Slovenia - Continued

This is the post office in Bled (pronounced "bleed"). Ignore the lady, she just happened to be there. Margaret decided to send a package home and bought a box at the post office. She asked many questions about sending the package and the clerk finally loaned here a roll of packaging tape and a permanent marker so that she could prepare the package and bring it back. Unfortunately, the tape was not of 3M quality. But we were much impressed by the quality of their customer service.

We visited the Postojna Caves, a systems of caves with a total length of 21 kilometers, the largest in Slovenia. It is difficult to capture the immense size of the cave, but if you click on this photo you will be able to see some people far, far below. We rode a train into the cave, then walked more than a mile, uphill and down before boarding a train for the return trip.

Another shot of the cave. No way to do it justice.

We also visited the Predjama Castle. The original castle, built in the ninth century, was a tiny fortress deep in the cave behind this castle. Some of the front rooms of the castle are pretty normal rooms but as you move higher and toward the back portion of the castle, you find that the structure continues right back into the caves. Caves in the plural because there are a bunch of interconnected caves at several levels.

Our GPS decided to lead us into a tiny village through smaller and smaller streets until we ended up at a dead end. As we turned around, we spied this well-decorated tractor.

Bled, Slovenia - Part 2

The island in Lake Bled

The young man who was willing to take us to the island without waiting for more passengers.

On the way to the island.

Approaching the island.

The long stairs up onto the island. Tradition requires that the groom must carry his bride up these stairs.

Church of the Assumption, on the island.

Ring the bell three times and your dreams will come true.

A view of the castle as we rode a plenta boat back to the center of Bled.

Visiting the castle.

Hiking through Vintgar Gorge.

Part of the trail through the gorge is suspended above the stream.

Rovinj and the Istrian Peninsula

Our GPS decided to take us into Croatia by way of some narrow country roads. When we reached the border, the guard refused to let us cross because our passports were not from the European Union. But he was nice about it and directed us to a city where we could cross.

After entering Croatia, we visited the hilltop village of Groznjan.  There are a number of these beautiful villages scattered throughout northern Croatia.

Village streets

The church in Groznjan.  The painting behind the altar is different than any others we have seen.

Our next stop was Rovinj, Croatia--beautiful location on the Adriatic but very touristy after the secluded hilltop villages.

Our hotel, the Casa Grozotto.

Street scenes

Fishermen were busy Saturday morning, arranging their nets in a certain way, in preparation for their next trip.

Click on this image to admire the many, many television antennas in the little town of Rovinj

Roman amphitheater in Pula, Croatia, completed in 68 AD. Imagine how this amazing this immense structure must have seemed to the people of Pula. Such a demonstration of the power of the Roman Empire. And with the bloody entertainment the  gladiators provided for 23,000 people, also a warning: don't even think of messing with Rome. But also a holy place, sanctified by the blood of those who were killed here. A place for visitors to reflect on the sad events of long ago.

The killing field.

Peaceful, beautiful, tranquil.

After leaving Pula, we traveled up the eastern coast of the Istrian Peninsula. Or rather we tried to. We navigated through a small village where some major road construction was under way and there was absolutely no short detour. Eventually we learned of a long detour and proceeded up to Rijeka. Along the way, we saw thousands of these flowering trees.  Margaret is fascinated by them and hopes to eventually get a definite identification.

Also saw many vineyards and olive groves.  This is just a very small example.

Where else but in Croatia could we find such billboards?

Huge vegetable gardens dot the landscape.

Poppies on the roadside

The eastern coast of the Istrian Peninsula, at last.  Margaret got her sweeping views of the Adriatic--a little hazy, but beautiful.

On thw way back to Rovinj, we explored a village that was abandoned in the Middle Ages by people who were desperately seeking escape from the Plague.

How straight the walls of this tower, even without maintenance for 500 years!!

Steven, a Serb, works at our hotel in Rovinj. His home is in Vukovar, Croatia, 300 km from Rovinj, where he lives with his wife (a nurse) and his seven year old daughter. As a ten year old, he spent three months living in a bomb shelter, delighted to be constantly with his friends. At the end of that time, he was shocked to see the destruction of his city. And his Croatian friends were forced to flee the city while his Serbian family stayed. He learned the trade of a shoemaker but there is no work for that trade. When he is in Vukovar, he works with friends in the construction of houses but the work is in short supply so he has spent most of one year working in England and two years in Rovinj to support his family, just to pay the bills. He is an exceptionally industrious person who seizes any opportunity to work; also sad and discouraged by the lack of opportunity in Vukovar. Steven's older brother is an Orthodox priest, well educated, a teacher, married with a good life. Steven was absolutely delighted to receive a small gift for his daughter, a children's book about Minnesota. Ten thousand lakes?? Is that possible??

Just a quick update...

We left Rovinj a day early, before noon on Sunday, because Rovinj is a small town and it just seemed that we were ready to move on. Very glad for the decision because we traveled the entire distance in the rain and now have learned that there is snow in the higher elevations. The areas we toured on Tuesday are now closed because of snow. Hope to post more today, in a little while.

One of our blog posts is still missing, we are still hoping it will be restored. Google (the blog operator) messed up on Wednesday while performing maintenance, causing themselves no end of trouble. They have been working on recovery ever since...

Bled, Slovenia

On Tuesday we hired a guide for a nine hour trip through the Julian Alps and the surrounding area. Our guide was Tina Hiti, who conducts Eastern European tours, for Rick Steves. She and her family appear in the Rick Steve's Slovenian program. She is a wonderful source of information about all things Slovenia. These photos show several of the traditional hay racks. We wish that we could have seen families loading hay onto the racks to dry, but we were a few weeks too early in the season.

A scene of the Julian Alps.

At a coffee stop early in the trip.

Tina and Dick at the top of the Vrsic Pass. We toasted our successful ascent with shots of plum brandy.

Bridge over the Soca River. We crossed the bridge somewhat reluctantly, though Tina told us that Rick Steves enjoyed bouncing up and down in the middle.

A view of the Soca River,

Throughout the day, Tina told us about the history of the area, and in particular the battles fought in the mountains during World War I. This is a memorial to the Italian soldiers who died. We also visited a museum that displayed the history of the fighting in this area. This area was the background for Ernest Hemingway's Farewell to Arms.

A view of a village and mountains near the end of our journey.