Another first ! 7-5-3 Day!

12/20
We arrived yesterday in Singapore late afternoon. I think we both aged a bit on the two flights getting here and really didn't sleep for over 24 hours, so were very late getting up today.

Yuko and John have a large apartment on the 9th floor with a nice view of the city. Our room is a half circle with lots of windows. They have their place all decorated for Christmas. Of course, Yuko had a delicious dinner waiting for us and it was fun catching up, since we saw each other in July. Emma had made a Christmas cake in the afternoon, so it was a festive occasion. Matt had sent our summer clothes here, so we quickly got into Singapore attire, which is as little as possible.

Today was Emma and Nicky's photo shoot in kimonos as a gift from Yuko's parents celebrating a Japanese tradition called 7-5-3. When Japanese girls reach these ages (7,5 and 3) they get all dressed up in kimonos. This year, Emma is seven and Nicky three. It took several hours, hair dressing, kimonos, and all the extra fixings, and then the actual picture taking. The girls were so patient and looked great. Now, watching that was definitely a first. It is nice to see traditions continue.

I hit the tennis ball for about 30 minutes with Yuko and Emma and feel like I need another shower. Nicky was the ball girl while Pops took a nap. Next time I'll wear my bathing suit so I can jump in the pool.

We are continuing the 7-5-3 celebration tonight by going to the Mandarin Hotel for a buffet dinner.

What a dinner! Every known and unknown appetizer, main course, and dessert. We were there for almost three hours. Luckily nothing had calories! They had at least 25 people greeting everyone at the hotel entrance and up to the buffet. Fun watching the preparations, since many were certainly new to me. A very large, I mean really large, gingerbread house in the lobby.

Out on the main shopping street after dinner, the Christmas decorations were lovely. Plenty of people out enjoying the activity with entertainment for all ages...a young singing group, a larger-than-life-size manger scene all in white, a clown, new-car photo op, and snow! (just kidding, it's almost 80 degrees at 10:30pm).

John and Yuko certainly made it another very memorable day.

Novigrad Redux

12/13
We are back "home" for a few days before leaving on Sunday for a lengthy trip to Singapore.

Time to wash clothes and dry everything. We've figured out a way to speed up the drying process...hang the clothes in the kitchen in front of the warm air heater/fan. It takes several hours and interferes with cooking, but it's faster than hanging outdoors especially now that it's raining and cooler.

The town is prepared for Christmas with street decorations. Also, several buildings on our street are covered in green material, not decoration, but renovation protection.

12/14
Grocery shopping. Our regular stops at the green grocer, the bakery, and the Konzum (grocery store). Using Kuna again. At the library to use Wi-fi indoors rather than outdoors at the town Trg (rainy and cold).

That's where we encounter a new problem...all of a sudden, we can not use our hotmail email account...can't even sign in because the password is not valid. I attempt several work-arounds, but to no avail.

Google comes up with the answer and a solution. We have been hacked (I thought that Apple products were immune to this kind of thing)! The website, JustAnswer.com, provides the solution (for a fee). It's not simple and it will take several days to work out. Evidently, FREE Hotmail.com does not have much online support (a solution for the future is to sign up for a PAY-FOR version). Until we resolve this situation, we will use our Gmail account, rreilein@gmail.com (note two r's).

12/15
Duśka treated us along with her two secretaries, both named Luana, and Robert, our driver/police chief to a wonderful meal. It was the company annual Christmas lunch at Konoba Perci in the small village of Tar. Mom and I each had an ox meat pasta. Very tasty and tender meat. We started out with a large platter of meat (local smoked ham), cheeses( one with truffles) and olives. Had chocolate souffle cakes (like we make at home) oozing with warm chocolate in the center for dessert and then of course a bit of grappa.
They gave us some holiday gifts that was so thoughtful, since they don't necessarily exchange gifts. The bag included a box of candy and some local honey products.
We had a long enjoyable lunch/dinner.
Robert has quite a sense of humor and relayed several work related stories.

12/16
Been catching up on some NY Times articles. We are both finishing books. Really just able to get two English news stations on TV. Expanded our card playing to gin as well as cribbage. It feels like we are back "home", being able to relax in the morning over coffee and reading. I have just finished "Sarah's Key". What an enlightening story of French history during WWII.

There is a Christmas fair, starting this afternoon, at the square in front of the church here in Novigrad. Kids are singing and dancing, so it should be fun. Also, a singing group at 8:00pm.

Duška has arranged a driver to take us to Venice Sunday morning, so now we just need to pack up. Need to lighten our load, mainly of brochures and information of all that we have seen. All the tourist centers that we visited have very prolific writers and we would walk away with piles of material. Again, we are glad to have the blog!

12/17
We're in the process of taking care of last day activities. We just printed our boarding passes for tomorrow's flight on Qatar Airlines, a 5-star airline! Most of our clothes are dry for packing. Gin Rummy and Cribbage help while away the afternoon, watching BBC and EuroNews Re repeated every half hour.

Several shops and cafes that have been closed since November have reopened for the holiday season. The harbor (mandrać) is filled with fishing boats. It could be that the fishermen are enjoying a holiday break, or maybe it's the end of the fishing season, or most likely it's the bad weather...rain and strong wind the last few days.

Dinner tonight will be at a Novigrad seafood konoba Čok. One that we haven't tried, but this is the week for some kind of special fish and they are supposed to have it. Maybe we will see what band is playing at the fair too. Last night we did a bit of dancing to a guitar player and singer that were quite good. Luckily it is under a tent because of the wind and periodic rain.

We said good bye to Luanna and Duska and Robert stopped by, so we are on to see the Garretts !

Oh, our E -mail address is working again. reileinsd@hotmail.com

Dinner was great. Started with scallops, then noodles with white truffles, grilled fish with potatoes and spinach and then pannacotta for Dick and apple tart with English cream for me. Of course no calories ! Then they brought some complimentary grappa. Cute place and very cozy, Think we better set an alarm to get up !

And on the 26th day..

After another wonderful breakfast, it was time to pack up and head back to Novigrad. I had a nice chat with the owner of the pension. She gave me an umbrella as a gift, which came in very handy as the day progressed.

We really feel great about all the places, history, beauty and especially the people we encountered over the last 26 days. It opened our eyes on many different levels. We were fortunate how things fell into place since we certainly didn't have it all plotted out. Thanks to the IPad we were able to contact places to stay and visit along the way, but usually just a day ahead. Since it is so out of the busy season we got bargain prices and enjoyed varied accommodations, all in the old city parts.

We took a bus from Lake Bled to Ljubljana, which was just over an hour. We then had over three hours before leaving for Novigrad. Headed right for the old city, roamed around thru the markets, had another wonderful sausage and sauercraut from an outdoor vendor. Then, we spent the rest of the time at the Slovenian National Museum. Another great museum tracing the country's history over ions. If only we could retain all the facts! They have proof of life in the area 200,000 years ago. A tiny little flute, made from bear bone, is over 45,000 years old. It sure seems that music, paintings and many sports transcend age, languages and cultures.

It was inspiring to read about their determination to become an independent country. They have certainly accomplished a great deal in 20 years. It seems the people have a relaxed, happy and healthy life style. Our host at the Bled pension (Tatijana is in her 40s) voiced some concern about the next generation regarding their willingness to work hard for their future. Is this a common sign of the future for developed nations?

We caught a bus at 4:30. We're back to Novigrad in less than three hours. Later, in bed, we heard thunder and heavy rain, so we lucked out weather-wise again.

Gingerbread cookies and Beekeeping

12/11
Another great breakfast at our pension. We had hoped to ride bicycles to the nearby (5 miles) town of Radoviča, but there is light mist and the pension owners advised against it.

We altered our day's plan by walking around Lake Bled (Blayd), about 3.5 miles...it seemed longer than going around Keyser Lake in NH even though it's a similar distance. At the far end of the lake, the "church island" is fairly near the shore, making a good photo opportunity. Seeing swans on the lake is a plus.

A short side trip brought us to Vila Bled, a hotel now, formerly Jośip Broz Tito's summer villa (one of 40 residences he maintained for different purposes). The exterior lacks any architectural interest, and the interior is pretty staid. There is some interesting wall art, in particular a mural covering the upper part of two walls, depicting Slovenia's involvement in World War II...a definite political statement to pacify the Russian communist government.

This hotel has a huge chunk of real estate and know how to charge. A standard room starts at 220 Euros. A very nice man that showed us around said a couple from "the states" (he didn't know exactly where) was having a wedding reception there next week after being married in the church on the island. Great setting and I'm sure huge price tag.

We then took a short bus ride to Radoviča, a couple towns away. Timing was good and had an interesting tour of the small old town. Actually had another couple with us who are from Ljubljana. This town is known for a famous playwright, Anton Tomaz Lindhart. It also has a well preserved moat, several medieval homes and a number of late gothic and renaissance buildings. It is a working, lived in town with interesting fresco paintings and our guide did a good job explaining it's existence since 1333.

We ate at the 500 year old Lectar family restaurant where we sampled several traditional, local dishes. The Lectar (the name means "gingerbread baker") museum is a clever small ginger bread workshop that's been around since 1766. They make cookies (some heart-shaped) covered with deep red, hard frosting and decorated, sometimes with a love note, a poem, or a company logo. If not eaten, they can be used as ornaments. Gingerbread is an important part of Slovene culture.

Then we took the tip from Rick Steves and visited the museum on Slovene beekeeping. It was fascinating. Elaborate beehive houses built in the 19th century are on display. Also, naive artwork painted on the front panel of beehives.

Wow, bees are smart little things! They have great social structure. (Dave Brazier should see this museum!) Do you know that male drones die after fertilizing the queen's eggs? The queen lays from 1,500 to 2,000 eggs, daily? And, some worker bees only clean the comb cells? While others only use their wings to remove heat from the hive? Or, after a few years the queen is "asked" to leave; she takes some drones and workers with her in a swarm to start a new hive. This is complicated stuff.

Gingerbread cookies and Beekeeping

12/11
Another great breakfast at our pension. We had hoped to ride bicycles to the nearby (5 miles) town of Radoviča, but there is light mist and the pension owners advised against it.

We altered our day's plan by walking around Lake Bled (Blayd), about 3.5 miles...it seemed longer than going around Keyser Lake in NH even though it's a similar distance. At the far end of the lake, the "church island" is fairly near the shore, making a good photo opportunity. Seeing swans on the lake is a plus.

A short side trip brought us to Vila Bled, a hotel now, formerly Jośip Broz Tito's summer villa (one of 40 residences he maintained for different purposes). The exterior lacks any architectural interest, and the interior is pretty staid. There is some interesting wall art, in particular a mural covering the upper part of two walls, depicting Slovenia's involvement in World War II...a definite political statement to pacify the Russian communist government.

This hotel has a huge chunk of real estate and know how to charge. A standard room starts at 220 Euros. A very nice man that showed us around said a couple from "the states" (he didn't know exactly where) was having a wedding reception there next week after being married in the church on the island. Great setting and I'm sure huge price tag.

We then took a short bus ride to Radoviča, a couple towns away. Timing was good and had an interesting tour of the small old town. Actually had another couple with us who are from Ljubljana. This town is known for a famous playwright, Anton Tomaz Lindhart. It also has a well preserved moat, several medieval homes and a number of late gothic and renaissance buildings. It is a working, lived in town with interesting fresco paintings and our guide did a good job explaining it's existence since 1333.

We ate at the 500 year old Lectar family restaurant where we sampled several traditional, local dishes. The Lectar (the name means "gingerbread baker") museum is a clever small ginger bread workshop that's been around since 1766. They make cookies (some heart-shaped) covered with deep red, hard frosting and decorated, sometimes with a love note, a poem, or a company logo. If not eaten, they can be used as ornaments. Gingerbread is an important part of Slovene culture.

Then we took the tip from Rick Steves and visited the museum on Slovene beekeeping. It was fascinating. Elaborate beehive houses built in the 19th century are on display. Also, naive artwork painted on the front panel of beehives.

Wow, bees are smart little things! They have great social structure. (Dave Brazier should see this museum!) Do you know that male drones die after fertilizing the queen's eggs? The queen lays from 1,500 to 2,000 eggs, daily? And, some worker bees only clean the comb cells? While others only use their wings to remove heat from the hive? Or, after a few years the queen is "asked" to leave; she takes some drones and workers with her in a swarm to start a new hive. This is complicated stuff.

Another Day Another Castle

Several people praised Lake Bled to us but we had doubts when we first arrived. It was a shock to see street signage, advertisements, and modern hotels etc. but our doubts were quickly gone.

Our Penzion is very nice and we have a very spacious room. The best part is the view of the castle from our terrace. The first write up of the castle was in 1011 so the town is celebrating it's 1000th anniversary.

We climbed the winding path and over 100 stairs to the castle. A sign at the bottom assures people that is will take only 15 minutes. It took us 15 minutes exactly! The views were spectacular. The sun was trying to stream down through the clouds and just glistened on the lake. We sat in the castle terrace, had a beer and soaked up the serenity. The lake is just slightly larger than Lake Kezar and has a great 3.5 mile path all around. There is a 14th century church on an island. They only allow a couple small boats with electric motors on the lake and small rowboats called pletnas to take people to the island. Very picturesque.

Slovenia sure has great museums and the one in the castle was no exception. It explained the geological formation of this entire area. There is evidence of the existence of man here many thousands of years ago. An interesting little print shop was also in the castle and it had a picture of Laura Bush when she visited several years ago. Also a picture of two girls that was a younger version of Paige and Maddie.

Yesterday we saw there was going to be a hockey game today so of course we went. Wow, did we think of Zach ! The Bled team, The Ducks, were playing a team from Ljubljana, the Olympias, a youth league, 11 to 13 year olds. The score was tied when we arrived 2 to 2 and then we saw the Ducks score four goals in the final period. Very exciting. They seemed like good, fast skaters and checking was not allowed.

Then there was a torch tour of the town. Everyone carried very long candles. Our 23 year old guide was named Matthew - at least in English. He was very personable and tried to relay everything to us in English. He also recommended a little local pizza place, which was very good. We saw it received a 4+ from TripAdvisor.
Finished the night at a little cafe where they had a jazz band playing.

Looking forward to breakfast since today's was quite a treat. Quite a few people are staying here, which is certainly a change from our experience in other towns. Lots of hikers since the Julian Alps surround the town. It will be a winter wonderland soon.

A : See Details(Google Map)

Dancing in Ljubljana

12/07
This is a delightful city and we have thoroughly enjoyed it. The people are very, very friendly, helpful and love their city. As an example, the tourist center only had one bike to rent since most have been stored away for the winter. A young woman at a cafe said we could use hers, no charge, trusting us to return it later.

Nice sunny day. We rode in Tivoli Park, which is a large park starting near the city center. It's called the lung of the city...lots of trees and open land. Stopped at the Tivoli Mansion, which contains the Graphic Arts Museum. They were featuring a print exhibit by a well known artist, Tinac Stegovec. Ironically, they had prints from another artist, Petra Varl. We are staying at her B&B! She happens to be in New York right now, so we didn't meet her.

Biked to the top of a hill and had some hardy Slovenian soup while overlooking the mountain range. Lots of people out hiking and soaking up the sun. Just a fun atmosphere. Sure a wonderful change from when they were literally wrapped in barbed wire after WW II...another sad story.

Got back in time to get a tour of Plečnik's home and studio. He was the master architect of bridges and buildings here as well as Vienna and Prague. Milan, an art history student at the University here gave us the tour. We were his only guests at the 17:00 tour. We got a lot of information about Pletničk and his inside political connections in Ljubljana

By the way, Ljubljana University has 60,000 students. The whole country has just over 2 million people and Ljubjana about 280,000. They sure are doing things right here...sophisticated, educated, fun-loving, artistic, and stable. I guess they became so successful due to the fact they are midway between Vienna and Venice, two very influential cities in two important countries.

Had tickets for the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. A marvelous young pianist was featured performing an incredible Mozart piece. We were in the 2nd row and were able to watch his fingers move up and down the keyboard in a blur. The orchestra is another example of the sophistication and support this city has for the arts.

Then it was back out on the plazas for all the festivities that last all month. Really great bands, lots of dancing, hot mulled wine and beautiful, unusual decorations. It just amazes us on how adept all these people are at several languages.

Lots of American songs, one country western rock about getting back to Chicago. When we said that is our city they all clapped! This is a mid sized city, but with a homey, very comfortable feel. It has been said that it is the safest and most honest in the world. We definitely feel that could be true.

12/08
Graffiti is on many building walls around town. It seems odd in a city that is very neat and tidy. We guessed that it rather than try to clean it up/off, city officials have decided to leave it as "art". As confirmation of this, as we walked to the bus station leaving Ljubljana, we passed through an area referred to an alternative art. All the buildings here are painted in a type of graffiti.

We're off to Bled (pronounced Blayd), the town and the lake, at 13:30. It's only an hour and half away.