EUROPE – PART 3

We left the comfort of the Island Princess after twelve days and schlepped our luggage to the National Express bus station, a half-hour walk just to get the blood flowing. Elva puts up with my eccentricities. Most women would find them intolerable or, worse yet, grounds for divorce! It’s one of the reasons we’re together after all these years; because she’s one tough lady. A two-hour bus ride took us to Heathrow where we waited six hours for our flight to Zagreb.

I’d booked a B&B in the center of the city, thinking it would be an ideal location for exploring on foot. I always use booking.com for accommodations when we’re travelling on our own. It provides an excellent service and is reliable 95% of the time. But, when we got to our B&B, the key to open the door to the building wouldn’t work. A nice lady came along and let us in. The elevator wasn’t working, so we had to carry our luggage up four flights of stairs, lit only by our iPhone flashlights. Thank goodness the room was nice and breakfast the next morning was good.

Croatia is not a wealthy country but, compared to some other Balkan states, it has shown considerable improvement since it declared its independence in 1991 after the breakup of Yugoslavia. It has a population of 4 million people and Zagreb, the capital, is home to close to 1 million of those. In a relatively short time, Croatia has joined several of the important international “clubs”: NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, the Schengen Area, the United Nations Security Council, and others. Croatia’s currency is the Euro. Tourism is a significant source of revenue, with the country benefiting greatly from its long Adriatic coast. It’s GDP per capita is about $40,000, compared to $58,000 for Canada and $50,000 for Slovenia, its neighbour to the north.

Our B&B room overlooked one of Zagreb’s main squares. Like most others in Europe, it features a fierce looking man on a horse… The buzz was impressive. The square was a busy spot all day and a popular hangout for young people all through the late hours.

After visiting the tourism information center, we took a walking tour to see the main sights. Along the way, we ran across many directional signs. This is the first one I’ve seen that points to a Museum of Broken Relationships. A nearby sign pointed to the Museum of Hangovers! The second photo shows the Croatian National Theatre, an impressive structure built of a yellowish stone that glows in the sunlight.

We came across a bomb shelter quite by accident and wandered in. Much to our surprise, where the tunnel broadened, we saw this wonderful example of contemporary art, complete with a sound and light show. On the return trek to our B&B, we walked through several markets selling flowers. The light accentuated this one perfectly, I thought.

Leaving Zagreb after a busy day, we picked up our tiny Ford Fiesta at Thrifty Rent-A-Car and headed north toward Slovenia, country number 94 on our list. We drove through beautiful, pastoral countryside on roadways as smooth as a baby’s bottom for the two hours or so it took to reach Lake Bled. After checking into our hotel, we strolled along the lake, taking in the stunning views. We’d been told to consider taking an electric boat to reach the island in the middle of the lake and its iconic landmark, the Assumption of Maria Church. I went off in the wrong direction and came across a rowboat rental place. “Why not?” So, we did! Best $45 we’ve spent on this trip so far.

The lake was almost dead calm, and my passenger managed to stay in the boat as we rowed to the island, circled it, and came back! She never wiped the smile off her face the whole time. “C’est comme un conte de fée!” (It’s like a fairy tale”), Elva remarked. Lake Bled is all of that, and the fall colours were a bonus. Words cannot describe its beauty. After returning the rowboat, we walked the 6 kilometers around the lake, building up a wicked appetite.

Slovenia’s land area makes it about four times the size of Prince Edward Island. It’s bordered by Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Croatia and has a population of just over 2 million. The country is mostly mountainous and forested and enjoys a stable government and a strong economy. Like Croatia, it declared its independence and is a member of all the important international clubs.

On our second day in Bled, we rose early to get ahead of the forecast all-day rain. We drove up out of the town toward the nearby village of Podhom and took a one-hour hike along the Vintgar Gorge in Triglavski Narodni National Park. The trail wound its way through a forest of European Beech, an iconic example of the continent’s original wilderness. In addition to the beautiful views of the gorge far below, we encountered something that falls into the category: “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it!”, a young man blowing leaves off the trail!

Day 3 in Bled began with a steady rain. We waited until it slowed to a drizzle and ventured out with our rain gear and umbrellas, ready to climb to Bled Castle (top left in the photo). Having seen enough castles in Europe, we decided not to venture in but rather to continue our morning stroll around the town below. Everything here is spotless and orderly, all signs of a prosperous place but the people are not the friendlest. Maybe if my hometown was overrun with foreigners every day, I’d feel the same.

After our walk, we checked in with the local tourist information office and were directed to a nearby town called Radolvljica for a day trip. We sat in the car watching the rain fall while we ate our bagged lunch. As soon as it stopped, we saw our chance to walk through the medieval town and were not disappointed. The place is worthy of UNESCO World Heritage designation and a lovely place for a stroll. The sun broke through the clouds just enough to grace the middle photo with a bit of light before the umbrellas came out again.

After spending three days in Bled, we drove the short distance to Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana. As intimidating as the name first appears, if you just pretend each “j” is an “i”, you’ll be close enough to the correct pronunciation. After checking into our hotel, we walked to the nearby city center and joined a guided tour. Two things struck me: first, the statue in the main square is not of a fierce-looking man riding a horse but of a poet, France Preseren; second, since 2007, the downtown core has been a pedestrian-only zone. I considered both to be very good omens and the sign of a very progressive society. And the sunshine didn’t hurt our mood either…

Our next stop was the castle that overlooks the city, a bit of a climb on foot but not quite as high as Bled Castle. Along the way, we ran into a two-legged feathered curiosity, someone’s pet emu! Ljubljana is home to 300,000 inhabitants and is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political, and administrative center. It’s a spotless, orderly, and prosperous place and, on Saturday, it was buzzing with people, mostly locals. We attended Mass at St. Nicholas Cathedral and had a very nice meal at an Italian restaurant on the banks of the river that bisects the downtown.

Day 2 in Ljubljana dawned bright and sunny. Since stores are closed here on Sundays (Slovenia has a strong Catholic tradition), poor Elva had to tag along as I visited a couple of national museums. After torturing her for a few hours, we continued our pedestrian wanderings and went back to our favourite places from the day before.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll leave Slovenia and cross again into Croatia on our way to our next stop, Mostar, a town in Bosnia-Herzegovina.