Adventures of an Adventurer who Adventures: Two adventures I never planned on, and never want to forget.

Croatia, and Slovenia

Our next stops were in Croatia, where we stayed the night, and Slovenia where we spent an enjoyable afternoon. As we drove through these two countries I was delighted by the scenery. Mountains and fields, the Adriatic Ocean and marshes kept me busy craning my head out the window. I knew a very little about Croatia and nothing about Slovenia…I, uh, thought it was Slovakia. However, I was surprised how much I enjoyed them and we all agreed that we would love to come back and spend some more time. In Croatia we spent the night in a city on the bay in Ulm. We had a wonderful evening walk with sunset included! Our dinner was on the edge of the bay. In the morning I awoke early and headed down to the bay to take pictures of the scenery. I found a place to sit that was on a ledge with hundreds of little crabs having a rocking good time on the rocks below. I took a million pictures of them for the sheer fun of it. We then drove on down to the 2,000 year old town of Poreč. This town has an amazing history. The basilica was built in the fifth century but remains from the temple of Neptune date to the first century. This was an incredible ancient city in a beautiful area.

they take their signs seriously here

bubbly crabby

I guess they consider themselves the Las Vegas of Croatia

Croatian farmers market

Porec

5th Century fresco

5th century church

Porec

1st century Neptune's temple

After Croatia we went to the capital city of Slovenia; Ljubljana. It was a beautiful romantic city. It had eye popping colors and beautiful bridges and flowers. The large park in the center of town featured live music (there was a 40’s and 50’s swing band there that afternoon). Of course, my favorite thing was the dragon bridge. Four large dragons at each corner guarded the city. Above the main part of the town was a large castle complex adding the romance of the city. We all enjoyed Ljubljana very much even if not one of us could/can/will ever be able to pronounce it. From there we continued to wind our way through the Alps in Northern Slovenia. We came to a town called Bled. While morbidly named, it quickly became my favorite place that we visited and is a perfect honeymoon spot if anyone is looking for a unique and beautiful place. The grandest feature is the castle in the middle of the lake with another castle on a hill behind it and the Alps towering behind the castles. It was gorgeous. It was difficult to leave, but I am glad we did, as we continued through the village my heart was won over. I love real, picturesque, charming villages and oh sister, this was one! Imagine the scene of little old ladies gardening, fields of stuff being farmed, sheep, spotted cows, stripy cats and flowers overflowing from every charming little house. In short…I liked it. Croatia and Slovenia, unexpected but absolutely delightful!