27th November - 4th December 2020: Rijeka (Croatia)

There couldn't have been a more beautiful city for our last stop: After a drive through dense, gray fog fields to the east of Zagreb, the sky opens up behind the Risnjak mountain range, with views of the Adriatic Sea and temperatures rising by 10 degrees.

With joy, we occupy a beautiful apartment in one of the magnificent 'Novecento' houses between the harbor, market hall, and canal, on whose deep blue water small fishing boats sway.

Our landlord informs us that contrary to what our Safe Travel app predicted, a lockdown has now been imposed here at short notice as well, so from the second day onwards, all cafes and restaurants are closed. But this does not dampen our good spirits: With the prospect of ten days of quarantine at home, we are happy to still be able to be outdoors and we do so in the best sunshine:

As long as the temperatures are just above 10 degrees, we actually jump into the Mediterranean Sea one more time - after some overcoming and under the astonished gaze of a family wrapped in thick winter jackets. It would be a lie to say that it's still warm, but like a swim in the Baltic Sea in May, the piercing and tingling cold on our skin still makes us very happy!

We also enjoy a long walk from the harbor through an old industrial area, where we discover graffiti, street art, and large murals. Rijeka is the European Capital of Culture 2020 and even though many events have to be canceled due to Corona, we are still happy to come across colorful colors and small and large art along these paths.

The path continues from the factory halls along a river, where overgrown ruins with plants on its banks, caves and grottos to explore and after a steep climb through the countryside, we have a fantastic view of this beautiful port city and the Mediterranean Sea.

We also have beautiful views from the promenade of the nearby spa town of Opatija, which is probably Croatia's oldest seaside resort, was the summer residence of Sissi, and captivates us with magnificent villas and green, Christmas-decorated parks. Until now, we thought that Christmas and palm trees don't really go together, but the mulled wine to go with a view of the Mediterranean in the winter sunlight tastes fantastic here too!

To have some more exercise before the upcoming quarantine, we go on a geocaching tour in the mountains behind Rijeka. Despite the last rays of sunshine, it is chilly up here and the wind whistles icy over the peaks. We find all the clues, solve the cache, but the biggest challenge awaits us when the gravel road indicated by the navigation suddenly ends in a barrier: On this impassable terrain, we cannot reverse uphill and when it starts to smell strange, it becomes clear that we have to turn around 'Bobby' here. Unfortunately, the road is only slightly as wide as the car and even though we remove as many stones as possible from the way, we only manage to free ourselves with a few scratches on the bumper. But that's exactly what it's there for, and a few scars are part of every journey.

This journey is slowly coming to an end now: Overnight, a low-pressure system with icy rain moves in from the Mediterranean, and it is slowly time for us to pack our suitcases one last time and set off on the final stage home - we want to wake up in our own beds on St. Nicholas' Day. During the upcoming quarantine, we will have plenty of time to review this great journey. It is already clear to us that it was a unique and very special experience for all of us - different than expected, but that's what this corona year 2020 is all about. In any case, we are very grateful for these four months as a family in southeastern Europe!