On Monday start to the week, we had some errands to run, including a search for a gas supplier to refill or replace some of our butane and propane cannisters.  Can you believe, it is different fittings and cannisters for each country in Europe and the UK?  Many people from the UK set off feeling smug and as soon as they run out of gas in Europe struggle.  Steve, loving his technology and proving he knows what he’s talking about, produced a post on gas fittings.  Despite our incredible adventurous journey, this page has had more hits than any of our posts – https://teamwilph.com/index.php/here-we-are/caravan-mods/bottled-gas-in-uk-spain-and-france/.  I cannot tell you, unless I had bumped into a train spotter for comparison, how excited he was to produce this page and how disappointed I am at the viewing statistics.

After sourcing the gas and getting everything we needed refilled we realised we were close to Klis Fortress, the setting for the series Game of Thrones.  Neither of us has seen a single episode but that did not stop us wanting to see this Medieval fortress built by the ancient Illyrian tribe Dalmatae, with more than a two thousand year history. We love our ruins which is probably why we get on so well together.

Off we drove following one sat nav as I couldn’t get mine to update. The wifi on the campsite is frustratingly slow so I tend to download Netflix and Prime whenever we’re at a bar with free internet. Yes, any excuse to sample bars.  Anyway, the road wasn’t as steep or designed with impossible hair pin bends as was the route to The Observatory.  We were able to choose a spot in the empty spacious car park to park the Poacher (another story) and got out to feel the wind blowing with a cold wind factor.  We’ve been travelling since October, but this was the first time I was in three layers of warm clothing; one of which was a bargain from the Lions Club Charity shop in La Cala, Spain.  Oh, it’s stunning, warm, Italian, warm, beautifully designed and I’d show it off but I was wearing the yellow rain jacket over it and that wasn’t coming off.

Back to the story.  Having parked the car, we walked up some steep steps to the entrance of the Fortress. I couldn’t see anyone and though it was open without the need for tickets.  As we walked through the main arch, a window was slid open right to left and a charming young girl at the, what we now know to be the ticket desk, asked us how many tickets we needed.  We said two and one for Stella.  She looked at Stella, Stella gave an example of how well behaved she is, and the girl waved us through. If I thought we could have gotten away with tickets for three retirees I would have gone for it.

If we thought walking around at the top of The Observatory was scary, that was nothing compared to Klis.  Low walls if any, lack of hand rails up or down steep uneven steps, howling wind and sheer drops had our attention.  We did see four other visitors on the site but our paths didn’t cross. We checked our shoes that they were sensible and none slip and were thankful it was a dry day.  I tied my jacket and clothing tight as I didn’t want a gust of wind blowing me up like a kite and taking me off somewhere without a soft landing. Steve held on to me with one hand and on to Stella with the other.

Following the numbered map, quite like the walking tour of the Diocletian Palace, we gingerly made our way around the ruins dodging scaffolding, works in progress and sheer drops beckoning ‘come this way’ to see the entrances, secret entrance Tower, Artillery Barracks, Church and Bastion.

Amongst the ruins, in modern buildings, were structured display rooms, some with audio visual kit and furniture.  I tried to imagine the Game of Thrones’ actors taking a break.  Actually, I thought they must be bloody brave to walk around any bit of the fortress unless harnessed to safety ropes. Goodness knows how the camera men managed.

We crossed off the numbers from the walking tour map, not wanting to miss anything, got the choice of the positioning from the views of the coastlines, and when we got to the last bit, looked at each other and decided to give it a miss. 

Gingerly, we’re getting better at that, we made out way back to the entrance and negotiated the steep steps back to the car park.  There was a bar opposite the car park on a corner. We decided we needed Dutch courage to steady our legs, especially for Steve who hates heights and wobbles at the thought of them before our return.  Wifi was not top of the list on this occasion. Being on a corner, the bar had opened up both the side and front folding doors. We walked into the bar through the nearest open window, Wouldn’t you have done!

Returning to the campsite, we couldn’t wait to get the memory cards out of our cameras, compare shots and talk about another exciting excursion.

Official Website – Klis fortress – attractions, ticket price, and location (croatia-tourism.com)