Dobova - a town on the border: A snapshot

We are sitting in front of a small pub in Dobova, a small town on the border between Slovenia and Croatia. The beer garden is surrounded by vineyards and decorated with a clothesline, on which sexy underwear and high heels hang. Around us, mostly older men sit drinking white wine from champagne glasses and playing cards (just like us). Across the street is a small chapel.

Inside, above the counter, hangs the obligatory nude calendar. The male counterpart, filled with men, is somewhat hidden in the women's toilet. The decor, calendar, audience, and the pretty female waitstaff raise the question of what kind of establishment we have landed in, but it is somehow cozy and peculiar and no one has looked at us strangely (at least not more than usual with our big backpacks and dirty shoes).

The playlist here consists of Slovenian hits and Balkan beats. So we enjoy our delicious shandy and keep playing cards, as our train doesn't arrive for another two hours.

After our visit to the Katič Bar, we head back to the train station, with a stop at a small shop where Stefan buys spider socks and we explain to the friendly saleswoman, stumbling over our words, where we come from and where we are going. In return, she gives us a tea towel printed with Easter bunnies and eggs.

The subsequent pizza tastes good. Conveniently, the ladies' toilet is in the adjacent hotel "Paradiso" and offers luxurious facilities, which Maria takes advantage of to clean one of her shoes from clay.

Dobova - a town on the border: A snap-shot

We're in Dobova, a small town on the border between Slovenia and Croatia. We're sitting in the beer garden of Bar Katič, which is surrounded by vineyards, opposite a small chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The decoration here is somewhat debatable, consisting of a clothesline with negligees, high heels, and sunglasses. Over the counter, a nude calendar delights the mostly elderly, all-male customers. The calendar with male nudes can be found somewhat more discreetly in the ladies' restroom.

Some of the men are drinking white wine from champagne glasses while playing cards. So are we - we have three hours to pass until the train to Zagreb leaves. Only we're having some of the delicious dark shandy (very refreshing in this hot weather).

Decoration, guests, calendar, and the good-looking waitresses raise the question of what kind of "bar" we have come to. However, we're not eyed more suspiciously than usual with our large backpacks and dirty shoes, so hoping for the best we keep relaxing to the mixture of Slovenian country music and Balkan beats.

After our visit to Bar Katič, we stop by a little clothes shop as Stefan wants to buy new socks. (It is spider socks he gets in the end.) Using the little Slovenian we know, a bit of English, and mostly our hands and sounds, we communicate with the friendly shop assistant, who in the end gives us a tea towel with imprinted Easter bunnies and eggs as compensation because she cannot speak English.

To end our visit, we have a tasty pizza. Fortunately, the ladies' room here is part of the posh hotel next door, so Mary used this opportunity to clean at least one of her shoes (a bit).