Vacation from our Vacation

Our smiles widened and our moods rose as we first glimpsed the Adriatic Sea from the high mountain roads of Croatia.  “Awesome”, “Spectacular” were our first words. 

We had designed this part of our adventure to be able to chill a bit and have some down time.  The “tourists” within us needed a good dose of sun, warmth, and sea - a vacation from our vacation. 

         

We spent 17 days on the Croatian coastline and could’ve spent 17 more - real easy!  We explored, but mostly relaxed in the towns of Rovinj, Pula, Zadar, Split, Trogir, and Dubrovnik.  Roman ruins, Venetian architecture, crystal clear waters, good wine, and beautiful weather - what’s not to like?  We swam, hiked, biked, strolled, and lounged, enjoying every minute.  We reenergized and refreshed for the emotionally heavy travel ahead - war torn Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia.  

 

Walls

Strong, sturdy, protective….Once used as a strategy to keep the enemies at bay and the people alive; the walls of ancient cities are now an enjoyment for the tourists.  We delighted in the defensive ramparts of the great cities and small towns on our European journey.  As expected, parts of the fortresses are original and parts have been rebuilt; primarily to keep the sight seers coming.  Krakow, Budapest, and Prague all have immense fortifications guarding their old cities and they make for a terrific ambience.  We were most impressed though, with the walls we walked in the former Yugoslavia - Ston, Split, Kotar, Belgrade.

  

Nothing, however, compares with the amazing medieval city walls of Dubrovnik, Croatia, the Pearl of the Adriatic.

        

Dubrovnik is without a doubt one of the most picturesque places in Europe and is therefore the destination for many vacationers.  The historic community is situated on a Dalmatian Coast peninsula which juts out into the Adriatic making for a most pleasing location.  We timed our exploration so that no cruise ships were in port that day - very important as they get up to 800 per year.  Count ‘em……that is a boat load! 

What normally is a crowded, one-hour, slow paced, single file journey, we enjoyed and stretched to almost three hours.  Fortunately, we almost had the place to ourselves and we took full advantage.    We saw the ancient masonry construction from every angle and perspective with nary a tourist in sight.

We listened to the walls tell us how for over 500 years, few enemies dared to invade their stout and secure facade.  For centuries, until the invention of gun power, canons and missiles; many people led peaceful lives within their protective watch.  And, with a few exceptions (Napoleon) they slept soundly.  Many conquerors wanted Dubrovnik in their kingdom, so there were wars fought here.  But the fortress was too intimidating for most enemies to penetrate.  The original Dubrovnik community was even recognized by UNESCO in 1979 for it’s beauty and historical importance.  In 1991, however, they took the worse beating in their history.  At that time Croatia became involved with the war between the Serbs and Bosniaks. The walls were useless against the bombs and missiles of the modern Serbian military. 

 

The people of Dubrovnik remained proud however, and after the war ended, they rebuilt the city and the walls into the wonderful, albeit touristy, place it is today.  The old city and her protective shield is a charming home to shops, restaurants, churches, museums, residences, schools, soccer fields, everything you’d expect in a town.  This one just happens to be surrounded by the most astounding stone walls and idyllic body of water.

Who’s Following Whom?

We began to notice them as we started our grand tour of Croatia.  From Plitvice National Park to Split to Dubrovnik, we were being followed.  Who knew that Croatia had such persistent stalkers!  We first spotted them following us at one of the 250 waterfalls at Plitvice; Croatia’s only National Park.  They, too, were marveling at the most beautiful set of waterfalls this side of the Mediterranean.  The gall.  They even stopped to chat as we ate our snack and watched all the fish in the unbelievably clear water at one of the many sixteen lakes.  Then the next day, oh my gosh, it’s them again. They followed us on to the shuttle bus that would take us to the other end of the park.  We decided to get off and walk instead.  We were so stealth that they didn’t even notice we were gone.    But low and behold there were the four of them again walking the same trail and enjoying the same serenity and harmony as we were.  They insisted on talking to us, with their funny accents, about how the park was closed for 5 years during the 1990’s war when the Serbs occupied it and it was allowed to go wild with only a few people (with guns) walking the trails.  We went our separate ways that afternoon after saying good bye to these fierce trackers.  We knew that they were touring Croatia also, but we thought that we were rid of them. 
       
Along Croatia’s coast, in the middle of the country, in the large city of Split, the four of them found us again.  One afternoon, after strolling along the beaches, admiring the perfectly clear Adriatic water and minding our own business, there they were, just as before;  posing as innocent tourists.  We were on the way to climb the bell tower and to learn a bit about the history of Split when we saw them.  The nerve of them to copy the things we were doing - taking pictures of the views, marveling at Diocletian's palace (an important Roman emperor) and contemplating the bombs that fell during the 1990’s war. 
 
We couldn’t shake them.  A few days later, as we ambled through Dubrovnik’s magnificent old town one evening; we heard them calling to us.  They had arrived in town earlier in the day and it seemed that they had been looking for us.  With their foreign sounding English they told us about their travels to Mostar and Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovinia.  Phew….at least we wouldn’t run into them in those cities.  Maybe we’d loose them after all!
As we headed off to find Dubrovnik's finest Gelato, we said, what we thought, were our final good byes to the four stalkers from Australia.  This fun, world traveling, family was heading home in then next few days so our ‘shadows’ would disappear, at last.  At least we thought.  But no….they found our email addresses and sent us a nice note inviting us to their home in Sydney.  How could these hounders be so generous?!?! 

After taking their sons out of school to travel to The Balkans, Mom and Dad admit that they may be creating travel junkies out of their two teenage sons.  They hadn’t even left the Sydney airport, when one of their sons, Wil, suggested that they go to Mauritius soon.  (It’s an island near Madagascar, which is off the east coast of South Africa – we had to look it up…and we want to go too!)  We hope to see our new friends, oops, I mean, our pursuers, again one day.  Could it be that we were following them?

Slovenia – a huge little country

You’re probably smarter than we are.  More then likely you know more about the small central European country of Slovenia then we did.  The only thing we knew about Slovenia before traveling was that it was part of the former Yugoslavia.  We asked ourselves, Do we really want to go to Slovenia if we’re going to Slovakia?  Aren’t they the same?  What could this tiny country offer in the way of culture and fun?  Expanding our horizons is one of the main reasons we’re traveling, so because we knew very little about it, it was added to our itinerary.   Hoards of tourists will soon discover it too.  Slovenia has lots to offer.  The country is small in size, but feels much bigger. Geographically it’s in central Europe, south of Austria, east of Italy and north and west of Croatia.  The influences from each of it’s neighbors mixes up just right to create a wonderful Slovenian vibe.  From the scenic beauty to an upbeat capital city; we fell in love with Slovenia.

It seemed to us that the capital city of Ljubljana has a good sense of humor about itself.  A pole vaulting exhibition in the main square and the art work around the city (see the weird squatty horses on the fountain?) created a light hearted feel.  The historic buildings, museums, café scene, castle on the hill and picturesque river running through the town makes for a tourists dream and we enjoyed it all.  And the city seems to be preparing itself for mass tourism.  Much of it is under going renovation. We’re very glad we saw it before more people discover the delights of Ljubljana.  We took the construction in stride and saw the city from end to end.
 
     
How can you not love a country with a capital city that celebrates its annual white water festival by hanging kayaks decorated as lips, shoes, flutes, a fountain pen and a fish?

Just about an hour from the metropolis of Ljubljana are the Julian Alps.  Yes, Alps.  Hills and mountains make up a large portion of Slovenia’s geography.  We could have stayed several more weeks in the Soca River valley, which has the most amazing blue-green water we‘ve ever seen.  There is no lack of things to do in this area - hiking, white water rafting, mountain biking, paragliding, gawking at picturesque towns, drinking world class wines.  We even learned  that the Julian Alps were a major battle front line of WWI.  Many bloody battles were waged between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Italians here.  Too many young men were lost from the region.  So besides all the outdoor activities available, there is a ton of war history too.  We twisted and turned our way through the Alps of Slovenia, oohing and aahing at every curve.  If you like scenery and history, it’s a don’t miss on a Slovenian itinerary.
       
Another day in the Slovenian countryside was spent visiting an extraordinary underground canyon, otherwise known as a cave system.  The Skocjan Caves are in Southwest Slovenia and are spectacular. There are stalagmites and stalactites like we’ve never seen. It was fascinating to see the Reka River flowing from the outside, and then sinking to the inside of the cave where it is still carving out this underground wonderland.  We were so impressed by the giganticness of the cave system. The only creatures in the caves, besides the tourists were bats. And they let us know that we were disturbing their sleep by screaming at us. Loud little buggers!  No pictures were allowed inside the caves as the light from the flash stimulates green moss to grow. We wouldn’t want that!  The photos from the inside of the cave are from the brochure and look just like what we saw. 


From the nature-made to human-made all in one afternoon.  Just one town over from the caves is the home of the famous Lippizzan horses.  They are the horses that were bred and trained, since 1580, for the Austro-Hungarian royals.  400 regal Lippizzans are bred and trained at the sprawling, luxurious farm.   They are known to be steady, sturdy and speedy and we saw them showing off these characteristics in an impressive performance.  We also took a tour of their stud farm.  Oh baby!  Stud farm.  That’s fun to say.  Amy had to bring up the topic of reproduction.  She was the only one in the group to ask a question and it was about that!  She got an interesting answer though.  Up until 2 years ago the means of reproduction was artificial.  Now the horses have been, once again, allowed to make babies naturally.  Under supervision, of course.  Unfortunately there was no horsey action on the tour that day!  As you can see, Steve was trying to get something going.   
 
Even if you are smarter then we are and know a bit more about this tiny country then we did, and no matter what your interests are; we think you’ll like Slovenia.  Their tourism marketing slogan is very apropos “We Feel Slovenia”.