Croatia, etc. Day #9 “Doviđenja (Goodbye) to Magical Zagreb Zdravo (Hello) to Ljubljana”

Last night was magical in two ways. We had a wonderful dinner and I performed another magic trick for some of our fellow travelers.

In addition to the dinner being delicious we had a little show when the waiter deboned my Sea Bass at tableside. If you’re interested here is the link to the video

After the main course and before dessert I performed a mentalism trick for our table mates, and new friends, Steve and Karen from Boston.  I also recruited our fellow travelers John, Ann, Brian, and Perri to watch me perform. The trick went without any hiccups and everyone was amazed that I was able to do it (including me).  I left them wanting more and I promised that I’d do a card trick at the next day’s lunch. 

This morning we got an early start but not too early so we were able to enjoy another wonderful breakfast at the Hotel Esplanade Zagreb.  

We then boarded the bus at 8:30 AM and headed for Ljubljana, the capital and biggest city in Slovenia.  En route we stopped at the Trakošćan Castle in Northern Croatia. I didn’t sleep well last night so this visit was less than exciting for me. The castle was located in a forest region which was absolutely beautiful. See below.

Here is a view of the castle.

We were told that we would be treated to a traditional dance demonstration at the castle by some lovely ladies. I was too tired to enjoy the presentation and was wishing I had that extra 30 minutes to be in bed. I did take a couple of pictures of the dancers.

We had a pleasant lunch at the castle and then hit the road for Ljubljana, Slovenia. I had forgotten my cards in the bus so I couldn’t do my magic trick as promised and it was probably just as well because I felt awful. After the castle visit, en route to Ljubljana I reclined on my favorite pillow (Patrice’s thighs) and napped for about 30 minutes. When I awoke I felt like a new man.

When we arrived in Ljubljana is was raining lightly. Our tour director told us some of the plans for our time in Ljubljana. It seems like Ljubljana is a very easy city to navigate. If it seems that I have been using the name of the city of Ljubljana a lot it is because I am so proud that I can spell Ljubljana. Now if I only knew how to pronounce Ljubljana.

We are staying at the Hotel Intercontinental and this place is fantastic. It has all sorts of cool gadgets. The toilets flush themselves. That is very nice but they don’t salute you like the toilets we had in Japan (just don’t get the respect from toilets in this country as you do in Japan). We also qualify to go to the executive lounge where we can get happy hour drinks (you probably know I don’t drink except on rare occasions) and food (just what we need is more food).

Shortly after arrival we went on a brief walking tour of the city. It was informative and I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn’t raining and I wasn’t so cold. When the tour ended I bought a long sleeve shirt that will help me survive tonight when we go to dinner,. Speaking of that, it is time to go to dinner. Catch you later.