Lake Bled

I am leaving Ljubljana today and because I like to save money I decide to walk twenty minutes to the bus station to take the four euro bus to the airport instead of taking a taxi that would cost me almost fifty euros. One could call me cheap but I will blow one hundreds and fifty euros on a Michelin restaurant on occasion – in fact I will be visiting a Michelin restaurant when I return to Ljubljana in a week or so.

From the airport I pick up my rental car for the driving portion of Slovenia. I am leased a brand new car with no scratches or dents. I am not thrilled at the thought of having to be extra careful with this rental; so different from Split where we definitely rented someone’s personal car. Luckily the roads in Slovenia are pretty straight forward.

It takes me about fifty minutes or less to get to Lake Bled. Lake Bled is a beautiful area popular for weekend vacations about an hour from Ljubljana. People enjoy trails, water sports and relaxing in the surrounding town. I am too early to check in so I drive a bit to where my wine tasting will be later just to see how far it will be to walk. I stop briefly in a parking lot to google some things and I realize I don’t know how to turn my car off. The car is one of those fancy self starting type cars. After some YouTube videos and trial and error I finally figure it out.

There is no one to check me in yet so I walk to town to eat. Finally my room is ready when I return. I don’t have much time to rest before I need to go to a wine tasting in a couple hours. I am tired and don’t feel like going but since I’ve paid already I’ll force myself to attend. The wine tasting is at a hotel a thirty minute walk away from where I am currently staying.

I am glad I make it to the wine tasting. All of the wines are quite good (forgot to take picture of the bottles). We (other guests from Australia, UK and I) enjoy making fun of USA politics while trying new wines in a wine cellar.

After being successfully filled with wine and very good local cheeses I walk 30 minutes back to the B&B where I enjoy some of the wine I have leftover from my Ljubljana stash and take in the sounds of the birds and the cool air. It is a longer walk than I like into town but I am really enjoying the quiet and peacefulness of the area. I really like my porch views.

My energy levels are quite low lately so instead of driving to another lake in the morning I decide to enjoy things in town locally. I’m going to be closer to my pension and can bail out of the day at any moment if I feel like it.

I start the day with Bled castle on top of the iconic hill seen from around the lake. Hopefully a morning visit will let me avoid larger crowds. It is possible to drive up and park towards the top but everything I read says spots are limited and I don’t want to move my car and have to possibly deal with tight parking (brand new car, ugh). I walk thirty-five minutes to the top following a path behind a building. Approximately twenty minutes of the walk is uphill. The hike up isn’t too bad – I am sweating of course but on a hotter day I would probably be cursing the gods.

Bled castle is nice but it is far from being the most impressive castle I have seen during my travels. But what is really nice are the views that you get of Lake Bled below. It is peaceful up here looking down. I visit the museum and walk the walls a bit. Tour groups start arriving as I am leaving. Looks like I timed things correctly.

There is a small history museum inside the castle.

I ride a traditional pletna boat to Bled Island: Pletna boats are traditional wooden boats that are unique to Lake Bled. They take visitors to Bled Island, where you can visit the Church of the Assumption and ring the church bell for good luck.

I head down to the lake side to catch a boat to the island in the middle of Lake Bled (the island in the famous pictures). I see Tito’s former residence now hotel along with other hotels and homes along the water while a guy paddles us slowly out the island. Seems like a real strenuous job.

We only get 40 minutes on the island, I guess it is enough if you are too cheap to pay to visit the church and museum on the island. I get some gelato and walk around and enjoy the views. Nothing life changing here but a nice place to visit for 40 minutes.

After we paddle back I have my eyes on this restaurant for a late lunch but it closes at three so walk swiftly in that direction while admiring the lake from the shore.

I once more order a very rich and heavy truffle pasta. The pasta good but that with the olive oil and bread accompanying has me very full. I feel like I could sleep at this table or at least grab some grass by the water and pass out.

No matter which direction I go I am still at least forty-five minutes from my pension by foot. I make the decision to continue walking the rest of the six kilometer trail around the lake, ignoring my fullness and ignoring my tiredness. I am glad I do because there are so many more nice scenic views around the lake. I now understand how important rowing is to this town (and this country for that matter). There is a large rowing center set up at one point in the lake where competitive rowers come to row. I notice on the schedule there will be rowing here early evenings this week. Perhaps I can come back and watch another day. I did row one year in high school but I have a feeling this rowing is at a completely different level.

I complete the loop around the lake and on the way out of town I finally peek into the large church in town. It has an interesting chandelier and even more interesting artwork on the walls. One of the paintings that is supposed to represent a famous verse looks like a lion giving a guy cpr.

I have a timed reservation tomorrow for the nearby gorge. More on that later.

Montenegro day trip

After my day of work and leisure I meet my tour group at 7 am the next day. We are to explore sights in North Montenegro. Our driver explains the buoys and boxes in the water are for fishing and mussel farming. I have tried some delicious sea bass but mussels are next on my list. We first stop to see the two islands outside of Perast. We do not boat over to them though. I am regretting my day off yesterday since that would have been my only chance to see both the town of Perast and the two islands.

We start an ascent up hill. It is curvy but I am not concerned because I happen to be in the front of the bus. There are beautiful views of the bay of Kotor from above.

I loom at the gorgeous views and then look to the side, a girl from our bus is puking her guts out into the bushes. At first I offer my seat to her but after realizing how far back her seat is I decide to just share the row with her. I share my motion sickness pills with her and the girl on the other side of me who is suffering too. I learned my lesson in Thailand so I always have the pills on me for road trips.

We stop briefly for breakfast and coffee.

Our next stop is a lake called Black lake. It is located in Durmitor National Park. We don’t have time to walk around the complete lake because the levels are high and it would take too long. I admire the views of the mountains and hike some of the shorter trails. It is pretty but nothing more impressive than what I have already seen. This is where my extensive traveling backfires on me as it gets harder to impress me these days. It is still chilly out and there is still some snow on the ground.

From the park we travel to a very large bridge over the Tara River. Some in the group are dropped off ahead of the bridge stop. They plan to zip line across the very deep canyon. The rest of us take the walk across the bridge on a very narrow walkway, making sure the constant traffic doesn’t accidently hit us when we stray off path. Despite the scary walk it is a beautiful view. The river below is a color that almost seems made up on a computer. The view is lovely.

For our final stop we stop at the Ostrog Monastery, a very popular Serbian Orthodox Church built into a hill. Many make the pilgrimage barefoot up the steep switchbacks to pray to the body of Vasilije, the founder of the church. There is also some lore about a grape vine growing in the wall of the church in a place that is not conducive to growth. There are some very old frescos inside. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures inside because it is forbidden and for some reason I am a strict rule follower lately (even though most are not).

We get back late but I still need to eat. I attempt my first of many disappointing servings of mussels. One would think that since they are farmed nearby that they would be fresh and flavorful, but that is not the case. The mussel meat is very small of the ones that are actually opened and the taste is probably the worst I’ve ever had of mussels. I can only guess maybe they are not in season yet. The dessert is good though.

Tomorrow I am switching countries again and head to Croatia where I’ll meet my friend soon. I probably could have spent more time in Montenegro so I’ll just have to come back some day.

Kotor, Montenegro

My driver drops me off outside the old city gates. We have driven through beautiful fjord looking mountains surrounding a bay. As we get closer to Kotor the traffic gets worse and I see a large cruise ship ahead.

I grab my bags and go in the old city to meet the owner of the apartment I am renting. I am starting to second guess my visit to this town. Crowds are thick with groups doing day tours of the town. I’ve been communicating with the apartment owner by WhatsApp who tells me to wait in front of a church. A boy appears with an older photo of me on his phone “Is this you?” Yes and so I follow him. I am following a little boy to my apartment apparently. I meet his mom. She says he is 7 and she is teaching him English and often sends him on task; a point that is reinforced when he comes to collect my payment later.

I settle in and decide to eat and walk the city walls. The lady at the apartment tells me I am visiting on a holiday time. Many businesses will be closed the next two days, including grocery stores. She tells me that most of the restaurants in the old city are rip offs and not really good but then tells me most things outside the old city will be closed so I really have no choice, do I?

I eat at a lackluster place and then wander around. I start to notice all the cats. I think I read about the cats in my research but perhaps I forgot? Anyway this town is a holiday getaway for many including cruisers, people from nearby Balkan countries and until lately Russians. Despite the slow down it is still pretty busy here, luckily it does ease up a bit during the week.

This town is almost at the coast, actually a bay. The country once was part of Yugoslavia. It held onto the membership more than some but is now independent like all the other former Yugoslavia nations. It is facing some of the same problems politics wise as its neighbor, Bosnia and Herzgovina.

I end up going a wine tasting at a little bar. I had wanted to buy a bottle to take back to my apartment but all the wine shops are closed for the next couple days. Luckily I get a discount on a local bottle of wine. I sip this bottle for the next couple days. I also try a chardonnay that I can handle since it usually is not my favorite. I am also introduced to grapes I know nothing about.

The next morning I let myself sleep in so its too late to start and ascent up to the fort up the mountain. The heat gets unbearable to do the climb if you attempt it too late. I decide to take the day off today because tomorrow I have a very long day tour scheduled. I do go out to eat meals and walk along the city walls late in the morning but I am not doing any planned sightseeing today. In fact I use this time to pay bills and follow up on future travel arrangements. I forgot to schedule days off to do these things so days off have to be forced.

I do have a good sea bass for dinner. More cats are all around me.

Enough for today. Tomorrow I have a day trip to see other parts of Montenegro.

Fall of Yugoslavia

Today is an other long day. I originally planned to attend a Fall on Yugoslavia tour in the morning and do local sightseeing in the afternoon. An hour before my tour is supposed to start they ask if I’d like to go to the 2:00 PM tour and additionally attend the 10:30 AM free city walking tour. Because I realize it’s off-season and I am flexible I agree. I have extra time so I order burek and Bosnian coffee for breakfast. The burek, or Bosnian pie, has potatoes. The standard serving is large and served with yogurt. I like it but not sure I’d eat it every day. The cafe I stop at has a basketball on its sign. Since I’ve seen basketballs multiple times on signs I take the time to google the significance: during the Yugoslav era the region had many powerful basketball players.

Once I start my walking tour I realize I am very happy I joined the tour. I am learning so much about the city that I would not have otherwise learned. This afternoon is very specific to the Fall of Yugoslavia whereas this tour gives me more of an overview of the history from the ancient times, Ottoman Empire, Austrian-Hungarian times and so on.

We walk around town. In one street alone you can tell the different time periods from the architecture: Ottoman Empire, astro-Hungarian architecture, and then brutalist architecture from the Yugoslavian times (East meets West).

We learn more about what ignited WWI. We learn about how 3 main religions live here in harmony.

We learn how things are slow to progress due to the current political system. Since BiH is represented by 3 primary ethnic groups (Croats, Serbs and ethnic Bosnians) that are unwilling to fully relinquish power the government is run by three presidents or three parties who take turns being in charge. This system leads to chaos and most certainly corruption. It is stunting the progress of a beautiful country. Many have dreams of one day joining the Euro zone like some of its former Yugoslav brothers but at this point it never seems possible.

We visit the famous church in town and learn about the rose of Sarajevo that was caused by shelling during the war of the 1990’s.

We also pick up on places where signs of the war still exist. They don’t leave them unrepaired for remembrance, it is just the government just ccan’t get around to making the repairs….for a war that has been over almost 30 years.

I say goodbye to my fantastic tour guide and after the tour I have a break so I get a snack. I soon meet up for my Fall of Yugoslavia tour. I am pleased to find it is the same tour guide from this morning. We hop in a van and head out to see some sights related to the fall of Yugoslavia and the war of the early 1990’s. I’m not going to give an entire history here because it is long and complicated but within ten years after Josip Tito (former leader of Yugoslavia) died in 1980 some of the countries that formed Yugoslavia decided to declare independence, for various reasons. The initial countries to do so were Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. There was opposition to this by Yugoslav loyalists and as a result the region was full of conflict throughout the early 1990’s. I slightly remember it because I was in school at the time and I do remember the term ethnic cleansing being used frequently. It was a horrible war now that I go back to learn it as an adult.

We start at the yellow fortress where we are given a view of the city.

We visit a hospital destroyed in the war. Our guide tells us how a nearby stadium is used as a mass grave.

We visit the Tunnel of Hope and tunnel museum. This tunnel, the start on private land, allowed soldiers and supplies to travel under the airport and to/from the mountains to be undetected by the Bosnian Serb army. It was a lifeline to the Sarajevo community during the war. We got to sample the tunnel and watched very powerful footage of soldiers using the tunnels to transport supplies to the local people. My guide was a student at the time but her father was a soldier that used the tunnel. We got her unique perspective on the war.

We then visit the abandoned bobsled course from the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, a proud moment for the locals. It was once used in the war of 1990’s and now is a place for street art and tourists to visit.

We finish with a stop at an abandoned building where we have lovely views of the city. Teenage me would have loved exploring this abandoned building in the middle of the night. I suppose this destroyed building has a different meaning to locals.

I am back in town and it is raining. I stop at a wine bar until I decide what I want for dinner. My meals the last couple days have been meat heavy and I am craving vegetables so I find a place that will serve a mixed cheese plate and grilled vegetables. Of course it is way too much food but the stomach wants what the stomach wants. I am not so much a fan of the travnik cheese (feta type) because it is a little salty for my taste but all the other cheeses served, including the blue which I never love, were very good. I eat all my cheese alternating bites with the grilled veggies to make sure I get a little nutrition while I travel.

I still haven’t tried the local brandy so I stop by a local place and try rakija. It’s just me and what I assume is the owner’s family in the bar, or at least they gave the appearance of being family. I sampled my very strong brandy in what felt like someone’s house. One sample is all I have in me so I call it quits for the night afterwards.

Girona

I am up early this morning in Granada. I have a flight to Barcelona and then shortly after taking a train to the city of Girona. I planned to take the cheap airport bus that arrives outside my hotel just a little down the street but that plan fell through last minute. My hotel had an outdated bus schedule because when I arrive at the bus stop this morning I realize I must have missed the bus and another doesn’t come for two hours. Since I will not make my flight on time if I wait I head back to the hotel and have them call me a taxi.

When I arrive at the Barcelona airport I don’t quite understand the instructions I have written down. Last time I was here was ten years ago and even then I was flying home and recovering from some sort of a norovirus/food poisoning. I take the wrong train initially and end up wasting a fare since I basically go to another airport terminal and then back again. Eventually I discover I have to take a regional train into Barcelona Estació Sants and switch to take my train to Girona. Luckily there are many trains daily to Girona so I don’t have to stress about missing one. Barcelona is highly connected by trains and metro stations. It is complex for a new traveler to the city, at least in my opinion. I am used to traveling in cities so I eventually wrap my head around the system after a day or two.

The ride to Girona is quick at around 40 minutes. At Girona there are two train terminals. They are pretty close together but it is real important to know the appropriate one to be at.

My hotel is a 20 minute walk from the train station. There is a foot and bicycle path that follows under a regional train. It is shaded and has some interesting art work along the way.

I chose Girona as a location to visit because it is a smaller city and I like visiting cities that aren’t popular and crowded. There are not too many must see things in Girona but it is a nice relaxing way to spend a couple days.

I cross a foot bridge to enter Barri Vell, a gothic quarter. I have a view of colorful buildings reflected in a river as well as a large basilica greets me as I cross the bridge. My hotel is practically around the corner from here.

The hotel I chose, Hotel Museu Llegendes de Girona, is a nicer hotel. I didn’t have as much luck locating a decent discount hotel in Girona. The hotel is a strange art museum/hotel. My room is simply designed except the lighting system – there are so many buttons in the room and only in one place are marked what they are; but not clearly though. I have a nice but complicated room.

After check in I walk the medieval streets of Girona. It is not crowded in this town and that is why I like it.

I decide to go for the fancy avocado toast plus halloumi for a late lunch. It feels slightly healthier than what I’ve been eating lately.

After lunch there is more wandering around town.

I stop at the famous ice cream chain Rocambolesc and try one of their creations. Very interesting flavors.

I walk down to the shopping district and do some window shopping. I am not a big shopper in general and especially when I am traveling but I eye a brand of shoes I must have. I note to myself to look them up online later (Update I did and there are a little more than I want to pay).

I see that there are old city walls that circle the city. I climb them and get a view of the city in the late afternoon. I almost have the walls to myself.

I find small gardens after small gardens hiden down alleys surrounded by old churches. I spend some time in Jardins dels Alemanys. I try to identify the fruit tree there with some other visiters of the park.

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I arrive at another very large church. There are very loud and active birds around that I stop to admire. I turn the corner and realize this is the famed church that was used in the Game of Thrones, a show I never really watched.

I walk up to a garden that is supposed to have a John Lennon memorial but I can’t find any such thing in the garden. I want to do a tapas crawl but I am tired from waking up early. I stop by a café for a quick drink for the evening then I head back to my hotel. Tomorrow I take a day trip to Figueres to visit a Dali wonderland.