This trip was an old dream of mine, just with a lower priority. But the ever present travel restrictions with covid didn't give us much choice on how to spend this year's vacation. Hence, it was decided that we would travel as much of the Balkans as possible this year.
Rijeka - Main Railway Station
Due to the different rules for entering each country, the planning was quite lively. If anyone still remembers, the topic of 2021 was vaccinations and how many doses they will let you in without a test. At the time planning began, only two countries were allowed to enter with one dose of the 5G vaccine, and that was Croatia and Slovenia. For that reason, we first scheduled fourteen days for those two countries. About a month or so before departure, Northern Macedonia and Albania opened up completely. When we did a quick check that one dose of vaccine was enough to pass through Serbia, planning began anew and Albania was integrated into the plan with a two-day stop in North Macedonia and a final departure from Skopje. To top it off, 3 days before departure, the previously open Slovenia announced a PCR testing requirement for people who had not completed their vaccinations, or had not had a certain amount of time since the second dose, which almost none of us had, so we had to get tested.
The holiday started unconventionally on the day of departure with a two-hour queue for the PCR test, where I gradually met Ála and Patrik, who together with Žanet, who did not have to be tested because she got the dose in advance, Katya and her sister Zuzka are the participants of our trip to the Balkans this year. We all meet again at the Main Railway Station in Mladá Boleslav and head towards Kolín, where we will change to the overnight train to Rijeka, Croatia, operated by Regiojet.
We're good to go
Before leaving Cologne, we manage to buy some wine supplies in Bill, including the bottle opener we forgot at home. The train arrives on time. Passengers with the same tickets as us appear in Brno. This is solved by the fact that they were informed of the new seats beforehand. It just didn't reach them. Wine supplies are running low after Bratislava and it was necessary to use train supplies in the form of Pilsner Urquell.
With the intention of going to sleep, I move to my compartment in a drunken state. But I'm sharing it with a bunch of youngsters who are having a solid party. I get into a conversation with them and while telling them about all the places we've travelled, I have one drink after another. I have only vague memories of the finale of this party, and waking up at the Hungarian-Croatian border at night was not pleasant. Luckily it wasn't too much of a problem and all we had to do was reach out from behind the bed with our waistband and continue sleeping. In the morning I woke up with a solid hangover in front of Oigulin. We were about an hour late. The end of the trip I enjoyed the views from the train of the Croatian coastline, which are epic as you descend into Rijeka.
Descent to Rijeka
Rijeka - Main Railway Station
I get off the train and for the first time in my life I touch Croatian soil. Yes I have never been here and if it wasn't for the direct night train, I wouldn't be seen here for a long time. From Rijeka station we go straight to our apartment which is quite a walk from both the station and the city centre. We figured it wasn't that far and we'd take it easy, on foot. In the end, we worked up quite a sweat.
Rijeka - Apartman Lucky1
Rijeka - View of Opatija from the apartment
Rijeka - Apartman Lucky1
We don't stay too long at the apartment, we take our swimsuits and go straight to the nearest beach (Kantrida) we can find on the map. I would describe my first contact with the Croatian sea like this. Yuck it's disgustingly salty and cold, the golden Baltic in Poland. But at least the water here is pretty clear.
Rijeka - Kantrida Beach
We're on the beach for about two hours and we go back to the apartment. We dry our swimsuits, change clothes and go for a walk in the centre of Rijeka. On the way we stop for dinner at the first good restaurant we meet. Since we're in Croatia, I can't start with anything but Pljeskavica and Šopski salad.
After dinner we continue to the centre. On the way we come across a Kaufland, so we buy breakfast and supplies for tomorrow's trip to Slovenia. Then it's just a long walk to the city centre. There, we'll just walk around the Korzo itself, the adjacent marina.
Rijeka - Capuchin Church of Our Lady of Lourdes
Rijeka - Korzo
On the way back, we have some ice cream at Korz and since it is already dark, we head back to our apartment. We don't walk again and use the local public transport. We buy our tickets, with the only cash we have, from the driver and let him take us almost to the front of the apartment. Before that, we buy tickets for the next day at the newsagent (you could pay with a card), so that we don't have to lug all our backpacks all the way back to the station again. That's the end of today's day. Tomorrow we have a transfer to Bled, Slovenia.
Useful links:
Regiojet
Apartment Lucky 1
Hotels in Rijeka
