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Overland Route Map

Journey Perspective

Shehzadi—the Vagabond Couple's 2024 Toyota Tundra—has now covered enough ground to lap the Earth's equator nearly 1.7 times. The fuel bill alone, at a steady 15 mpg from a twin-turbo i-FORCE V6 producing 389 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque, runs to an estimated $11,500 at $4.00 per gallon—not counting the additives required to keep some of the world's more creatively blended gasoline from staging a protest inside the fuel system. That works out to roughly 89 full tanks, or 2,850 gallons of fossilized Cretaceous marine life.

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Bled Castle overlooking Lake Bled, Slovenia
Bled Castle overlooking Lake Bled, Slovenia

The day started with a cappuccino in Venice, fresh off our Simplon Tunnel crossing, silk workshop tour and night in Piazza San Marco, our spirits as high as the tide. Shehzadi, our trusty Toyota Tundra, and Chetak, the Odyssean Journey Toyota Hilux, were humming with anticipation. Today we would not just cross one, but two international borders — three countries, a shimmering lake, a wine-soaked sunset and at least six kinds of road trip snacks.

We were headed for Slovenia, then into Croatia, in one of the most charming cross-border days of our Silk Road expedition so far. The route was postcard-perfect: Venice → Valico di Sant'Andrea → Lake Bled → Ljubljana → Maribor → Obrežje border → Zagreb.

Venice to Zagreb — Post Summary

From Venice we cross into Slovenia at Valico di Sant'Andrea, stop at fairytale Lake Bled, wander dragon-guarded Ljubljana, visit the world's oldest grapevine in Maribor, and cross into Croatia at Obrežje to end the night in Zagreb — three countries, two borders, one epic day.

What's Covered
🛂 From Venice to Slovenia: Border Bureaucracy & Beauty — digital vignettes, Valico di Sant'Andrea
🌄 Lake Bled: Fairytales, Forests & Forkfuls of Joy — island church, Bled Castle, Bohinjska Bela
🏙️ Ljubljana: Dragon City with a Soul — Dragon Bridge, Plečnik architecture
🍇 Maribor: World's Oldest Vine & a Sunset for the Ages — Stara Trta, Drava River
🚧 Crossing into Croatia: Obrežje Border
🌃 Zagreb: City Lights & Croatian Cuisine — Tkalčićeva Street
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The D8 (Adriatic Highway) at Podimoć, Croatia
The D8 (Adriatic Highway) at Podimoć, Croatia: One of Europe's Most Beautiful Roads

Iceland & South-Central Europe Road Journey

This 12-episode travel series follows a sweeping journey from Washington, DC to Iceland’s volcanic wilderness and onward into the imperial heart of Central Europe. What begins as a full circumnavigation of Iceland’s Ring Road evolves into a cross-border road loop through Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Slovenia.

Along the way, the series moves from glaciers and geysers to Habsburg palaces, medieval old towns, Alpine fortresses, film locations, Tesla’s birthplace, and the dramatic Adriatic coast. It is a geographically continuous, historically layered, self-drive journey linking raw landscapes with Europe’s cultural and architectural backbone.

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The Old Vine climbing facade of Old Vine House in Maribor Old Town, Slovenia (46.5582°N, 15.6450°E)
The Old Vine (Žametovka) in Maribor, Slovenia: World's oldest plant bearing grapes for making wine
This 400-year-old survivor has seen more history than most European museums

So there we were after driving in across a country border from Split, Croatia, staring at a plant that's older than the United States. The Guinness Book of World Records documents this botanical senior citizen. Reading about it and standing before its gnarled, twisty reality are two completely different experiences.

The Old Vine of Maribor is not merely a botanical curiosity but a living archive of Central European viticulture. Its survival through centuries of political upheaval, climatic shifts and technological transformation speaks to both human stewardship and natural resilience.

The 1972 scientific measurement, performed by Professor Rihard Erker using a gentle increment borer and microscope analysis, established it was at least 350 years old back then. That means this vine was already well over 150 years old when the American Revolution kicked off. It was bearing fruit before the steam engine was patented and predates the rise and fall of Yugoslavia by several centuries. Talk about perspective.

What they don't tell you in the guidebooks is that this vine has survived more than just time. It endured the Ottoman incursions, Napoleon's march through Styria, two World Wars and Yugoslav communism. The central pith being too rotten for precise dating? That's not a flaw - it's character. This plant has earned its wrinkles.

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