October 29th our Chefs Johannes Audebert and Falko Jauch started to a road trip via The Balkans to Istanbul with their HYMER mobile home. First stage was Bled and Bohinj facing the Julian Alps in the national park Triglav where we stayed in the already closed campingsite Zlatorog. The heartiness and friendliness of the people here was phenomenal and via Ljubljana the chefs made their way to the Postojna and Škocjan Caves. In the Škocjan region the famous Winnetou movies were filmed and the Chefs were allowed to join the fishermen whilst they were fly fishing.

Via Portorož they crossed borders to Istria, Croatia and found the paradise of truffles, but also having amazing air dried ham called Pršut (very close to the Italian Prosciutto), a breath taking variety of vegetables and fruits besides the highly awarded and recognized wines of Istria.

Then the Chefs went to Zagreb and met a Croatian Chef who gave them a show around in Zagreb and specifically the food market of the capital of Croatia. Again the variety was unbelievable.

Next target was to drive a long the Adriatic Coast from the Kvarner Gulf up north to Dubrovnik, Dalmatia in the very south of Croatia. They tasted outstanding fish, oysters, mussels, eels and frogs and met great people with wonderful stories to tell.
From Dubrovnik they went to the lovely Bay of Kotor, Montenegro and further to Budva along the sea to finally make the cut into the mountains. First to Podgorica, the former Titograd named after the former Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito and capital of Montenegro to get deep into the mountains to the Ski Resort Kolašin. From there they got to Priština, Kosovo and Niš in Serbia, the crossing point of the Balkans to get further either to Athens or to Istanbul. In Niš the Chefs slept in the HYMER in the South of Niš besides a ruin of a football stadium, very run down and a bit scary.

The next morning the Chefs started their trip to Sofia to cook together with a Bulgarian Celebrity Chef in his restaurant. Then again back in the mountains; via the Rila Mountains and the Monastery Rila they got to Bansko nestled in the Pirin Mountains, then through the Rhodope Mountains to get to Plovdiv and finally to the Black Sea.

Istanbul they arrived the day after and met a German Expat who showed the Chefs around Istanbul over the weekend. Until Wednesday they stay in the biggest city in Turkey to get further to Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
(Written by Markus Steber)