Slovenia, Italy, Turkey May 13-29, 2025

Ljubljana, Slovenia May 13-15, 2025 Why Slovenia? An Amazing Race episode showed Ljubljana Slovenia and the scenery was breathtaking and we had to go. After 10 months of planning, its finally time to make this dream adventure come true. We flew Huntsville to Atlanta and met the Browns at the international terminal several hours prior to our 9:45 pm departure to Ljubljana, Slovenia via Istanbul, Turkey. Upgrading our flights to business class, we really wanted to act like we’ve been here before, but quite truthfully, it wasn’t possible; we were absolutely giddy! When we got to our gate, we found that business class had its own gate and we didn’t have to stand in lines by zones to board. The food and service was spectacular; not to mention the lie flat beds for our 11 hour overnight flight. Arrival in Istanbul was at 3:30 pm; 7:30 am central time. A 2-1/2 hour layover before boarding our final flight to Ljubljana was spent in the Turkish Airlines lounge. Ljubljana, the capital and largest city is known for being the “green” capital of a “green country”. It’s an easy walkable city with a city center market and a river that flows right through town. We arrived our hotel, The Hotel Slamic; and there was a concert going on. The music was great and we were able to hear a few American tunes! The owners of the hotel made us feel as if we were staying in their home. They were very welcoming, as were everyone we encountered in this beautiful country. We were given a menu to mark our options for breakfast and it was served in the dining room at the exact time we requested. We walked up to Ljubljana castle but didn’t go in, and rode the funicular down. We then joined a guided city tour and learned a lot about the city and Slovenia in general. The Slovenians are very proud people, having won their independence only in 1991. They offer free education to their citizens and the people are highly educated, but typically under employed if they remain in their country. Many of the city guides hold PhDs. We ate pizza for lunch at a sidewalk cafe and later stopped for a beer at Sir William’s bar. The waiter there recommended walking a couple of blocks to Gostinstvo 5-6 KG for dinner. It was raining cats and dogs but it was worth it. Bled, Slovenia, May 16-18, 2025 We picked up our Volkswagen T-Roc rental car in Ljubljana this morning and headed off to Bled! Since we were arriving before our checkin time at the Rikli Balance Hotel, we continued driving to Bohinj and the Triglav National Park. We took a cable car to the top of Mount Vogel (elevation 5000 ft) and enjoyed the spectacular views and a well deserved cup of hot chocolate. It actually started snowing on us while we were there. We thought a stroll around Lake Bled would finish off our day, but instead took the 895 step trek up to Bled castle, which dates back to the 11th century. The steps were treacherous but the view from the top was so worth it. We were craving a American food so we stopped and had burger and a beer and enjoyed a great view of Lake Bled while eating. The next morning we started our day with a bountiful breakfast buffet, made to order omelettes, and a stupendous coffee/espresso machine!!! Later we set off to Vintgar Gorge. This is a one mile walk around a 250 meter glacial gorge that originally opened in 1893. A continuous stream and numerous waterfalls flow through the gorge are well maintained and protected. Once we exited the gorge, we unintentionally took the longer of two paths back. We registered 7.7 miles of walking. After 3 days in Slovenia, we thought it was time to try a traditional Slovenian meal. Having done a little research we thought the food seemed a big heavy for our tastes, but when in Rome…. We happened upon Gostilna Pri Planincu. A traditional Slovenian diner and let the waiter choose what to serve us. He chose 3 entrees (pork tenderloin in honey dip with cheese dumplings, traditional Slovenian sausage with mashed potatoes, and turkey and pumpkin sauce with buckwheat pockets). Our waiter was the best! He tried to tell us his name several times, we just gave up trying to understand what he was saying. He made this lunch the best experience possible by throwing in lots of free humor. Upon seating us, he asked Cindy if she was literate before handing her the menu. It was in English, but we had to assume he meant literate in Slovenian, but he meant in general. I happened to say “awesome” and he rolled his eyes and said “that’s as American as “Paper or Plastic”! Guess you would have had to be there. Here’s a short clip of him trying to print our bill. After taking a break from all the activities, we regrouped and met up for an afternoon stroll around Lake Bled. Hank stopped and bought one piece of Bled Cake, a local delicacy. We later gathered in the Brown’s room and shared the one piece of cake for dinner! We were all still full from our fun and filling lunch earlier. Cindy and I continued the evening in the hotel’s hot tub (and a quick shower with a large German man in a speedo) before retiring. May 18-19 - Smartno, Slovenia We continued our tour of Slovenia with a scenic drive through the Slovenian Alps. They were pretty magnificent. The Soca River Valley was the site of fierce fighting in World War I between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire with over a million casualties; so we decided to make a stop at the World War I museum that had been highly recommended. We left feeling a little disappointed in the experience although lady that worked there did give us a very meaningful description of the independence that Slovenia long fought for and that made the stop worthwhile. The roads were long and winding to our next destination (Smartno, Slovenia). We had been commenting that the area really didn’t seem conducive to wine making, and just as we finished that statement, we rounded a corner and the views from the other side of the mountain appeared. Hills and valleys covered with vineyards. We arrived at the village of Smartno and parked outside the tall stone walls that surrounded it as no cars were allowed inside. We actually got a “WOW” and a huge smile out of Hank. The village was very small but extremely quaint with a Tuscan feel. It even had an old church complete with bells clanging at very strange intervals. The entry into the village had a couple of vendor booths set up and people were selling fresh sweet cherries. We didn’t get the significance of this at the time. We checked in to the Aldila Art Room apartment, a 2 bed /2 bath, 4 story apartment. The entry level was not really used by us, and led downstairs to a large kitchen and sitting room, that weren’t needed by our group. The 3nd floor contained our two bedrooms and baths. The 4th floor contained a kitchen, living area, and a pergola covered patio with stunning views of the area. We decided to dine in town that evening and started our evening at a great little wine bar, Vinoteka BRDA. The seating area was outside and overlooked the Soca River Valley. We later enjoyed a great dinner at Marica; where again a small bowl of fresh cherries was placed on our table. The next morning, our hostess arrives at the front door carrying two large baskets of breakfast foods. We enjoyed croissants, breads, olives, pickled pearl onions, cheese, prosciutto, deli ham, and assorted pastries and a delicious peach juice. We decided to take a hike along a portion of the Walk of Peace, which represents the remembrance of human values and the heritage of the many nations that fought for a lasting peace and respect of the differences between nations, states, languages, religions, traditions, etc. Slovenians are very proud of their independence as a country and their membership with the EU. Along this hike, we were very surprised to see so many things growing. Not only were there grapes, but figs, olives, peaches, crab apples, artichokes, and yes, sweet cherries! The cherry trees were heavy with beautiful ripe cherries. We climbed a spiral tower (143 steps) to see the vistas. Along the walk back to the hotel, Richard was precariously walking in the street while the rest of us were hugging the shoulder of the curvy road. Some would say that my worry gene got the best of me and I yelled at him to be safe. He continued on until finally, I shouted “hey dumbass, I’m leaving your dead body in Slovenia if you get run over” or something to that effect. The Browns didn’t believe this magical moment would make it into the blog, but here it is. We did all make it back safely to our abode though. This afternoon, we headed out to check out some local wineries. We stopped in Modana for lunch at Vino Modana. We each started with a cold fish appetizer platter (raw oyster, cod fish dip, a large raw prawn, a piece of raw tuna and sea bass, a sea bass carpaccio). We then shared a seafood pasta and shellfish dish. This was our top meal of the entire trip! We stopped at two wineries, Klet BRDA and Scurek and purchased a couple of bottles of wine. That evening for dinner, we enjoyed a variety of leftovers, and spent the evening playing cards and packing. Piran, Italy May 20-22 Along the way to Piran, we stopped and toured Predjama Castle and Postojna Cave. The castle has been perched in the middle of a 400 foot-high rocky cliff for over 800 years. It was pretty incredible how the cave and castle were merged into one and you seamlessly went from cave to castle and castle to cave without even realizing it. At the Postojna Cave, we took a 2 mile journey on the world's only double-track cave railway to through hallways adorned with magnificent stalactites and stalagmites. However, they informed us that Mammoth Cave, just two states away, is actually larger! Piran is a beautiful coastal city. We were allowed to drive our rental car into the gated city but only had 15 minutes to unload our car and remove it. Our hostess provided excellent step by step instructions on how to locate our apartment (and we needed it). We turned in our rental car in Portoroz and grabbed a beer before boarding the bus back to Piran. The Browns had started laundry by the time we returned. We struggled a bit trying to figure out how to operate the washer, but soon had wet (but clean) clothes strewn all over the laundry rack to dry. We walked along the water to explore the town and grabbed a tuna salad sandwich for dinner. It was delicious but not very hearty. We snacked later that evening. We picked up fresh eggs and strawberries at the outdoor market for breakfast the next morning. We played cards and drank wine and slept well in our air bnb (hosted by Roman and Kathi). Each room facing the water had port hole windows. The next day we took a local bus to Portoroz and explored the town. It’s a little more up scale than Piran with casinos and lots more people. There wasn’t much to see there so we went back to Piran or lunch. We stopped at an outside restaurant Piret Piran and I got sea bass, a sea scallop, and 3 large prawns. Richard and the Browns got a halibut goulash. We book the leftovers home for dinner that evening. May 22 We were picked up right across the street from our apartment by Go Opti! It’s a dependable transportation service that can be reserved in advance. We were dropped off at the Venice, Italy train station where we took a people mover to the water taxi which dropped us near the Papafava Palace. Looking back, it sounds easy, but we might have struggled a bit maneuvering the many forms of transportation. However, the location was perfect. We were in the historical heart of Venice, a 10 minute walk from Piazzale Roma and a 2 minute walk from the central Ca d’ Orl vaporetto boat stop on the Grand Canal. Nicola and Monica, the owners of this magnificent 15th century palace, met us and showed us around. To say it was large, is an understatement. The two bedrooms were each the size of most of our other European rentals. It’s gothic style architecture was magnificent. It originally belonged to the Pescadoras family in the 14th century. After checking in, we walked to St. Marks Square and just soaked the city in. This was the Browns first visit to this magnificent and unique city. We even stopped for a pizza at a typical Venetian sidewalk cafe. May 23 Today we took a water taxi to Burano and Murano and enjoyed the vibrant colors, and beautiful glasswork and shared a salmon lasagna for lunch. It was delicious. Twenty three years ago, were were lucky enough to be in this city for our honeymoon and purchased a beautiful blown glass gonala Christmas ornament. However, this past Christmas, it accidentally got broke when putting it on the tree. Although we were both sad, we knew we would get a chance to replace it and indeed we did! We returned to Venice and got to enjoy a new favorite dessert, AFFOGATO! We walked to Vivoli el Gelato, a restaurant that was recently written up in the Wall Street Journal. It is known as “la gran crema al caffe”. It’s a cup with spoonfuls of gelato pressed inside the edges of the cup, and espresso poured in the middle. There are no words to describe how yummy this is! May 24 Happy 23rd anniversary to us! Today, we got an early start. We left the palace at 5:30 am, walked to the water bus station, made our way to the train station and headed to Florence, Italy. This was another first or the Browns and we were happy to tag along. Cindy did a great job planning the day and navigating us through this busy, crowded city. We got to see David at the Academia Museum, but felt a little duped by the tour company that I purchased tickets from. Our 6:20 pm train back to Venice was delayed and we decided to grab a bite to eat in the train station before boarding. We all agreed to tell no one that we had 5 GUYS BURGERS in Florence, Italy. We finally made it back to the palace around 10 pm. It was a long, but enjoyable day. We got 26,523 steps in today! May 25 Today, another full day exploring Venice. Lots of photos, walking, and soaking it all in as tomorrow we fly to Istanbul to explore. May 26 Boy did this day start early! We set alarms for 4:30 am, left the palace at 5 am, jumped on a water bus to the airport at 5:30am. When the water bus pulled up to the dock, he announced he could only take 10 people because they were near capacity. With approximately 50 people standing there at 5:30 am waiting to board, you can only imagine the chaos. We fortunately made it on, but only because two young ladies in front of us didn’t have the correct ticket. We boarded an early Turkish Air Flight to Istanbul and took a taxi to the Conrad Bosporus Hotel; however, we mistakenly gave him the name of the Hilton Bosporus and were dropped there instead. No harm…..we just got in another taxi and went to the correct hotel. Turkish Airlines offered a promotion of a 3 free hotel stay in a 5 star hotel when traveling through Turkey. Naturally, we jumped on this and highly recommend the Conrad! It was a long day but Richard encouraged us to keep moving and off we went to Taxsim Square and the famous Istiklal Avenue, a pedestrian street full of shops and restaurants. We got back to the hotel before dark and crashed early! May 27-28 Today we checked the “monument boxes”: The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, and the Sistern. There is a lot of amazing history in this, the largest city in Europe by population (with over 15 million people). Its a city on two continents; about two-thirds of its population live in Europe and the rest in Asia. Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus—one of the world's busiest waterways—in northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe and had a long but interesting conversation with our waiter, Joseph. He recommended that we visit Princes Island, which is an island off of Istanbul. It’s where the wealthy people live. It was a huge contrast between the fast pace, souvenir shopping Mecca of Istanbul and this island that only allowed electric vehicles. Even the city bus was electric. May 29 This magnificent 17 day journey ends today with a 4:30 am taxi back to the Istanbul Airport and a comfortable 11-1/2 hour flight back to Atlanta. Unfortunately when we were going through security in the Istanbul airport, I realized that my diamond cross pendant and my “grace” pendant were missing! I found the chain laying on the ground, but I have to assume someone needed these and picked them up. I should have not traveled with them and had put them in the hotel safe while in Istanbul. The chain’s clasp must have not been fastened well. I hate this so much, but if its the worst thing that happened on this trip, its all good. Things can be replaced, experiences with our loved ones can’t!

Cayamo Music Cruise 2022

A 7 day floating music festival, what could be better? After much anticipation, we boarded the Norwegeian Pearl in Miami. Non-stop music all over the ship from 10 am - 2 am.

Boston to Home

 An early alarm at the Embassy Suites Boston Logan this morning and we were at the airport by 8 am.   Our flight was uneventful and we arrived in Atlanta early.  As we exited the plane, my phone rang and it was Boutique Air!   My heart sank as my first thought was that our flight had been cancelled....but instead the agent was just checking to make sure we were flying with them (although we had already checked in online) and to tell us which gate they were at.  

We grabbed lunch at TGI Friday and made our way to the gate.  The little 8 seater with 2 pilots and 3 passengers once again delivered a safe 50 min flight back to Muscle Shoals.

Boutique Air

We arrived back to our house by 3:45 pm.   

In summary, this was an amazing trip.  We have heard about these places since we met D&D in 2016 and now completely "get it".   We were honored to be asked to visit and hopefully we didn't start smelling like fish after 3 days!   If we did, they never showed it.

Sutton Island to Boston

Today is check out day on Sutton Island.   What wonderful hosts we had for 4 nights on Cape Cod and 4 nights on Sutton Island.  Penny got used to having us around, as she slept outside our bedroom door every night.  We do so love that dog!

After breakfast, we finished packing and straightening up and by 9 am we were on D's boat back to Northeast Harbor.  

We made our way back to Boston for an overnight prior to an early flight the next morning.  I spent my time on the drive back, making notes for this blog.  We did so much every day, it had so many good times that it was difficult to recall them all.   

Lobster Stew & Acadia National Park

We had a lunch reservation at the Asticou Inn in Northeast Harbor.  It was originally built in 1883 but was destroyed by fire in 1899 and rebuilt 2 years later.  Our table was on the patio that overlooked the Northeast Harbor inlet, which opens out to the Atlantic Ocean.  Its only open from Memorial Day through Columbus Day.  Once again, D&D introduced us to new foods....lobster stew and popovers!   Popovers are light rolls made from an egg batter similar to yorkshire pudding; typically baked in muffin tins.    Both were fabulous.

Since our vehicles were parked at Northeast Harbor, we took an afternoon drive to Acadia National Park.  We were quite surprised how crowded it was.   Traffic was very heavy throughout the park and parking places were difficult to find.  We managed to park and walk to Thunder Hole though.  Thunder Hole is a small inlet, naturally carved out of rocks, where the waves roll into.  At the end of the inlet, there is a small cavern where when the rush of waves hit, air and water are forced out like a clap of thunder.  

That evening we enjoyed the nice weather, good company, and some Dr. Frank wine while sitting in the rocking chairs on the front portch.   Life is good!

Fog, Furniture, and more Fun

When I worke up this morning, I could hear a roaring fire in the pot belly stove in the dining room.   This and the fireplace are the only source of heat, and it felt wonderful!

There was also a very heavy fog.  We were unable to see Acadia and then in a few minutes we couldn't even see the water!  So we took this opportunity to help out with some projects around the house.   

This is the water tank that stores water for 8 houses on the island.  Its going to be torn down and a pressure tank will replace it.  The water comes from a well on D&D's property.

By 11 am, the fog has started to clear.

By 1:30, D decided it was clear enough to take a ride to Somes Sound; the only fjord on the east coast of the United States.  It runs deep into Mount Desert Island and is 175 feet deep at one point.  The sound is so long, it almost splits the island in half.

Along the way, I spotted an eagle flying into the top of a tall pine tree.  D slowly pointed the boat in that direction and we got to see 5 bald eagles flying and diving into the water for fish before returning to their perch in the trees.   It was truly an amazing site.

Before heading back, we stopped at Great Cranberry Island; the largest of the 5 islands.  Its about 2 miles long and 1-1/2 mile wide.   All of the stores were closed so we just walked around and enjoyed the architecture and the views.  

The fog started rolling back in as we headed back to Sutton Island.

We enjoyed another delicious home cooked meal and visited around the fire....until our normal bedtime of 9 pm!   Another spectacular day in Maine!

Baker Island and Lobster

 

...Oh!  you won't know why and you can't say how

                                              Such a change upon you came,

                                              But once you have slept on an island,

                                              You'll never be quite the same.

               Rachel Lyman Field

Rachel Field was an American novelist, poet, and children's fiction writer.  She was born in 1894 and died in 1942.  She owned a home on Sutton Island and spent her summers there.   

Having spent our first night on Sutton Island, she might be on to something!

First on the agenda today was a trip to Baker Island.  Part of the Cranberry Isles, Baker is mostly uninhabited and is home to the greater area's first lighthouse completed in 1828.  The first settlers were William and Hannah Gilley; who simply took possession of the island.   They raised 12 children there....guess there wasn't much else to do?

D&D had a book about the Gilleys, which I read while I was there.  

Because the shoreline of Baker Island was all rock, we tied to a buoy offshore and D rowed us ashore (making two trips each way).  

It was a beautiful little island; and totally worth exploring if you get the chance.

Penny loved exploring the island.  There are only two houses on the island.

We hiked to the other side of the island and enjoyed a picnic lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the beach while watching the surf.   

When D said let me get your picture....Penny ran over and posed with us!  We all got a chuckle out of that.  

After lunch, like many days, Richard decided a siesta was in order.

D, on the other hand spent time testing the movement of a huge flat rock.

The view from Baker Island was awesome!

We successfully managed the dinghy back to the boat and continued our trek to Little Cranberry Island where we toured the local museum and purchased some spectacular lobster for dinner.

After returning to Sutton Island, D and I walked to the nearby rocky beach and looked for sea glass.  She makes fabulous jewelry from her finds here.  Every year they bring colored bottles to the island, break them off their dock, and after about 2 years, after the tides have smoothed their edges, they are ready to pick!

Oh, and the lobster was fabulous!