Category: Ljubljana

Croatia, etc. Day #10 “Castle Day”

by reissmd, posted in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Today we had a lovely day of eating (as usual) and touring castles. 

In addition to our tour director we have had some great local tour guides.  In Ljubljana our tour guide has been Miha (pronounced “Me Ha”).  Miha guided us yesterday as well.  On the bus today I asked Miha if anyone had ever told him that in Spanish Me Ha (spelled mija) is an affectionate term used to address one’s daughter.  He said yes and then looked at Patrice.  She smiled at me and said, “I told him yesterday”

We started the day visiting the Ljubljana castle. We toured around the site and heard some actors portray some historical persons from Slovenia history.  The highlight of the visit for me was the view from the hill.  See below 

You can see the funicular track. Unfortunately this picture doesn’t capture the beauty of the view of the city.

The country that produces the most Brazil nuts is not Brazil but rather Bolivia. This has nothing to do with our trip but it was just a random thought that came into my mind.

Our next castle, if I heard Miha correctly, was in a town called “Argadobitch”.  That wasn’t correct. The name of the town is Radovljica but don’t ask me to pronunce it. I have to admit I’m not big into castles so the highlight for me in Radovljica was was the view from the hill. Actually that’s not true, the real highlight was lunch. Lunch was at a restaurant whose main claim to fame is their gingerbread cookies. We heard a very forgettable lecture about gingerbread cookies and I was very disappointed to hear that they are produced more as ornaments rather than as cookies for eating. If that is the case then why call them cookies? We then left the gingerbread “cookie” kitchen and headed to the restaurant portion of the building for lunch.

The first thing served was a mushroom soup in a bread bowl. Take a look at this.,

Mushroom soup is a bread bowl that looked like a mushroom. This was delicious.

Next we had what they described as a “seasonal salad”. If you want pictures of salads go to someone else’s blog. The main course was beef and pork sausage, potatoes, and sauerkraut (they called it “baked sour cabbage”). It was very good but the real winner was dessert. It was apple ice cream in an apple. See below.

My mom wouldn’t have had to struggle to get me to eat my fruits and vegetables when I was young if she was this creative.

Next we were off to Bled (Blejski) Castle. This place had a fantastic view of the lake and town below.

Here is a web picture of the castle. No surprise it would have a great view.
You can’t see in this picture but there were numerous canoes and other boats in the lake.

Miha said we shouldn’t jump off the cliff to commit suicide because of the trees.  Many people have apparently attempted suicide but because of the trees they didn’t die but rather just became permanently maimed.  Guides sometimes have such wonderfully useful safety information. 

After a tour of the castle we went to the main attraction……. the gift shop. Not much caught my eye except for some plaques with some interesting words of wisdom. See below.

I love this one. I especially plan to remind Patrice of this when her birthday comes around
I really like this one.
You have to love this one.
Wait! Wait! Wait! How did this one get in there?

That is enough for today. We have to have our bags ready to go by 6:20 AM tomorrow and be on the bus by 7:20 AM. Are we paying for this?

Ciao

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

by reissmd, posted in 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.

View of the forest from the Trakošćan Castle.

Here is a view of the castle.

Trakošćan 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.

Lydia, the group leader, is on the left.
These three are the remainder of the group.

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.