OCTOBER 4,5,6,7,8,9   LJUBLJANA

Here we are in Ljubljana and our house is superb.  It is large, modern, with a nice front garden behind an electric gate.  In the front yard, there is a very deep well which I presume is a leftover from the past.  There is also a nice back garden.  The view into the neighbour's yard is fabulous because they have a beautiful flower garden that is still blooming even on October 4th.  Our host Marja is very pleasant.  She knew all the stores would be closed today since it is Sunday, so she bought us bread, milk, tea and coffee so we could have something to eat should we be hungry on our arrival.

Everyone is tired after the rather difficult journey and decide to rest.  Bernie and I take off for a tour of our neighbourhood to see if there is a restaurant nearby so we can all have dinner.  We find we are in a very family oriented neighbourhood.  There are many families in the park, the children are having a good time.  Right across from that park is a restaurant serving many families their Sunday dinner.  They greet us with nice smiles and, after talking to the young waitress, we decide that we will all be coming here for our evening meal. It was absolutely delicious.  To end this very eventful day, when we got ready for our short walk back home.  The skies opened and it started pouring heavily with no sign that it was going to stop anytime soon.  The decision is made to make a run for it except for Maria who is pushing the baby carriage.  I decide to stay with her and walk at her pace, rain or not.  We are chatting when we both step into a deep puddle and, after such a day, we both burst out laughing and squishing all the way home.  Murphy's law - the rain stop the minute we get in.  Everyone is soaked but still laughing.  Life is good and we decide that it is time to call it a day.  Let's see what tomorrow will bring us.

Today, Monday the 5th, Lynanne, Jorg and I got up early so we could be at the grocery store when it opens.  After a good breakfast, the seniors take off for a tour of the town while the young couple stays behind to bathe the baby and relax.  They will meet us later on.  We opt for a walk through the park in the direction of the town.  We are told it is a longer walk but a more beautiful one.  This park has a pond, a zoo and the path we are on is really very nice with lots of trees and large empty fields.  As we walk, we asked for directions several times.  Along the path, there are several concrete posts to commemorate the location of the barbed wire fence that once was there, put in by the Nazis and surrounding the whole town. We obviously overshot our exit because this one hour walk ended up being more like a 3 hour walk.  Luckily, we all like walking and exploring the different neighbourhoods we are passing.  We finally reach the town.  It is a welcome sight.  There are a lot students milling about and all along the narrow river, there are outdoor cafes, full of people having lunch.  They day is sunny and everyone seems happy.  We are looking for the outdoor market which brought us here.  Alleluia, we have found it but first thing first, we need to do is have something to drink.  As we sit down, Maria, Jorg and the baby show up so we are a full group again.  Some are having beer and wine but Maria and I opt for a hot chocolate.  It arrives, piping hot but so thick, we eat it.  It has the texture of a hot chocolate pudding.  It is so good, we would love to lick our cup. Unfortunately, by the time we are finished resting, the outdoor market is closing and Lynanne has missed it.

Enough sitting and relaxing, there are things to see.  There is a cable car in this town and we all head for it.  The view from the top is amazing.   Once this ride over, we start walking again while Jorg and Bernie pick up the rental van.  We were to leave for Zagreb in a few days but we have decided to stay on in Ljubljana since the weather in  Zagreb will be rather rainy.  The fact that we love this house a lot is a very important factor in this decision.  That evening, we have dinner in an Italian restaurant and the food is nothing to write home about.

Today, October 6th, we all pile into the very large 8 seater van which Jorg seems to be very good at manoeuvering.  Obviously, he has done this before.  We are heading for Lake Bohinj and Savica Falls.  The drive there is beautiful.  We are surrounded by green mountains peppered with small old world villages.  The place is really very picturesque. We opt to not stop at Lake Bled because it is raining and there is absolutely no place to park.  The views around the lake are beautiful and Jorg stops very quickly behind a bus so that Bernie can take a few pictures.  Lake Bohinj is a large lake, with beautiful views also. There is a beautiful little church, many varieties of ducks floating by so quickly because of the strong current.  They all make a bee-line for the shore where a young woman is feeding them popcorn.  The whole scene is quite commical.  We are now heading for Savica Falls.  The walk up hundred of steps, in a light drizzle is worth it.  Reaching the top, we witness an amazing fall, where the water passes through a tunnel on its way down. There it forms sort of a dam which seems to divert the water.  Again here, the views are breathtaking.  Now, we must get back down which should be easier than up.  Once down, we stop for lunch and then head back home.  Along the way, Bernie spots a beautiful opportunity for more picture taking.  Wow!  We are all standing in front of the calmest and clearest lake ever.  All the nature surrounding this lake is reflected in the water.  The lighting is just perfect and all three guys have their cameras on hand to record this beauty. Once back at the house, I make a bread pudding with all the bread Marja had bought for us.  With our leftover pizzas from lunch and this pudding, dinner is complete.  We play a few rounds of Taboo, which the girl team wins this time.  We call it a day and all retire to our rooms.

October 7th is a rainy day, but we will not complain since we have only had rain in Slovenia.  It is a very beautiful country with very friendly people.  I am pleasantly surprised to find out that most speak English.  They are taught English starting in third grade.  Jorg and Maria decide to stay home with Valerie who probably should get a quiet day after all this traveling and we old unstopables, decide to go visit a Museum. Jorg very nicely offers to drive us there and pick us up when we are ready.  What a nice guy he is!

We spent a big part of that day at the Slovene Ethnographic museum. Its mission is to give present and future generations an insight into the development of traditional and contemporary culture of Slovenes in comparison to the development of other ethnic groups in nearby countries such as Italy, Austria and Hungary.  It was quite unlike any other museum we have visited. It was also the only museum we visited this holiday. By the way, the museum was located in an area of the city called Metelkova which consists of several blocks of a squatter community that has taken over the buildings. They have covered the whole area with garish graffiti railing against Capitalism and Fascism. It was quite interesting and could become a tourist attraction though I don't think that is what they intended.  On weekend, they host concerts of alternative music.  The place looks really rundown but we read that it is safe even at night as is this whole city.

 For dinner, we returned to our same neighbourhood restaurant.  We were pleasantly surprised to see Petra, our very nice waitress.  She is really cute, really petite and very pregnant.  She is expecting her first child in January.

No playing Taboo tonight.  We plan a day trip to the coast tomorrow so we are hoping for a break in the weather.  Goodnight.

Today, October 8th, Valerie wakes up smiling again.  She has grown a lot during this trip and thankfully, the holiday is almost over because her clothes may not fit her much longer.  Already, Maria has to leave some of the snaps undone on her onesies.
After breakfast, everyone is ready and organized for a trip to Piran, a seaside town on the very short Slovenian Coast.  Once again, it is a beautiful drive.  This country is really beautiful and I hope to come back one day and drive leisurely through it.  The highways are great.

We arrive in Piran to a nice, warm sunny day, just like what you hope for when coming to the sea.  Standing on the tip of the peninsula, we could see Trieste, Italy and Croatia.  This little town is so different from any other town so far.  It has so many little streets, all uphill, all chriscrossing one and other.  Once up the hill, we come across the remnants of their walled city and of course, there is a church at the very top.  From high up, we spot the town square where we ended up later, sitting outdoor on a beautiful summer day, at a nice outdoor cafe.  We sit there for a long while, realizing how lucky we are to finish our Slovenian holiday in such a beautiful place and on such a beautiful day.  There is actually a Symposium of Walled Towns in Europe, the next lecture being held this month.  We walked some more before stopping for dinner, outside by the water's edge.  The view is beautiful but the food is rather ordinary.  The great day we have just had will remain with us for a long time.   We got home late and everyone went to bed happy but also a bit sad to have to leave in the morning.

October 9th, we leave Slovenia to get ourselves to Zagreb where we will fly back to Brussels.  Once again, the scenery is very beautiful.  We stop for lunch in Zagreb at a fantastic restaurant.  The food is out of this world, from the soups especially the mushroom one made of over 20 different wild mushrooms to the main meal.  We are all too full for desert except Maria who orders a chocolate cake.  Of course, once it is there in front of us, poor Maria now has to share it with 5 other people. Luck has it, Valerie cannot eat cake yet or else it would have been 6 other people.

We now board our flight to Brussels.  We are all a bit sad knowing that we will part very soon.  We must put it out of our mind until the last minute.  There is still tonight and tomorrow.  Being sad will have to be pushed back to early Sunday morning.