Bohinj and Beyond

“A journey is like a marriage. The certain way to go wrong is to think you can control it.” – John Steinbeck

*Overall we had really nice weather but the first day at Lake Bohinj we woke up to this!*

*We started with umbrellas but quickly transitioned into waterproof jackets. We were determined to walk around the entire lake*!

It’s hard to tell from this pic but the path was pretty washed out here. We had to scramble down about 20 ft and then back up again. We’d gone too far to turn back. By now, it had been about 2 1/2 hours and we were cold and wet. BUT we did know there was a boat dock up ahead. So, POR (press on regardless).

We ended up walking around 2/3 of the lake but swallowed our pride and took the boat back. Our B&B had an actual drying room for wet boots and clothes, that we took full advantage of. I’m starting to think it rains/snows here more than advertised. ☺️

*The following day started out cloudy so we weren’t sure we’d see much when we took this cable car up – hoping to see Mt Triglav.*

*And we did have nice views of Lake Bohinj* 😊

*We also walked to a neighboring village – Stara Fuzina – where I spotted this “art” in the main square.*

*But on closer inspection we realized it was an old well!*

*Then we saw this explanation. A little tough to read but possible when zoomed in.*

*I really loved this quaint village with a notice that said it all* 💚

If you recall, while in Italy we spotted so many Madonnas. But in Slovenia where 80% of the population is Catholic we saw several shrines to saints, even in the smallest of villages. We also saw many, many crucifixes.

*We went into quite a few old churches and I found this fascinating. Look at these stations of the cross, juxtaposed to one another.* *This is one interpretation of station eleven in a church.*

*And this is the same station – different, very old church – different interpretation.*

We stopped to listen to this woman while in Venice. I just didn’t want to leave her out!

How ‘bout some history?

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

Generally speaking, while traveling, Murph navigates and I do the driving. I have to tell you I LOVE driving a standard transmission car and I had a little 5 speed VW Polo this year. I drove the Vršiċ Pass Loop – which is comprised of 24 hairpin, switchbacks up the mountains and 26 hairpin, switchbacks down. The turns were cobbled for better traction. It was sooo much fun!

After switchback #8 we stopped and climbed some stairs to a little Russian Orthodox chapel. The Vršiċ Pass was built during World War I by at least 10,000 Russian POWs of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire to supply the Soča Front. The POWs lived and worked in terrible conditions, and several hundred died of illness and exposure. On March 8, 1916, an avalanche thundered down the mountains, killing hundreds more workers. This chapel was built where the final casualty was found.

*At the top of the pass and at turn #24 we were planning to hike over the “hill” for some great views. Lots of loose stone etc…*

*The path just kept heading up and the “steps” felt to be waist high for me. “Can we just go back down and have a little picnic, please?”*

*The next day we hiked up and up through the forest.*

*We first reached this World War I series of tunnels and look out areas – it* *was deserted and quite eerie.*

*Then we continued up to Fort Hermann – again from WWI.*

Tried to imagine living in a mountain and waiting for soldiers to attack. War is always a very difficult thing to imagine. Ok, it doesn’t look like I’m contemplating war in this pic but still…you get it, right!?! 😉

*Okay, I know I did the whole flower “thing” but I just came across this and thought it worthy of attention. Plus, so much better than wars, right?*

The Wonder of Waterfalls

“It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye. My thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.” – Neil Armstrong

I hope this post doesn’t feel like an HOUR of zen 😉😂

I hate to say this, but if there’s such a thing as a disappointing waterfall, this would be it. Not because it wasn’t awesome – it was just so far away. After hiking up 505 (true story) stairs, rocks and tree roots, I acknowledge its strength and beauty. But after climbing up there, the least it could be is closer!!! It was hard to even photograph without a better zoom lens. Still – it was a dramatic thing to see. Ok, now let’s climb down those 505 steps (but who’s counting, right?).

So Many Flowers

“I wish I had never gone traveling.” Said no one. EVER.

*Well, if you’ve been following me for awhile, you know I’m going to show you “a few” flowers. Here’s your moment of zen!*

*I dream of growing this kind of moss in my shade garden!*

Full disclosure, Murph and I got home on Sept 29th. However, I do have a few more things to show you so stay tuned for the next week or so!

Cycling in Slovenia

“ So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned.” – Peter Pan

*We based ourselves in Kranjska Gora with the primary reason of biking a portion of this trail. It’s 400 kilometers (250 miles) and goes through Austria, Slovenia and Italy.*

*As you probably know, we’ve biked a bit and we found this trail to be exceptional!*

*The blue sky, warm day was definitely a bonus.*

*I mean, seriously – look at these surroundings!*

What an experience it was – we talked about riding the entire trail one day. With E bikes (shout out to Annie) it would be totally doable – 40/50 miles per day? Something to dream about this winter, perhaps? 🤷🏾‍♀️

*Ok, the sign on the left means we are entering Italy and the train marker on the right indicates that we are leaving Slovenia. (Look closely and you’ll see my life/biking partner!)*

*I found this ancient concrete fence fascinating.* 🤔

*Our first destination was this cable car station outside the town of Camporosso, Italy. We hopped on and rode it to the top of Monte Lussari, roughly 1,000 meters (or about 3,000 feet*).

*Great views of the mountains in Italy.*

*Murph walked the rest of the way up to the summit for a bird*’s *eye view.*

*Getting hungry now so we biked back to Tarvisio, Italy and ate at a recommended pizzeria. This is a pic of the old abandoned train station* *that is along the trail.*

*All fed and energized, we biked back toward home. But we had one more stop to make.*

*The sun was getting lower, so after a quick walk by the lake, we turned for home.*

*Now we are entering back into Slovenia and leaving Italy* *behind.*

*Yup, there are Swiftie’s here – even in Slovenia! A nice feeling of unity, I think.*

Simply Slovenia

“Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul.” – Democritus – Ancient Greek philosopher (c. 460 – c. 370 BC)

*We left Ljubljana* *on a bit of a rainy day.*

*We hoped that seeing this newly built house that had a collapsed foundation, wasn’t a bad omen.*

*By the time we arrived at our place in Logarska Dolina, things were definitely looking up!*

*And speaking of up – we seem to always get a room at the top of our B&Bs. (There may be more on that later.)*

*After two weeks of hiking in England and two weeks of touring in Italy, I was starting to think I was burning out*. *But, oh these views*!

*Two weeks in Slovenia? I think I can handle that!*

*Of course, we weren’t done hiking – up we go, in search of a waterfall.*

“*What do you think Murph, would you rather live in a valley, mountain side, or on the very top of the mountain?” We had important conversations like this!*

*Soooo many pretty churches in Slovenia. Fun fact – it’s the only country with love in it. S – LOVE – nia! Right?*

Linger in Ljubljana

“If something good happens, travel to celebrate. If something bad happens, travel to forget. If nothing happens, travel to make something happen.” – Anonymous

*Heading to the bus depot on a vaporetto with Brittany so she can get to the airport and fly home to NY.* 🥲

*We had a great couple of weeks together and were sorry to* *see her go!*

Murph and I headed to another bus stop, via vaporetto, to catch a 12:30 ride to Ljubljana. The bus was 2 hrs late so that was a bit aggravating. There was no explanation and no apologies – “we’re here now so get on the bus!” *After about one and half hours we pulled over to gas up – a quick pit stop, perhaps?*

*I found the process fascinating – let’s do a bit of math here. The driver pumped roughly 504 LITRES of gas and it was about 750€.* Meanwhile, the other driver (there were two on our bus) filled the second tank. Let’s assume he pumped the same amount of gas. So, 1000ish litres of gas for 1500€ (1500€ is about $1750) = $8.75 per gallon! Let’s not complain about $3.00 per gallon gas when Europeans pay so much more.

*All was hunky dory up to that point – until the drivers had to have a smoke – then disappeared inside the station to grab dinner*(?) – and back out for more convo and cigarettes. Everyone quietly sat for an hour until the drivers finally got back on and we continued on down the road. So, the bus was 2 hours late and then delayed for an additional hour. We were supposed to arrive in Ljubljana at 3:30 but got there around 7:00! *Not cool but whatta ya gonna do???*

*The next morning, we had shaken off the aggravating journey and were ready for some sightseeing. Stopping 1st at the picturesque Triple Bridge and the center of the town.*

*No shortage of dining along the Ljubljana River.*

*Many interesting buildings* *in Ljubljana and I really liked this one!*

I’m hoping this video works for you – probably no surprise to you that I just love church bells!

*A small castle adorns the top of the town so we took a funicular up and…*

*Once down, we were rewarded with this beautiful river view.*

*This was a cute “feature” near the town square* – *up above (from wires, that were barely noticeable) came a spray of water. Children and adults loved walking underneath, in the “rain”!*

Unlikely duet but so sweet.

*Ljubljana (pronounced loo blee on na) is the capitol of Slovenia and a must in our book!*

Vulnerable Venice

“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the trip.” – Babs Hoffman

*Like on our first day in Venice when we were up in the San Marco Campanile (bell tower) and Murph*’s camera froze up. As you know, he runs around with a little point and shoot camera and takes 95% of the pics that I post. From here on out you’ll be looking at photos he had to take with his little ole iPhone, with a couple of my iPhone shots scattered in!

San Marco Basilica – one of the oldest, dedicated in 1063. Though this structure is nearly a thousand years old, it’s only the most recent church that stood here since Venice’s birth. Venice was founded back in the 5th and 6th centuries, when the Roman Empire was falling. Rome’s infrastructure was crumbling, and Italy was crawling with barbarians. Ravaged mainlanders fled to marshy islands in the Adriatic, like Venice. They sank pilings in the mud to make foundations for structures like St Mark’s Basilica.

*So much of the basilica is decorated in mosaics that I’ve heard*
*that the equivalent is if one was to completely cover a football field with contact lenses.* *That’s a lot of mosaic tiles!*

After we moved into our apartment we realized that we were going to need provisions. It’s really very interesting to grocery shop in a store where you barely know the language. We had a lot of fun figuring things out.

*So worth the effort of shopping when we were having our breakfast on the rooftop terrace of our apartment!*

*Brittany was all smiles when she was outside the Bridge of Sighs.*

But when we toured the inside of the Doge’s Palace and learned that when prisoners crossed over that same Bridge of Sighs on the inside, they were most likely never going to see the light of day again!

*Getting around Venice on these vaporettos was so interesting.*

*If we could get a seat in the front it was all the better!*

*We took a side trip to the island of Murano, where it is famous for their glass.*

*But our favorite was Burano – famous for lace-making —- but also incredibly charming with all of the colorful buildings.*

*We walked out to the neighborhoods of Venice where it seemed that everyone was doing their laundry that day.*

*For a few special individuals, it was bath day!*

*We played a game of trying to spot Madonna*s *first.*

*It was a fun activity and there are no shortages of Madonnas in Venice!*

*Not a lot of green parks in Venice but we managed to find a couple.*

*finished with Sgroppino all around! (pronounced skor peen o) A drink with prosecco and lemon sorbet – great as a dessert.*

*Brittany and I both came down with head colds during our time in Venice.* “*Oh, bother.” –* Winnie the Pooh

Fabulous Florence (Firenze)

“Whoever you are: some evening take a step out of your house, which you know so well. Enormous space is near…” – Michael Crichton

“There is too much of Florence for a person to do justice to it in a blog post!” – Barbara A Murphy

*Florence’s massive cathedral is the city’s geographical and spiritual heart. Its dome, visible from all over the city, inspired Florentines to do great things.*

*Right* *next door is the Campanile (bell tower) – Giotto’s Tower.*

*We climbed to the top, which had great views of the countryside and the dome…*

*along with my favorite church, Santa Croce* — *where Michelangelo attended services as a child and is also entombed here.*

*Speaking of Michelangelo,* *we visited the Accademia Museum to see David, which he sculpted in 1501 at 26 years old. Again, my friends, marble!*

*David is readying himself to slay Goliath and you can almost sense his confidence as he may be thinking,”I can take this guy.”*

*Ponte Vecchio is a beloved bridge, crossing the River Arno. I like to envision Michelangelo walking over it as a child.*

*It’s also quite beautiful in the evening.*

*While I’m talking about Michelangelo I may as well point out this beautiful painting of his, that we saw in the Uffizi Gallery.* *The Holy Family (c. 1506)*

*So gracefully done. He was quite a prolific artist, no?*

*Just a cool pic of the Palazzo Vecchio Tower.*

*Caught lunch at the very busy Mercado (market).*

*Spotted this “wine door”. It was one of several that we saw. We didn’t try it but evidently you can ring the bell and order up a glass of wine most times of the day.*

*This sculpture of Mary Magdalene, carved from wood, by Donatello is extremely touching.*

*John the Baptist and Jesus on one of the many bronze doors we saw in the Duomo museum.*

*We spotted this interestingly lit piece of art while walking the backstreets one evening*.

*On closer inspection, we found it to be somewhat curious but never found a description of its’ meaning.* 🤷🏽‍♀️

*I loved the cloister at the San Lorenzo library.*

*Enjoying dinner at a quiet square near our “house”.*

*Is this a tiny truck? More like a motorcycle with a trunk.*

Sumptuous Siena

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber

*“Travel lightly. You are not traveling for people to see you!” –* Wilfred A Peterson

*Murph found a really great apartment for us to spend the night in Siena. We were in the center tower on the top floor on a corner.*

*The apartment was fully* *equipped with modern appliances.*

*But what really excited us was a clothes washer & dryer!* 😉

*“Can’t I just stay here all day and night?”*

*What a great view of Il Campo! First layed out in the 12th century*, *this square is the heart of Siena*, *both geographically and metaphorically.*

*The only town square where people stretch out as if at the beach!*

Siena has 17 historic neighborhoods, or contradas—each with a parish church, well or fountain, and square—each contrada plays an active role in the life of the city. Each is represented by a mascot (porcupine, unicorn, wolf etc.) and unique colors are worn proudly by residents. These drummers, leading the parade, belong to the Goose contrada.

*And this lamp hangs in the contrada of the Goose.*

*This is the Duomo di Siena – 13th century cathedral that is both beautiful during the day…*

*The inside has captivating stripped columns…*

*and along side the angels that stand* *on the face of the cathedral!*

*From the top of the Duomo we had an amazing birds* *eye view of the surrounding countryside!*

*Murph and Brittany weren’t done with climbing yet though. Off they headed to the city hall with its 400 steps.*

*I decided to take in the ambience below and enjoy the campo. That’s me on the right of the fountain, waving to them up in the tower.*

It’s really hard to capture the size of this campo and it’s difficult to imagine, but twice a year those contradas that I’ve been telling you about compete in a world famous horse race, the Palio di Siena. A horse from each contrada races three times around the elliptical shaped town square and the winning horse (with or without his rider) gains the honor for the following year. *It’s not a very large campo so we tried to picture 60,000 screaming fans. Must be a wild scene!*

We were awakened around midnight by the sounds of a twelve piece band and lots of cheering. The Goose contrada had won the Palio about a month ago and now have bragging rights for the entire next year. They parade around the town and remind every one of their victory as often as possible. I spoke to a local and he showed me a video of his winning contrada (the Rams) at their church, singing their praises to the Blessed Virgin Mary – their patron saint.