Slowing Down In Slovenia

After our wonderful week in Croatia, we decided to take a quick side trip, a vacation in a vacation if you will, to Lake Bled, Slovenia.

Lake Bled is in the Julian Alps in northern Slovenia, close to the Austrian border.

It was neat to leave an area that had a warm and Mediterranean feel with palm trees and flowers, and to arrive a few hours north into pine trees and snow covered peaks.

The thing to see in the small town of Bled is Lake Bled and the little island in the middle of it, Bled Island. There are ferries that go back and forth between the shore and the island every half hour.

On the day that we were there, there was a really strong wind and we were a little afraid our small ferry would capsize and dump us all into the beautiful, but really cold Lake Bled.

Here is Bled Island with the Assumption of Mary church on it. The church was built in the late 1600's. I can't imagine having to row all those stones and building materials across the lake in the late 1600's. Ugh.

We made it across dry!

Bled Island is quite small and you can walk the circumference in about 20 minutes. But don't think you can skip this island just because it's small. There is a lot of Slovenian beauty packed into this small island. Just take a look.

My little American beauty in a beautiful, Slovenian place.

I love this cute little building with the green stone windows and tulips. 

Here is the bell tower of the church. When the bells would ring out, they would echo and reverberate in the small valley encircled by towering mountains. The echo would last a minute or two and made it feel like you were surrounded by bell towers.

The church on Bled Island is still open and functioning (if you feel the need to get in a quick little prayer). Even though the majority of the church dates to the 1600's, the nave was consecrated in 1465. And pictures done inside the church date from 1470. 

I just fell in love with these stone steps. I am fascinated with things covered in moss. I grew up in a relatively dry climate. Nothing ever was green or had moss grow on it unless you ran a hose on it for days at a time. I love old, stone, moss covered steps and castles and streets and since almost everything in Europe is old, made of stone and covered in moss, it makes my time here fantastic.

We were really enjoying our quiet visit to Bled Island. We were almost the only people there.  Seeing this great little island made us want to see some more of Bled and Slovenia.

Good bye Bled Island! Side note - Bled Island is the only natural island in all of Slovenia. Whatcha think about that?

Hello Bled Castle!

Bled Castle is really amazing. Nobody really knows when it was built, but the earliest mention of it is in a deed dated in 1011. That's right, 1,003 years ago. And in the 1,003 years it has never been bombed, or burned, or torn down. It seems that the Slovenians could teach the rest of Europe a thing or two about property management.

The castle is intact and complete with covered walls and a moat.

Bled Castle is beautiful and old and fantastic, but it is also expensive to go in and see. So we were fine with standing outside the castle grounds like poor paupers, admiring the ramparts and moss covered walls.

Even though we didn't see the inside of the castle, the hill the castle was on provided us with great views of the mountains and the little village of Bled.

As we stood on the hill and gazed out at the snow covered mountains, we felt them call to us. We had to get in our car and drive up and stand in the snow on some of those peaks.

We found it! Snow!

We also found some great views of the Julian Alps.

We only saw a small, tiny piece of Slovenia. But we were absolutely awestruck by this quiet and quaint little corner of the world.

From Slovenia, to me, to you. Are the mountains calling you here too?

I know I hear their call. Until next time, Slovenia.

Roving Around In Rovinj- Croatia

Not far from where we were staying in Pula, is a quaint artist's village called Rovinj. To the best of my knowledge, Rovinj is pronounced ro-vi-nya. Really soft on the nya part. But no matter how you pronounce it, it is fabulous.

Rovinj is north of Pula on the Istrian peninsula. 

There normally aren't as many boats or people in this little tourist town. There was a Red Bull (that's right, Red Bull the energy drink) air show taking place the day we were there. So we got to see a great little town AND planes zooming and doing tricks in the air.

It would seem here that Red Bull really DOES give you wings. But only if you have a propeller. 

Rovinj is built on a hill that juts out into the sea. Most of the streets were pretty steep in Rovinj. There weren't any cars as the streets were too steep and narrow. But there were plenty of scooters zipping in and out of alleys.

Old Rovinj. Originally Rovinj was an island with a channel of seawater separating it from the mainland. The channel was filled in in 1763 to make travel between the island and the mainland easier. Rovinj lost its island status.

Here are some teens trying to keep their status as "too cool to hang out with their parents." The Chocolate Family's two oldest and Alexander and Ashlenne. 

We found the perfect teen hang out down by the water. We dubbed it "The Grotto." But from the smell of it, it should have been dubbed "The Urinal."

While the teens were hanging out in the grotto/urinal, Aidan, Andre, and I explored the tide pools around the edge of the water and found little creatures like this little guy here. He was only slightly more crabby than the teens. (ha ha)

This is St. Euphemia's Basilica which sits on top of the main hill of Rovinj. It dates from the 1600's and it was built on former ancient Christian sites.

As beautiful as the ocean was, and the church, and the rocks, this is my favorite part of Rovinj. Little streets turned into cafes and art galleries. So eclectic and fun.

More fun and funky streets. I love how the individual personalities of all these little villages we visit come out and make them all unique.

But not matter where you are in Europe, whether it is hills of Germany to the streets of Paris to the coast of Croatia, you can always find gelato. Europe runs on gelato.

Another little alley in Rovinj. Photo credit to Mrs. Chocolate.

This week that we spent in Croatia was truly amazing. Croatia is so beautiful! When we told people back home that we were going to vacation down there, many of them asked "why?" Beautiful beaches, Mediterranean villages, amazing and natural beauty of the land. I hope in reading about our week here you get a better feel for the this tiny little corner of the world.

Thank you Croatia! We hope we can come back some day!

Want to read about our other days in Croatia? Click Pulling Along In Pula or Plitvice Lakes National Park. Enjoy!! 

Plitvice Lakes National Park - Croatia

On our second day in Croatia in April, 2014 we decided to take side trip over to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Croatia is famous for their national parks. They have eight national parks and eleven nature reserves, ranging from alpine mountains to lush valleys to Mediterranean beaches, and almost everything in between. We decided to focus our attention on the oldest and most widely known, Plitvice Lakes. (Want to know about all the parks in Croatia? Click HERE.)

Plitvice Lakes is located in central Croatia, close to the border of Bosnia-Herzegovina. If you are looking at this map thinking 'Hmm... that seems kinda far from where you were staying in Pula.'  You're right. It WAS kinda far. It took almost three hours to drive to Plitvice Lakes. So if you are planning a trip to Croatia and want to see this national park, I definitely recommend staying closer. (Want to know more technical stuff about how the lakes were formed? Click HERE.)

So, what is so special about Plitvice Lakes? Well, this for starters. Plitvice Lakes is a series of cascading lakes and waterfalls that are different shades of blue, green, aqua, and turquoise due to the different mineral contents of the water. They are pretty amazing.

And when the sun hits the water, wow! 

The lakes and waterfalls are connected by boardwalks that line the edges so you can get up close to the beauty without disturbing nature.

The lakes are closed to swimming, and boats are only allowed on the largest lake in the middle of the park. The park is quite large. Eight kilometers from one end to the other (or about 4 1/2 miles for us Yanks). The park does provide shuttles between the large lakes. Something we did not figure out until we had walked half the park with eight tired kids.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. It was still early and we were still fresh. We were enjoying the beauty of the lakes, the sunshine, the waterfalls. It was spectacular!

At this point we were at the bottom of the canyon. We really wanted to see the sweeping views of the park.

There was one way to go to see the view. Up. I feel it necessary to say here that I was one week out in recovery from a horrible bout of influenza. Climbing these stairs to the top was a personal challenge for me that practically brought me to my knees. Actually, it brought me to my butt. I had to sit and rest many, many times.

The trail snaked up and through the mountain. We hiked through many drippy and dank tunnels like this one.

Finally! A view from the top!

The trail meanders up and down the canyon, and as we explored the park, we found little caves and spots to hide in. Hide in, that is, if you want to go for a swim.

I think right now I will introduce you to our good friend's daughter, Miss M. Miss M kept trying to get in our family pictures that her mom, Mrs. Chocolate, was taking of us. I can only say it is because our family is so cool, she just wanted to be a part of it. (See Miss M? I told you I would put your picture on the internet!) 

It was right about here that everybody started getting tired. The Chocolate Family's youngest daughter was only 18 months and was insisting on walking. So that is how slow our progress was, 18 month old walking progress. After hiking up a hill for the better part of an hour, we realized that there was a tram offered by the park that went up and down between the different sections of the lakes. If we would have taken this tram we would have been able to see the whole park. But because we are stupid and ignored the signs with little buses on them pointing and saying HEY! THIS WAY! We only got to see half the park.

As it came to me that I wouldn't be able to see the whole park, I immediately began planning a return to Croatia just to see the rest of Plitvice Lakes. Why? Because of this view.

And because of this view.

And because of this view. Any beautiful place where I can be with all these beautiful people and be happy and smiling under the sun, surrounded by nature, is definitely a place I want to return to. 

Want to read about our first day in Croatia that we spent in Pula? Click Pulling Along In Pula.