Slovenia

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The family was glad to leave Venice. We'd boarded a train to Ljubljana, Slovenia. The trip took a little under four hours, and we arrived about 7:45PM. We walked to the Most Hostel from the train station. Dinner at Sokol followed. We ordered a few bottles of home brewed beer to clear away the stress of the day's travels. We tried traditional Slovenia foods, such as mushroom soup in a bread bowl, Stag steak, wild boar in cherry sauce, and assorted wurst and kraut. The cheese polenta was also good. Dessert was apple walnut cake. Delicious.

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The Most Hostel was located in the heart of the old town, on the river near the Dragon Bridge. It was probably the most conveninet location to date, and made it easy to visit everything. Ljubljana is quaint with wonderful architecture and a castle on a hill overlooking the city. Probably alot like Prague before the tourists descended on it.

On Saturday, June 9th, we awoke and visited the local market to buy fresh fruit and pastries for the family. We then rented a car and drove to Bled. The drive went through beautiful Alpine scenery with sweeping mountain vistas, puctuated by towns each with a cobblestone square about a church with a tall steeple. Apparently, skiing was invented in Slovenia and there are resorts and downhill/ski jumping runs everywhere.

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Bled is located in the Julian Alps near the Austrian border. Lake Bled features a thousand year old church on an islet, as well as a mountaintop castle overlooking it. It also abuts Triglav National Park. This was probably one of my all-time favorite travel destinations.

After getting picture from shore, we decided to row to the islet. We rented a swan boat and family took turns rowing. Ian earned his rowing merit badge, and Emily was quite good too. The Bled Church sits atop 98 steps. (Grooms must carry their brides to the top to be deemed fit for marriage.) After rowing, walking up alone was quite enough exercise.

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After feeding the ducks and eating lunch, we took off for the castle overlooking the lake. The views were amazing. We also caught the tale end of a wedding reception. Ian also liked the museum of medieval armor.

By this time, it was about 5:30PM. We were so close to the Austrian border we decided to visit. The border near Bled is traversed by driving a 5 mile long tunnel. The Austrian side was not as pretty. But at least we tried, and got another passport stamp along the way. On Saturday night, Jeff and Emily watched some street performers downtown. Jeff and Irene went out a bit later to sample the nightlife at a cafe and drink some Slovenian beer.

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On Sunday, June 10th we spent the morning touring Ljubljana. We visited the castle, and the main squares on both sides of the river. We then took off for Lipica, in southern Slovenia near Trieste, Italy. Lipica is home to the stud farm where Lipizzaner Stallions are bred. The facility dates to 1580, and the blood lines for many of the horses run 30 generations. Emily was of course very excited. Ian was too. We toured the farm and attended a show. Interestingly, Lipizzaners are born black and in 99% of the cases turn gray and then white when adult (usually at 4 years old). We saw a black foal that was only two weeks old, playing with its mother. The show was mainly dressage walking and stepping routines.

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Upon refletion, Slovenia seems like a real travel gem. Interesting sights. Not too crowded. Reasonably priced. Friendly people, most of whom are fluent in English. Definitely worth

On Monday, we're off to Croatia!