Home Sweet Home

I'm sitting at home this evening not quite believing I was in Amsterdam this morning, and our extraordinary trip has come to an end.

So many memories, new experiences,  and people we met along the way. The blog entries have captured the highlights, but there were so many other things that happened along the way: the jewelry salesman, our curious trip to a Croatian McDonalds, and  the sometimes irrational directons from our GPS. Overall, our first trip to Europe went well and  has whet our appetite to go back for more.

While I loved all the places we visited, it was the evenings we spent after a day of touring just hanging out at the villa playing cards, sharing laughs, and sampling the local wines that I will remember the most from this trip.

I have enjoyed writing this blog to share our travels with you and to help preserve the memories.  I appreciate the comments and positive feedback you have provided. I look forward to doing this again on our next big adventure, whatever that may be.

The Other City of Canals

We awoke in Zagreb and headed to the airport to return our rental vehicle and board our flight on Croatian Airlines to Amsterdam.

The airport in Zagreb is not very big or modern. There are no jetways at the gates. When your flight is announced, they scan your boarding pass and you exit onto the tarmac to board a shuttle bus that takes to the parked plane. You then climb a portable stairwell attached  to the back of a truck to enter the plane. Once on the plane, it was like any other flight, except for your snack of goat cheese and olives in olive oil.

Due to severe winds at our destination, the flight was delayed about an hour. After an uneventful flight, we cleared customs and took a shuttle to our hotel near the airport. We checked in, dropped our bags, and headed for Hoopdorf Station to catch the train to Central Station in Amsterdam.

When we emerged from the station and into the afternoon sun, we were greeted with instant chaos as hordes of pedestrians and bicyclists were competing with cars, taxis, buses and trams (street cars) in the public right of ways. And the bikes are everywhere in the congested core of the city. Not just those being ridden but countless bikes parked  up and down streets and along the many canals. As a pedestrian, you are more likely to be hit by a bike than a car.

We quickly found our way to a pedestrian mall full of shops and retailers, and of course the McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway. We eventually found less crowded streets along the canals to explore the central part of the city. We wandered for a couple hours, taking in everything and weaving among throngs of people around every turn.

We ended up in Rembrandt Square with a statue of the master and several statues of Dutch soldiers from the same era. The square was full of vendors representing several countries selling food, sweets and other wares. Just off the square we found a restaurant to enjoy a nice meal (and a Heineken) to savor our last night in Europe.

We barely scratched the surface in Amsterdam,  but we were impressed with what we saw.

Happy New Year!

As you might imagine, we got a little bit of a late start this morning after ringing in the new year last night in Venice.  We had a nice breakfast at the hotel restaurant before saying goodbye to Sam and Angie. They will be spending the day in Venice, then flying this evening to Dusseldorf and on to London early tomorrow morning. They will be in London until their flight back to LA on Sunday.

The rest of us packed up the rental vehicle to trek back to the Croatian capital of Zagreb. We began on an expressway headed northeast. Along the way we passed many large vineyards, industrial plants, and a couple of outlet malls. We exited and drove through Goriza and back into Slovenia.

Our sunny day turned gray and gloomy as we approached the capital city of Ljubljana  (lee-YOOB-lee-yahnna). We drove around the city center, but did not get out to explore. A large castle on a hill was perched above the city and snow covered mountains made a dramatic backdrop to the city skyline. Because of the clouds and gloomy conditions,  I didn't take any pictures during our short stay.

We resumed the drive to Zagreb, but as we climbed in elevation, we ran into a light snow mixed with freezing rain. We arrived safely at our hotel near the airport and are relaxing now before heading out to dinner.  When we arrived at this hotel nine days ago, we were trying to adjust to a strange and unfamiliar place.  Today, it was strangely familiar and welcoming.

Tomorrow morning we fly to Amsterdam and will spend the day touring the city.

Since I don't have any pics from today, I will share some more from yesterday in Venice. Ciao!

Amazing Venice

We left our villa behind after a great week experiencing and exploring Croatia. We crossed back into Slovenia before dropping down into northeast Italy at the port city of Trieste.  We reached our hotel in Mestre in early afternoon. After checking in, we headed across the street to the train station for the sort 10 minute ride to Venice.

Departing from the train station Venice immediately overwhelms you.  The buildings and many churches are all masterpieces of architecture. We began trekking toward Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) passing street vendors, pizzerias, trattorias, bakeries,  and all variety of retail stores.

Crossing the many canals and feeling our way through what seemed like an unending maze, we eventually reached the huge square.  We continued on, exploring back alleys and passages of all sorts. After sunset we found a little wine bar to relax and rest up.

While we are only here for the day to ring in the new year,  we have all been impressed with beautiful Venice. You could spend weeks wandering the streets before you would see all of it.

Everybody Get Back! It's a Funeral!

As we drove through the picturesque Slovenian countryside on our way back to Croatia, we passed through the town of Ilirska Bistrica, a few kilometers shy off the border. Sitting atop a hill overlooking the town and surrounding valley was an impressive church with a red roof on its tall bell tower. With the late afternoon sun beginning to fade, we thought we would stop for a picture or two.

We located the turnoff, and began the twisty ascent to the Church of St. Peter. The narrow street adjacent to the church was full of cars, but not too unusual since most streets here are full of parked cars. We had to drive a short distance past the church to park before starting the climb up a rather steep walkway.

Ben was in the lead, several yards ahead of me when we reached the back side of the church. I took a picture and waited for Tammy to catch up.  Over the stone wall to my left was a cemetery, which had probably been there for centuries. Ben had disappeared around to the front to get a picture with the setting sun at his back.

Just before Tammy reached me, the church bells began to clang loudly, but not in the methodical rhythm of bells marking the hour. This was a non-stop cacophony of ringing. I looked at my watch. It was 3:45pm. Hmm. That seems like an odd time for the bells to be ringing.
I looked up to see Ben scurrying quickly back urging us to retreat back down the walkway as quickly as possible.

As Ben had stood at the front of the church with his camera focused on the belltower and the bells echoing through the hills, the doors of the church swung open and a priest in full vestments emerged holding a tall pole adorned with a wreath and the photo of a person.  He was followed by a processional of a couple hundred mourners. It was that awkward moment where being a tourist collided with the real lives of the local populace.

We hurried as fast as we could back down the hill, periodically glancing over our shoulders to watch the somber procession pass the spot where we were standing moments before. Once we were rolling again, we had good laugh about being American "funeral crashers". So, I only have the one photo to include with this post.

Raise the Drawbridge!

For a little change of pace today, we traveled about 40 miles north to the mountainous and sleepy little country of Slovenia, also a former member of the Republic of Yugoslavia. Slovenia is about half the size of Switzerland and a member of the EU.

Our destination was the spectacular Predjama Castle built into the face of a mountain, dating back to at least the 12th century. 

In the 15th century a nobleman named Erasmus used the castle as a base to conduct raids on surrounding nobility. When troops from nearby Trieste, Italy arrived, they decided to wait out Erasmus, laying siege to the fortress for more than a year. They weren't aware the cave behind the fortress led to another way out, which was used to supply Erasmus and his men.  They would throw food scraps to the soldiers below to show the siege was useless.  Eventually, a well placed cannonball to the latrine, with Erasmus inside, literally knocked him from his throne.

After exploring the castle we stopped in Postojna, where we had a delicious meal. We all enjoyed the various pasta, risotto, beef, and calamari dishes we ordered. After some tiramisu and chocolate mousse for dessert, we were ready to say  goodbye to charming Slovenia, except for a little incident in Ilirska Bistrica near the Croatian border.

Back on the Road Again, Pt. 2

We headed north from Rovinj and set out for the picturesque hill town of Motovun. We arrived in the late afternoon as some clouds began to move in.

A steep narrow road took us up to a tiny  parking lot. From there we hiked the rest of the way up the hill.  We passed through two arched gateways that led to the center of the old town.  The two prominent structures on the main square were St. Stephens Church and the Hotel Kastel. The church is named after the patron saint of Croatia.

We found a cobblestone path that led us onto the ramparts atop the ancient stone walls protecting the tiny hamlet from invaders.   The panoramic views from the old town took in the sprawling valley below with acres of vineyards and forests that provide truffles, a delicacy found underground near the roots of oak trees.  Specially trained dogs are able to sniff them out to local truffle gatherers.

The sun was beginning to set quickly so our short but memorable visit to Motovun came to a close.  We curled back down the hill and back to the main road leading to the Učka Tunnel.  As we approached the tunnel we caught a glowing sunset to the west, a fitting close to our day tour in Istria. Two very memorable destinations that will be wanting us to return some day.