We left Camp Zagreb in the morning – tent packed, car loaded, heading north. Three weeks of travel were behind us: Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia. There was still one more planned stop ahead.
The drive from Zagreb to Vienna is about four hours. After two we stopped at a Lidl for a quick shop – food for the road, a short break – then kept going. Another two and a half hours and we crossed into Austria.
Camping Wien Süd
The campsite on the southern edge of Vienna did exactly what a good base camp should: clean, well-run, no complications. Public transport to the city centre works well here – fifteen minutes and you’re there. With our plans for the next morning, that was important.
Tiergarten Schönbrunn – Giant Pandas
Vienna’s zoo, Tiergarten Schönbrunn, is one of the oldest in the world – it has been open since the eighteenth century. It is also one of the very few places in Europe where you can see giant pandas.
Justynka had been waiting for this for a long time.
In the morning we hopped on a tram and were at the zoo gates in fifteen minutes. The place is large enough to easily fill a full day. We headed straight for the pandas and stayed there the longest.
Two huge black-and-white animals were eating bamboo with complete calm, paying no attention to the audience on the other side of the glass. There is something almost admirable about that kind of indifference – no number of children pressed against the window was going to interrupt their meal. Justynka couldn’t take her eyes off them.
The rest of the zoo was just as good. The different sections – Alpine, tropical, polar – flow naturally into each other, and every enclosure has something worth seeing. Each of the kids had their own favourites that day. But the pandas were the clear stars. We came back to them one last time just before leaving.
We were back at the campsite by four in the afternoon. Bags packed, tent down, and off again – heading north for good this time.
Czech Republic: Dinner in Jedovnice
By evening we had crossed into the Czech Republic. Somewhere in the middle of the country, in a small town called Jedovnice, we stopped for dinner at a local restaurant. After weeks of Balkan food – grilled meat, aubergine, fresh cheese – Czech cuisine with goulash and bread dumplings felt close to home. We ordered a lot and had no regrets.
Camping Baldovec
Our campsite for the night, Camping Baldovec, worked on a different principle. Instead of numbered pitches in neat rows, there was simply a big open meadow. You park wherever you like. No white lines, no assigned spots. We found a corner that looked good and set up camp.
A Wet Tent and the Drive Home
In the morning, the outer layer of the tent was wet. Dew. After nearly three weeks in the Balkans – where the nights had been dry without exception – we had almost forgotten this was possible. The Czech Republic brought it back quickly.
We packed the damp tent, had breakfast, and hit the road. Four and a half hours later we were home.
That’s how our Albania trip ended.