Wednesday, September 26th. We left Korcula on a ferry that was big enough to hold our bus. It was about a half hour ride but we sat in the bus the entire time. I can't imagine the US ferries letting that happen but since we were on a bus and it needed to get off the ferry as soon as possible, we weren't allowed out of it. That was okay but we had absolutely no view and when the driver, Petar, shut the bus off, we had no air circulation either. He opened both doors but it didn't help much. Especially in the back of the bus where we'd been sitting. We survived it, though, and set off for Mostar, Bosnia.
Three border crossings today, from Croatia into Bosnia, then back to Croatia and then back to Bosnia. The third border crossing took about a half hour. Imagine an area about the size of the Nature Center parking lot, or one smaller than a grocery store parking lot, for people who don't know what the Nature Center lot looks like. Anyway, an area that size with about 8 or 9 tour busses and 6-7 tanker trucks. The border crossing buildings were adjacent to a distribution area for the tankers. It was wall to wall vehicles. We were wrapped up in watching the border guards have a dog search one of the other busses but we didn't get to see if it found anything because we were underway again. Bosnia is very dry, mountainous. I don't know how to describe it actually. The "hills" as we'd call them, do not have a lot of vegetation on them. Mainly shrubs, not many tall trees. The closer we got to Mostar, the more war damage we saw. We decided that we could only take so many pictures of bombed out buildings. It's very sad to see the bullet holes and shrapnel holes and gutted structures. There is a very large cross on top of the hill overlooking the city. It's much bigger than the one on Table Rock. Our guide told us that there was a fortress there that has since been destroyed and that is where the tanks were that shelled the city. The local guide called it a sniper's nest. The cross was built to commemorate the lives lost in the war.
Mostar had a bridge that was built in 1566, I think it was, and it was the first thing bombed in the war. It's been rebuilt and looks exactly like the original one. We walked across it. It's very steep and the limestone steps are smooth like marble. It's about 65 feet to the river below it and sometimes young men will jump from it if tourists will pay them to do it. We went to a small military cemetery on our city walk. It was sad to see all the tombstones with the dates ending in 1993. A few in 1995, but not many. Some of the buildings have been repaired on the outside but they have no money to fix the inside so they are vacant.
We had a great dinner in a restaurant right on the river. The day was very warm but a breeze came up and it was nice walking back to the hotel.
But! Beverly and some others went to the local McDonald's this morning (Thursday) to get coffee and said it had much better pastries than any McD's here in the US.
It was back on the bus this morning to drive to Dubrovnik, Croatia. We stopped at a small town to see the headstones from the 1600's, They are very large white structures and have carvings in them of warriors using bows and arrows. We thought they looked like something that the Romans might have built but it was the Ottoman empire here during that time (the Turks). We had a walking tour of the town and then ate lunch at a restaurant here where the woman chef had laid out a huge buffet of Bosnian dishes that she had made from scratch this morning. It was excellent, probably the best food we've had on the trip. And the baklava dessert was to die for.
Back on the bus. It took us about an hour and a half to reach the Bosnia-Croatia border to cross back into Croatia, and 45 minutes to make it through both checkpoints. After crossing another steep set of mountains, we saw the Adriatic Sea again. Quite a number of islands off the coast. We're staying at the Aquarius hotel tonight and tomorrow night here in Dubrovnik.
More tomorrow.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Where were we? I think we were in Split, Croatia. The next day, we took a two hour ferry ride to Hvar island. The sea was rough and some members of our group were sick. Huge rollers. We did okay but the only thing on the tv screens was "McGyver" and it was subtitled. I might have spelled that wrong but then I never watched that show when it was on years ago.
When we got to the ferry "landing", we were loaded into three vans and driven to the town of Hvar. I think I rode with Mario Andretti's sister. There were 7 of us and a woman driver. Bright red hair, went about 80 miles an hour on a windy curvy road and gabbed on her cellphone part of the time. I honestly think that if we'd had the windows down we would have heard the tires screech on the corners. Stella rode in a large van that had a driver who wishes he was an American Cowboy. He even had the hat. Beverly was in that van also. He played Johnny Cash and Kenny Rogers music and they all sang to "Ring of Fire" and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." We were just hanging on.
Hvar is a small town right on the sea. We ate lunch there and had 3 hours of free time, so we occupied ourselves with looking at tacky souvenirs and then sitting on a bench and watching all the people troop by us going to the beach. Lots of sailboats there. There is a large fortress on the hill overlooking the town but we didn't do the hike up about a zillion stone steps to get there. There is a lot of limestone in this area. The houses have changed from what we saw in the alpine areas to stone structures with red tile roofs. The houses nearest the sea have red tiles that are rounded like we see at home, but farther inland the tile is flat, and in the area that was in the war, the new construction has corrugated metal roofs.
We got on another ferry later in the afternoon and had a 1/2 hour ride to the island of Korcula. Our bus met us there (it was on a larger ferry) and we rode over the mountains to the town. It was very foggy going over the mountains but I could see that there was a steep dropoff on one side so it's probably better that we didn't know where we were going.
Korcula is the home of Marco Polo. We didn't go to the museum but there is a lot of Marco Polo "stuff" here. We even stayed at the Hotel Marko Polo, which was very nice. Had a large swimming pool and was right on the water. We had a tour of the "old town" which isn't very big but is in a "fishbone" pattern. The main "street", which is a little larger than the alleys in the US, is the spine and all the side, alleys for lack of a better word, are the bones. Some of the "bones" were straight and some of them are curved to break the winds in the winter. This is where we had a "free day". Tuesday we had nothing scheduled and could do whatever we wanted. We went shopping for awhile in the morning and took quite a few pictures. In the afternoon, I went down to the beach, which is rocks, we haven't seen a sandy beach yet, and stuck my feet in the water so I could say I'd been in the Adriatic Sea. I wished I had brought my swimsuit, the water was so nice. It was cool to begin with but was warm.
That evening, we had a happy hour boat cruise. There are 19 islands in this area but only one other is inhabited. That lasted about an hour but just as we were almost finished, a "tall ship" was a little ways away from us and it had five masts. No sails up but the masts had lights on. It was quite a sight. We think it was a British ship and the "captain" of our boat did not get close to it so it could very well have been one that belongs to the brits.
When we got to the ferry "landing", we were loaded into three vans and driven to the town of Hvar. I think I rode with Mario Andretti's sister. There were 7 of us and a woman driver. Bright red hair, went about 80 miles an hour on a windy curvy road and gabbed on her cellphone part of the time. I honestly think that if we'd had the windows down we would have heard the tires screech on the corners. Stella rode in a large van that had a driver who wishes he was an American Cowboy. He even had the hat. Beverly was in that van also. He played Johnny Cash and Kenny Rogers music and they all sang to "Ring of Fire" and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." We were just hanging on.
Hvar is a small town right on the sea. We ate lunch there and had 3 hours of free time, so we occupied ourselves with looking at tacky souvenirs and then sitting on a bench and watching all the people troop by us going to the beach. Lots of sailboats there. There is a large fortress on the hill overlooking the town but we didn't do the hike up about a zillion stone steps to get there. There is a lot of limestone in this area. The houses have changed from what we saw in the alpine areas to stone structures with red tile roofs. The houses nearest the sea have red tiles that are rounded like we see at home, but farther inland the tile is flat, and in the area that was in the war, the new construction has corrugated metal roofs.
We got on another ferry later in the afternoon and had a 1/2 hour ride to the island of Korcula. Our bus met us there (it was on a larger ferry) and we rode over the mountains to the town. It was very foggy going over the mountains but I could see that there was a steep dropoff on one side so it's probably better that we didn't know where we were going.
Korcula is the home of Marco Polo. We didn't go to the museum but there is a lot of Marco Polo "stuff" here. We even stayed at the Hotel Marko Polo, which was very nice. Had a large swimming pool and was right on the water. We had a tour of the "old town" which isn't very big but is in a "fishbone" pattern. The main "street", which is a little larger than the alleys in the US, is the spine and all the side, alleys for lack of a better word, are the bones. Some of the "bones" were straight and some of them are curved to break the winds in the winter. This is where we had a "free day". Tuesday we had nothing scheduled and could do whatever we wanted. We went shopping for awhile in the morning and took quite a few pictures. In the afternoon, I went down to the beach, which is rocks, we haven't seen a sandy beach yet, and stuck my feet in the water so I could say I'd been in the Adriatic Sea. I wished I had brought my swimsuit, the water was so nice. It was cool to begin with but was warm.
That evening, we had a happy hour boat cruise. There are 19 islands in this area but only one other is inhabited. That lasted about an hour but just as we were almost finished, a "tall ship" was a little ways away from us and it had five masts. No sails up but the masts had lights on. It was quite a sight. We think it was a British ship and the "captain" of our boat did not get close to it so it could very well have been one that belongs to the brits.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Yesterday, Saturday, was my birthday. Norma's birthday, I guess I should say that it was mine and not Stella's. Anyway, the "group" made a lot of hoopla about it. One of the men wrote a short poem and read it before we got on the bus. Something about me being the "polite pirate", I should get a copy of it from him.
We took the "train" from the hotel in Plitvice National Park to Station 1. Maybe "train" isn't the right word for it in American language, because it consisted of one truck and two enclosed cars, similar to the tour train that Boise used to have. When we got off it, we started off on our hike. Downhill we went, to the bottom of the ravine and then we walked beside the lakes and ponds. The emerald color of the water was amazing. And waterfalls! They were everywhere. I will try to upload some pictures tonight to this blog, not just of the waterfalls but from the entire trip. We have a fairly good internet connection here so I hope it won't take too long. After walking quite a ways, we got on a boat and did a 20 minute boat ride to another "station." The boats were motorized this time. I don't think they allow any boats other than the ones that belong to the NP. The water was so clear that we could see fish all along the shoreline. We took pictures and they turned out well. I hope to add them to this.
We continued to walk through the park past waterfalls, creeks, lakes and rivers for another two hours. For the most part, all you could hear was the sound of rushing water. It was great. I loved it. While we were waiting for the "train" to take us back to the hotel, some members of the group estimated that we had walked 3 miles. Well, maybe, but it seemed more like 5 to me. All told, we walked around for almost 4 hours. The weather was beautiful, but chilly when we started out and warm by the time we finished.
The National Park was where the war of 1991-1992 started. The forest ranger there was murdered and still today, no one is sure who did it but it touched off the war. Our guide's dad died in that war, he told us.
Then it was back on the bus and off to Split, the second largest city in Croatia. When we crossed the mountains toward the coast, we went through a series of tunnels. Some were about a block in length and some were a couple of miles. There was one that had connecting tunnels with "exits" to the right. That seems like an engineering marvel to me. When we came out on the other side of the mountains the landscape was totally different. Very dry, almost like the desert around Boise in the summer.
Split is an industrial city. Not a very attractive city since it has a lot of high rise apartment buildings that were built after WW II. All of them have little balconies and all of them have laundry hanging over the railings or on clotheslines strung from one side to the other. Some even have those wooden racks like my mother used when I was little. We had a floor furnace and if the weather was too bad to hang out stuff on the line, she'd set up this wooden rack right over the furnace vent to dry everything. Even the "penthouse" apartments have laundry hanging out.
After we checked into our hotel, we went to dinner as a group. Because there is a laundromat next to the restaurant that will do our laundry and have it ready in the morning, we all trooped off carrying bags of dirty clothes. A lot of comments were made about the "birthday girl" having to carry her laundry on her special day. I think there are even pictures. Oh boy.
We had a nice dinner of sea breem fish. When the dessert was brought out, it was pointed out to the waiter that it was my birthday. He turned to me, shook my hand and said "congratulations." About five minutes later, he showed up carrying another piece of the cake we'd had as dessert with three candles on it and surrounded by whipped cream. I had to blow those candles out three times and then dump them in Beverly's water glass to get them out. Needless to say, I had a great birthday.
When we got back to our room, we discovered that the WiFi here was working quite quickly so we uploaded a lot of pictures to our facebook page. When I went to bed, I discovered that I might have overdone the birthday goodies. A candy bar for a morning snack, gelato for an afternoon snack and a dessert and a half at dinner may not have been the best idea. But after a few minutes my indigestion went away. I have indigestion about once every 15 years so I guess I shouldn't complain.
Today, Sunday, we met our local guide at 9 am to tour the "old" part of Split. She was very good. We were told about all the cathedrals, theater, plazas, etc, history and then we went to the Diocletian Palace. It was built in the year 300. I just can't wrap my mind around that. 300. And a lot of it is still standing. The Romans built it and it used a viaduct that is still in use today for the water supply. It's a walled area with gates on all four sides. Was built in a square right on the sea. The sea has been pushed back about 100 yards by filling in the harbor but we got to see parts of the original structure, St. John's baptistry, a temple or two and the plazas. Over the years, there were private residences built above it and people still live there today. One of the plazas had apartments with the ever present laundry on the railings which seemed weird. And along the main streets, restaurants and shops have sprung up. It's a busy place, even on Sunday. There is a "nunnery", as the guide put it, here and the cathedral was having mass. There is a very large belfry that had 187 steps to the top. We elected not to do it, but I think the view would have been amazing.
And boy are there souvenir shops here. Every tacky thing you can imagine. I loved it. I could look at tacky souvenirs all day. It's just a source of wonder to me how many different key chains and magnets, mugs, bottle openers, and the list could go on forever, there are. Beverly and Stella spent time looking at ear rings and jewelry while I was looking at all the other stuff. Then we looked for an ATM machine. By this time, Beverly had left us to do her own thing. We saw on on the Promenade along the sea. Facing south, of course, so there we are hunkered over the ATM trying to read the screen. I'm supposed to be helping Stella. Boy, did I ever. She couldn't read the screen so I pushed the button that I thought was for cash withdrawal. Imagine our surprise when it started whirring, sent her card back out and promptly issued 1000 kunas (Croatian "dollars"). Oops. She has 5 nights to spend her money, she thinks she can do it. :)
We picked up our laundry and returned to the hotel. Now we're off to dinner.
We took the "train" from the hotel in Plitvice National Park to Station 1. Maybe "train" isn't the right word for it in American language, because it consisted of one truck and two enclosed cars, similar to the tour train that Boise used to have. When we got off it, we started off on our hike. Downhill we went, to the bottom of the ravine and then we walked beside the lakes and ponds. The emerald color of the water was amazing. And waterfalls! They were everywhere. I will try to upload some pictures tonight to this blog, not just of the waterfalls but from the entire trip. We have a fairly good internet connection here so I hope it won't take too long. After walking quite a ways, we got on a boat and did a 20 minute boat ride to another "station." The boats were motorized this time. I don't think they allow any boats other than the ones that belong to the NP. The water was so clear that we could see fish all along the shoreline. We took pictures and they turned out well. I hope to add them to this.
We continued to walk through the park past waterfalls, creeks, lakes and rivers for another two hours. For the most part, all you could hear was the sound of rushing water. It was great. I loved it. While we were waiting for the "train" to take us back to the hotel, some members of the group estimated that we had walked 3 miles. Well, maybe, but it seemed more like 5 to me. All told, we walked around for almost 4 hours. The weather was beautiful, but chilly when we started out and warm by the time we finished.
The National Park was where the war of 1991-1992 started. The forest ranger there was murdered and still today, no one is sure who did it but it touched off the war. Our guide's dad died in that war, he told us.
Then it was back on the bus and off to Split, the second largest city in Croatia. When we crossed the mountains toward the coast, we went through a series of tunnels. Some were about a block in length and some were a couple of miles. There was one that had connecting tunnels with "exits" to the right. That seems like an engineering marvel to me. When we came out on the other side of the mountains the landscape was totally different. Very dry, almost like the desert around Boise in the summer.
Split is an industrial city. Not a very attractive city since it has a lot of high rise apartment buildings that were built after WW II. All of them have little balconies and all of them have laundry hanging over the railings or on clotheslines strung from one side to the other. Some even have those wooden racks like my mother used when I was little. We had a floor furnace and if the weather was too bad to hang out stuff on the line, she'd set up this wooden rack right over the furnace vent to dry everything. Even the "penthouse" apartments have laundry hanging out.
After we checked into our hotel, we went to dinner as a group. Because there is a laundromat next to the restaurant that will do our laundry and have it ready in the morning, we all trooped off carrying bags of dirty clothes. A lot of comments were made about the "birthday girl" having to carry her laundry on her special day. I think there are even pictures. Oh boy.
We had a nice dinner of sea breem fish. When the dessert was brought out, it was pointed out to the waiter that it was my birthday. He turned to me, shook my hand and said "congratulations." About five minutes later, he showed up carrying another piece of the cake we'd had as dessert with three candles on it and surrounded by whipped cream. I had to blow those candles out three times and then dump them in Beverly's water glass to get them out. Needless to say, I had a great birthday.
When we got back to our room, we discovered that the WiFi here was working quite quickly so we uploaded a lot of pictures to our facebook page. When I went to bed, I discovered that I might have overdone the birthday goodies. A candy bar for a morning snack, gelato for an afternoon snack and a dessert and a half at dinner may not have been the best idea. But after a few minutes my indigestion went away. I have indigestion about once every 15 years so I guess I shouldn't complain.
Today, Sunday, we met our local guide at 9 am to tour the "old" part of Split. She was very good. We were told about all the cathedrals, theater, plazas, etc, history and then we went to the Diocletian Palace. It was built in the year 300. I just can't wrap my mind around that. 300. And a lot of it is still standing. The Romans built it and it used a viaduct that is still in use today for the water supply. It's a walled area with gates on all four sides. Was built in a square right on the sea. The sea has been pushed back about 100 yards by filling in the harbor but we got to see parts of the original structure, St. John's baptistry, a temple or two and the plazas. Over the years, there were private residences built above it and people still live there today. One of the plazas had apartments with the ever present laundry on the railings which seemed weird. And along the main streets, restaurants and shops have sprung up. It's a busy place, even on Sunday. There is a "nunnery", as the guide put it, here and the cathedral was having mass. There is a very large belfry that had 187 steps to the top. We elected not to do it, but I think the view would have been amazing.
And boy are there souvenir shops here. Every tacky thing you can imagine. I loved it. I could look at tacky souvenirs all day. It's just a source of wonder to me how many different key chains and magnets, mugs, bottle openers, and the list could go on forever, there are. Beverly and Stella spent time looking at ear rings and jewelry while I was looking at all the other stuff. Then we looked for an ATM machine. By this time, Beverly had left us to do her own thing. We saw on on the Promenade along the sea. Facing south, of course, so there we are hunkered over the ATM trying to read the screen. I'm supposed to be helping Stella. Boy, did I ever. She couldn't read the screen so I pushed the button that I thought was for cash withdrawal. Imagine our surprise when it started whirring, sent her card back out and promptly issued 1000 kunas (Croatian "dollars"). Oops. She has 5 nights to spend her money, she thinks she can do it. :)
We picked up our laundry and returned to the hotel. Now we're off to dinner.
Friday, September 21, 2012
We left Motovun, which is where Mario Andretti was born, this morning and went to Opatija, which is on the Adriatic Sea. We had two hours there so we occupied ourselves with walking along the pathway next to the ocean and taking pictures of statues. I'd like to download the pictures but we just tried one and after 15 minutes, we gave up. Text, like this, is fine, but when we try pictures, the internet connection is just not strong enough. We'll keep trying.
One of the statues is of a man that we all thought, me, Stella and Beverly, looked like Winston Churchill. It is quite large and he has his hands in his pockets and is leaning to one side. There is also a statue of sailor who is sitting down so, of course, we were all over that one. The two of us are snugged right up to him. And then there's a wonderful statue of a woman who is holding a seagull in one hand. It's out in the ocean about 10-15 feet from shore on a rock. I need to read in our guidebook and see if there is a description and story behind it. It's quite striking. Again, when we get better connection, I'll upload the picture.
After we left there, we continued along the coast to a small town named Senj (pronounced Sane) that our guide told us was a pirate hangout a few hundred years ago. Well, that's all he needed to say and we hotfooted it off the bus with our bandannas. Stella bought a book about travel and how to pack and what to take and it said that you should never travel anywhere without a bandanna because it can be used for so many things. So we both brought one. Ron and Kathy Beil are a couple on the tour from Seattle and he wears a bandanna a lot. He's bald. He's trying to keep the sun off. We hurried over to him to have him show us how to tie our bandannas because what better place to look like a pirate than at a long ago pirate town. Beverly came out with a bandanna and he tied hers, too. That surprised me. I would never have thought she'd be up for that. Anyway, Kathy took a picture of the four of us in our bandannas. We look like a motorcycle gang. You know, you've seen Harley riders take off their helmets, if they wear one, and they all have bandannas on. All we need is leathers. I had her take a picture of just me and Beverly. I'm thinking that will be our Christmas card picture. She said "I don't want this showing up on a postcard." Okay. A Christmas card isn't a postcard.
Then we drove on down the coast a ways. I have rethought my description of the area from yesterday. It's more mountainous, but the mountains aren't rocky and jagged like the Alps are. They are more like the Boise mountains that are more round on the top. So we drove a long and winding road that was about like driving through Big Sur or the northern California coast. And it was bumpy. We turned inland and went over the mountains and we were in an agricultural area with lots of sheep, some cattle and a horse here and there. Very small towns. We did go through a larger town, maybe the size of Kuna today, not as big as Meridian, that was the front line for the war in 1991-1992 between Bosnia and Croatia. There is still damage on the buildings with bullet holes and shrapnel scars. A lot of it has been repaired, but there are a number of houses that are just shells, no roof, no windows. I need to look in the guide book to see what the name of the town is.
When the Serbs took that town, the first thing they did was destroy the Catholic church, so when the Croats took it back, the first thing they did was destroy the Orthodox church. It was pretty sobering to see all the damage.
We are staying at a hotel in the Plitvice National Park tonight. Tomorrow we have a 3-4 hour hike through the Park and then we're on the road to Split, the second largest city in Croatia.
Oh, and I remembered some things from earlier in the trip. When we did our day tour in Ljubljana to the wine country, the one where Stella and the guide were old friends by the time we got back, I forgot to tell you about the house colors. They used to be light yellow, white, tan, neutral colors. Now some of them are bright red or blue or green. We even saw a chartreuse one like the fire trucks in Boise are now. Anyway, he is just incensed over the colors that people are painting their houses today. We saw orange ones, too. He ranted about that for awhile and then we drove past some houses that have garden gnomes in the yards or dwarves as he called them. Awful, just awful, according to him. We laughed about it later.
We are also seeing a lot of deer crossing signs and we saw two deer that day. They were smaller than the ones we have in Idaho. I think that it was the wrong time of day to see them this afternoon. Maybe we'll see more tomorrow. Slovenia has a number of bears, too, but we didn't see one.
If you have questions or comments, you can put them on our blog and we can try to answer them. I'm kind of worried that this is boring for you.
One of the statues is of a man that we all thought, me, Stella and Beverly, looked like Winston Churchill. It is quite large and he has his hands in his pockets and is leaning to one side. There is also a statue of sailor who is sitting down so, of course, we were all over that one. The two of us are snugged right up to him. And then there's a wonderful statue of a woman who is holding a seagull in one hand. It's out in the ocean about 10-15 feet from shore on a rock. I need to read in our guidebook and see if there is a description and story behind it. It's quite striking. Again, when we get better connection, I'll upload the picture.
After we left there, we continued along the coast to a small town named Senj (pronounced Sane) that our guide told us was a pirate hangout a few hundred years ago. Well, that's all he needed to say and we hotfooted it off the bus with our bandannas. Stella bought a book about travel and how to pack and what to take and it said that you should never travel anywhere without a bandanna because it can be used for so many things. So we both brought one. Ron and Kathy Beil are a couple on the tour from Seattle and he wears a bandanna a lot. He's bald. He's trying to keep the sun off. We hurried over to him to have him show us how to tie our bandannas because what better place to look like a pirate than at a long ago pirate town. Beverly came out with a bandanna and he tied hers, too. That surprised me. I would never have thought she'd be up for that. Anyway, Kathy took a picture of the four of us in our bandannas. We look like a motorcycle gang. You know, you've seen Harley riders take off their helmets, if they wear one, and they all have bandannas on. All we need is leathers. I had her take a picture of just me and Beverly. I'm thinking that will be our Christmas card picture. She said "I don't want this showing up on a postcard." Okay. A Christmas card isn't a postcard.
Then we drove on down the coast a ways. I have rethought my description of the area from yesterday. It's more mountainous, but the mountains aren't rocky and jagged like the Alps are. They are more like the Boise mountains that are more round on the top. So we drove a long and winding road that was about like driving through Big Sur or the northern California coast. And it was bumpy. We turned inland and went over the mountains and we were in an agricultural area with lots of sheep, some cattle and a horse here and there. Very small towns. We did go through a larger town, maybe the size of Kuna today, not as big as Meridian, that was the front line for the war in 1991-1992 between Bosnia and Croatia. There is still damage on the buildings with bullet holes and shrapnel scars. A lot of it has been repaired, but there are a number of houses that are just shells, no roof, no windows. I need to look in the guide book to see what the name of the town is.
When the Serbs took that town, the first thing they did was destroy the Catholic church, so when the Croats took it back, the first thing they did was destroy the Orthodox church. It was pretty sobering to see all the damage.
We are staying at a hotel in the Plitvice National Park tonight. Tomorrow we have a 3-4 hour hike through the Park and then we're on the road to Split, the second largest city in Croatia.
Oh, and I remembered some things from earlier in the trip. When we did our day tour in Ljubljana to the wine country, the one where Stella and the guide were old friends by the time we got back, I forgot to tell you about the house colors. They used to be light yellow, white, tan, neutral colors. Now some of them are bright red or blue or green. We even saw a chartreuse one like the fire trucks in Boise are now. Anyway, he is just incensed over the colors that people are painting their houses today. We saw orange ones, too. He ranted about that for awhile and then we drove past some houses that have garden gnomes in the yards or dwarves as he called them. Awful, just awful, according to him. We laughed about it later.
We are also seeing a lot of deer crossing signs and we saw two deer that day. They were smaller than the ones we have in Idaho. I think that it was the wrong time of day to see them this afternoon. Maybe we'll see more tomorrow. Slovenia has a number of bears, too, but we didn't see one.
If you have questions or comments, you can put them on our blog and we can try to answer them. I'm kind of worried that this is boring for you.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
This morning, Thursday, September 20th, dawned bright and sunny. No trace of the heavy rain from last night. We were finally able to see the view from here. It's a different terrain here. We've left the mountains and are in rolling hills, it's very green by Idaho standards but apparently they've had quite a drought this summer because the wine and truffle industry both say their production has suffered.
We took a group picture with the castle in the background. When we get somewhere that has better internet connections, I'll upload some more pictures to the blog.
We got back on the bus and drove to Pula where we had a city tour with a local guide. Pula has an amphitheater that is from Roman times that is still intact. It's about 2/3 the size of the Colesseum in Rome but the outer walls are intact, about half the seats are still there and the lower level is intact. I was more impressed with it than the one in Rome, actually. We even got to go to the lower level. Pula is a harbor town and there were two large cruise ships here so it was more crowded with tourists than the other places we've seen. There are still a lot of Roman era buildings and wall segments here.
After lunch, we got on the bus again and drove to Rovinj where we had about two hours of free time. Beverly, Stella and I entertained ourselves by having dessert at an outdoor cafe, then shopping for souvenirs a little bit and then we sat down by the harbor to watch the ocean. One large cruise ship here, it might have been one from this morning. Anyway, we were fascinated watching six men try to come into the dock with a large catamaran. It took them a half an hour to get it tied up to the sea wall. First they came in too far and couldn't get the front of it (they backed in) tied up to a buoy. They went back out and tried again. After 15 minutes of maneuvering, they finally managed to get close enough so one of them could snag the buoy and get a rope through the ring on the top of it. He knotted the rope and tied it off. Must not have been to the satisfaction of the others because one of them then proceeded to undo it and retie. Then they started to back into the spot they'd chosen to dock at. More maneuvering around. Finally one guy threw his rope to a guy on the sea wall who tied it off but the other side was too far away for it to be tied off. They swung around again. Six men were doing this, mind you. Stella decided they would have been tied up and off having a beer by that time if they'd only had a woman to direct them. Another 15 minutes go by and they have finally tied the boat to the sea wall so they could get off. It was time for us to go to the bus and when we walked past this boat, there were 4 others inside drinking. Apparently, the six outside were the flunkies. By the time they were done, there were about 25 people watching this operation. And one of the "sailors" had probably the worst comb-over I've ever seen. Oh, and they were German.
We were off to another restaraunt for dinner tonight. We had lamb, followed up by grappa. Four different "flavors" to choose from. Grappa is like brandy. We all got a shotglass full. I chose honey grappa and it had a smooth burn to it. Stella had fig and it was a stronger burn (I tasted it), the herb one was really strong, and the "nonflavored" one had a little bite to it.
We made the hike back up to the castle again after a half hour drive back. It was a long day but a good day. Beautiful weather, good people to travel with, and good food.
Tomorrow we're off to Plitvice National Park. Everything I've read about it says it's spectacular scenery.
We took a group picture with the castle in the background. When we get somewhere that has better internet connections, I'll upload some more pictures to the blog.
We got back on the bus and drove to Pula where we had a city tour with a local guide. Pula has an amphitheater that is from Roman times that is still intact. It's about 2/3 the size of the Colesseum in Rome but the outer walls are intact, about half the seats are still there and the lower level is intact. I was more impressed with it than the one in Rome, actually. We even got to go to the lower level. Pula is a harbor town and there were two large cruise ships here so it was more crowded with tourists than the other places we've seen. There are still a lot of Roman era buildings and wall segments here.
After lunch, we got on the bus again and drove to Rovinj where we had about two hours of free time. Beverly, Stella and I entertained ourselves by having dessert at an outdoor cafe, then shopping for souvenirs a little bit and then we sat down by the harbor to watch the ocean. One large cruise ship here, it might have been one from this morning. Anyway, we were fascinated watching six men try to come into the dock with a large catamaran. It took them a half an hour to get it tied up to the sea wall. First they came in too far and couldn't get the front of it (they backed in) tied up to a buoy. They went back out and tried again. After 15 minutes of maneuvering, they finally managed to get close enough so one of them could snag the buoy and get a rope through the ring on the top of it. He knotted the rope and tied it off. Must not have been to the satisfaction of the others because one of them then proceeded to undo it and retie. Then they started to back into the spot they'd chosen to dock at. More maneuvering around. Finally one guy threw his rope to a guy on the sea wall who tied it off but the other side was too far away for it to be tied off. They swung around again. Six men were doing this, mind you. Stella decided they would have been tied up and off having a beer by that time if they'd only had a woman to direct them. Another 15 minutes go by and they have finally tied the boat to the sea wall so they could get off. It was time for us to go to the bus and when we walked past this boat, there were 4 others inside drinking. Apparently, the six outside were the flunkies. By the time they were done, there were about 25 people watching this operation. And one of the "sailors" had probably the worst comb-over I've ever seen. Oh, and they were German.
We were off to another restaraunt for dinner tonight. We had lamb, followed up by grappa. Four different "flavors" to choose from. Grappa is like brandy. We all got a shotglass full. I chose honey grappa and it had a smooth burn to it. Stella had fig and it was a stronger burn (I tasted it), the herb one was really strong, and the "nonflavored" one had a little bite to it.
We made the hike back up to the castle again after a half hour drive back. It was a long day but a good day. Beautiful weather, good people to travel with, and good food.
Tomorrow we're off to Plitvice National Park. Everything I've read about it says it's spectacular scenery.
Wednesday, September 19th. We went to a World War I museum this morning in Kobarid. It was really worthwhile. As our guide said "I don't think they teach much about this war in the US, it's mostly World War II" and that's true in my case. Learning about what went on in Slovenia/Croatia during that war was so interesting. I'm going to have to get some books and read about it when I get back.
After the museum, we started for Croatia and crossed the border about two hours later. We were on a very windy road along a river. I normally don't get carsick but I was a little queasy because the roads here have no shoulder and there are trees right next to the pavement. After seeing trees rushing by the window, I moved to the aisle seat from the window seat. That helped. At lunchtime, we stopped at a winery for wine tasting and lunch. The wine was excellent. After four different varieties were poured for tasting and a hearty soup for lunch (with cheese, olives, proscuitto and some sort of sausage plate), there were 26 half-tanked people on the bus. Boy were we a happy group. And a lot of wine was purchased there, too. We continued onto the border of Croatia where we had to produce our passports for the border patrolwoman to stamp. She came on the bus to do it so it didn't take too long. Then we drove to Motovun to stay in a castle for two nights. As in most countries, the castle was on a hilltop and our bus could not take us right up to it. Another "heart attack hill" hike. This one was at least a half mile, maybe a little more, over cobblestones. A van took our luggage but my backpack was heavy by the time I got there.
It had started to rain on us after lunch and was getting heavier. We went to ANOTHER wine tasting here. At 6 pm we met in the lobby and hiked halfway down the hill to a restaurant for wine and truffle tasting. We sat outside on their terrace that had a canvas roof. By this time, it was pouring rain, and when the wind came up, it blew the rain onto the tables and chairs of everyone sitting on the outside of the terrace. We were against the wall and protected but it was like a waterfall coming off that canvas. That ended the party in a hurry. I felt bad for the restaurant owner because it certainly ruined his presentation of the truffles. We all tried them and they were good. Not good enough for me to pay as much as they wanted for them, but that's okay. Croatia has a higher quality of truffle than France does. We just hear about France in the US. We looked out the door at the narrow one-lane street that we had to hike up to get back to the castle and there was so much water running over those cobblestones, that our shoes would have been completely wet so we stayed and shopped for awhile in the gift shop there. It tapered off a little bit so we made a mad dash for the castle. I was sopping wet by the time we got here like everyone else. It just doesn't rain like that in Idaho. We could not see more than about 30 feet. Amazing. I heard it rain again about an hour later.
After two wine tastings in one day, we told the tour guide that they needed to change the itinerary to only have one a day. Even the hardcore wine drinkers felt that way. I'm not really a wine drinker but I tried them all anyway.
On our way here, we were on the coastline and saw the Adriatic Sea for the first time. Bright blue color. A number of large ships were not too far off the coastline.
After the museum, we started for Croatia and crossed the border about two hours later. We were on a very windy road along a river. I normally don't get carsick but I was a little queasy because the roads here have no shoulder and there are trees right next to the pavement. After seeing trees rushing by the window, I moved to the aisle seat from the window seat. That helped. At lunchtime, we stopped at a winery for wine tasting and lunch. The wine was excellent. After four different varieties were poured for tasting and a hearty soup for lunch (with cheese, olives, proscuitto and some sort of sausage plate), there were 26 half-tanked people on the bus. Boy were we a happy group. And a lot of wine was purchased there, too. We continued onto the border of Croatia where we had to produce our passports for the border patrolwoman to stamp. She came on the bus to do it so it didn't take too long. Then we drove to Motovun to stay in a castle for two nights. As in most countries, the castle was on a hilltop and our bus could not take us right up to it. Another "heart attack hill" hike. This one was at least a half mile, maybe a little more, over cobblestones. A van took our luggage but my backpack was heavy by the time I got there.
It had started to rain on us after lunch and was getting heavier. We went to ANOTHER wine tasting here. At 6 pm we met in the lobby and hiked halfway down the hill to a restaurant for wine and truffle tasting. We sat outside on their terrace that had a canvas roof. By this time, it was pouring rain, and when the wind came up, it blew the rain onto the tables and chairs of everyone sitting on the outside of the terrace. We were against the wall and protected but it was like a waterfall coming off that canvas. That ended the party in a hurry. I felt bad for the restaurant owner because it certainly ruined his presentation of the truffles. We all tried them and they were good. Not good enough for me to pay as much as they wanted for them, but that's okay. Croatia has a higher quality of truffle than France does. We just hear about France in the US. We looked out the door at the narrow one-lane street that we had to hike up to get back to the castle and there was so much water running over those cobblestones, that our shoes would have been completely wet so we stayed and shopped for awhile in the gift shop there. It tapered off a little bit so we made a mad dash for the castle. I was sopping wet by the time we got here like everyone else. It just doesn't rain like that in Idaho. We could not see more than about 30 feet. Amazing. I heard it rain again about an hour later.
After two wine tastings in one day, we told the tour guide that they needed to change the itinerary to only have one a day. Even the hardcore wine drinkers felt that way. I'm not really a wine drinker but I tried them all anyway.
On our way here, we were on the coastline and saw the Adriatic Sea for the first time. Bright blue color. A number of large ships were not too far off the coastline.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Tuesday, September 18th, we boarded the bus to go to Lake Bled at 8:30 a.m. We must have panicked the bus driver, however, because every member of the tour was outside the hotel when he drove up and our tour guide told us during the ride that we did NOT need to be outside 20 minutes early. He's a new guide who is doing his first trip with a group. Everyone is always outside early because no one wants to be the person who holds up the entire day by starting out late.
Anyway, we started off and drove through the Alps. What beautiful scenery, the mountains here truly are spectacular. We have pictures! and have finally found the link that lets us insert images. Yayyy!
And here it is! It only took 10 minues to download. Might not be adding some others tonight since it's 10 pm here but I'll add some more later.
We arrived at Lake Bled where there is a castle and an island toward one end of the lake that has a church on it. There is a walking path around the lake and we thought that we'd do that because it's 3 miles and is estimated to take an hour and a half. That doesn't sound right, it must be longer than that. But first we went to the castle and hiked up "heart attack hill" as some people put it, to the entrance. It was a steep cobblestone path. You know, one of those things where you hike uphill both ways. The view from the castle over the lake was pretty astounding but after that walk, we decided maybe we'd take the boat out to the island to see the church. For 12 euros, which is about $15 US, a gondola with a guy rowing you out there takes 20 minutes, one way. We had 30 minutes there. Another steep hike up to the church. Legend has it that if you make wish and ring the church bell three times, it will come true. Well, that's an offer we couldn't refuse so we paid another 3 euros and went inside to ring the bell. The rope hangs down in front of the altar. We waited while two people prayed and made the sign of the cross. I knew this was going to be harder than it sounds when it took both of them to make the bell ring.
Then it was my turn. I had to pull and pull and pull. No sound. Pull, pull, pull. I thought it was going to jerk me off my feet when the woman behind Stella told her that she should help me. She was moving to do that when I heard the smallest "ding" and then I finally got it to ring three times. Actually, it rang about six times because once I got it going, I couldn't get it to stop. Kind of defeated the purpose of 3 rings and a wish granted.
We walked from the gondola up the hill instead of the 99 stairs on the other side of the church. Local "lore" has it that when a couple go to the island church to get married, the groom has to carry his bride up all 99 steps for the marriage to last. I'd like to see someone try that. It brings all kinds of images to mind.
After having lunch, we all loaded up onto the bus and were off to our destination of Kobarid. We took the scenic route over the mountains, stopping to view the ski jumps. You have to be out of your mind to ski jump. Adrenaline junkies, here's your sport.
Back on the bus, we continued up 24 switchbacks (they're numbered, probably for emergency purposes) to the top of the pass. It was 5315 feet in elevation, which didn't bother us any but everyone else on the tour lives at much lower elevations, like sea level (Seattle area, Phoenix, Washington DC). We took a break there to look at the scenery and have a toast with Slovenian brandy. I thought it was pretty good, but some of the others weren't so enthused. Then it was down the other side, 26 switchbacks to the bottom. We were very impressed with our bus driver because some of those turns were so tight that he made them by inches going about two mph.
In Kobarid, we had a group dinner. On these tours, at the first meeting, everyone has to choose a buddy so when we get ready to somewhere, there's a "buddy check" and if your buddy isn't there, you have to tell the tour guide. Your buddy cannot be the person you are traveling with. Tuesday evening, we were all supposed to have learned things about our buddy and we had to introduce them and tell the things we had learned. There are no rules for this, you can make up stories which a lot of people did. Beverly's buddy, Carol, got up and talked about how they'd met last year on the India trip, which was true, and then she talked about the excitement in Bev's life. How she'd woken up to smoke at the cabin, and was rescued by a firefighter while she was wearing pink bunny slippers. It was really funny. Stella's buddy, Harry, hurried over to me and wanted to "know some dirt" on her. So I immediately gave up the information that she was the Idaho State Women's Bowling Champion, which is true. He used it in his presentation, of course. Everyone was suitably impressed, but she doesn't usually tell people that.
It was 9:30 pm before that "liar's session" was over, which is why I'm late on this blog.
My computer is being very annoying so I'm going to end this and continue with today's adventure tomorrow. The internet connection isn't the best here.
To be continued.
Anyway, we started off and drove through the Alps. What beautiful scenery, the mountains here truly are spectacular. We have pictures! and have finally found the link that lets us insert images. Yayyy!
We arrived at Lake Bled where there is a castle and an island toward one end of the lake that has a church on it. There is a walking path around the lake and we thought that we'd do that because it's 3 miles and is estimated to take an hour and a half. That doesn't sound right, it must be longer than that. But first we went to the castle and hiked up "heart attack hill" as some people put it, to the entrance. It was a steep cobblestone path. You know, one of those things where you hike uphill both ways. The view from the castle over the lake was pretty astounding but after that walk, we decided maybe we'd take the boat out to the island to see the church. For 12 euros, which is about $15 US, a gondola with a guy rowing you out there takes 20 minutes, one way. We had 30 minutes there. Another steep hike up to the church. Legend has it that if you make wish and ring the church bell three times, it will come true. Well, that's an offer we couldn't refuse so we paid another 3 euros and went inside to ring the bell. The rope hangs down in front of the altar. We waited while two people prayed and made the sign of the cross. I knew this was going to be harder than it sounds when it took both of them to make the bell ring.
Then it was my turn. I had to pull and pull and pull. No sound. Pull, pull, pull. I thought it was going to jerk me off my feet when the woman behind Stella told her that she should help me. She was moving to do that when I heard the smallest "ding" and then I finally got it to ring three times. Actually, it rang about six times because once I got it going, I couldn't get it to stop. Kind of defeated the purpose of 3 rings and a wish granted.
We walked from the gondola up the hill instead of the 99 stairs on the other side of the church. Local "lore" has it that when a couple go to the island church to get married, the groom has to carry his bride up all 99 steps for the marriage to last. I'd like to see someone try that. It brings all kinds of images to mind.
After having lunch, we all loaded up onto the bus and were off to our destination of Kobarid. We took the scenic route over the mountains, stopping to view the ski jumps. You have to be out of your mind to ski jump. Adrenaline junkies, here's your sport.
Back on the bus, we continued up 24 switchbacks (they're numbered, probably for emergency purposes) to the top of the pass. It was 5315 feet in elevation, which didn't bother us any but everyone else on the tour lives at much lower elevations, like sea level (Seattle area, Phoenix, Washington DC). We took a break there to look at the scenery and have a toast with Slovenian brandy. I thought it was pretty good, but some of the others weren't so enthused. Then it was down the other side, 26 switchbacks to the bottom. We were very impressed with our bus driver because some of those turns were so tight that he made them by inches going about two mph.
In Kobarid, we had a group dinner. On these tours, at the first meeting, everyone has to choose a buddy so when we get ready to somewhere, there's a "buddy check" and if your buddy isn't there, you have to tell the tour guide. Your buddy cannot be the person you are traveling with. Tuesday evening, we were all supposed to have learned things about our buddy and we had to introduce them and tell the things we had learned. There are no rules for this, you can make up stories which a lot of people did. Beverly's buddy, Carol, got up and talked about how they'd met last year on the India trip, which was true, and then she talked about the excitement in Bev's life. How she'd woken up to smoke at the cabin, and was rescued by a firefighter while she was wearing pink bunny slippers. It was really funny. Stella's buddy, Harry, hurried over to me and wanted to "know some dirt" on her. So I immediately gave up the information that she was the Idaho State Women's Bowling Champion, which is true. He used it in his presentation, of course. Everyone was suitably impressed, but she doesn't usually tell people that.
It was 9:30 pm before that "liar's session" was over, which is why I'm late on this blog.
My computer is being very annoying so I'm going to end this and continue with today's adventure tomorrow. The internet connection isn't the best here.
To be continued.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Today, Monday, we met the group a little before 9 a.m. for a walking tour of Ljubljana. Our local guide was Tina. Tina told us a lot about Slovenian history and how much better it was when they were under a Socialist government (Tito). I'm not sure I quite agree with her but then I don't live here. Then we walked a little ways and she pointed out the obelisk that has Napoleon on it. Napoleon was here in the 1700 or 1800's and the people here loved him because he did good things for the country.
She continued down the street and talked about....somebody Plecnik, I can't remember his first name, who is the most famous architect of Slovenia, and pointed out the library that he designed and built. Discussed it in great detail saying it was supposed to resemble a ship, the red bricks represent this, and the stonework represents that, etc. etc. Over lunch, I told Stella that I just couldn't see that and she agreed. I must not be able to appreciate that period of architecture or something because there was no way that I could envision a ship looking at that structure. We walked on around the city while she gave us the history and pointed out historical sites. Stella took pictures inside St. Nicholas's Cathedral to prove that she had, indeed, been inside a church.
It started out quite chilly but around noon the sun came out and it warmed up. We spent the afternoon looking through shops and people watching. I had never seen a salt shop before. Cooking salt, table salt, bath salts, even salt soap. If the bags of it and bars of it hadn't been so heavy, I'd have bought some.
The people watching is great here. We were surprised at the number of tour groups we saw today. And the residents here dress very nicely. How women can walk on cobblestones with 5 inch heels is a wonder.
The people of Slovenia decided they had finally arrived on the world scene when the Pope and Bill Clinton both came here in the mid-1990's. 250,000 people turned out to see Bill Clinton.
We came back to our room about 4:30 and downloaded some pictures to our facebook page. We laughed and laughed over a couple of pictures we put out there. Kelly Peone wanted to know what the view is from our top floor room so we immediately took a picture of the building across the street to show her. Complete with the couple hanging out the window watching the people down below.
They were smoking so we decided they didn't want the smoke in their apartment or they just like to see what's going on in the area. She was in the window Saturday and Sunday when we looked out, and again this morning when we all gathered outside the hotel to start the walking tour. He joined her tonight when we got back and took the picture and just now when we returned from dinner, he was there but she wasn't.
Tomorrow we leave at 8:30 a.m. on the bus to go to Lake Bled and then on to Kobarid for the night. Kobarid is in the area where Ernest Hemingway served during World War I and it was the inspiration for "Farewell to Arms."
She continued down the street and talked about....somebody Plecnik, I can't remember his first name, who is the most famous architect of Slovenia, and pointed out the library that he designed and built. Discussed it in great detail saying it was supposed to resemble a ship, the red bricks represent this, and the stonework represents that, etc. etc. Over lunch, I told Stella that I just couldn't see that and she agreed. I must not be able to appreciate that period of architecture or something because there was no way that I could envision a ship looking at that structure. We walked on around the city while she gave us the history and pointed out historical sites. Stella took pictures inside St. Nicholas's Cathedral to prove that she had, indeed, been inside a church.
It started out quite chilly but around noon the sun came out and it warmed up. We spent the afternoon looking through shops and people watching. I had never seen a salt shop before. Cooking salt, table salt, bath salts, even salt soap. If the bags of it and bars of it hadn't been so heavy, I'd have bought some.
The people watching is great here. We were surprised at the number of tour groups we saw today. And the residents here dress very nicely. How women can walk on cobblestones with 5 inch heels is a wonder.
The people of Slovenia decided they had finally arrived on the world scene when the Pope and Bill Clinton both came here in the mid-1990's. 250,000 people turned out to see Bill Clinton.
We came back to our room about 4:30 and downloaded some pictures to our facebook page. We laughed and laughed over a couple of pictures we put out there. Kelly Peone wanted to know what the view is from our top floor room so we immediately took a picture of the building across the street to show her. Complete with the couple hanging out the window watching the people down below.
They were smoking so we decided they didn't want the smoke in their apartment or they just like to see what's going on in the area. She was in the window Saturday and Sunday when we looked out, and again this morning when we all gathered outside the hotel to start the walking tour. He joined her tonight when we got back and took the picture and just now when we returned from dinner, he was there but she wasn't.
Tomorrow we leave at 8:30 a.m. on the bus to go to Lake Bled and then on to Kobarid for the night. Kobarid is in the area where Ernest Hemingway served during World War I and it was the inspiration for "Farewell to Arms."
Saturday afternoon, Kathleen Crapo, a friend of ours from St. Anthony, arrived and the four of us, me, Stella, Bev, and Kathleen, decided that since we did not meet the tour group until 5 pm on Sunday we should do a day tour. Stella and I let those two do the negotiating with a guide that the hotel recommended. He came to the hotel Saturday night to make the arrangements. His name was Josef and he was about our age, spoke very good English. So Sunday morning, we trooped downstairs to meet him and set out on our day's adventure. He had been to the US and driven a Ford Taurus and thought he could fit four women in his car because it was the same size. Imagine our surprise when we are standing in front of a Renault which is about the size of a "clown car" as Stella describes it. So, because she's the tallest, she sat in the front seat and the three of us were jammed into the backseat. She hadn't forgiven us yet for that because boy, was Josef a talker. They were fast friends by the time our 4 hours which stretched into five hours was over.
The first thing he did was to hand Stella a booklet of photos that had directions so she could be his personal GPS unit. She did her best. Kathleen tried to help. She did her best. The sisters stayed out of this. He drove us to the wine country and regaled us of tales from his family history and how the Slovenians lived in the past and how they live today. We were putting along the freeway about half the speed of the other drivers while he talked nonstop and used his hands to do it. Both hands were waving around to the point that I couldn't watch. Other cars and trucks were zooming past us, but we survived it. We were on very narrow roads and came upon a family and neighbor group who had just finished harvesting the grapes so he immediately pulled over and asked them to show us what they had been doing. Which was fine except they didn't speak english so we had no idea what they were telling us. They did, however, give us each a glass of wine and fed us. It was a stroke of luck that we were able to see this operation. Our guide, meanwhile, was talking to them in Slovenian and when they all laughed, he said he had told them a joke. We're not so sure that they were laughing at a joke but it was very gracious of them to feed us.
We then went to a commercial winery and restaurant for a tasting and lunch. It was on the top of a ridge and the scenery was wonderful. By the time we ate lunch, we were going to be late getting back to the hotel, so our guide and Stella got us back to the freeway where he drove like a madman back to the city. He said the speed limit is 85 mph and he was zooming along about that, probably. During this time, Kathleen slept, and Bev and I listened as he tested Stella's patience with all his questions about her car, where she lived, etc. Oh, and when we were at the family wine place, he told them that we were from Salt Lake City and then he turned around and said "Are you Mormon?" We were so horrified at that question, that we all blurted out "NO" at the same time. He said that he knew all about the Mormons and asked us if he could have 3 wives. Needless to say, it was an interesting day.
Then at 5 pm, we met the rest of the tour group and our guide. Stella told the 26 people that she had never seen before that she's a virgin because she had never been out of North America. They laughed. She thought maybe she offended them but I doubt it. We had dinner together and then had an early night. I hope to be on this time schedule soon because waking up at 4:30 and not being able to sleep after that is not good.
The first thing he did was to hand Stella a booklet of photos that had directions so she could be his personal GPS unit. She did her best. Kathleen tried to help. She did her best. The sisters stayed out of this. He drove us to the wine country and regaled us of tales from his family history and how the Slovenians lived in the past and how they live today. We were putting along the freeway about half the speed of the other drivers while he talked nonstop and used his hands to do it. Both hands were waving around to the point that I couldn't watch. Other cars and trucks were zooming past us, but we survived it. We were on very narrow roads and came upon a family and neighbor group who had just finished harvesting the grapes so he immediately pulled over and asked them to show us what they had been doing. Which was fine except they didn't speak english so we had no idea what they were telling us. They did, however, give us each a glass of wine and fed us. It was a stroke of luck that we were able to see this operation. Our guide, meanwhile, was talking to them in Slovenian and when they all laughed, he said he had told them a joke. We're not so sure that they were laughing at a joke but it was very gracious of them to feed us.
We then went to a commercial winery and restaurant for a tasting and lunch. It was on the top of a ridge and the scenery was wonderful. By the time we ate lunch, we were going to be late getting back to the hotel, so our guide and Stella got us back to the freeway where he drove like a madman back to the city. He said the speed limit is 85 mph and he was zooming along about that, probably. During this time, Kathleen slept, and Bev and I listened as he tested Stella's patience with all his questions about her car, where she lived, etc. Oh, and when we were at the family wine place, he told them that we were from Salt Lake City and then he turned around and said "Are you Mormon?" We were so horrified at that question, that we all blurted out "NO" at the same time. He said that he knew all about the Mormons and asked us if he could have 3 wives. Needless to say, it was an interesting day.
Then at 5 pm, we met the rest of the tour group and our guide. Stella told the 26 people that she had never seen before that she's a virgin because she had never been out of North America. They laughed. She thought maybe she offended them but I doubt it. We had dinner together and then had an early night. I hope to be on this time schedule soon because waking up at 4:30 and not being able to sleep after that is not good.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
After a looong day, we arrived in Ljubljana, Slovenia, this morning. It's an 8 hour time difference from Boise so while you were all snug in your beds, we were in the air. We arrived here at 2:30 a.m. Boise time, 10:30 a.m. here. The views of the alps from the air were stunning. After a two hour nap, here we are. :)
When we got to Frankfurt, we had to go through security again for the flight to Ljubljana (which is pronounced loo-blee-ah-nuh), they promptly pulled Stella out of line to go through her bag, Beverly got wanded, and I had a security "guy" dig through my backpack all the way to the very bottom and pull out my hair dryer. He wanted to know if I had the time to go with him to the side area for him to look at it. What do you suppose he would have said if I'd said no? So I said yes, and then I had to put my computer back into my backpack along with all the stuff he'd rifled through. While I was jamming my computer back into the bag, he handed me the hair dryer and said "go ahead and put this back in and go on." Apparently, someone else had something more important for him to dig through.
The people watching in airports has been great. There was a woman on our last flight dressed in leathers carrying a motorcycle helmet. I'd never seen that before. Stella and I wondered if she'd checked her motorcycle.
We were such zombies that when we got to our hotel and found out that our rooms weren't quite ready, we just sat in the lobby until they were. Nothing like 3 women sitting staring at the desk clerk to get things moving. We had our room in less than an hour. My sister, Beverly, Stella and I are all in the same room at least for tonight.
Tomorrow we will meet up with the rest of the tour group for dinner, and the tour will officially start. Later today, we're going to venture out and see if we can find a place to eat tonight.
It's sunny here, and fairly warm. Oh, I forgot, when we got to Frankfurt and had to find our flight here, we got to the boarding pass checkpoint and it was closed! In less than 5 minutes, there was a very large crowd behind us. The airport employees were milling around saying that they didn't know when it would open. Something was going on with the police at the security checkpoint apparently. We stood there for probably 20 minutes before they finally opened it up. We hurried right through and that's when the fun at the security checkpoint started. I'm still in a state of amazement over the hair dryer thing. Beverly was picked at random, I think, for the wand thing. Stella and I just looked like we had some contraband in our luggage, I guess.
More later, I'm having brain fade from today. :)
When we got to Frankfurt, we had to go through security again for the flight to Ljubljana (which is pronounced loo-blee-ah-nuh), they promptly pulled Stella out of line to go through her bag, Beverly got wanded, and I had a security "guy" dig through my backpack all the way to the very bottom and pull out my hair dryer. He wanted to know if I had the time to go with him to the side area for him to look at it. What do you suppose he would have said if I'd said no? So I said yes, and then I had to put my computer back into my backpack along with all the stuff he'd rifled through. While I was jamming my computer back into the bag, he handed me the hair dryer and said "go ahead and put this back in and go on." Apparently, someone else had something more important for him to dig through.
The people watching in airports has been great. There was a woman on our last flight dressed in leathers carrying a motorcycle helmet. I'd never seen that before. Stella and I wondered if she'd checked her motorcycle.
We were such zombies that when we got to our hotel and found out that our rooms weren't quite ready, we just sat in the lobby until they were. Nothing like 3 women sitting staring at the desk clerk to get things moving. We had our room in less than an hour. My sister, Beverly, Stella and I are all in the same room at least for tonight.
Tomorrow we will meet up with the rest of the tour group for dinner, and the tour will officially start. Later today, we're going to venture out and see if we can find a place to eat tonight.
It's sunny here, and fairly warm. Oh, I forgot, when we got to Frankfurt and had to find our flight here, we got to the boarding pass checkpoint and it was closed! In less than 5 minutes, there was a very large crowd behind us. The airport employees were milling around saying that they didn't know when it would open. Something was going on with the police at the security checkpoint apparently. We stood there for probably 20 minutes before they finally opened it up. We hurried right through and that's when the fun at the security checkpoint started. I'm still in a state of amazement over the hair dryer thing. Beverly was picked at random, I think, for the wand thing. Stella and I just looked like we had some contraband in our luggage, I guess.
More later, I'm having brain fade from today. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)