The flight home

Our first flight from Ljubljana to Belgrade, I sat next to a man who lived in downtown Ljubljana, right where we were walking just a few days before! He was headed to Athens to run a marathon, which he does quite often. This marathon, however, was the same track as the ORIGINAL marathon! He is a project management for a tech company that makes all the ATMs (Bankomats) in Slovenia. Interesting guy and very nice. He was inquiring about jobs in the US and if he would make any extra money there.

On the flight to the US from Serbia, a 400 pound Baka/Baboushka (grandma) sat next to me.  We snuggled for 10 hours by default as she didn't quite fit in the chair. On top of having no deodorant and kicking her shoes off to reveal edematous, smelly stumps, she fed me half of a GIGANTIC candy bar. It was about two feet long, each piece the size of a regular candy bar. I felt so sick, but you can't say "no" to a baboushka! Trust me, I tried!

She really was sweet (maybe the candy bars?) as she warned me we were going to snuggle by winking at me and settling in. She also kissed me on the cheek and yelled "ciao ciao!" when we saw her in the customs line. I liked her.

This is about what she looked like:



It's good to be OFF the plane and back home, where I have plenty of space...

Slovenia Day 2: Lake Bohinj

Today has really been breathtaking, especially Lake Bohinj. I think this is David's favorite part of the trip - mountains, cold weather, fog. I bet it's part of his Hungarian DNA. He's currently sitting on the patio drinking a craft beer and enjoying life.

This is a Photo Sphere, so you can see it in 3D

Tonight is the farewell dinner, which is bittersweet. Yes, I'm sad the trip is coming to an end, but it will also be nice to be at home. I could have probably stayed in Opatjia, my favorite, for another week and David could probably stay in Slovenia for life. Ha!

As with a lot of the trips we take, it would have been nice to stay in one town for longer to get to know each other. On the other hand, we were able to see a lot of what Croatia has to offer, a little glimpse.

Gratitude List:
1. Nature's beauty
2. Milan, our driver, who has gotten us out of some sticky and narrow situations
3. Kreme cake and cappuccino. They make me happy. Even though I don't like coffee, the cappuccinos in this side of the world are amazing. I'm now addicted.

Slovenia Day 2: Lake Bled

This morning, we went to the castle on Lake Bled and walked through. We had coffee, Kreme cake, took pictures, learned a lot about honey, and walked about 5 stories up and to the castle and back down to the lake with gorgeous views. The castle was built in medieval times and has been restored here and there to keep it authentic. It was very peaceful and serene, even filled with tourists.

Americano, Kreme cake, and Cappuccino; a nice mid-morning snack.

We then took Gondolas to the island in the middle of the lake, which was very eventful as we almost capsized (people not following instructions). We walked up to the church (91 steps) and made sure to not ride back with the boat tippers.

Slovenia Day 1: Radovjlica

We arrived at Lake Bled about 6PM. This is the view from our room at dusk, but can't wait to see it tomorrow! Hopefully, the sun says hello when we go exploring.

We did the optional dinner at Radovjlica, a town preserved from the Middle Ages. We learned about honey bread (similar to gingerbread texture), used for decorations, primarily. They are traditionally heart shaped because they were wedding presents given to the bride by the groom.

Here's a great blog about it: http://www.nina-travels.com/ginger-bread-museum-radovljica-slovenia/

We had a HUGE dinner of mushroom soup in a bread bowl, salad, roast beef stuffed with plum preserves, sausage, potatoes, sauerkraut, picked radish, and three deserts (crème cake on steroids, apple strudl, and chocolate cookie crumbled with cheese and liquor and formed into balls).  We were stuffed full and slept at soon as we got back to the hotel.

Slovenia Day 1: Ljubljana

We left Optajia and landed in Ljubljana around 1030. We stopped for pictures along the way with breathtaking views of the Alps.

Slovenia is more like Austria than Croatia and is just as cold.  Ljubljana reminded me a lot of Seattle - green (The Greenest City 2016) as in environmentally friendly, outdoorsy, dogs with sweaters, liberal, LGBTQ friendly with the flag flying at city hall. I love Seattle and felt right at home in this charming city.

We took a tour of downtown and it was beautiful. For lunch, we had Cornelian sausage (delicious), Human Fish (beer), and a hot chocolate, which was more like a heated chocolate pudding with whipped cream on top. It was good! We then tried gelato, but they were out of the traditional pumpkin sauce. Bummer! We then tried Potica, the traditional Slovenian cake for celebrations. In other words, anything  that had sugar, we tried it. HA!

Cornelian Sausage with mustard and horseradish sauce

Hot Chocolate (pudding consistency)

Human Fish Beer

We then hopped on the bus headed for Lake Bled.