|
|
| 2007 Slovenia Trip |
| |
| Day 1: July 9 - 10,
2007 - Travel to Slovenia |
|
|
| |
Once again we are
taking a trip through Mountain
Travel Sobek. This one is called Alpine
Slovenia: Julian Alps & Beyond. The local
company is Trek
Trek. Our two guides are Luka Poznic,
the trip leader, and Ursula Kordis. Both are
avid photographers so were anxious to play
with Howard's camera.
Arrive in Ljubljana. On this first day
we'll explore Ljubljana, said by those in
the know to be the next Prague, but without
the tourists. Quaint, narrow streets wind
along the banks of the Ljubljanica River,
crossing over occasionally by way of medieval
stone bridges. In the atmospheric old-town
section we'll visit the 16th-century fortifications
of Ljubljana Castle. Meet with the group and
trip leader in the evening for a "welcome"
dinner and trip orientation.
Each day's log with begin with the itinerary
description of the day in italics. Some days
may sound very different from the published
plan.
|
Our
travels began in Cincinnati with a flight
to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris where
we would rendezvous with Robin, Mom, and Dad
and continue to to Slovenia. The flight was
a quick 7 1/2 hours and we arrived in Paris
around 9:30AM local time. We got on the bus
to transfer to Hall B for our next flight
and spent 15 minutes making circles around
various entrances until we got to the one
we wanted.
Hall B is a dump! There are "restaurants"
at either end and lots of small stores that
don't sell anything interesting. You can walk
from one end to the other in less than 5 minutes.
All of the gates are on the other side of
security and there are no amenities. Robin
was first, quickly followed by Mom & Dad.
All felt the bus system was more than a little
silly.
|
A cramped 90 minute
flight landed us in Ljubljana. The airport
is small but efficient and Dad arranged for
a taxi to take us to the Grand hotel Union. Along
the way, our driver informed us of his displeasure
with George Bush, touched on Iran, and mentioned
that Bill Clinton stayed at the Grand hotel Union
when he visited Slovenia.
We took long hot showers to wash away some
of the travel weariness and then met the group
in the lobby at 5PM. We set out on a tour
of the old city and saw many pretty buildings
and streets. Our tour started with the city
center where an earthquake in the late 1800s
had wiped out many of the buildings. There
is a noticeable demarcation between the old
and the new. We walked past the church at
one end of the farmers market after we crossed
the three bridges. In the old days, one bridge
was for men, one for women, and one for vehicles.
When Slovenia joined the EU, they said one
bridge was for EU citizens and the other was
for everyone else.
|
We also walked through
the fish market, over the shoemakers bridge,
and saw the bakery area where bakers used
to be put into a cage and lowered into the
river as punishment for making loaves of bread
that were too small.
Dinner was a long multi-course meal in good
European tradition. Everyone got acquainted
and we are off to a good trip.
|
 |
 |
| The Three Bridges |
The Ljubljanica River |
|
The Group:
Art - a semi-retired doctor from New York
Lenny - Art's son, a special ed teacher from Colorado
Mary Anne - Art's daughter, a therapist from Florida
Pat - a retiree from Connecticut
the 5 of us |
View the photos from the trip:
Norman's
photos @ KodakGallery.com
Robin's
photos @ KodakGallery.com
Howard and Kirsten's photos @ KodakGallery.com |
| | |
|
|
|
|