You are currently at this location. No, you are not going to work, don’t worry. Your bike is ready by your side, helmet attached to your backpack.
It is the International Workers’ Day and in Croatia it is customary to invite some friends over and „peći roštilj“ (eng. to grill large amounts of meat and overfeed everyone present, while drinking a lot of beer and/or gemišt). As we have no to little amount of friends and we don’t grill meat, we needed to find something else. Popular mountaineering places are also overcrowded today so we were not in the mood for that. Our bikes are waiting for us in the garage so it was a logical choice and the location was already set some time ago.
GTA Gajnice, all the vehicles we need for our little city getaway... and a train
My companion is still rehabilitating from heavy traffic and no serious dedicated cycling paths in Zagreb. During one of our visits to Brežice (Slovenia), we noticed how there are a lot of dedicated paths for bikes, even in the smallest of rural places. The Slovenians respect The Great Bike more than Croats, it is a sad fact. Something that is sometimes just called KOLO cannot be something that you don’t respect! YOU WILL RESPECT MY KOLO – see, it sounds awesome. KOLO YOLO bit**es!
Chat GPT went insane with this one. I didn't want to push it though, the next thing I said is to put a giant floating pizza above Brežice but we will stop here...
Like with any other trip, it is best to put some kind of reward at the end of your journey so we reserved our spot at pizza place called Huda – the best pizza place in Slovenia. Okay, we don’t know many pizza places in Slovenia but Huda is fo sho in the top of the pops of pizzas. I mean, their motto is: “Pečemo Hude pizze“. In english, somewhat of a loose translation would be: “We bake badass pizzas“. Oh man and they really do! We arrived too early in Brežice (because we fast, we ride with the wind) so we explored a little bit. The info-map close to the center of the city helped us with that.
In reality the tower of Brežice looks like this
The Slovenians have their own variant of zagrebački Bajs - theirs are only older because to them the idea is not new and it doesn't have such a vocal opposition. Politics (low rung, of course) in Croatia can f**k up everything
The most remarkable (and most visible) thing in Brežice is the water tower. We have already seen it under the city lights at night and it is amazing in whatsoever conditions. We decided to go and see what’s up at the south-west of the city. First you have to pass the Sava and Krka bridges and then you can continue towards Krška vas – an amazing little place full of picturesque older buildings but also some modern housing and villas.
At and over the Sava and Krka bridges - a lot of people are walking here and also many bikes. The bridge was built in 1906 and restored in timespan from 1991 to 1996
Tochka beach bar - next time we are stopping here to have a cocktail and an ice cream
Partisan vista point in Krška vas
We thought these must be something like weekend houses in Croatia (for the rich people, of course) but it seems people are living here. Imagine waking up to the sounds of water from little waterfalls, yes, that is it. The only thing that is kinda bummer is that you cannot approach the water because the access is part of someone’s backyard. Gardens of all sizes are lined up beside the houses. Imagine eating your own food… Hm, a lot of amazing things to imagine!
Back at the bridge over Krka
We sat down a little bit at a partisan vista, we were looking at the water, the ducks were swimming and having a really good time. Then it was time to head back to Brežice because we had our reservation at Huda. We saw a place called Tochka – beach bar and we decided we really need to come back here again. A lot of things to see here, in a small but a country of vast beauty.
I don't know why but I'm fascinated by those bridges. Cars are seldom, I would ban them alltogether, only walkers and bikers allowed! It would be a peaceful world
Riding back to Brežice, stomachs are getting loud
Huda was opening and in the next ten minutes everything was full. I expected everything to be empty but it seems the Slovenians and tourists know what is a good pizza, even on a national holiday! We sat on the terrace which was bathed in the sun but we didn’t mind. I will not recommend Huda to you any more, you just need to come to Brežice and try it. Tiramisu was also great. Our bellies were full but it was now time to start cycling again, towards Harmica, we don’t want to miss our train back to Gajnice/Zagreb.
Gonna reset myself with this Reset craft beer American Pale Ale variant. The labels are also amazing. The Reset brewery is actually a local brewing place from Brežice, an authentic product. Next time we'll be sure to visit the place
A man comes to Huda and wants to order a cold beer. My possible reactions according to the order
Green Queen (from my side) and Margherita OG (from the other side). These pizzas are in the oven for only a minute. Everything here is OG (Original Gangzta)
Tiramisu for the dessert
Although I am a hardcore Varaždin dweller and north homeboy, in my conscious life as an adult, I actually managed to live in a few places. It is important to explore your local area and get to know all the possibilities it gives you, before saying „there is nothing here“ or „there is only concrete here“.
Train-ing back from Harmica to Gajnice
I just never knew I would put my bike on a train one day and then ride it through Dežela a little bit. Zagreb also hides many great things and bicycle is an amazing vehicle for exploration. If there are some limits, they are only in the head. Bike can take you anywhere, you just need to push the pedals. Here we go! KOLO 4 LIFE.
Useful info
Time on the train: cca 20 minutes per direction
Distance on a bike: cca 25 km
Pizzas eaten: 2
Potential to expand the route: end7ess
About the Author: Borna
