Road Book SAMOBOR - - ŠKOPLJANCI START: SUNDAY - 4.8.2019 END: FRIDAY - 9.8.2019 TEAM LEADER: BRANKO BRUKETA, +385 98 443 530 ASSISTANT: EDUARD FICKO, + 385 436 970 INTRODUCTION Dear 2CV friends, Welcome to the ADRIATIC RAID 2019. Thank you for entrusting us with showing you the beauty of Croatia in the best possible way - through the open roof of our 2CV vehicles! You have decided to travel the roads towards the most beautiful and cleanest sea in the world... the Adriatic Sea! We believe that you will enjoy touring around this part of Croatia. This is not a race or rally; this is an adventure-travel trip aimed at getting to know the specificities of the area through which you are driving. In this booklet you will find various recommendations on which roads you can take, and what sites you can visit, in order to reach your designated location each day. Please drive slowly, organise yourselves in smaller groups, and determine your own tempo of travel. We believe that you will have a great time, see and learn many new things, and that you will return to Croatia at least one more time! We wish you a happy and pleasant ride! Croatian 2cv Citroёn Club Adriatic Raid Team SAMOBOR – OGULIN, STAGE 1 SABLJACI LAKE BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE STAGE Stage length: 96 km Destination/Accommodation: Rooms and Restaurant Ive, Sabljaci Lake Dinner: at 8 pm Evening entertainment programme: music Sanitary conditions: showers are located outside the restaurant; toilets are inside and outside the restaurant Sleeping: in tents; it is also possible to rent rooms at your expense TBrehaekfa Pst:e ato 9p amle, f'osllo Cwead bry departure towards Baške Stage 1 Oštarije. The first stage of the Raid starts in Samobor and leads us to Ogulin. In addition to the proposed route, we offer you a number of possible detours that can show you many interesting sites on your journey. Rude If you set off from Samobor towards the southwest, by taking the winding, centuries-old road that connects Samobor with Plešivica and Jastrebarsko, you will reach the mining valley and the village of Rude. The Rude village is mentioned as far back as the 15th century as the site rich with copper ore, iron ore, tin and Rude gypsum. Today, tourists can visit 350 m of the mining trenches, which were renovated by artificially connecting the trenches of Sveto Trojstvo (Holy Trinity) and Kokel. In addition to the mines, the village of Rude is also known for its “greblica” - an autochthonous, thin salt cake, which was traditionally prepared in mining families. The miners' cake was made from simple ingredients - flour and milk, and it was stuffed with cow's milk cheese, with possible addition of ground walnuts, spinach, Swiss chard, mint, stinging nettle, leek or grated yellow carrots. Furthermore, greblica from Rude and the surrounding villages was also granted the label of “Protected Geographical Indication”. So if you find yourselves there, do not miss the opportunity to taste it. After leaving the Rude village, you can continue driving on the roads of the famous Plešivica wine region. Besides enjoying its beautiful hills and idyllic landscape, you will also Žumberak get an opportunity to taste a variety of wines. STAGE 1 Nature Park Žumberak If you wish to admire the beauty of nature, then your journey should include a visit to the Nature Park Žumberak, where you can enjoy seeing the grassland hilltops with more than 40 kinds of plants per square meter, i.e. over 1000 species and subspecies of plants in the whole park. Although there are not many locations with standing waters, the Nature Park has more than 160 ponds, which the locals created in the past by fortifying the bottoms of natural depressions with clay, in order to retain rainwater. Ozalj After taking a ride through the conserved nature, the Žumberak forests and slopes covered with vineyards and pastures, and alongside the preserved traditional country estates, you can drive down to the so-called “Vrata žumberka” – the village of Krašić, and further down to the town of Ozalj. Ozalj is the birthplace of Slava Raškaj (born in 1877), a renowned and respected watercolour artist. Her paintings represent the highest range of Croatian watercolour painting of the late 19th century and early 20th century. You will be able to see the numerous drawings, watercolours and pastels of the glorious “princess of Croatian aquarelle" in the Ozalj Heritage Museum. Furthermore, you can also visit Ethno Park Ozalj, where the traditional architecture and everyday tools of the pre- industrial era are presented. Thus, you will be able to see residential and commercial buildings, interiors of low cottage peasant rooms, kitchens and storage areas with authentic inventory. Ozalj Karlovac Next, your journey can lead you to Karlovac, also known as the town on four rivers, because Kupa, Korana, Dobra and Mrežnica flow through it. If you wish to take a swim, make sure to visit the first registered river bathing resort in Croatia - Foginovo beach in Karlovac. The analysis made as far as the 19th century confirmed that Korana water was healing, but the bathing resort also offers numerous other attractions, so you can have fun participating in some of the sports on the shore and in the river. In the vicinity of Foginovo beach, you can also visit the Freshwater aquarium Aquatika. It was opened a few years ago with the goal of presenting the natural wealth of Croatian fresh water resources. Visitors of Aquatika can Aquatika, Karlovac see 5000 fish, as well as over 100 fish species of which 40 are endemic. Karlovac is also known for its Zvijezda (Star), the oldest STAGE 1 central part of the city. It is a fortress that was built in the 16th century as a Renaissance fortification system of a characteristic hexagon shape. The best way to learn more a bout Zvijezda is to take a walk on the old streets, and to enjoy one of its beautiful parks. Ogulin Ogulin is the last destination of the first stage of your journey. The town is best known as the birthplace of Ivana Brlić Mažuranić, a famous Croatian writer. It was in Ogulin that Ivana began writing her first works. And she herself states in her autobiography: “The strange and conspicuous shapes of Klek and the romanticism of Dobra provided my Karlovac imagination so much food that far into the night I turned over in my thoughts the strangest images and fantastic possibilities: what it is exactly that occurs in the deep night around Klek”. A short story collection “Croatian Tales of Long Ago”, published in 1916, is considered to be her masterpiece. It is a work that contains numerous motifs of the mythological wisdom of the ordinary people, inspired by Slavic mythology. You can visit the Memorial Room of Ivana Brlić Mažuranić in the Ogulin Heritage Museum. You can also see the Collection of Stone Monuments, the Homeland War Collection, the Ethnographic Collection, the Alpine Collection, the Archaeological Collection, and the Art Collection. The Museum also holds items related to old crafts and trades, numerous technical items, old weapons, old photographs, as well as a collection of postcards and greeting cards. Ogulin Sabljaci Lake The first stage of your journey ends 5 km south of Ogulin, near Sabljaci Lake - which is also called “the Sea of Ogulin”. In addition to socialising and having lots of good fun, please take time to rest because the new stage of the Adriatic Raid awaits you. Sabljaci Lake STAGE 2 OGULIN, SABLJACI LAKE - BAŠKE OŠTARIJE BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE STAGE Stage length: 136 km Destination/Accommodation: Camp Velebit Dinner: at 8 pm Evening entertainment programme: unplugged music Sanitary conditions: showers and toilets are inside the Camp building Sleeping: in tents; and it is also possible to rent hobbit Thouseshe P eato yourple expense's Car Breakfast: at 9 am, followed by departure towards Stage 2 Biograd na Moru Klek AIbove the town of Ogulin, it is impossible to overlook the Klek Mountain, one of the most attractive and most popular mountain destinations in Croatia. According to folk tales, during stormy nights, the summit of Klek Mountain is a gathering site of witches, who are a sort of symbol of Klek and Ogulin. Thus, if you are in the mood for a morning stroll, you may not see witches, but you can visit the Klek mountain lodge or the summit of Klek Mountain. You can go to the village of Bjelsko, from where the trail will take you further to the mountain lodge (around 45 minutes). You can also continue walking from there to reach the very summit of Klek Klek, for which you will need another 30 minutes. However, please be careful because the final part of the trail requires some climbing skills, and you need to be especially cautious in rainy weather.. Louisiana or Karolina Road On the other hand, if you do not wish to go hiking, we suggest you drive towards the town of Vrbovsko. There you can choose whether to proceed via the Louisiana Road or the Karolina Road. Both of the roads connect towns of Karlovac and Rijeka. The Karolina Road was built in the 18th century, but it did not have large capacity, and it was also quite steep. Therefore, due to the large increase in traffic, another road was built through the Gorski Kotar region in less than 100 years - the Louisiana Road, which Fajeri was one of the most modern roadways in the world at the time.I f you choose to drive on the Karolina Road, you might STAGE 2 notice 15 truncated pyramids made from large stone blocks near the village of Brestova Draga.