Trip to Ljubljana Slovenia

The mascot, you could say, is the dragon. There are several folk tales associated with Ljubljana and the dragon, however I can't remember any of them in enough detail to write about it here. So, anyway, we went to Ljubljana (pronounced a bit like "Luby-ana") on Saturday 27 October 07. We took a tourist bus and saw gorgeous color changing leaves in the region on the way and a very fun and friendly city; where everyone is eager to practice their very good English. We spent the morning shopping at the markets, going up to the castle on the hill and after lunch we walked on a guided city tour and after that Ann-Marie and I wandered around more and found other treasures and some marathon activities. I loved this city.

Marathon weekend!

So, while wandering around we realized that there was a Marathon going on that weekend. We were there on Saturday which was the day that the kids were all doing races in varous lengths and different age groups. The main marathon I think was Sunday though. There was a lot going on for kids, people dressed up in funny costumes, vendors, balloons, a lot of advertising. This is where we ate our hotdog (pictured below somewhere) We saw a lot of kids with their race numbers and saw from a distance as one group raced past a distant road.

Cool building facade near the marathon fun

Traditional Slovenian dumplings

Ann-Marie and I had a very nice lunch in a restaurant. Really good quality food, great presentation, good service, relaxing atmosphere.

Here you see her entree which was "Traditional Slovenian Dumplings". They were what most of us would think of as huge dumplings but were stuffed with some kind of meaty stuffing and had a white creamy sauce poured over it with fresh chives sprinkled over it. We shared her plate and also mine (best way to taste all the goodies) I had Stuffed Calamarie which was grilled on a stick. It was stuffed with cheese and ham slices I think. And both of us had soup before our entree came. The soup was listed as Beef soup with dumpling noodles. Well, while it had a great flavor and beautiful presentation...it simply was clear beef broth with tiny little noodles like one might find in a cup o noodles dried soup mix (but tasted better). Anyway, the bread was awesome and we dipped our bread into our soup. The menu was in Slovenian, English, German and Italian (and maybe French, I can't recall).

A few of my favorite things....arcitecture and markets!

Ok, so above you see the walkway near the river. I am taking this photo from a bridge which crosses the Ljubljanica river. Below is a walkway and above the walkway has vendors and shoppers. The market was set up for many city size blocks as you walk along and then several large market platz type areas.

One of the churches in Ljubljana

Inside the church was very ornate with gold and detailed paintings everywhere. Our guide said that all of the churches in the city were baroque style. It might be difficult to see in this photo but here are the organ pipes (or whatever you call them) along with the majority of the ceiling. Interesting to note Pope John Paul II visited this church in the 90's and the above picture shows a door which was commissioned for his visit. More than 95% of the city of Ljubljana is Catholic.

How to get to the top- where the castle is

You can take this railway car or you can hike up a trail.

The funicular railway ride to the castle

Here is Ann-Marie inside the glass funicular railway as we go up to the castle. The whole 'car' shows a panoramic view. The ride was VERY smooth.

Looking out at the city from the Castle

It was a bit foggy when we got up there. The booklet says that in good weather you can see a 1/3 of the way across Slovenia! The castle has existed since the Roman's came through in the 11th century...the 15th century the castle was rebuilt by the Hapsburgs but was made a bit more permanent (replaced wood with stone) and more homey (paintings) in the 17 and 18th century. The Castle wasn't anything near the grand scale of castles that we've been to in Germany and other European countries. And we didn't see the whole thing. There was a coffee bar and an Art Exhibition and a tower and a chapel. It was used as a fortress, the residence of the Governor of the province and also was a barracks and a prison over the years. Now for tourism. Oh and we did see a newly wed bride and groom while we were up there!

Slovenian hotdog

Here is a picture of a hotdog we had in Slovenia. It was interesting watching them make it. First they take your BIG hot dog bun (which is not cut or anything) and they push it down on this heated spike to make a hotdog sized hole...they let it sit there for a few seconds. Then they put on the mustard or whatever you want. They just spread a glob across the top of the hole in the bread and then they shove a hotdog down into it which then makes the mustard go all the way down into the bun. Ingenious! Anyway, the hotdog was good but it was a really squishy kind, almost as if it was over cooked or pre digested....LOL.

Our pumpkins

So this is the first time that I've ever carved fancy pumpkins...I've done a lot of painting pumpkins but Ann-Marie talked me into buying the kit to carve pumpkins. I remember that my Dad had quite a talent for carving pumpkins, back way before the time that there were patterns and kits designed for carving. Anyway, the kit was really easy to work with and the worse thing about it is always the nasty stringy stuff inside and separating the seeds for baking.

Medieval Times Dinner Show!

Near Lake Garda, there are several amusement type things to do, one of which is this Medieval dinner show that we went to last weekend. We had a nice time, was able to act a little silly and Ann-Marie has been talking about it ever since. She really enjoyed it and can't wait to go back, next time with Daddy.

So the deal is...you show up and buy your tickets and are randomly given a color (or at least I think it is random???) to vote for. So you put on your paper (yellow in our case) crown and go sit in your section (a section at a time- they organize you outside). There are red, blue, yellow and green Knights who are doing tricks, races and fighting to win the hand of the princess while the princess and the king look on. So you cheer during dinner as your knight wins the tournament. Our Yellow Knight won so that made it kinda fun.

First we were served a type of pizza bread stuff with some soup and then they brought that bread roll and then loaded us up with a whole chicken and fries. No silverware at all. Soup had to be sipped and just pull the chicken off the bone.

Good girl's got 10 green frogs sitting on a log

After trying really hard, Ann-Marie was able to earn 10 green frogs (red frogs are BAD!). Once you get to 10 you can 'cash' them in for something special and then you start all over. She had the choice of having lunch with the teacher, being line leader, some other stuff or getting one free green frog for when she starts over. She chose the free green frog....that way she didn't have to be good to get one, she could just have a green frog without earning it. LOL She said next time she will choose to have lunch with her teacher.

Ann-Marie turned in her coloring contest picture.

She wanted to wear her Halloween shirt to turn her picture in. She got a small bear as a 'prize' when she turned it in and it is hanging proudly on the wall at the Shoppette along with the other entries.

Pidgeons in Saint Marco Piazza, Venice

Here you can pay money for food for the pidgeons. I don't know how much money I spent here that day on feeding those pidgeons. However, it sure does occupy the little ones.

A few days after this photo was taken my two Aunts Della and Ivy and Uncle Jim came to Venice and so Ann-Marie and I went back to Venice to meet up with them. We had dinner and then made our way by vaporetto (water bus) to the island off of Venice island called Murano.

There was some really fabulous glass art there.

It was so good to see family and just to see big smiling friendly faces really hit the spot, you could say. I only wish we had more time to spend than one evening. (Thank you Aunt Ivy and Uncle Jim; Thank you Aunt Della!!!!!!)

Uncle Jim, Aunt Ivy and me.

Here we are on the Vaporetto on our way to Murano from Venice.
I think I must have been saying "PUSH the button on the top of the camera" to Ann-Marie when she was taking the pic. :)

On the Vaporetto Ann-Marie and Aunt Della

Gnomes in background!!!!

Here they are in front of a Gnome garden that we saw in Murano. I had made the comment earlier that I wish I would have brought my gnome for them to get their picture with, however, I forgot it. Then Aunt Ivy saw this Gnome Garden. Of course in this picture you really can't see the gnomes....but the Aunts and Uncle have great smiles, the lighting is perfect and so I love this picture anyway!

Lil' chef with the doggy apron

She got to pick out a special item one day after being so good in Venice. She chose this. Here, she had it on while buttering toast.

Our Slovenia trip- in September

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Slovenia

So we went to Slovenia for a day trip. We took a bus and went to a famous castle and cave, had lunch then took the bus home in the same day. We're going to Ljubjana, Slovenia this coming weekend- a different location. I guess Slovenia was officially considered 'independant' in the early 1990's with the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

I bought Jake and myself a Christmas ornament while there. Ann-Marie got a book about the cave.

Predjama Castle- in one of the Slovenia caves

http://www.postojnska-jama.si/?cat=7&lang=en

We had a tour of the inside and there was a great story to go along with the tour about one of the owners in the middle ages, named Erasmus. I don't remember all the details but he 'holed' up in here while knights surrounded the castle waiting for him to come out. He used to make his way through the back of the cave and eventually to the surfaced get food and would come back into the castle without being caught. While the knights were starving waiting at their post outside he would throw down some food to them to them as a 'ha-ha, you can't catch me" kind of joke. He ended up being shot while in the bathroom (the toilet room hangs over the river bank) after someone in his staff gave away his location by placing a candle in the room he was in. I'm not sure why he was wanted.

Inside the Cave in Postinjana

http://www.postojnska-jama.si/?cat=6&lang=en

This was a nice cave, but you know how gaves go...they are dark, cold and damp and most of them all look the same inside. However, we took a little train down inside the depths of the cave and we did get to see one thing that we'd never seen before....what they call a 'human fish' which looks like a salamander with pinkish-white skin. It has no eyes. Here is a webpage about them.

http://www.showcaves.com/english/explain/Biology/ProteusAnguinus.html

Ann-Marie took my pic in Slovenia near the castle.

Our lunch in Slovenia after our trip through the cave. Ann-Marie had Schnitzel mit Pommes!

Happy Birthday! Our trip to Kansas and Missouri

We had a great time while in the USA, visiting family. It was nice to see everyone and we were able to celebrate birthdays!

6 year old enjoying cake and ice cream!

Heather swimming underwater upside down!