Jolly Old England

London, York, Whitby and Durham England
November 8-14

The date was November 8th and we had now spent almost three months in countries where English was a secondary language, if it was spoken at all. So it was honestly a shock when we landed in London and every sign was in English and almost everyone around us was speaking English! We were both laughing like kids. It was great! We could go to a pharmacy and pick out shampoo without worrying that we had accidentally bought Nair! We could go to a restaurant and order a meal knowing it was probably an animal we would have eaten by choice! Oh, it was lovely. The things we took for granted three months ago were priceless now! And even better, it was all in London, one of my favorite cities in the world!

One of the iconic Lions in Trafalgar Square

We touched down in London at about 11AM and made a quick trip through baggage claim and customs. After 11 weeks of travel, we had no fear of public transportation so we headed downstairs and bought ourselves a day pass for the Tube, London's subway system. An hour later we were all checked in at our hotel and ready for lunch. One thing we had really missed in the last few countries was spicy food so we were on the hunt for heat! We found an Indian restaurant near our hotel that had a small lunch buffet for 6 euro. London is famous for it's Indian food, for good reason. We both filled up on hot spicy food until our noses were running and our bellies were full.

That afternoon was indicative of how we would eat in London. There were so many foods we were craving and most could be picked up at a take-out shop or a cafe. We ate sushi and chinese food and wraps and salads and chicken wings. Some were healthy, some were not, but they were all "comfort foods" at this point in the game. Not a breaded, pan fried meat in sight!

We were staying for three days in London even though both of us had already been there before. I had relatives there and we had a friend of a friend living there as well so we wanted to do some visiting, which was the first reason for our stay. But secondly, there are just a million things to do and see in London so its just a great city to visit. We knew it could be expensive so we had researched cheap and free sights and had set aside some funds for a splurge night as well.

Our first night we visited with Brian and Sheila (Kirrane) Wright. Sheila is my Dad's cousin and she is a school teacher in London. Brian is her husband and he owns an old school London cab. The night we were going out Sheila had parent/teacher conferences, so she couldn't meet up with us until about 8PM. Brian was available earlier though so he picked Shaun and I up at the hotel at 7PM in his taxi and gave us a tour of London! And I mean all of London! Brian drove us all over the place, pulling over along the way to show us certain monuments or bridges or streets. He also showed us the different neighborhoods and talked about how they came to be. That night we we went through the neighborhoods of Kensington and Knightsbridge, Notting Hill, Mayfair, Westminster, St James and Soho to name just a few. And driving through the streets at night, we saw the city from a whole different perspective.

Our drive with Brian was fascinating and lasted about an hour at which point we headed over to the West End to the Bloomsbury section of London and a restaurant called the Eagle Pub. The Eagle was great. It was one of the first GastroPubs to open in London back in 1991 and it still does big business. Even though it was a Tuesday night the place was jammed. Sheila was waiting for us by the bar so we ordered drinks (Beer for the boys and me, wine for Sheila) and settled in on one of the couches.

We had a great time chatting with Sheila and Brian. They had been to the States years ago and knew many of my cousins so we had lots to talk about. And Brian is a wealth of information about London in particular and the UK in general. Shaun and I were wishing we had more time to spend in London once Brian started telling us about some of the more interesting, but lesser known things to do in the city. Clearly we need to go back again soon!

After a fun dinner and lots of good conversation, we headed out for dessert. Bar Italia is a great little Italian cafe in the Soho section of London. They had a row of sidewalk tables with space heaters above, so we found a spot and ordered some cappuccinos and Italian desserts. Shaun got to have carrot cake, which is his favorite dessert, so it was a perfect way to end the night! My only regret is that I forgot my camera so I don't have a picture to post from our fun night out! A big thanks to Brian and Sheila for making us feel so welcome in their city!

The next morning Shaun and I headed in separate directions. Shaun had found a CrossFit box in London so he was heading over to get in a workout. I needed to do some shopping so I was headed up Kensington High Street. My goal was pretty simple, warmer clothes! We had done a damned good job of packing for the trip in my opinion. We had made it all the way to mid-November based largely on what we had packed back in August. Of course, we had some help from mother nature. The weather throughout the trip had been unseasonably warm everywhere we had gone, so we were able to get away with lots of light layers. Now things had started to get cold and we knew they would only get colder. It was time to bulk up the clothes a bit.

Shopping that morning was great. London seemed to be in full Christmas mode already, with Christmas lights up everywhere and tons of sales happening. It was pretty easy to find some turtleneck sweaters, and a warm jacket on sale. And it was really just fun to go shopping. I've never been a big shopper, but it was definitely rewarding to look for and find things that you really need and that you know will make your life easier! With my new warm clothes in hand, I headed back to the hotel to meet Shaun. This was our splurge night in London so we had to get over to the Theatre district!

One of my favorite things to do in London is to go to the Theater. The west end always has great plays and musicals and they have the original Half-Price ticket booth so you don't have to pay an arm and a leg. We knew exactly what we wanted to see so we headed over to Leicester square and got in line for tickets to Billy Elliott, the Musical.

Now let me start by saying that the movie Billy Elliott is one of my favorite movies so the musical had a lot to live up to! I needn't have worried though, it was absolutely fantastic! The music was great, the dancing was fabulous and the kid who played Billy was incredible. Because these are young kids who can only play Billy for a year or two, there are actually three Billy's at any given time and they rotate which night they do the show. Regardless I couldn't believe how talented this particular kid was. He had to sing, dance and act his way through a three hour show and he was only 12 years old. Wow. Just wow. The musical is touring now- don't miss it if it comes to your city!

Waiting for Billy Elliot to start at the Victoria Theatre

That afternoon and the next day we also spent lots of time at London's great museums. One of the great things about the UK is that they have tons of free museums. While we were there we visited three of them; the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate Modern museum. It was a great cross section of museums. The National Gallery has everything from ancient egyptian sculpture to Impressionist paintings. The National Portrait Gallery is just that, portraits and photographs of famous British people from Henry XIII and Anne Boleyn all the way to Sir Paul McCartney and John Cleese. The Tate modern London's premier Modern Art museum. It may not be for everyone, but we had a good time. It was actually made more fun by a group of little kids who were obviously there on a school field trip. Listening to a 6 year old interpret modern art is really funny! I think I had as much fun seeing their reactions to the art as I did viewing the actual art!

On the Millenium Bridge on the way to the Tate Modern

Our last night in London was another dinner with a new friend. For years now, our friends Susanna and Adam have been taking trips around the world with Susanna's friend Amy. We had never met Amy because she lived in Germany and then subsequently moved to London. So when we knew we were heading to London, we e-mailed Amy to see if she was available. It was another fun night. Amy took us to a wine bar over in Notting Hill called Kensington Wine Rooms. It had single glass wine dispensers so you could taste all different sorts of wines and a tapas style menu with delicious meats and cheeses and hot and cold appetizers. It was really fun to meet Amy after all these years. We talked about her adventures traveling with Susanna and Adam and her time living and working in Europe. We tried lots of wines and some yummy food and it was just a great way to end our stay in London.

Dinner with Amy in Notting Hill

The next morning we were off to York, England. We really had no plans beyond London when arrived here so York was just sort of a coin-flip decision. We wanted to go somewhere we had never been, and somewhere that had a lot of history, but it needed to be on the way to Edinburgh, our next big planned stop. When we found out that the National Bus line had a 10 pound fare to York we were sold. We bought our tickets online on Thursday afternoon for the Friday afternoon bus.

On Friday morning we packed up and headed over to the Victoria Coach station. It was going to be a long ride, so we picked up some waters and sandwiches before boarding the coach. The bus ride was a bit tedious. It was 5 hours from London to York by bus, something that would have only taken about 2 and a half hours by train. (But would have cost at least 70 pounds each instead of 10). We both read, Shaun slept for a while and we ate our sandwiches but we were still antsy. We played Rummy 500 for a while until Shaun could no longer stand the beatings and then we moved on to Hangman. By the time we got to York it was 6:30 and it was rainy and dark. At that point we just wanted to be at the B&B so we sprang for a 5 pound taxi ride instead of walking. Our cab driver thought it was hilarious that we only paid 10 pounds to get from London to York and then had to pay 5 more to get a mile! It was worth every cent!

The B&B was great. It was called Ashley House and it was an old converted Victorian run by a great guy named Phil. Phil was waiting for us when we arrived and after chatting for a while he brought us up to our cozy room on the top floor. He gave us a few ideas for dinner and then left us to relax. We chilled out for a while and then headed out to see York and get some dinner. We ended up at a little place called Oscar's (named for Oscar Wilde) where I had more delicious Indian Food and Shaun had a burger. As always, we were exhausted from the travel day so we headed home for a good sleep at Ashley House.

I loved the view from our room in Ashley House in the morning over the rooftops of York

The next morning we woke up to the best breakfast we have had on the trip. Phil served up a ridiculously good full English breakfast, complete with eggs cooked however you like, bacon, blood sausage, roasted tomoatoes, sauteed mushrooms and toast. All with a hot pot of coffee. What a great way to start the day, and it was included in the price of the room, which was even better! After breakfast we were ready to go. We only had one full day in York and we wanted to know more about the city so we went to the Tourist Information center and asked about city tours. The guy there was great. Not only did he find us a free walking tour that was happening that afternoon, but he also suggested a few towns to visit when we left York on our way to Edinburgh.

The walking tour of York was fabulous. It is run completely by volunteers, and each person has their particular special area of focus. The woman who was leading our tour had her doctorate in Medieval studies from York University. She took us on a 2 hour tour through York, taking us through the history of the city from the Romans to the Saxons and Vikings to the Normans, all the way through to present day. We saw great old ruins and medieval buildings and got to walk along the city walls. It was a great way to get to know the city and learn some history at the same time.

You can walk almost all the way around York along the medieval city walls

The remains of Saint Mary's Abbey in York

The next day morning checked out of the Ashley House and started our drive north. For the rest of England and Scotland we needed more flexibility than we could get from trains or buses, so we rented a car. The trip from York to Edinburgh was long so we decided to take the advice of our friend at the TI and make some stops along the way. For our first stop, he had suggested a seaside village called Whitby.

The drive to Whitby was a little scary, but also wonderful. It was only the third time we had a car in the three months we had been here and it was the first time we were in a country where they drive on the left. I was absolutely positive that I didn't want to drive, and Shaun was all for it so that was great. Still, it was a little nerve wracking at first. There are about a million rotaries in England and I think we went through a hundred that day. And then we got up to North York Moors National Park.

When I was a child, one of my favorite books was called "The Secret Garden", by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I bet I read that book a hundred times in my childhood. I won't bore you with all the details, but the story takes place in England and it is about a young orphan girl named Mary Lennox who goes to live in England in a castle on the Moors. All through my childhood I tried to imagine what the Moors looked like based on the descriptions in the book. She described the Heather and Gorse and Broom and the long expanses of low dark brush. She talked about how the wind would rush through and make "a singular, wild, low, rushing sound". It sounded so mysterious and dramatic and I wanted to see it for myself. So when we came through York Moors I was just thrilled. It was just like I pictured in my imagination, dark purplish low bushes stretching out as far as the eye could see on both sides of the road. It was just gorgeous, even at this time of year when no flowers are in bloom. I would have liked to stop and take some pictures but the fog was rolling in and the road was narrow and winding and Shaun was still getting used to driving here. We decided it would be best to drive on to Whitby. But I got to see my Moors. I may need to bust out the Secret Garden again soon just for old times sake.

By the time we got to Whitby, the fog had really rolled in but it just made Whitby seem even more romantic. The town is an old fishing village on the Yorkshire coast that is a very popular summertime vacation destination. It is filled with narrow cobblestone streets with little shops and restaurants that also make for a great day trip. We stopped in for lunch at one of these restaurants, a cute little place called The Humble Pie and Mash Company. It was just a teeny shop with about 4 tables, but they make all their meat pies in house and they had a welcoming fire burning. We sat down and ordered; a minced meat pie for Shaun and a lamb stew pie for me. We both had them with a mug of hot tea, the perfect English lunch for the perfect foggy, cold English day.

Lunch at the Humble Pie and Mash Company in Whitby. So cozy.

After lunch we took a hike up the 199 steps to the Parish church of Saint Mary with the ruins of St Hilda's Abbey looming in the background. Saint Mary's was supposedly the church that inspired Bram Stoker to write the book Dracula, and on this foggy day it was not at all surprising. We stood along the cliffs looking at the old graves in the shadow of the two churches and the beautiful views out onto the Bay. It was quite lovely in an eerie sort of way.

Shaun in the graveyard of St Mary's with the ruins of St Hilda's Abbey behind him in the mist. Ghostly.

Climbing back down the stairs to Whitby Harbor

By that time it was getting late, so we headed back to the car to continue our drive. We decided that Durham would be the perfect overnight stop. It was only about two hours from Edinburgh and had a cheap available room at a place called the Premier Inn, right in the downtown area. It turned out to be a good thing that we made a stop because Shaun wasn't feeling well that night. It was nothing serious, but it would have made an extra two hours of driving very tough. We only had one must-see on the list for Durham, the Cathedral which we could see in the morning. So we settled in early at the hotel for a good night's sleep, hoping Shaun wasn't getting really sick.

By morning Shaun was feeling much better so we headed out to get a little breakfast and then made our way over to the Durham Cathedral. It was worth the stop. The Cathedral dates back to 1081 and is still a place of worship today. In fact, mass of some sort had been celebrated in this cathedral every day for over 900 years. Unlike most cathedrals we visited, Durham does not have an entrance fee. They rely solely on donations from visitors and the generosity of benefactors. We were more than happy to make a donation after seeing this fabulous church. We were too early for an official tour but they had a little guide that tells the story of the 25 most important parts of the church. It was a great way to do a self guided tour. They also had a tower you could climb but it had lots of warnings about heights and confined stairwells and narrow steps so I decided to pass. Shaun, on the other hand, was all too happy to climb up there and take some pics on my behalf!

The view from the top of Durham Cathedral

Loved the beautiful old buildings around Durham cathedral and University

After our visit to the cathedral, we hopped back in the car. We had spent six fun days in England and now we were on our way to Scotland. As usual we had a few places in mind and a few days left open for whatever fate would bring. We had a car and a map and great company, what more could we need? So it was off to the land of Scotch and Lochs and Highland Cows! First stop, Edinburgh!

Castles and Caves and Dragons...Oh My

Ljubljana, Lake Bled & the Julian Alps, Slovenia
November 3-7

Hanging out high above Lake Bled, Slovenia

After having such an amazing experience in Croatia, Shaun and I couldn't wait to see what Slovenia had to offer! Once again, we knew just a handful of people who had been there so we weren't sure what to expect. We had done our usual last minute booking and decided on a place about 10 minutes from Lake Bled in a town called Radovljica. The Apartments Jansa had a one bedroom apartment available with a small kitchen and living room for just 42 Euro a night. We were really loving the cheap accommodations in this part of Europe!

As we drove up from Croatia towards lake Bled, we had to drive straight past the capital city of Ljubljana. (Pronounced Lubyana) We were unsure at that point whether we wanted to stay in the city next or just sightsee for a day so we decided to stop there for lunch and check it out. We both loved it immediately. As you come into town you cross over the "Dragon Bridge", which as its name implies, has dragons guarding it on either end! (How can you not love a city that welcomes you with dragons!) After a quick lunch and a visit to the Tourist Information center we decided that we would need to come to Ljubljana for the two nights following our stay at Apartments Jansa. And when we learned there was a wine festival happening that Saturday, we decided that it was imperative that we stay in the city.

Our first look at Lovely Ljubljana

All that decided, we continued our drive up to the Lake Bled area. The highways in Slovenia are really well maintained and have great facilities. Even the rest areas were surprisingly nice. They had the usual quickie mart kinds of snacks, but each one also had a little cafe attached that served soups and hot foods and salads. I can honestly say that the salads at the rest area looked nicer than some salads you would see in restaurants. It was refreshing to see those kinds off choices offered instead of just the usual junk.

When we arrived at Apartments Jansa we had our first introduction to Joe, the owner of the place. Joe was a trip! He asked us if we wanted some information on Slovenia and when we said yes, he gave us a landslide of information. Then he sat down with us and started to go over it all. He was very cautious to make sure he wasn't overstaying his welcome, but I know he would have talked for hours if we wanted. And oh my goodness, was he proud of Slovenia! He kept asking Shaun questions about sporting figures from Slovenia who did amazing things and expecting him to know their names, which he never did. Finally, when he would tell us the person's name, he would always end with "He ees from Slovenia!" as though it were surprising.

We also loved Joe's delivery of information when he was pointing out places on the map. For example, he showed us a map of the town of Radovljica where we were staying. He pointed rapid fire at things, saying, "This is the Church, This is the Center, This is This and This, well, This is Nothing". And it wasn't just once. Every time we asked Joe about something he would pull out his maps and give us the same spiel. And with his Slovenian accent it just cracked us up. Ever since our stay, Shaun and I can't help but bust out with our Joe impressions from time to time. "Dees is a castle and dees is a farm and dees is dees, and dees, well dees is nahthing". I must reinforce though, that as much as I'm poking a bit of fun at Joe, he was a wonderful host who gave us lots of great ideas for things to see in Slovenia.

And boy, did we do some sightseeing in Slovenia! Much like Croatia, there's an amazing cross-section of things to do in Slovenia. For our first day, we wanted to make use of the car to see both Lake Bled and the Julian Alps. We started the morning in Lake Bled. We knew that it was off season so the town would be much quieter than it is in the summer, so we planned to spend about half the day there. We began with a nice hearty breakfast at a place in town and then made our way around the lake to start the climb to the Castle. Bled Castle looks down upon the lake from a perch high above the town, but it has nice trails and stairs carved into the hillsides, so the journey is quite lovely. Once we got to the top we thought the admission price was more than a little steep so we opted to walk the trails around the castle instead. It was a beautiful morning and the trees were all changing colors. I felt like we were taking pictures in New England, a feeling that would repeat itself many times over in Slovenia. After some more walking around the lake, we headed out to the Julian Alps. Bled was beautiful but "very commercialization" as our friend Joe put it.

I like to call this one "Breakfast in Bled", Hee Hee

The little church in the middle of Lake Bled

The goal of our drive to the Julian Alps was to drive through the Vrsic Pass, the highest mountain pass in Slovenia. I am seriously questioning my sanity at this point. Shaun had never even heard of the Vrsic Pass, so the only reason we were doing this was at my suggestion. I guess I didn't really think through what a mountain pass would involve. Well let me tell you. In the case of the Vrsic Pass it involves 26 hairpin turns as you climb to 1611 meters on one side of the pass and then 24 more hairpin turns as you descend. The reason you do the Vrsic pass is to experience the views from the top, which were amazing right up until we hit the crazy fog that made it almost impossible to see. Unfortunately I was too busy holding on for dear life to take many pictures at the top.

On the way up the Vrsic Pass you come upon this tiny Russian chapel set back in the woods. It was built in 1917 as a tribute to 100 Russian Prisoners who died in an avalanche while building the roads through this pass during WWI.

This was hairpin turn number 29 which was on the way down. Made even more fun by the thick layer of fog that rolled in!

A gorgeous glacial stream on the way down, near the bottom of the pass.


When we finally finished our descent, we stopped in a small town for a bite too eat. We had planned to do some cave exploring as well that day but when we talked to a nice gentleman at a Tourist Info Center he explained that we were way too far out to get there in time so we decided to head back to Radovljica. When we asked him the fastest way back there he explained that we should just cross into Italy and then back to Slovenia to the North. I mentioned that I was glad we had our passports to show at the border and he laughed. "There's nobody there to show them to!" he said. I had forgotten that Slovenia is an EU country so there's no real "borders" anymore. The drive back was gorgeous, through farmland and hills and forests and teal blue glacial lakes. And just as he said, when we got to the border of Italy and again to Slovenia, there was nothing but old border crossing buildings and a sign welcoming you.

After our second night in Radovljica and a good night's rest, we said goodbye to Joe and hit the road again. We were off to Ljubljana for the wine festival, but Joe had suggested we make a stop at a place called Brdo Castle. Brdo was where Bush and Putin had their historic first summit back in 1991 and the grounds are just beautiful. I could understand why you might choose a spot like this for such a high tension meeting. The trees were all changing colors and there were little streams and waterfalls and it was just so scenic and peaceful. Once again, we had the place practically to ourselves. We only saw one other couple in the hour or two that we walked around so it was extra tranquil! And yet again, it was so reminiscent of New England in the fall. Just beautiful.

One of the paths through the grounds of Brdo Castle

Back in the car, we set off for Ljubljana. When we arrived in the city and got to the B&B we were thrilled with the location! It was right outside the city center, just off the square where they hold the green market and more importantly, minutes from the wine festival! We were able to check in early so we dropped our bags off at the room and headed over to the Saint Martin's Festival in the center of the Old Town.

Saint Martin's Day, legend has it, is the day that all the grapes must officially turn to wine and so it is a celebration of "new wine", kind of like the celebrations that take place in France when the Beaujolais comes out every year. The Ljubljana Wine Route, as the festival was called, didn't limit itself to young wines. They had vintners from all over Slovenia with all types of wines-- Red, Whites, Roses and even Ice Wines. They also had lots of great food vendors serving delicious things we rarely see at home like smoked Venison Sausage and Wild Garlic pesto, to name two of my favorites.

Ham Anyone?

The set up of the festival was just fantastic. These people obviously appreciate good wine because there were no plastic cups here! You give them a ten euro deposit and they give you a really nice wine glass to keep for the afternoon. When you finish your tastings you bring the wine glass back and get your ten euro. You just have to be careful not to break it!! The wine tastings also were free for the most part. Every once in a while we came upon someone who was charging a Euro for a taste, but that seemed to be the exception. Most of them were happy to get the exposure and offered the tastes for free. And the wine prices!! Holy cow. The first place we went to had a sign with the different bottles listed and they each said 4 euro or 3.50 euro so we asked if that was the price for a full glass. Nope, that was the price for the bottle! And they were absolutely wonderful wines! I thought Shaun was going to try to get a work Visa that day so we could come and live there!

Saint Martin's Festival in Ljubljana. Shaun is making friends with the wine vendors.

After a few hours of sampling wines and enjoying the scenery we decided to get some food. The "street food" we got that day was a duck leg with a chestnut and potato mash and braised red cabbage. OMG, it was delicious!! We stood on a bridge by the river, drinking delicious free wine and eating gourmet street food and counting our blessings. What a great day! Of course, after such a long day of tasting we eventually needed a refill on food so at Shaun's request we got their version of a sausage sandwich, which basically had 4 or 5 small sausages between a thick Pita bread with this wonderful paste made from sweet red peppers. We split that as well, thank goodness. But, Oh joy was it good.

First up, duck leg with chestnut and potato mash and braised red cabbage.

Please note the childlike enthusiasm. Love it!

Next up was the Slovenian version of a sausage sandwich. The red pepper paste is called Ajvar and it is a popular condiment. It was yummy!

The next morning we got up early and jumped into the car for a day of sightseeing. Todays agenda was castles and caves. First up was the Skocjan caves. Skocjan caves is a Unesco is an amazing underground world composed of stalagmites, stalactites, natural bridges and passages. It is one of two major cave systems in Slovenia. (The other, Postojna caves, is also close by, but Joe said it was "very commercialization" so we opted to go with his suggestion of Skocjan instead) The cave was created by the flow of the Reka River over millions of years and is still changing and growing every day.

The tour was wonderful. We walked down a woodsy trail for about 10 minutes before coming to the cave entrances. At the entrance, they split us up into groups based on language and we started our descent into the caves. It was a bit eerie at first (I couldn't help thinking about how many earthquakes seem to be happening these days) but I got over it as we descended further and further and saw more and more amazing things. At one point we crossed a bridge 500 meters above the cave floor, where the remains of the river flowed through. It was like a scene from Lord of the Rings. It was scary and amazing and totally cool. We were bummed out that you couldn't take pictures but fortunately these days you can just google Skocjan Caves if you want to see the things we saw!

Shaun outside one of the entrances to the caves

The whole tour took about 90 minutes and walked most of the length of the caves. At the end you ascend to the other side of the cave where you come out into a beautiful forest and walk up through these hills that could have been in Vermont or New Hampshire. Just a perfect morning.

We could have been in New England.

Next up was Predjama Castle. Predjama Castle is unlike any other castle we have seen. The castle was built into a cave in the side of a mountain! The original castle dates back to the 12th or 13th century, but the one that is here now dates back to about 1570, with some updates done in the last century to keep it stable and safe. The castle has one particular inhabitant named Erazan who lived there in the 15th century and got into all sorts of trouble with the local royalty. He spent a year and a day under siege before he was killed while his guard was down...really down. His location was given up by one of his servants while he going to the bathroom! Who knows if its true, but it makes a great story! We spent an hour or so touring the castle before heading back to Ljubljana for one last night.

Predjama Castle was pretty incredible!

The next morning we left lovely Ljubljana and headed back to Croatia for one last night. We were flying from Zagreb to London the next day and we had booked a little place right by Zagreb airport that got fabulous reviews on Trip Advisor and Booking.com. Rooms Pleso was described as walking distance from the airport and everyone raved about the hostess, a woman named Zelijka. For 49.50 Euro including breakfast it would have been a deal regardless, but the reviews were right. The place was lovely; a big spacious room with a king sized bed, a detached breakfast area/lounge where Zelijka kept a warm fire going. We had e-mailed to see if we could drop our bags off in the morning, so we arrived at Rooms Pleso around 10AM, dropped our bags and then dropped off the rental car. Croatia Airlines has a shuttle from Zagreb airport into town for the equivalent of about 5 or 6 dollars that runs every half hour so we jumped on and headed into Zagreb.

We were really exhausted when we got into Zagreb but we ended up being very happy we went there. It was a beautiful city with all the things we've come to know and love about these old European cities- markets and cafes and cathedrals and museums and wonderful people. We wandered the streets all afternoon, doing what we have come to call the "microwave tour". Not enough to really fill you up, but enough to know whether you want to go back and see it all someday. (We do!) When we got back to the Croatia Airlines shuttle that afternoon, the driver remembered us from the trip in. It was so typical of the friendliness we have encountered everywhere.

Shaun in downtown Zagreb

Zagreb was filled with statues, but this crazy one was my favorite. Those are real leaves and flowers growing all over it!

We took the shuttle back to the airport and walked 5 minutes down the road to Rooms Pleso. We showered and changed into what few clean clothes we had left and walked over to a restaurant in the neighborhood recommended by the B&B owners. It looked like someone's house from the outside but inside was a lovely little place. The food was wonderful and the waiter was friendly and the house wine was great. We walked back over to Rooms Pleso talking about what great surprises Slovenia and Croatia were and how we were sad to be leaving.

When we got back to the B&B, we went into the breakfast/lounge area to work on our blogs and have some of the Slovenian wine we had purchased at the wine festival. The room was toasty warm and there was another couple also hanging out, Victor and Ilya from Norway. They had a little girl who was sleeping upstairs so they had the baby monitor on and had just eaten dinner. We asked them if they wanted to join us for some wine but they both said no, they had apparently had a bit too much the night before. After a while Zelijka came in and started chatting with all of us. Shaun and I offered her some wine, which she turned down in favor of giving us some of her Slivovitz, a Croatian plum brandy that was delicious but STRONG! Shaun and I were both pretty pleased that we made it through our glass, but Zelika wasn't done. Above our protests she poured us another glass! Eventually Viktor acquiesced to having some wine but he said no to the Slivovitz- apparently that was what had brought he and his wife down the night before!

A little Slivovitz with Zelijka. Try saying that 10 times fast!

So the next morning we got up and had breakfast all together, Viktor, Ilya, and their baby, plus Shaun, Zelijka and me. The Norwegians were leaving that morning early and Zelijka was bringing them to the airport and she insisted that she would bring us too! It was so close that there was really no need, but she thought our backpacks must be heavy so she wouldn't take no for an answer. So off we went, just down the street to Zagreb airport where we were taking a cheap Croatia Airlines flight to London.

Viktor and Ilya and their daughter

We were off to the land of the Royals and High Tea and Fish and Chips and people speaking English and we were damned excited to be honest. But we were also so thankful for the time we had on the "mainland" and in Croatia and Slovenia in particular! We really had no idea what to expect when we went to those countries and in both cases we just loved the people and the places. I think it has made us both more sure of the second leg of the journey where we will get even more out of our comfort zone in places like Thailand and Vietnam. But I'm getting ahead of myself! We still needed to finish Europe first! So off we went, on a Croatia Airlines flight from Zagreb to London. It would only take about three hours, but it seemed like a world away.

One of the dragons from the Dragon Bridge in Ljubljana, Slovenia. And a full moon to boot!

Shock and Awe

Split, Hvar and Plitvice Lakes Croatia
October 27- November 3

Lovely Split Harbor

Here is what I knew about Croatia when I was growing up. There was a war. That sums it up. I saw the news broadcasts and knew that something was happening between the Serbs and the Croats and it was horrible. All the footage showed the people of the local villages and towns dodging bullets between bombed out buildings. I knew that both sides had been merciless and like all wars, it took a toll on the country. The war mainly took place between 1991 to 1995, which were my college years, so there is really no excuse for not knowing more, but I was very busy "at the library" during those years so I somehow managed to miss most of the current events that happened outside our little world.

I will not tell you now that I understand the whole conflict. As a matter of fact, I will tell you that you should do your own homework if you ever go to visit so you can understand what these people went through. I wish we had done more. What I will tell you for certain is that you should forget the images you have in your mind when you think of Croatia. It is a country of unimaginable beauty and lovely people and fabulous food. And it is almost all coastline, something that luckily we knew before we left, because we otherwise might not have budgeted as much time as we did.

Our trip started off rather hilariously on the ferry from Italy to Croatia. There are two major ferry lines that go from Ancona, Italy to Split, Croatia. One is Jadrolina and the other is the Blue Line. Blue Line has a giant yellow sticker on it's web site, it's boats and it's tickets proclaiming it the "Low Cost" ferry line. Guess which one we chose? Actually it was kind of a no brainer. It was a 10 hour ferry trip and your choice was a cabin, a seat (like on a plane) or nothing. I can't sleep in airline seats and I'm far too old to be sleeping on the ground so the cabin was the only way to go. Jadrolina was selling interior cabins for $85 euro a person, Blue Line was selling exterior cabins for $65 euro. Done deal. More expensive than a hotel room, but less than a hotel and a flight, which is what we would have had to buy if we didn't take the overnight ferry.

So, of course, since this was the "budget" line things got pretty silly from there. It started when we got to the Ancona train station in the late morning. Let me just warn you that if you get to Ancona and check in for you ferry is at 4PM, don't take the bus to the ferry terminal until 4PM. Otherwise you will be trapped at the Ancona ferry terminal for hours. (I suppose we could have sprung for a cab, but we are still being very conservative about things like that). So there we were, stuck for hours at the Ferry Terminal. Luckily for me they had Internet Access so I at least spent a good chunk of time blogging while we waited. After a while though, we were both starving and decided to get food. All I will say is to take a look at Shaun's face in this picture if you want to know how that turned out.

The awesome cold spaghetti and cold lasagna that were our only meal options

Once we got on the boat, we were much happier. The design was total disco fever, but with the proper 1970's aging. I was waiting for Isaac, Gopher, Julie McCoy and Doc Bricker to come out of the woodwork. I'm sure these ships are total party boats in the summer, but on October 28th it was more like the Love Boat as written by Charles Dickens. We both got a laugh when we checked out our Deluxe Exterior Cabin with the tiny bunk-beds! So what we we to do? We headed to the bar! We were having loads of fun and I was kicking Shaun's butt at Rummy 500. A beer or two later however, we decided that maybe it wasn't a great idea. And even though the ship's purser had told us that we would not need anything for motion sickness, we opted to get some anyway. From there it was off to la la land in our Deluxe Exterior Bunk Beds.

Now this is luxury!!

When we awoke in the morning we were just off the coast of Split, Croatia. Split itself is a large commercial city and you don't want to spend a whole week in Split if you are visiting Croatia for the first time. For a few days however, it is just perfect. We both loved it from the second we stepped off the boat, even if we almost made ourselves fugitives from justice in the first 10 minutes. You see, here's the thing about the Ferry to Split. When you get off the boat there are no signs, so we just started walking. It was raining so we wanted to get to the apartment ASAP. We were just about to walk past the line of cars and people when I looked in a window and realized that it was border control/immigration!! We backtracked to the end of the line and took our place alongside all the other law abiding citizens who had the good sense to realize they were leaving an EU country and heading into Croatia.

Once we made it through the rigorous border patrol in Split (kidding) we walked into an absolutely beautiful coastal town. Even the rain that morning didn't dampen the beauty.
Split's old town is built around a Palace dating back to the 4th Century AD. The walls of the Diocletian palace surround the old town and so when you are walking through the cobblestone streets or going to the shops and restaurants you are actually inside the old palace. It is a very cool place!

The railing you can see is at the top of the old palace. It totally surrounds the old town and all the shops and cafes and restaurants are inside the palace walls

Beautiful Split Harbor

This statue is of Gregory of Nin, a tenth century bishop, but I called him Gandalf the whole time. You rub his big toe for luck











The apartment was great. After Venice, we had no reservations so the plan was to try to score some deals by making last minute bookings. In the case of Split, we were able to get a nice studio apartment with a kitchen for 50 Euro a night. The apartment was right outside the old palace walls, so the location could not have been better! The first day we really took advantage of the apartment as neither of us was feeling great. Just a little motion sickness I think, as it quickly passed. Either way, it was great to have a nice big place to rest up and relax.

The apartment in Split

Our next few days in Split were great fun. Split, like every other large European city, has a big farmers market. Theirs is right outside the Palace walls. We bought fruit and nuts, eggs and vegetables and some bread. We decided to stick to our habit of having breakfast at home. It saves money and allows us to fill up in the morning so we aren't hungry in an hour. Our first night we also thought we would make dinners at home. Lets just say that our attempt to make calamari in our somewhat limited kitchen was a disaster. Once we realized how inexpensive the restaurants were, we decided we were better off letting the Croatians do the cooking. And oh, what cooking!

Let me just say, if you like fish this is the place to go, but don't go expecting cleaned up, nondescript, skinned, deboned, white fish filets. The fish here is served simply, a whole fish seasoned with a little salt and pepper and a liberal dose of olive oil, then grilled and served on a plate with grilled vegetables and maybe a wedge of lemon. I was in absolute heaven. I think I ate grilled fish almost every night and a few lunches as well. It was a little work getting around the small bones but that just made dinner a slow, lingering experience. A small pitcher of Croatian wine and some gorgeous Croatian bread was all that we needed to complement these lovely dinners.

Fish Before...

And after...

When we did venture from the grilled fish, it wasn't far. We found a really cute place that served what they called "fried shrimp". It was shrimp still in the shells that had been barely battered in some sort if salty goodness and then quick fried in olive oil. They were so tender and delicious you could even eat the little legs. Another night we went to a Croatian wine bar where they had a mixed appetizer of Octopus salad, some sort of fish mousse, marinated shark and two different types of fresh sardines. The octopus salad was my favorite. So fresh and delicious with tomatoes and capers and onions. Mmmmm. Shaun also tried some of the local meat dishes, like pasticada, a kind of beef stew that is traditionally served with gnocchi. Croatia is just across the Adriatic from Italy so you could also find pastas and risottos galore, but we were hooked on the Croatian specialties.

The smorgasbord of fishy things

And the salty delicious shrimp. Yes, I know this is just gratuitous food pictures now, but it was SOOOOOOO good!

For sightseeing we toured the Diocletian palace one morning and did lots of walking around Split. One day we took a local bus out to see some Roman ruins in a town called Salona. The ruins dated back to the 2nd century BC and were very well preserved. As with most things we were doing lately we were almost the only ones there! There was one young woman with her boyfriend and her mom, walking their dog, but that was it. I love off season travel! Once we finished at the ruins we needed to find a different local bus to take us to our next sightseeing stop, the island of Trigor just off the coast. We asked the young woman if she knew where the bus was and she said we could just walk with them since they were heading that way. So we basically walked with this little family for about 20 minutes through the rest of the ruins and through a vineyard and an olive grove until we got to the place where we could catch the bus. Did I mention how nice the people are here?

The ruins at Salona

Trigor was just gorgeous. It has a little bridge leading from the mainland over to the harbor area which is full of shops and restaurants. There is a fortress at the end of the harbor and behind the fortress was a soccer field, where a game was in progress. Shaun watched a bit of the game while I explored the harbor, watching the fish and crabs that were all congregating near the edges. We walked around the area, had a pizza for lunch and just relaxed in the sun. The weather was once again unseasonably warm, which made our day in Trigor even lovelier. After a few hours we took the bus back to Split.

Trigor Harbor

After 3 nights in Split, we took the Catamaran over to the Island of Hvar. The trip on the catamaran only took about an hour and it cost about $6 each, a real bargain. The night before we had done our new "last minute accommodation" search and found a highly recommended apartment at a place called Apartments Irena. Because it was off season, we got a two bedroom apartment with a balcony for only $36 Euro per night!

The view from the balcony

Apartments Irena is run by a woman named Irena Bibic. She is in her early fifties and has two college aged kids with her husband Frano who is a fisherman. Irena was very stylish and very sweet! She picked us up at the Ferry and dropped us off when we left so we didn't have to walk the big hill to the apartment. She gave us a bottle of their homemade Croatian white wine, which was very nice. But the best memory we will have of Irena and her husband involves food! (I know, shocking...)

On our second day in Hvar, we ran into Irena in town. We went to check out the Hvar fish market and there she was, selling her husbands catch alongside all the other fishermen and their wives. We chatted for a few minutes and then parted, only to run into each other again at the butcher shop a little while later. When we explained that we were craving some kind of meat for dinner, she helped us order from the butcher and then told us that they were cooking that night in the Pekar and would be happy to cook ours as well. I asked what else we should get and she said nothing. She said they had plenty of vegetables to go along with the meat so to just meet them at around 6PM if we wanted to see the cooking.

The Pekar is really cool. There are a few kinds, but the premise is always the same. It is basically a heavy metal lid that has rungs around it. You burn a big wood fire until the wood turns to coals. Then you move away the coals, put a pan with the meat on the spot where the coals were and then cover the pan with this big lid. Then you take all the hot coals and put them on top of the Pekar. Frano started with the meat, and then removed the lid 40 minutes later to add the potatoes and then removed the lid again 20 minutes later to add the carrots and onions. Each time he put the lid back on, he made sure the lid was well covered with the hot wood coals. The end result was a delicious tender pork roast with delicious vegetables on the side. It was one of the most memorable meals of the trip.

The Pekar

Frano with the finished product

And Shaun all ready to eat!

The rest of the time on Hvar was spent exploring and relaxing. The apartment is up on a big hill, which gives it gorgeous views. On one side is the road into town, which takes abut 10 minutes. The other side has a steep, but well maintained path that leads down to a gorgeous harbor with a beautiful white rocky beach. It was way too cold for swimming in my opinion, but that didn't stop Shaun. He knew it was probably his last swim for the year so he went in for a swim both days.

On the way down to the harbor

We also explored the Spanish Fortress that sits above Hvar harbor. It dates back to 1551, so its a "newbie" but it offered spectacular views of the harbor. The walk up starts in the Hvar town and winds it's way up through the city streets, into a garden with huge cactus and aloe plants, onto a walkway that was lined with a pine forest. It would have been worth it just for the journey up there!

The view of Hvar harbor from the Spanish Fortress

We were very sad to leave Hvar, but we had one more big spot we wanted to see before moving on to Slovenia. I had heard about a park in Croatia with amazing water features that was a few hours inland from Split. We knew that doing this part of the trip by bus or train would be virtually impossible, so we decided to rent a car for a week. That would allow us to drive from Split to Plitvice Lakes, up to Slovenia and back to Zagreb Croatia for our flight to London. It also allowed us to continue our "last minute bookings" strategy! So after taking a quick ferry back from Split, we walked over to the Avis station and picked up the car. We double checked to make sure it was OK to cross the border into Slovenia and the agent pointed out the border crossing card that gave us permission to go to certain other countries, Slovenia included. As long as we didn't accidentally cross into Bosnia, we would be fine.

Getting into a car again was weird and wonderful! When you travel via public transportation with a backpack you gain lots of efficiency, like the ability to run for a train or easily get up a flight of stairs at a subway stop. It also comes with a few downsides though. Like for example, the fact that you have to run for trains or drag yourself up and down flights of stairs at subway stops. With a car we would have the freedom to come and go whenever we wanted. It was all very exciting.

The drive from Split to Plitvice Lakes was beautiful. We went from the beautiful coastline of Croatia, up through the mountains and out into countryside that looked very much like New England. We were somewhat unprepared for how cold it became once we got inland though. We had spent so many months in mainly unseasonably warm weather that we were both a little shocked by temps in the 40s. Luckily our lodging in Plitvice Lakes was toasty warm when we arrived. House Tina reminded us of a fancy ski chalet. Our room had a king sized bed and a set of bunkbeds and it was huge. At 54 Euros per night, it fit the budget. It was late afternoon when we arrived, so we asked for a kettle to make tea and settled in at House Tina for a quiet afternoon.

The next day was devoted entirely to Plitvice Lakes. We had a nice breakfast at the B&B, bundled up in a few layers of clothes and then drove down to the parking lot. After a quick trip to the info center we were on our way! The guy in the info center suggested we take route C which would be about 4-5 hours in the park. The route involved easy hiking, a boat ride across a lake, more easy hiking, a tram ride back most of the way and another easy hike to finish up. Sounded perfect so we got started on the first part of the hike.

Just steps inside the park and already we were amazed by the gorgeous green waters

We were stunned from the moment we walked into the park. Plitvice Lakes is an area of 16 lakes at different altitudes, connected by a series of waterfalls. The science behind it all involves something called travertine that builds up along the banks of the rivers. I'll let you all explore the science behind it as an independent study if you like, I just want to tell you about the beauty of this place!

One of the amazing waterfalls

Shaun on one of the wooden walkways that wound around through miles of park

And another waterfall...


The park is unbelievably beautiful and so well organized. Every route that you can take is well marked and you either walk along miles of wooden boardwalks and bridges or on paths along the sides of the hills. The wooden walkways and bridges were constructed in such a way that they seemed very much a park of the natural landscape. And even though it was very cold, we were so glad to have come in November because we had the place practically to ourselves. Sometimes we would walk for a half hour without seeing another person. Having seen the pictures from the summertime, when the tourists are in full force, this would seem to be pretty rare.

We spent the full day at Plitvice wandering along in shock at how gorgeous it all was. And even though it was very cold, we took our time and just enjoyed the natural wonders of the park. By the time we got back to our car it was late in the afternoon and the sun was getting low. We rewarded ourselves that evening with nice hot showers and then some beers and hearty Croatian fare from one of the local restaurants.

After our visit to Plitvice, we were even more stunned that we knew so few people who had been to Croatia. We each knew a couple of people who had been and they raved about it, but I think you just have to experience this place for yourself. Some of the local people may have seemed a little quiet and sad, but that is not surprising considering what they went through less than 20 years ago. Regardless, hey were all lovely and so proud of their homeland, as they should be. I'm quite sure that when Shaun and I think back on the days we spent in Split, Hvar and Plitvice, they will be some of our fondest memories of the trip. Croatia was one of the most surprising, beautiful places I have ever been.

Cold but happy in Plitvice Lakes