, who loves a challenge, has been investigating the satellite option and is on his way over. We think he may have a solution…
by Helen | Dec 5, 2018 | Lifestyle
The one thing that we have realised since relocating to Istria, is that PATIENCE is a quality which we must have, at all times. Every waking minute. Because usually, nothing happens quickly. And never immediately. We are gradually shaking off our (*my*) impatient nature(s) and realising that things do not happen here, like they did back in England. And to think we would moan and tut and grumble about how bad systems were back in the UK!
The work on the wall in the Well Room started over two weeks ago. Previous to this, the room did resemble a room. We were using the concrete table, we had created a sofa on the platform and gorgeous navy blue velvet curtains had been hung, providing us with warmth and privacy. The work has involved fixing insulation tiles with insulating adhesive, plastering it, fixing a mesh barrier, plastering again and finally a layer of skim. Then building a ledge which will sit along the back of the raised ledge, with lighting. So, quite a bit of work and time is needed for the plaster to dry out – but it is taking forever. Because of the nature of our house – an old stone house that hadn’t been lived in regularly for some time before we bought it – we always have to factor in unforeseen problems. And, so we need to exercise patience.
But never mind, we almost have our lovely kitchen, which we have had to exercise much patience over. It took a good few months to get everything done prior to it finally being installed, but it’s still not quite finished. A couple of jobs still need to be completed by the company who installed. Another exercise in being patient, as we bat emails back and forth and we try to keep our cool so that they don’t just decide to go quiet on us. Other jobs are down to us, adding to the builder’s list – and again, as each job is added, another takes a bit more time to complete. Today’s job has involved installing the lighting for the shelving in the corner, meaning wiring all over the place again and everything having had to be moved from shelves and work tops. Still, at least it’s being done and I’m crossing my fingers that by tonight, everything will be back to normal and not looking like it currently does…
Never mind, it’ll all soon be put back together and our corner shelves will have lovely under-lighting. Hopefully tonight.
But, we are still having to exercise patience. And this time, it’s properly killing me! We have finally, we think (and we hope, as it’s cost quite a few pounds) found a way to at last get UK TV. We’ve not yet got fixed line internet – patience again, being key here – and our internet situation is reliant on 4G, so we have to have satellite. But, and here’s the rub, Croatian and Italian TV are both pretty rubbish. We tend to default to BBC World News or Kitchen 24 – yep, a channel of cookery programmes, 24 hours a day, which means that at times we can gorge on Jamie, Nigella, Nigel etc. A little bit of TV sanity. The TV situation has been driving us mad – and we haven’t been able to see the wood for the trees, but have now worked out a way that we just might be able to access everything we have missed on the TV. Next instalment coming up…
by Helen | Nov 25, 2018 | Renovation
Our stone house doesn’t have normal staircases. For over eighteen months, we’ve had exposed treads and no handrails. A bit like a big version of a stepladder. We have two of these – one going to the upper floor (the more sturdy set of stairs) and one down into The Snug (the less sturdy set of stairs), and both run from the living room. The stairs have been an on-going pre-occupation since we moved in because theyare a) pretty horrible and b) pretty unsafe. This was what the stairs were like prior us to doing anything at all to the house. And before all of our furniture arrived…
As you can see, precarious, definitely not good looking and not really the finished items. We’ve had a number of quotes for a number of different staircase options, but all were a lot more than we wanted to pay – but, we knew that if only for the safety of us, and visiting family and friends, we had to do something with them.
So, in between everything else we throw at him, we asked our builder to make them safe in the simplest, most cost effective way possible. The treads were all brought forward slightly, giving you a lot more foot-room going up and down, and pine boards were attached to the frames at the back of the treads, meaning that you no longer felt your foot was going to disappear out of the other side on the way up.
These wooden treads (below) might look no different to the previous photo (above), but the treads have been moved forward and secured much better, meaning that there is more depth and strength to each one…
Wooden boards were then attached to the back of the stairs, so that they were no longer open and exposed, and the job of painting them started.
Obviously this is still a work in progress – the stairs down into the cellar haven’t even been started yet (and yes, that blob of paint on the wall will be whited out!) – but we think just doing this has made a huge difference to the living room. A industrial handrail will be fitted on the wall side, with three or four vertical poles (made of the same scaffolding poles) attached to the open side of the staircase. We want to keep the feeling of openess, but with just a little more of a nod to health and safety.
Very glad we didn’t run with the original quotes – the stairs undoubtedly would have been amazing – but a massive chunk of money would have had to have been handed over. Doing what we’ve done, we’ve paid for pine boards and paint, plus our builder’s time. A whole lot less than was quoted. And, we think that we now have stairs which will actually fit into their surroundings, rather than look like dangerous eye-sores.
by Helen | Nov 22, 2018 | Renovation
As autumn gives way to winter, we decided recently that our windows are now going to be our focus. How all were going to be sealed and no more draughts would sneak in. Yes, yes – it’s all still ongoing, but as ever, we guesstimated how much seal we’d need. And guess what? We under-guesstimated. So, until we can get some more, we’re cracking on with the next bit of vital renovation to keep us much warmer than last winter.
Over the summer, we created a “day-bed”, using the concrete block which sits in The Well Room, abutting one of the external walls. We’d been led to believe that this was where the filtration magic happened with the well. But this has been debunked, as a bit of investigation from our builder revealed that this was no sophisticated filtration system, it was a great big hole filled with soil and building debris. Never mind though, we could still make something of it, and as you might know, I have a bit of an overspill of cushions and throws…
However, The Well Room is still a work in progress – wooden flooring to be laid, new front door, windows, woodburner to be fitted, TV to be fitted, concrete table to be finished – and so we don’t routinely use this room at the moment. And so didn’t notice the salt ingress, and patches of dusty damp, behind the cushions, until I moved them this week, to paint the wall into the bathroom. It’s serious when my cushions get damp, so remedial action was required. We had a nice looking Well Room, with one painted statement wall – the same as in the living room – for one night.
It’s all back to chaos now though! The offending wall has been treated with a sealant, usually used in swimming pools, and today insulation tiles have started to be applied. Once these are all in place, a hard mesh will cover them and then the wall will be plastered. We’re taking the opportunity to create a false ledge, into which lighting will be fitted, so that when it’s all finished, not only will this area be sealed and dry, but it will also be a whole lot more comfortable and stylish. The only problem now, is that I am imagining ALL of the stone walls being treated in this way. And imagining a day when we have smooth internal walls…
This is where we’re up to today. Our builder returns tomorrow to finish the wall of insulation tiles, before the mesh is attached and the plastering done. Gyproc (plasterboard) will then be installed, with the creation of a ledge, at the height of the bottom left tile, with lighting. Still working out if this will be of the dimmable LED strip variety or dimmable uplit spots. Whichever, we’ll be so much happier with the new arrangement, which to be fair, on Sunday evening, we hadn’t even considered. Such is life when you are renovating an old stone house in Istria.
by Helen | Nov 11, 2018 | Travel, UK
Recently, we travelled south to Essex to visit a We Are Life client and decided to make a bit of trip of it. Not having ever been to Essex before, assuming it was all brash a-la “The Only Way is Essex”, we weren’t really sure what to expect and I certainly didn’t have high hopes for a bit of high end, but affordable, luxury. In fact, this was probably what I thought Essex was all about…
But, Walton-on-the-Naze, is so much more than jellied eels. Sure, there are very traditional English seaside touches but there’s also a lot of beauty…
And, in a major stroke of luck – especially as they don’t have a website or a twitter account – we found The Georgian House. It’s described as a “B&B” over on website booking sites, but I don’t think it would be stretching it too far to say that it’s as good as any self-described “boutique hotel” we’ve stayed in. The house itself is very large – a stunningly restored Georgian townhouse over four floors, full of the original features. Perhaps one of the reasons it is described as a “B&B”, is that it is primarily a home, lived in by the owners, Geoff & Chris. However, it’s not the kind of B&B where it’s stuffed full of the owner’s mis-matching knick-knacks. This one exudes style, taste and elegance. Everything – from light switches to door handles to cutlery to taps to bedding to Farrow & Ball heritage colours – is in keeping with the style of the property, whilst acknowledging that guests probably also want a bit of 21st century luxury. It is beyond clean – taps literally sparkle. The bathroom was pristine – and like a boutique hotel, with complimentary toiletries. No half used bottle of liquid soap here. Towels were big, white and fluffy. Lush!
There are two “rooms” available for guests. Ours was just off the main staircase on the first floor and it was not a room at all. It was a mini apartment. A huge bedroom (again attention to detail was superb) with a separate bathroom (free standing bath) & toilet – although our room didn’t overlook the sea, this was not a problem because the accommodation was just spectacular.
Now, breakfast. I always have an issue with B&B breakfasts. Either the dining room is pretty horrible, or the food is bland or just plain awful. But The Georgian House does breakfast, with bells on. There’s only one table in the dining room – which is at the front of the house so all you can see is the sea – but as there are only two rooms to let, I don’t think you’d ever be fighting for a seat. Fresh fruit, juices, cereals, fresh breads & croissants, proper coffee served in a proper silver coffee pot and a full English that ranks up there with one of the best I’ve had.
Our first visit to the Georgian Townhouse was in 2013 and we always said if we were ever in the area again, we’d definitely do a stop-over. Fast forward to 2019, and we’d moved to Istria from Manchester. But on a trip back to the UK in September 2019, we drove and did a ferry crossing from Harwich, meaning were back in Essex and close to the Georgian Townhouse, so we made a booking.
It was good to see that, after four years, the high standards were still there. We got to stay in the same room again – but were shown the other – and everything was still pristine. Just as we remembered. As was breakfast – superb quality ingredients, fabulous presentation and all served in a room, with huge Georgian windows, overlooking the sea, right across the road.
We have not been paid to write this blog post – we paid full price for both of our stays – but we felt that The Georgian Townhouse is well deserving of a very high recommendation.
by Helen | Oct 20, 2018 | Renovation
We’re finally beginning to tackle the room which we’ve rarely gone into – the indoor cellar. Indoor, because we also have an outdoor cellar. This room sits under the living room, but feels joined to the house because the staircase down, is open. We had thought this would be a problem, heat-wise, but it’s actually worked out really well. Now that the weather has turned a bit chillier, the burners are starting to be lit. We’ve had our much-loved Dovre Stove, which we bought in The Stove Room, West Didsbury and brought out with us, installed in the cellar – and it definitely pumps out some heat, up into the living room. Up until now, it’s been a bit forlorn, sitting in the corner, surrounded by boxes and everything else that, so far, has been put in the cellar, until we “find a home for it”. We’ve had a vision for this room, since we bought the house, and now as winter approaches, it’s time to create the room we’ve been dreaming about…
When we moved into the house, this was what the cellar looked like :
Although some work had been done – two new windows, walls plastered (with some original stone left exposed) and a concrete floor laid – it was all very unfinished. The ceiling beams were clearly very old, and in need of lots of TLC. Too much else needed to be done elsewhere in the house and we needed an overspill storage space as we worked out where our belongings were going to go. But gradually, we’ve started to make sense of this space and realised we could make it in something very, very cosy. The installation of The Dovre was the first thing that made us think we needed to crack on and get sorted. Which is what we are now doing. It’s going to be a long haul to get it all finished, but with a couple of days of work, it’s already starting to take on a new look…
Next time, I hope to be able to show quite a bit of progress. And, to show what’s being done to the stairs, which have proven to be very rickety and look pretty awful. Delighted to say that work has finally started on transforming these into something that we hope will be quite unusual. Here’s what they’ve looked like until now, making the climb to the living room, a little precarious to say the least…
We have had quotes for two new staircases, but they were pretty eye-wateringly expensive. So, we’ve decide to get creative with what we have – and luckily, we also have a very creative builder who’s helping us to work with what we have, but re-design. Watch this space…
by Helen | Oct 3, 2018 | Travel, UK
We’ve made a few trips back to England since we moved out to Istria, and we’ve just completed our second road trip. Driving is definitely not the quickest way to get back, but it’s surprisingly less stressful than flying. And especially landing in a UK airport. Specifically Manchester…
Last time we drove, we headed across northern Italy, through the Mont Blanc Tunnel, skirting around the edges of Switzerland and up through France to Calais. We decided to try a different route this time and headed north up into Austria, Germany and Holland. We could have chosen a very scenic, mountainous route but that would have added hours and hours to what was already quite a long drive, so we didn’t get to see the best that these countries obviously have to offer. Germany, in particular, was pretty flat for the duration of the route we took and certainly no real Instagramable moments. However, the German motorways made up for lack of spectacular scenery – although very fast, they felt very safe as everyone seemed to really respect the rules of the road. Unlike in Italy. Holland, whilst still very flat – as we expected – became a lot prettier the more north we travelled. It has to be said, all three countries seemed to manage roadworks way, way better than happens in England. There were roadworks along the way, but the traffic largely kept flowing. Until we got to England, and this was what greeted us as we left Harwich, and became almost the norm as we travelled to various points in the country…
This time we decided to try a different ferry crossing, opting for the longer Hook of Holland to Harwich route. This turned out to be a good decision, because finding and navigating both ports was really easy – they are both quite small, compared to Calais and Dover and Portsmouth etc, and well sign-posted. Maybe it was the time of day/year, too but on both journeys, we embarked and disembarked and got through passport control quickly and efficiently.
We didn’t book cabins as the crossings were in the daytime, but did book seats in the Stena Lounge. This was described as a quiet lounge, where you could relax or work, in comfort. In reality, it was a little bit like a lounge in a retirement home – although with the added bonus of complimentary drinks. The crossing was a good seven hours, so for the return journey we decided to book a cabin (see below) – with a 9am departure, it seemed like a good opportunity to catch up on some much needed shut-eye, and before arriving back in Holland at 5pm. We hit very, very lucky with the weather on the return leg – brilliant blue skies and a very calm North Sea…
Now, here’s a bit of a top tip if you ever do this crossing. It does take a whole day – and a whole day sitting in a communal area can go quite slowly. So, once onboard, get yourself along to the Guests’ Services desk and enquire about booking a cabin, because if they’re not all booked, they sell them off. Cheaply. So, we bagged a triple berth cabin which had a double bed, with a single bunk above, sea view, desk area and large(ish) bathroom with good shower, for just over 35 euros. Worth every cent to be able to have some privacy, catch up on sleep and freshen up. We’d also pre-booked lunch in the main restaurant – at 16 euros for two courses it seemed good value. And, we weren’t disappointed. The food was good restaurant standard and the portions very filling. Although it did all feel a bit “Triangle” when the Prawn Cocktail & Marie Rose Starter arrived. No Kate O’Mara though…
We’d never been to Harwich before, and needed somewhere to stay when arrived as we didn’t dock until 7.30pm, but to be honest we struggled a bit finding somewhere that looked appealing. However – and here’s another top tip – Walton-on-the-Naze is only 20 minutes away and I remembered our last stay here, at the beautiful Georgian Townhouse. There was availability on both nights we needed (arrival & departure) so we booked again. It was like a home from home and everything we remembered. Beautiful room, bathroom with a roll-top bath, super comfy bed, excellent breakfast, uninterrupted sea views and wonderful hosting from Chris & Geoff. Do yourself a favour if you’re ever Essex way and make a booking. You won’t regret it.
On the way back, we decided to take more of a tour through Switzerland. A word of warning coming up here – if you are going drive on a Swiss motorway, and you’re only passing through, get on Google Maps or which ever app you use, and find a route that AVOIDS motorways. You have to have a vignette to drive on the motorways – if, like us, you hadn’t realised, as you approach the motorway, the police will syphon you off into a lane where you then have to buy a vignette. At a cost of 40 euros! Once we’d got over the shock of this unexpected expenditure, we realised that actually this wasn’t too bad for us, because we can get to Switzerland quite easily and now having paid to drive on the motorways, we’ll probably explore it more over the next year. But, as I say, if you are literally just passing through, it’s quite a hefty fee to pay – especially if you’re unfortunate enough to join at one junction and exit at the next…
Having said that, and we didn’t even get high up into the mountains, Switzerland is beautiful and it was probably worth the 40 euros to see the little that we saw. I’ve since read this excellent article from The Culture Trip and will be definitely using this as a guide next time we visit, because we were a little bit captivated by Heidi Land.
We sailed a return trip with Stena Line for less than £250 for two of us, plus a car. If you book seats in the Stena Lounge, drinks (wine, soft drinks, water, tea & coffee) are complimentary – and although you could get well and truly sloshed, as there was no limit applied to how many times you could refill your glass, it didn’t seem quite the right thing to do on this occasion. As well as the restaurant where we pre-booked lunch (we didn’t realise the ferry would be quite as quiet as it was, so a booking, post summer, is probably not necessary), there is also another restaurant which serves hot food and when I looked, had a really extensive selection, including veggie options and salads, sandwiches etc.
So, will we be doing a road trip again? Yes, most definitely. It gives us freedom. We can decide how long we are going to be away, plan the route to suit ourselves, and have the bonus of having an empty car we can fill up with goodies when back in England, and en-route. Those French hyper-markets are just too good to not factor in a few wine stock-up stops!
by Helen | Sep 12, 2018 | Lifestyle
Initially, it seems that *everything* in Croatia is complicated and fraught with much dramarama. Getting utility bills put into your name, buying a car, finding where to buy paint and white goods and furniture, getting car & house insurance, knowing how to hop across borders, opening a bank account, arranging a mobile phone, getting residency status, understanding Croatian instructions when putting together flatpack furniture. But, once you’ve done something once, maybe twice, you get the hang of it and all of a sudden we’re coasting along, thinking we’re very almost Croatian. But then our nemesis raises its head and we realise that one thing has alluded us. One thing we just cannot crack…
That’s right. Broadband. In May of last year (2017!) the broadband cable was finally fitted and for about 12 hours we had super speedy broadband. Oh, how wonderful those 12 hours were! But it didn’t last as, after much harassing of our provider, we found out that the “box” which housed the cables to all of the other houses in the village was FULL and our skinny wire couldn’t possibly have fitted into it. Hence, a huge pole had to be erected, the villagers consulted re the wire crossing across different people’s land, and eventually the wire drilled into the house – only for a “fault” to rear its head. And no, no more work could be done because apparently the Internet Gods in Zagreb had allocated a budget to our project, which had now been spent, and nothing more could be done. Even blatant attempts at bribery proved fruitless. Showing at least, that our telecoms engineers are nothing, if not honest.
So, for a year and a bit, the solution has been a satellite dish for TV and a 4G router for internet access. We’ve managed – although designing websites has been a bit frustrating at times. TV is something we are still getting our heads around – and no matter what you think of the state of TV in the UK, be grateful. Very grateful. Croatian TV (apart from some UK imports – thank goodness for Midsomer Murders & Death in Paradise) is nuts. It’s on a par with Italian TV – which is our only respite when the Croatian programmes become too insane. We can stream & download, but the 4G internet is limited on a monthly basis – we’ve so far never reached the limit, but after being used to just having broadband in Didsbury, it is, well, a bit limiting.
Our problem is that broadband apparently cannot reach our house at the moment – although conversations with T-Com (the state provider), suggest that technological advancements are being made and we will eventually have it. But no-one knows when this will be. And, although there are new companies in Croatia who are offering the installation of broadband, like with BT, everything ultimately goes through T-Com, so we just keep hitting the same stumbling blocks.
However, after much investigation, I have found a UK company who can provide us with satellite broadband. It seems a completely bonkers way of getting fast internet to the house, but once we have this we can then investigate the TV set-up. God knows if it will work, but we have to give it a try.
And given that we’ve successfully cracked most things we’ve encountered, we think that very soon we’ll crack this too and that like the rest of you, we’ll soon be lapping up Strictly Come Dancing.
