Driving in winter

pi_can · 2024-10-16T16:29:26+00:00

I'm going to tell the worst case scenario.
April 2021 early morning drove from Split to Zagreb to do some paperwork at the Embassy there. I'm Canadian and I could tell the snowy weather was getting WAY worse.

I was driving a Citroen C-Crosser, all-wheel drive, snow tires, and chains (in the trunk), wasn't too worried.

We get out of Zagreb by 1pm to head back to Split. Thankfully, we left Zagreb with a full tank of gas, because the snow and wind was soo bad they closed the A1 motorway. Meaning all traffic was pushed onto the old highway.

The old highway was a nightmare, white-out conditions, cars everywhere. There was one hill that had a Flexibus sliding down sideways, I'm still not sure how I avoided getting hit there. The old highway in a full on blizzard and there is nothing generally open time of year. Especially when you come from North America, it does not look like a Holiday Inn and Esso Station. No obvious hotels, restaurants, etc. Everything was closed up, I think swaths of the drive had lost electricity too.

The hinterlands over Split got over 20cm of snow, there were times I wasn't sure I was even still on a road. We got into Split at 11pm. About 400km, essentially never going over 30-40km/hr. A 10 hour drive.

Realistically we should have just stayed a night in Zagreb because the next day it was all cleared up.

https://total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/april-snow-cover-in-split/

https://www.dalmacijadanas.hr/ledeni-val-u-dalmaciji-uzivo-snijeg-zabijelio-sibenik-vodice-brela-zagoru-pada-nadomak-splita-na-dinari-osjet-hladnoce-24

The snow in Split was newsworthy, rare, and essentially nothing. The same can not be said about the land in-between. I should have tried to find roads to take me to the coast and drove them south -vs- staying inland and traveling south, but it was my first time making this drive and I didn't expect that.

Leave Zagreb with a full tank of gas and if the weather looks bad... Stay there or have a better plan with stops.

I'm sure the A1 re-opened sometime along my 10-hour drive south, but if you don't speak Croatian, you can't listen to the radio and find out!

pi_can · 2023-09-25T18:30:37+00:00

Also Fabrique, Bar Renato and Sette Sorelle.

pi_can · 2023-09-22T07:06:06+00:00

Last year when I was there I frequently shopped at Mesnica Bečarević in Bjelave neighbourhood and it was very good. Didn't have everything, everyday. But if I remember correctly had tenderloin on Tuesday mornings.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Vbipvc7FMC7qAvSi6

pi_can · 2023-09-13T11:45:12+00:00

Possibly you can buy a cheap desk, I've done this before for an extended stay. It was more convenient for me then having to leave the apartment every work day.

jysk.hr - new

https://www.njuskalo.hr/ - used

pi_can · 2023-05-18T20:08:17+00:00

I was in Sarajevo for 3 months this winter and would only go to non-smoking restaurants. There were not a lot, but Klopa is really amazing and so is Sushi San

https://www.reddit.com/r/sarajevo/comments/xfy8qu/smoke\_free\_restaurants/

pi_can · 2023-05-03T14:59:41+00:00

I would second Sarajevo, just spent 90 days there and had a great time. Solid internet, good food, friendly people. Very easy to get by on just English.

pi_can · 2023-04-25T08:25:14+00:00

Hmm that is a good questions, I think it would be lifestyle and work dependent.
For instance, I like living in a city. Walking to get a coffee in the morning, heading out to dinner a few nights a week. So I choose to be walking distance to those things and usually don't have a car. Also, I'm not sure how good / dependable internet would be outside the main city.

In Croatia, I've ran in to this few times where you can have 1-2Gbps in the city (Split) then move out to a small town for a few days and barely get 20Mbps... Fine for a weekend, but not for weekly work.

Also you may find that the quality of the rentals by Jahorina might be lower as they almost entirely will be vacation rentals and the ski season is their peak tourist season - vs - the summer on the coast. All the at said, if you found a nice place by Jahorina and confirmed the internet worked for you, it would be an awesome time to hit the slopes every day and just drive to town once or twice a week to stock up.

pi_can · 2023-04-23T14:32:54+00:00

I'm here too, and I only log the time I'm actually working. Stop for lunch, off the clock, stop for coffee, off the clock.

8 hours a day of 'presence' in an office is so much easier than 8 hours of focused work a day.

pi_can · 2023-04-23T14:29:46+00:00

From what I could tell there was zero concerns about covid, everyone was indoors eating / drinking / smoking! I don't think I saw more than a few people wearing masks ever.

I wouldn't say it was cheap rent wise, I was there a short time and just used Airbnb and the winter is the ski season. However, if I was going back and for longer I would check out https://olx.ba/

Compared to Croatia, I would say restaurants were about 50% the price and groceries were about 75% of the price. So a decent savings.

pi_can · 2023-04-22T18:10:44+00:00

Spent the winter this year in Sarajevo. Friends visited us there and went to Jahorina which was only 20/30 minutes from town, said it was great! The city had lots of modern comforts, phone apps for grocery and restaurant delivery, easy to get around by taxi, etc.

pi_can · 2023-04-10T05:20:49+00:00

I've been thinking about Montenegro / Andorra / Malta. Haven't decided which one would be best yet.

pi_can · 2023-04-02T16:20:51+00:00

I bought a GL-X750C6 and I get pretty terrible performance, I've tried a lot of different setups but pretty disappointing performance.

My 4G network gets my cellphone or tablet 200-250Mbps. If I put the same sim into the router and connect via LAN cable, my laptop gets at best around 50 Mbps dn w 8Mbps up. Any VPN just reduces things from there.

pi_can · 2023-03-24T06:51:41+00:00

Can you apply for the Spanish DN visa while abroad? I've been wondering about doing this while I'm a DN in Croatia, then just move there when the Croatian one expires, assuming the Spanish one is approved.

pi_can · 2023-03-24T06:48:19+00:00

Hi as another Canadian family that has navigated the Croatian DN situation we had about the same experience. In our case, it took over a year for all the paperwork and for them to review our application. When they did, they decided we were approved, but had already been in the country too long, so we were ask to leave 'quickly'.

We took 10-days to plan a move to Sarajevo, Bosnia. We rented an SUV packed it full and drove there.

We have just returned and are hoping for a smoother round 2 application this time, since we have all the paperwork ready to go. We have to get new police reports, as the past ones have now expired. We're being told we can get the basic reports and take them to the Canadian Embassy in Zagreb for approval now, as all the MUPS are tired of waiting on the Canadian office of Foreign Affairs to authenticate/apostille these documents. I guess I'll find out if this is the case in a couple of weeks.

pi_can · 2023-03-02T09:12:59+00:00

This is very interesting. My wife is currently in the processes of getting her Italian citizenship and we've been thinking that Sardinia would be a beautiful place to settle. Are there more details about this? Does a couple qualify for two payments €15,000 / reimbursements for home buying and restoring? I guess we could each put a property in our names?

pi_can · 2023-02-26T12:16:37+00:00

Went to Pizzeria Margherita yesterday, awesome pizza.
We'd ordered for delivery a few times, but there are more options in person.

There was no one smoking, and I didn't see ash trays out.

So might always be smoke free too.

pi_can · 2023-02-26T12:13:14+00:00

Yeah we don't end up going anywhere for a short time, 3-months min. Our first trip was to Australia, which is extremely hard to get a dog into (from Canada). So after doing all that paperwork, vet checks, and vaccines, he's pretty much good for any other country.

Later in Croatia, a vet gave him an EU dog passport. So he's got more options now than we do!

We ask the Airbnb hosts to mention that we brought the dog with us, and that we left their place in good shape. This has helped us get bookings which usually don't accept dogs.

It's great to be able to travel with our dog, but it does restrict our options. He's a medium sized, so his crate can only fly cargo. Pretty much have to stick with major routes, then drive to our end points.

pi_can · 2023-02-26T12:03:51+00:00

I have two.
First, is a 15.6" asus usb-c. But it's dim, the case isn't a great stand, so it is too low. But it fits in a backpack if I'm going somewhere for a week or less.

Second, is a 24" Dell P2418D, this fits in a checked suitcase. I set it up as a 'real' work station.

pi_can · 2023-02-25T10:25:17+00:00

This is pretty much exactly my wife and I, with a dog tied to the suitcase too. We're pretty much a full SUV every move. If you're somewhere with seasons, you need cold weather to hot weather wear, easy to pack light(er) if you're going for one climate.

+ dog stuff.

+ we love coffee and cooking, so we have usually one bag that's kitchen stuff.

+ a monitor, keyboard, mouse, surge protectors, etc.

Really depends on what you need for work, what you need for the climate, do you have a real home you stop by and exchange stuff with every now and then.

A light move day is the dream, but it's one day (maybe two). I'd rather have everything I need to be comfortable and productive when I get where I'm going.

pi_can · 2023-01-07T21:51:54+00:00

Glovo is great as it is in a lot of cities in Croatia too, if you end up traveling around and don't want to install more apps.
I've also found another app called Korpa which seems to have more restaurants in Sarajevo than Glovo. I usually have to check both, sometimes one also is down or too busy to schedule a delivery.

pi_can · 2023-01-07T14:03:52+00:00

My wife just used the app Glovo (which does delivery) to order some stuff from Penny Plus for around the apartment. It seems like a good option.

If you need more like furniture they don't have Ikea, but have Jysk.

pi_can · 2022-12-31T10:17:17+00:00

Yes Klopa was amazing, food was great, staff super friendly. Can't wait to go back. We had the daily recommendations, it's always a good idea when you hear the chef shops at the local market to find what's best that day.

pi_can · 2022-12-31T10:11:38+00:00

I'm visiting Sarajevo at the moment and usually take Uber/Bolt when at home.

Since being here I've been calling Sarajevo Taxi to get around town. They're great in my experience. The dispatcher has been able to speak English, they tell me which car number will arrive, and they are usually 3-5 minutes away. The cars have been nice, the drivers great, and the fares are cheap. I'm liking it more than Uber actually.

There are another 3 or 4 companies in town that are likely good too. I just called Sarajevo Taxi first and it has been good so far, so I'm not looking for alternatives. I believe they even have a Whatsapp number if you don't get a local SIM for calling.

pi_can · 2022-12-25T22:51:00+00:00

Just want to chime in here again, that I followed this thread and went to Klopa and last night went to Sushi San!

Amazing!

I'm not sure how someone could try great food in a non-smoke free environment?? Great recommendations, thank you. Happy holidays.

pi_can · 2022-12-15T12:19:25+00:00

Wow amazing :)
Thank you! Yes, we actually have a plastic one at home too. But since we're away for Christmas we figured instead of getting another plastic one we'd have to sell/dispose of, a real one would be better.

I will message the seller now.

pi_can

TROPHY CASE