Taking bets

[Dog Walker]

Bos, I meant EAST of the Adriatic.  Sheez!  Need to get my compass points straight!  

With the mountains right on the Adriatic does that area get lake effect snows when the wind is from the west or do the mountains block it.  I have driven the coastal highway, which is quite an engineering marvel, from Dubrovnik north for the full length but shudder at the thought of driving on that winding road with ice and snow on it.

Us Florida natives have no idea how to deal with conditions like that.  

[Bostech]

You got to have lake to get lake effect snow.
Its snows,higher elevations naturally get lot more snow.My hometown gets snow here and there,where Sarajevo gets buried in snow (higher elevation).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriatic_Highway
Adriatic highway is buried depending on area but its mostly warm enough not to have snow.

But you have to watch for freakish winds they have in north Croatia called Bura,it can burst up to 120mph.You do not want to be a on a bridge when that happens. :-)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Maslenicki_most_02.jpg


And they got brand new highway built (now Croatia can enjoy being 60-70billion dollars in debt).
you don't have to drive Adriatic highway anymore unless you enjoy view....or want to kill yourself driving.

http://img4.indafoto.hu/8/5/14925_5e2020a9be8dde3fd1fdd77c4d3b9762/1437329_70bf8972efe0a98e86a209a5d6bc7feb_l.jpg


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A1_highway_%28Croatia%29

[Bostech]

and people are bitching about roads in Florida.
This is paradise compared to those long,winding one line roads right next to cliff but great view on Adriatic. :-)

http://foto15.guru.sk/albums/SvadobnaCesta/jadranska_magistrala2.sized.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2348/1623832694_f9cf3572f1.jpg

But some parts are nice.

http://apartments-filip.com/slike/velike/mjesto/duce.jpg

I see you done driving on it,whats next?
Bungee jumping?

[reednavy]

In rare occasions, but it has happened, you can get Ocean Effect Snow here. Happened a few years ago, I believe in 2006 in Daytone Beach.

[JaxNative68]

Also a gulf effect snow to the southwest as seen in the elbow of the panhandle of Florida.  But in all realities, I have a hard time calling it true snow, not to mention the minimal ground accumulation.

[Dog Walker]

Boz, driving the Adriatic Highway was a blast!  I was driving a friend's sports car.  We had come over on the ferry from Bari.  At some of the headlands you could see miles down the coast.  If there was no oncoming traffic I could apex the curves and had really built up some speed when a couple of Josip Broz's national policemen waived me down and explained that the speed limit was 60kph and I was going much faster.  The fined me 1200 new dinars on the spot, about 60 cents at the time and about the price of two shots of slivovitz.  No receipt either!

For those of you not familiar with the Adriatic Highway:  The mountains in that part of the world drop directly into the Adriatic Sea.  There is almost no coast and the mountains are steep!  The highway is literally cantilevered out over the water from the side of the mountain and follows every curve and indentation with almost no rise and fall.  To say that is is winding is an understatement.  It is quite an engineering feat and I think was almost the only easy way to get from one part of Yugoslavia to the other at the time.  It is a rugged part of the world.

[Bostech]

I guess you paid them round of drinks. :-)
It was great to be a cop in those days,you get good pay,all sort of privileges and then you charge people for speeding.
Now new cops are followed by cameras for lame version of "Cops" except no chases,most of time they stop people for broken taillights.
Dubrovnik is EXPENSIVE,ever since "democracy" arrived city have been stormed by rich people including Hollywood celebrities which raised prices thru roof.
No more cheep vacations to Adriatic like it use to be.

[Dog Walker]

It WAS about lunchtime so that's what we figured too.  When they first wrote down the fine it frightened me.  1200 of anything sounded like a lot of money, but then I did the conversion and had trouble keeping a straight face.....didn't slow down after the stop either!

[JaxNative68]

At those prices, why would you?

[Bostech]

In former YU,cops were cool and tolerated lot of things for small stuff but if you do something stupid then you are screwed,like causing accident that kills someone.
Unlike in US where you get pulled over and cops will all over you for little thing,in Yu it took lot more to piss them of but when you do...good luck.

[Bostech]

And talk about Tito.He was player,he makes Clinton look like amateur. :-)

[heights unknown]

reednavy:  can you replace tim deegan?  that man is a complete idiot!

You're jealous of Tim Deegan.

"HU"

[Dog Walker]

Tito made everyone look like an amateur.  He was probably one of the best political players in the 20th Century.  Guerrilla fighter against the Germans in WWII; he used the Germans against his rival political groups.  Emerged as the head of the country at the end of the war.  Held Yugoslavia together for decades by making deals across all of the rival ethnicities and  giving limited autonomy to the states.  Kept his independence by playing off the Soviet Union and the West against one another and taking aid from both.  Yugoslavia was one of the most prosperous and open of the "East Bloc" countries.  Lived the life of a monarch (with lots of beautiful women).

After his death, Yugoslavia gradually fell apart into the warring factions that caused so much chaos during the '90's.  He was an original.

[Bostech]

Yeah,takes a lot of skill to have breakfast in Moscow,lunch in Teheran and dinner in Washington DC on same day  while smoking Cuba cigars and still be in good relationship with all.

[CS Foltz]

Lots of natural talent and alive long enough to polish his political skills to a razor edge...........He was unique for sure!