Day 89, Friday, November 22, 2019
You may wonder why we went to Verazdin, seeing as there really wasn’t all that much to see or do there? It has to do with something called the Schengen Agreement. The Schengen Area is an area with 26 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and other types of border control at their mutual borders.
The catch is that you can only stay 90 days in these Schengen Countries once every six months. Our holiday is 92 days, so we needed to go to a country that was not part of the Schengen Agreement so that we would not have any problems.
Most people we have spoken to don’t know anything about this rule…but then most people don’t spend more than 90 days on holidays in a six month period!
However, there are going to be changes to travelling in Schengen countries that will affect anyone travelling to Europe. “World travelers privileged with visa-free entry to the Schengen member states will also be affected in the near future from recent changes that the EU has decided to implement. The most important change is that as of January 2021, travelers will need to apply for an online authorization, and wait for its approval before heading to the EU.”
It is very foggy when we start our drive to Vienna, only we soon realize that it is smog, not fog! It smells awful and bothered my eyes and chest.
It clears up for a bit but then we drive back into the band of smog that stretches across the countryside. We have never seen anything quite like this before.
One of the many small villages in Croatia. Most of these villages only have one row of houses along the highway, no side streets at all. Notice the pretty yellow and purple chrysanthemums growing along the fence. We saw lots of these flowers along the way.
One fairly long stretch of the road has a shrine every 300 to 500 metres, and each one had fresh flowers placed in front of it.
Another little village. We don’t see many people about and think that they probably have a hard time keeping people from moving to bigger urban centres.
The highway mainly passes through farmland, and I quite like all the trees along the side of the road.
We finally get a bit of sunshine. There are winter crops planted which are just beginning to grow that are many different shades of green.
We get to Bratislava about 3:00 pm, return our rental car and catch the Flixbus one last time back to our apartment in Vienna. We are surprised how quickly it gets dark now. This is photo taken on the bus just after 4:30pm.
We catch an Uber from the Main Bus Depot. Twenty euros well spent. We are dropped off at our apartment door, which is the same apartment we had a couple weeks ago in Vienna. It almost feels like coming home. In three more sleeps we will really be home.
It is certainly the tiniest book I have ever seen.
Our apartment is the second from the bottom balcony on the left side of the photo. The end of our street is countryside.
I took a peek into the empty apartment building across the street. One of the empty store fronts on the ground floor looked like someone might have once stayed there. I was startled when a wild cat gave a loud yowl and ran past me to get out the door. I decided maybe I better not explore any further!
We drive and park near the centre of town. Bob shows me the places he explored yesterday. This is the Verazdin Fortress which is now a museum, and the drained moats are now covered with grass. There are workmen constructing a skating rink which uses refrigerated lines to make artificial ice because it doesn’t get cold enough for natural ice. We saw a rink like this in Rome a couple years ago.
Here is a view of the grass covered moat which has a path all along the top.
They are also building a toboggan slide using the same refrigerated plastic tubing.
We walk back towards the centre of the town, looking for a place to have tea.
It is a bit chilly outside so we find this cafe.
In the square outside the cafe workmen are busy getting ready for the Christmas Market and erecting a stage. Festivities here don’t start until Advent on November 29, so unfortunately we miss the festivities. 
Verazdin is called the Vienna of Croatia but we think that is a bit of a stretch. There are many buildings in disrepair and lots of closed shops. There are a few people on the streets but it is pretty quiet.
Notice the bag of oranges Bob is carrying. It was about $4 for a big bag of really yummy Mandarin oranges. Almost everyone we saw on the street was carrying a bag of these oranges so we thought they must be good and we should buy a bag too.
Take look at the abandoned falling down building right next door to a neat and well cared for shop.
This is a main square and the big building on the left of the photo is empty and boarded up. Well, almost boarded up, there is an open door and we peek inside the main floor which is empty except for some piles of junk and garbage.
I saw a really neat way to cut open a pomegranate on the internet. I bought one to give it a try.
Firt cutoff the blossom end by making four cuts and pulling the piece out. I was surprised how easily it came out.
Next slice down the length of the pomegranate wherever there is a membrane.
And presto, pull the pieces apart. It worked really well. This was my big adventure for the day.
with not a lot of room…
but we are soon on some wider roads…
and crossing the Danube as we start a four hour drive to Verazdin, Croatia. 
The Hungarian countryside is much like back home in Alberta.
At the border they checkout our passports and the car registration, then let us pass.
We arrive at 
Here is another view across the street from our apartment . There is a small grocery store on the corner, but not much else close by.
trudymason.com 