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

Marathons, Mestre and Magic

Venice, Italy
October 22-26

Ah, Venezia! It had been seven years since I first stepped off a train in Venice and got terribly lost along the back streets and canals with my friends Brian and Scott. We had foolishly come to Venice with no reservations and thought we could easily find a place to stay. I will always remember the frustration of that day in 2004, but it didn't matter in the end. We stayed for three perfect days and Venice worked its magic. I remember being so sad when the time came to leave.

Just one of the lovely canals in Venice

For this trip, we had a very special item on the Agenda, the Venice Marathon! This would be Shaun's first trip to Venice and his first international marathon. I was pretty excited for both, but tried to be low key about Venice so I didn't raise his expectations too much. Shaun had signed up for the marathon in July and once he was confirmed I went to work on lodging. Venice is notoriously expensive and somewhat tough to get around. In reading up on the marathon, most of the shuttles were actually leaving from the Venice/Mestre train station. Mestre is located right outside Venice and there are both trains and buses that go between the two. We found a little B&B called Outlet Sweet Venice on Trip Advisor that got fabulous reviews and was within walking distance of the train station. I booked it this summer before we even left for Europe, knowing that Marathon weekend would be crazy.

The train ride from Rome to Venice was uneventful. We left at 9:45AM from the train station by our hotel in Rome and we hopped off at the Venice Mestre train station at 1:30PM. A quick ten minute walk and we were at Outlet Sweet Venice where we met both Maurizio and his wife Giovanna, the owners of the hotel. We liked them both immediately. Giovanna took care of the room payment first and then called Maurizio down so he could do a little Venice tutorial.

They had a great local map with Venice on one side and Mestre on the other side. When he found out it was Shaun's first time in Venice he told us we should immediately buy a 72 hour transport ticket and then go to Venice and take a cruise all the way down the canal. Sounded good to me! Then he showed us lots of other things we could do and which buses or vaporettos would get us there. My favorite part though was when he was pointing out the San Marco square area. He looked at us very seriously and said "You don't touch NOTHING there! It is nothing but a tourist trap. Don't touch Nothing, you understand?" Having been there before, I knew what he meant but was also cracking up at his serious delivery of the advice!

Having taken all of Maurizio's advice very seriously, we immediately bundled up and headed over to the Tabbaconist nearby to get our Transit pass. This one worked out to be a great deal. The pass for 72 hours was 33 Euro and it included all buses and the Vaporettos. Considering that a single Vaporetto ticket was 6.50 Euro we definitely got our money's worth over the three days.

After getting the pass we wanted to head into Venice but first we needed to get Shaun's marathon packet. The shuttle left from the Mestre train station and only took about 20 minutes to get to the park where the expo was being held. We got his packet and checked out the expo, picking up a pair of runners gloves and a hat for him along the way as it had gotten very cold over the last few days. Then we took the shuttle back to the B&B and dropped off the stuff. It was time to see if Venice lived up to my memories!

Using Maurizio's great detailed map, we walked a block and a half to where we boarded bus 4L which took us over the bridge into Venice in about 10-15 minutes. We got off the bus at Piazzale Roma and got in line for the Vaporetto. The Vaporettos are like water buses, they can hold hundreds of people and there are regular stops all down the canal and to the surrounding islands. It's my favorite way to travel in Venice. When it came time to board we were some of the first people to get on so we went right to the front and sat down outside. It was cold out, but we were dressed warmly and the day was coming to a close so the sky was beautiful. The ride from Piazzale Roma to San Marco square took about 45 minutes and I could tell Shaun was just as captivated by the city as I had been. The activity on the canal just amazes me- it is an intricate dance between the Vaporettos, the private water taxis, the gondolas and the fishermen. I was amazed every time we were on the canals that nobody crashed into each other.

The view from the front of our first Vaporetto ride

Once we got to San Marco we just wandered. We didn't want to just take the water taxi all the way back so we decided we would walk over toward the Rialto bridge and check out Venice. We wandered around, popped into a few shops, ate some delicious pizza and just enjoyed the city. Besides Paris, I think Venice may be my favorite city for wandering. I love the narrow streets, especially in the more residential areas where you see children playing and elderly women chatting and laundry hanging above the canals. At one point we turned a corner and saw a boat covered in flowers with a casket on top and the family boarding the boat for the funeral procession. It was a poignant reminder that there are people who live in this place year round.

Shaun in San Marco Square. It was very cold!

After a few hours in Venice we headed back to Mestre. We figured an early dinner in Mestre would allow Shaun to get to bed early. He would be running 26 miles in the morning so he needed some sleep!

Dinner was a bit of a challenge, but it was our own fault for not making any reservations. The place we wanted to go to was full, not a surprise considering that it was a Saturday night and the night before the marathon. We found another place, Ristorante da Bepi, that specialized in seafood. The guy who took our order was a trip. He spoke Italian, English, French and bits of other languages. His english seemed to vary between a british and a southern accent, sometimes in the same sentence. He was very loud and boisterous and wanted to pick our meals for us. I tried to argue but somehow he ended up convincing us to try a hot and cold appetizer sampler and for Shaun to get a "special" pasta of his choice.

The appetizers were a mixed bag. I consider myself a pretty adventurous eater but some of this was a little much even for me. I ate the cuttlefish cooked in the black ink, and the salmon, tried the smoked tuna and even ate a few of the not-so-soft shelled crabs. Other things I couldn't quite stomach. Shaun was starting to worry about his mystery main course at that point! It turned out to be fine though, it was Spaghetti con Vongole, pasta with garlic and wine and the tiny clams you can only get over here. It was quite delicious and he was good and carbed up for the marathon. By the time we finished dinner it was 8:55 and we needed to get back to the B&B so we asked for the check. Three more requests and 40 minutes later we finally got the bill. We paid up and headed back to the B&B, a little exasperated with how the night ended. The walk in the cold night air was a good way to end the evening. Shaun got all his things ready and we headed to bed.

Our beautiful place in Mestre, Outlet Sweet Venice.

One of the nice things about our stay at Outlet Sweet Venice was that they upgraded our room for us, so we had an actual bedroom as opposed to a studio. It was beautifully decorated and had a big comfy bed, which was a treat for us at this junction of the trip. The windows were excellent, blocking out any noise from the street, so both of us slept like babies. Shaun got up at 6 to get ready and he left the B&B to get the marathon shuttle at 7. It was a point to point marathon so they were shuttling all the runners from the Mestre train station to a town called Stra. From Stra they would run back to Venice, passing through Mestre on the way. We had already scoped out the area in Mestre where I would wait for him; it was at about the 25k mark (out of 42k) and it was right near the apartment. There was online tracking of the runners so I would know roughly when he was coming through.

That morning I explored Mestre. It is a very cute town with lots of shops and restaurants. I found a nice coffee shop and had a cappuccino and a pastry for breakfast. On the chance that Shaun might stop to say hi, I also picked up a snack for him, an apple tart. I should explain that up until that morning I wasn't positive that Shaun would be running this marathon. He hurt his food pretty badly this summer when he fell off a stand-up Paddle Board onto some rocks. At the time we weren't sure if it was broken, but it turned out to be just badly bruised. The injury was bad enough that he had to pull out of USA Traithlon Nationals, but we both assumed it would heal pretty fast. That was not the case. Maybe it was the miles and miles of walking we did all over Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France, but it wasn't until late in our Paris stay that he was even able to run comfortably at all. His "long run", which normally ends up around 22 miles for marathon training was only 8 miles.

So the plan for that day was to run easy and walk whenever necessary. He was in great shape so he had no doubts about finishing, it was all about how long it would take. So with that in mind, I was carefully watching the Venice Marathon website until he passed the last kilometer marker before Mestre. I grabbed the camera, a water and the pastry and headed down to watch. On my way out I met Karen, an Australian woman who was also staying at the B&B. She was traveling by herself, so when I told her what I was doing she decided to join me and help me try to spot Shaun. She had never met him, so her spotting was based on my description of what he was wearing. Luckily, he had chosen to wear the official Venice Marathon T-shirt that had come in his packet the day before, so I was able to point that out. After about 40 minutes we spotted him!

Shaun was looking good when we caught up with him 16 miles into the marathon! He ran off with the pastry in hand!

He was doing great. I'm always amazed when I see him running. It just comes so naturally to him. He was about 16 miles in and as cheerful as ever. He stopped for just a minute, had some water, grabbed the pastry, gave me a kiss goodbye and he was off again. Karen was very impressed at how well he was holding up. I was too!

At that point I was determined to get into San Marco square to see him finish, but the Italian public transportation system had other plans for me once again. Because of the marathon route they had closed of parts of the bus route through Mestre and once again the signage was awful. It was all in Italian, which makes sense, but not even the Italians around us could figure it our. After about an hour of going from stop to stop we finally found one that was going into Venice, but as I was about to board it I realized I would never make it in time to see him finish. Since we had agreed to meet back at the apartment by 2:30, I had to scrap my plan and head home.

It was actually a very nice afternoon. The B&B had satellite TV and it played lots of American movies and TV shows in their original version. I can't tell you what a treat this was! We didn't watch a ton of TV at home, but it is definitely something we have both missed over here. Its just nice sometimes to chill out on your couch and watch something totally brainless. Scrubs in Italian just doesn't do the trick. So I watched a few shows and waited for Shaun. He arrived at home at around 3PM with a Donor Kebab in his hand. He was happy as a clam and doing great! We chilled out on the couch and watched "When Harry Met Sally"; one of my all time favorite movies. We've also always joked that we had a Harry/Sally relationship so it was fun to watch. That evening we had dinner in Mestre and went to bed early. Another super nights sleep at Outlet Sweet Venice and we were ready to head back into Venice.

In the morning we spoke to Maurizio about staying an extra night. We were really enjoying Venice and Mestre and wanted to take our time here since the B&B was so reasonably priced. Maurizio said no problem, he had vacancy in our suite. That was really helpful because Shaun was a little tired from the marathon so we didn't want to feel pressured to do one big sightseeing day. So for that day we decided we would head back into Venice and take the Vaporetto out to Murano to see some glass blowing.

We did some city wandering in Venice first and stopped for a pizza for lunch. Pizza in Italy is the perfect meal for budget minded travelers so we've had it quite a bit! It seems to be universally good; even a rest area on the way out of Bologna had fresh brick oven pizza that was ridiculously good. So with full bellies we started making our way over to where you get the ferry to Murano. Our friend Maurizo had given us a great tip. To get over to that area there is a spot where you can do a canal crossing via a Gondola for 50 cents! Since we weren't able to afford the 100+ euro gondola rides through the canals, we settled for the 50 cent crossing at Saint Sofia instead!

50 Cent Gondola Ride! Yay!

Murano was just as I remembered it, tons of small shops selling blown glass- everything from little animal trinkets to intricate and very expensive glass chandeliers. It was fun to window shop but since I didn't think anything could survive the backpack, there was no temptation to buy. We did go to see one of the glass blowing exhibitions. It was a little cheesy, with the "master glassblower" smoking a butt in between blowing out a vase and a horse. He was quite obviously bored with our presence, but it was still cool to watch. Glass blowing has been done the same way for thousands of years, with the glass heated to a temperature of 2400 degrees Farenheit on the end of a tool called a Punty and then cooled and shaped by the glassblower by alternately blowing through the Punty and shaping the form by rolling the glass and pulling at it with a type of plier. If you ever get the chance, I recommend seeing a demonstration. Its very neat to watch. After a long afternoon on Murano, we headed back to Mestre for dinner. We had a nice meal at a restaurant within walking distance of the B&B and then headed back for bed. We had one more full day in Venice and lots to do before leaving.

The Master Glass Blower getting started on making a horse out of molten glass

The next morning we took the bus back into Venice and the Vaporetto down to San Marco square. It had started to rain and we were both actually kind of excited about it. San Marco square floods many times a year but I had never seen it happen. In my first trip to Venice, as with this one, the weather had been great and the tides had been low so the square had always been dry. This is very unusual, so it was really cool to see that the water was already running over the walls into the square. As we got closer we saw that they had set up the temporary elevated walkway so that people could make their way through the square without getting soaked. Of course, we also saw a bunch of people who weren't paying attention to the situation and ended up getting soaked to the ankles! The water doesn't just flow in over the walls, it also bubbles up through the drains in the square so its easy to miss a big puddle when it first starts backing up!

The ramparts were all set up so that people didn't have to walk through the water. It was rising fast!

One of my goals that morning was to see the Rialto Market in action, especially the famous Fish Market. We had missed the fish vendors by a few hours previously so this time we made a beeline over there. It was a very busy morning at the market. All the fruit and vegetable vendors were out, selling their oranges and fennel, their tomatoes and garlic and their artichoke hearts. The vendors spent all of their free time peeling and cleaning the artichokes which they then threw into buckets of lemon water to keep them fresh. I'm sure the FDA would have shut them down over hygiene, but I thought it was great.

The vegetable section of the Rialto Market. I wanted to cook everything!

The fish market was also really fun to see. The fish Vendors had their own section of the market and they had everything imaginable, some of it still squirming around it was so fresh. Here was all the food you find on the menus in Venice, from razor clams and cuttlefish to shrimp and sardines. There also seemed to be every type of fish imaginable, all ridiculously fresh and beautifully presented on crushed ice. I was really wishing we had an apartment with a grill at that point. It was obvious that these fish would be wonderful just grilled and eaten with a little lemon and nothing else.

And again, just wanted to cook and eat everything we saw! So fresh!

All that time at the market made us hungry so we decided to indulge in the Venice tradition of Spritzer and Ciccetti for lunch. Ciccetti is like Ventian Tapas. We tried red peppers stuffed with a tuna puree, some little chicken croquettes and polpettini (mini meatballs) among other things. We washed it all down with a wine spritzer, a Venetian specialty made from white wine, seltzer and campari. It cost less than a soda, but we probably wouldn't order it again. It had a strange bitter aftertaste that takes some getting used to. Either way, the whole lunch only cost about 12 Euro, so it worked for us.

Spritzers and a plate of Ciccetti near the Rialto Market. Yummy!

After lunch we headed back to Mestre. We were heading to Croatia the next day and we had done almost no planning, so we had our work cut out for us. We also needed to do laundry and Shaun wanted to get a haircut. (Sometimes we just have to set aside some time for things like this so we stay sane). So we wandered back up the streets and said goodbye to Venice.

That afternoon we made a "to do" list. First was laundry. There was a laundromat one block over so we headed down there and finished that within about an hour. Then Shaun headed off to get a haircut and I headed home to do some research. We had no reservations for anything anymore so we could do what we wanted. We decided to take a train down the western coast of Italy to Ancona where we could catch an overnight ferry to Croatia. After Shaun came home from his haircut all clean shaven, we walked over to the train station and got our train tickets to Ancona. Then we went home and booked our overnight tickets on the Ferry to Split. The Blue Line was having a last minute special for an exterior cabin with its own bathroom. The trip was just under ten hours so a cabin was a necessity. We booked that online and then searched around for lodging in Split. We found a place that got great reviews, Apartments Kaleta, and e-mailed about availability. She had an apartment with a kitchen available for only 50 euro a night, so we jumped at that. That is the beauty of traveling in the off season. The prices are cheap and you usually have your choice of lodging. We booked three nights in Split and decided we would figure out the rest of Croatia once we arrived.

Having finished our planning we went out for one last meal in Mestre. The last dinner was my favorite. The place was called Hostaria Vita Rossa and it was absolutely jam packed with locals when we walked in. One of their specialties was Ciccette so everyone was hanging out at the bar having wine or spritzers and sampling the Ciccette. Fortunately they had a table for us as well. We ordered a few Ciccette and a main course each and some wine. After Shaun got to chatting with the guy at the table next to us, he ended up pouring us glasses of the wine he and his girlfriend were drinking as well. It was a really nice wine, way more expensive than anything we could afford so I had a very happy husband.

My very happy and very clean shaven husband!

So finally it was time to leave. Venice is such a magical place, especially in the off season when there are not too many people in town. We were both so glad we booked the extra night so we could enjoy the city in leisurely bits instead of trying to cram it all into two days. We were also really glad we chose to stay in Mestre. It was such a quaint little town and much more affordable than Venice proper. And with hosts like Maurizio and Giovanna, it really felt like a home. I think we got the best of both worlds in Venice, and it was a nice way to end our time in Italy. The next day was going to be a marathon travel day, and 24 hours later we were going to be in Croatia, starting a part of the journey where neither of us had any expectations. It was exciting and scary at the same time!

Arrivederci Italy!!