Post Vacation Growth

After we got back from vacation (wow, that was the end of August...how time flies), we came back to really long grass and our sunflowers really shot up.

It all started out relatively simple, Eva bought a 2 EUR package of seeds called 'Blooming Fence' (it sounds better in German), thinking it would be mostly small flowers with maybe a sunflower or two.

Turns out that it was mostly sunflowers.



Now our sunflowers have grown to over 3m tall and make the rest of our plants look rather small.

To put it all in perspective, I stood next to the sunflowers...the person in the picture is shorter than he appears.

Ending a Great Vacation in Beautiful Bled

Alas, our vacation was coming to an end, but before we would trek back to Erlangen, we made a three night stop in Bled - arguable one of the more 'touristy' places in Slovenia. Understandably so: it is surrounded by mountains and forests, has a huge lake with picturesque island in the middle, and not a single McDonalds.

After doing some extensive internet searching, we decided to hole up at the Farmhouse Mulej. We were at first a bit skeptical reserving online for our last three nights of vacation, but every expectation presented online was fulfilled upon arrival. Virtually everything you eat or drink at breakfast and dinner is grown and made on the farm by the family.

Our room was newly renovated and had an adequate balcony with a great view. All the meals were simple, yet tasty and satisfying. The room itself was very reasonable at 25 EUR per night per person...and the greatest deal was the extra 5 EUR for dinner, which entailed farmraised meet and homemade applesauce. The homemade jogurt for breakfast was one of my favorites. They even let me try the traditional farmer's breakfast: buckwheat with onions and some pork. The family even lent us bikes to take the short ride into Bled - allowing us to stay in the country and be close to Bled.

If it sounds like I'm recommending the farmhouse...I am. The family was ultra friendly and helpful. Our stay in their home was definitely our best of Slovenia. You won't be disappointed. Email at info.mulej@gmail.com or at www.mulej-bled.com.

You'll find a few pictures of our room in the home of family Mulej below.

Here's the beautiful of Bled Island. We have about 100 pictures from every angle possible...this angle is actually taken from the castle that is on a steep hill on the other side of the lake. The church on the island goes back many, many centuries, and Bled itself turned 1000 in 2004.

Here's us with the island and castle in the background.


We took one sunny afternoon, and I rowed Eva to the island. I got to get a bit of exercise during this romantic excursion. I can't say that I've ever rowed Eva anywhere, and it was a great way to spend time with Eva in a natural city. It sort of brought out the Alpha male in me.

After we landed, I took this B&W of the steps leading up to the church. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of tourists in the church (unfortunately, most of them were Americans) that were quite loud and (in my opinion) disrespectful. It took a bit of the peacefulness and solitude out of this great island church. Nonetheless, it was worth the trip.

On another day, we took a hike in the 'backcountry' of Bled, and we got to cross over this river full of trout many times over similar wooden bridges.


The full hike took a few hours and didn't have too many peaks and valleys, and it gave a great view of the countryside. When I was playing with one of my camera settings, I lucked into taking this picture of a flower (looks like a poppy) and a bee.

On our final evening, we headed into town for a last nice meal before heading back home, ending our vacation. The dinner was pretty good, but the highlight of the meal were the British couple next too us. They were definitely trying really hard to be regal. After ordering open table wine, they sent it back because it was corked...or maybe because it had been sitting out too long (so they said). I'm no wine expert, but I can tell a corked bottle...and I've never had a corked bottle. Let alone a corked carafe of table wine. And, by definition, open table wine does sit out too long.

Anyway, the guy tried to make up by complementing the cheese they had for their appetizer. He said it was 'lovely'. I can't say that I've ever called cheese 'lovely'...If I were the cheese, I'd be pissed ('I ain't no lovely cheese').

After dinner, we took a stroll and took some final pics of the island and lake. So, can you pick who is pregnant in the collage below?. I think the lighting and the camera angle is making me look fatter than I am (I am really leaning into it).

Here's the last picture of our vacation: Rob imitating a frog shaped trash can. Ribbit. And, no, neither the frog nor I am trying to take a dump.

Camping on Lake Bohinj

After the big city life of Ljubljana, we headed back to nature to finish our vacation in 'peace and quiet'. About an hour from the capital city was Lake Bohinj, where we spent the next day and a half.

It is quite a long lake, with a nice, scenic hiking trail around the complete perimeter, which kept us busy on our second day.

The westernmost part of the lake presents a few small farmhouses and has the huge Julian Alps in the background. We took a short hike westward to a small waterfall that is the source of the lake.
As in the Soca Valley, the water was crystal clear.
Here's Eva with our breakfast at the campground, frowning at the cold. It got a bit cold that night, and neither of us slept particularly well. While camping doesn't always present the best night's sleep, it would also be difficult to imagine staying in a hotel in such a spotlight of nature.
Us with Lake Bohinj in the background during our perimeter hike. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't particularly sunny, but thankfully, it didn't rain much either.

Big City Life in Slovenia's Capital City

After over a week in small cities, beaches, and mountains, we wandered into Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital.

Funny name, cool city. (You'd pronounce it as if the j's weren't there). About 250,000 people. It is very European in look and feel. It doesn't have the chaos, stress, and traffic of Rome, and it doesn't have the masses of tourists of Florence.

Even still, there were quite a few tourists - even Americans - but most of them used Ljubljana as their entry/exit point of the vacation. Many were backpackers.

The city center was alive in the evening with many live bands performing outside near cool restaurants with large, outside decks.



The city underwent a Renaissance of sorts in the late 1890's after a devastating earthquake. Much of the city center was rebuilt, the river was built into a canal, and the famous 'three bridges' was constructed.

Below is one of the dragons on the posts of a bridge.

One of the other advantages of Ljubljana is the cuisine. Not that we had eaten poorly before, but we had a much greater selection of 'fancy' restaurants to try out. Not that we are the gourmet experts, but it is nice to take a stab at something nicer while on vacation.

Below is our 'stab' at nice Slovenian cuisine. The restaurant was really cute, with a nice outside patio. The inside decor was very quaint, and instead of a large window separating the inside from the outside wall, the space was left open, providing us the opportunity to eat inside where it was a bit warmer, yet allowing us the feel and peoplewatching of being outside.

The food was excellent! Very artisitic (read: not much on the plate). Normally, when you get these artistic meals, you are left with a bit of an empty stomach, and a large bill. We were comfortably full, partially aided by an appetizer and desert, and the bill was only 30 EUR.

Yes, I had a beer with my meal.

When we first arrived in Ljubljana, we were a bit hungry, and we wanted to try one of the many small, local food shops. The one below looked rather inviting. There were lots of people (always a good sign), and it looked very clean. We though the name was a bit funny, but didn't think much about it. After all, hot dogs don't have any dog meat.

We gather enough courage to go in. We then look at the menu, and the guy behind the counter goes '...and all of our menu items are made with horse meat...'

Apparently, horse meat is a specialty in Slovenia. Eva and I just couldn't bring ourselves to eat horse meat.

Romance in Rovinj

Our time had finally come to leave our little Croatian paradise in Rovinj. We had an extremely relaxing 4 days - mostly involving sitting on the beach and eating. Our only stress involved finding 'that perfect' restaurant to try for dinner each evening.

For our last dinner in Rovinj, we went to the restaurant from the night before. Normally, we never to to a restaurant twice, but the service was great, the restaurant had a great view of the mediterranean (below), and the food was very good.

They had this garlic and olive oil pasta that was simple, yet very tasty...and the tomato soup was freshly made. Plus, who can complain about 0.5l of wine for 3 EUR?

Another shot of the view from the restaurant. Eva is sitting at our table, and I'm posing on the closest table to the Mediterranean - a small stone bench that is only inches from the water.

Right now, these super large sunglasses are extremely trendy in Europe. The bigger the trendier. I think the Italians started the trend; therefore, they have the largest sunglasses.

Personally, I think I could have pulled these shades off, but Eva wouldn't let me buy them. I think they would especially look cool on the beach if I were wearing a speedo.

Day Trip to Rome...err...Pula

In the middle of our stay in Rovinj, we decided to take a small day trip to Pula, on the southernmost tip of the Istrian Peninsula. As you can tell from the Colosseum-like amphitheater, it had quite a Roman influence. There were Romanesque arches all over the city and even a Roman theater.

The 'Colosseum', however, was definitely 'odd' to see in Croatia. It was smaller than the 'real thing', but very similar. The Croatians still use their colosseum today - mainly for concerts.


As is common for many port cities, Pula was a very strategic military outpost. The fort below was extremely well designed and almost unimpregnable - until the airplane was invented and bombs could be dropped from above.

Imagine running up this huge hill wearing your suit of armor only to find yourself staring down these cannon barrels, out of breath, when you reach the top.

Outside of the Roman scenery, Pula has a vast national park, with great stone beaches and very clear water. Lounging on the stones was a great way to complete the day trip.

Easy Beach Living in Croatia

After Piran on the Slovenian coast, we headed a bit farther south to Rovinj on the Croatian coast on the Istrian peninsula. We had originally planned to spend two days camping then two days in a hotel, but Rovinj was very central and offered us enough to keep us busy for four days. The choices for restaurants were virtually endless. We even rented bikes for a few days to help out our mobility.

We stumbled upon a private apartment. I had already looked at a different one across the street and thought it would be good to do a quick cross check. Thankfully, the owners had a great amount of patience with me. Why patience? I knew about one word of Croatian. But, after about 30 minutes and countless hand drawn pictures to 'discuss' the details of the apartment, the length of our stay, and the cost, we settled on their apartment.

Clean, cute, with kitchenette. Here I am below on our porch.

Rovinj has a great boardwalk, a cute area with shops, and many narrow alleys. There was plenty of ice cream shops to try out and great oceanside restaurants.

Us overlooking the harbor.

Thankfully, I had remembered the camera to try to catch this sunset. Can you imagine living in the houses that are right on the ocean?

Piran on the Slovenian Coast

Our trip continued from the mountains of Slovenia to the coastline - first to Piran then to the Croatian coast. The Slovenian coastline is relatively small - basically enough for a seaport and some beach villages.


The long boardwalk offered a great chance to see the old city and to gaze into the crystal clear, deep blue Mediterranean. Plenty of ice cream to eat as well.


Here's Piran from the other side of the port. The old town was cool to visit but definitely a one day town. It was time to move on to the Croatian coast. 

Museums and Great, Cheap Meals

On our way south from the Soca Valley, we stopped at Kobarid to see the WWI museum. Unknown by many (and unknown by us before stopping here), Slovenia proved to be a very valuable front during the first world war. Right in the Soca Valley, there was a very bloody attack that cost the Italians almost 500,000 soldiers.

The museum was well made, with many artifacts from the war. The 3D sculpture of the mountains region showed the fronts in detail. Many of us have read about such a frontal war, but it is especially difficult to imagine a front right in the mountains, along ridgelines.

Ernest Hemmingway, then a volunteer in the Red Cross, was wounded on the Italian Front. He used this experience to write, A Farewell to Arms, where the Soca Front plays a large role (I just ordered the book...I'll soon find out myself).


Guided by our trusty Lonely Planet, we took a bit of a detour to this very old church in the town of Hrastovlje. On the outside, the church is relatively plain, but the inside is covered with late 15th century frescoes.


The highlight of the trip, was our lunch excursion. The church was closed when we arrived, and it wouldn't open for another 45 minutes. So, we wandered around for a few minutes, following our stomachs to this winery below.

When we got there, we asked for a menu. There wasn't any...he would read it to us. We ordered the two things we could understand: 1) Gnocci with meat and 2) Noodles with mushrooms.

It took quite a while for everything to come. I had already drank a glass of wine in the summer sun. By the time, the meal came, we had already decided that the meal would be either really expensive or really cheap.

The gnocci and noodles were freshly made. No freezer stuff here. The bowls were heaping with food. By the time we were finished, we could barely move (thankfully, we had to walk back to the church).


The bill:
- fresh gnocci with meat
- homemade noodles with fresh mushrooms
- 1/2 liter of wine (for Rob)
- 2 Fantas (for Eva)

... 15 EUR, including tip.

... unbelievable. We could have ordered one meal and have had enough to eat. Everything was so fresh and well made...It was probably one of the better 'italien' meals in my life. And, you couldn't beat the price.

Surrounded by Mountains

On our third and final day in the Soca Valley, we stumbled on a really cool like. Unlike the hike the day before, the terrain varied greatly and way extremely interesting. At some points, the trail was very 'lone' - with only rocks on either side of the path.


As we got to the first saddle, we then began to see the climb ahead, but there were all sorts of different trees, rocks, and terrain. It was a bit windy on this first 'peak'.


One of the pictures at the top. There were mountains on all sides and would have made for a great panorama picture. The weather was great for the hike, and the sky was very clear and blue.


Below a mini collage of some of the scenes along the way. What was most interesting was the herd of sheep that was literally at the peak. Crazy the things you see in nature. They just seemed so out of place up there.

Along the way on the road we took to get near the trailhead, there was this Russian Orthodox church that was built during the first world war for the Russian POW's that build the road that was now the main passage through this mountain chain.

Also, a typical Rob and Eva picture of the feed that brought us to the peak.

 

Husband Status Report

Dearest Eva,

I hope all is well with you in Madrid. I hope your Siemens colleagues there are treating you well, and that you are making progress on your business trip.

Since it is very seldom that I'm 'home alone' while you are on a business trip, I thought I should send you a status report to put you at ease that everything is in good shape here and that the chores are getting done.

I thought I'd call you, but that would probably be too smothering. Then I thought a text message would work, but I still can't really type well on that tiny cell phone keyboard. Email was my next option, but I thought that was so old school.

While I was blogging our vacation, I looked at the hit statistics and saw a few hits from Madrid. Since it looks like you are checking out the blog on your trip, I thought I'd send you the 'Husband Status Report' on the blog.

... I went running this morning ...
... I didn't work too late ...
... I went shopping at OBI...but don't worry, I didn't spend too much ;-) and got some nice tulips for our garden ...
... I'm eating healthy ...
... I bought one book on Amazon (Farewell to Arms) ...
... I watered the lawn ...


... I did the dishes ...
... I ironed the clothes ...
... I did the laundry ...

Ecke and Tante Ali called. Bettie and Hilmar aren't going to London. Greg and I are BBQ'ing tomorrow, so I hope I can keep the place in order before you come home.

Everything is fine, and I'm getting a lot done (not too much web surfing). Everything seems to be in order here ... except one thing ...

... you're not here...
... the place just isn't the same without you. Can't wait to see you soon.

831
Rob