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!! 

Christmas in Rothenburg ob der Tauber - Germany

Last year in 2013 on Christmas break (yes, I know how far behind I am in blogging) we traveled down to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, or the German travel Mecca (Mecca meaning everyone HAS to go there) as I call it. When people back home in America found out that we had lived here a year and a half and hadn't been down to Rothenburg, they basically freaked out. "Oh! You've just got to GO!" 

So we went because everyone said we had to. We couldn't continue to miss out on Rothenburg. Because everybody knows that each little German village is completely different from the next. I mean it's not like every German village has an old town wall, and an old church or cathedral, or half-timbered houses, or a fountain in the town square. Oh wait a minute...  They do. 

Don't get me wrong. Rothenburg is a very pleasant and cute town. I just didn't feel like I was going to die if I didn't get down to see it right away. 

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is very cute and very German. When traveling there, make sure you have the right Rothenburg because there are several in Germany and I don't think the other ones are as cute.

Rothenburg is down in Bavaria on the Tauber river. Things got really rough here in the 1600's after 40,000 troops from a neighboring city-state left the town with basically nothing. Then the Black Death did another sweep through and then the city was deserted. Left with no power or money the city was unable to grow or modernize. That is why it is so cute, because it has stayed frozen in time.

There are stores that you can sell your first born for a nutcracker or a tree ornament. Yep, they're that expensive. But oh so cute and quaintly German. Germany is where most of the traditions or decoration ideas we use as Americans come from. Decorated pine tree in the house? Check. Nutcracker? Check. Anything super cute? Check. It's all German.

Here I am getting a little Christmas warmth from my hubby on this cold, German winter's day.

This is the view across the little valley Rothenburg is built near. Even in the winter I think Germany has got to be one of the most beautiful places. I am absolutely in love with green rolling hills and streams and forests and little cottages nestled next to them. I feel really lucky to call Germany home.

My kids put our dog, Minkie, up on the city wall to look down in the valley. They then realized she might jump so they held on to her for dear life. Minkie enjoys a good German view too.

The view of the walled city of Rothenburg.

The Nazis loved Rothenburg. There's something I don't think you will hear this town boasting about. The Nazis thought that it was the quintessential German home town and was the most German of Germany. They would send Nazi soldiers here for a little R'n'R. That's rest and relaxation for you non-military folks out there. 

When the Americans came into Germany at the end of WWII, they recognized the significance of Rothenburg and tried to inflict minimal damage in the taking of the town. Here is the town's castle still intact on a hill in the city.

My husband's mother was born in Bavaria so my kids feel right at home here. And we just found out that we are moving a half-hour away from Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria so now we can come here all the time. If we want to come here all the time, that is.

It started getting darker and that always means colder so it was time to go. Auf Wiedersehen for now Bavaria. We'll be seeing you again, very, very soon!

We are moving near the town of Ansbach, Germany in January 2015. Stay tuned to hear about our fun move! Because moving is always super fun, right? RIGHT?!