Jessica’s email to Carol and Me, from Krakow:

When booking my round trip flight from Krakow to Istanbul on Ukranian Airlines, I have to admit I had some qualms.  However, I decided this was a very snobby, western-centric American attitude.  What could possibly go wrong on Ukranian Airlines……

Upon checking into the Istanbul airport at 8am yesterday morning, there was a mysterious issue with my reservation, which had somehow been changed to Warsaw on their computer system.  Even more mysterious, the system still showed a ticket to Krakow despite the fact that the staff said no such flight exists.  The problem was beyond the grasp of the entire Istanbul airport staff, so they told me I would just have to wait until the call center opened at 9:00am.  When I finally reached the call center at 9:30, I learned that the second leg of my flight, from Kiev to Krakow, had simply been cancelled, “for commercial reasons.”  They claimed to have notified me of this change the day before, although I had not received the email.  (I later discovered they did actually email me, however because the entire text was in RUSSIAN, it went straight to my junk mail with all the male enhancement and Russian bride offers).  So they had another flight from Kiev to Krakow, but by this point the gate was closed for my first leg flight to Kiev.  So I was instead rebooked on a Lot Polish Airlines flight via Warsaw, which left at 5pm.  So I took the hour and 15 minute metro ride from downtown to the airport two more times, in order to avoid spending 7 hours at the airport. (I did, incidentally, have the best kebap lunch that I’d had my entire time in Istanbul, so it was worth it.)

I arrived back at the airport with PLENTY of time to resolve potential problems, and checked into my new flight via Warsaw with no problems.  Meanwhile, unbeknownst to us all, a plane crash-landed in Warsaw.  So at the scheduled departure time, we were informed that the Warsaw airport was completely closed and we would instead be flying to Gdansk.  Two hours later we took off for Gdansk, and when we landed at 9pm local time the poor little Gdansk airport was totally overwhelmed by the sudden influx of travelers.  So rather than trying to open new flights, they just put everyone on a
bus to Warsaw, letting people figure it out for themselves from there.  The 6 hour bus ride put us in Warsaw at 3am, so I planned to just sleep at the airport few a few hours and try to catch a train from there.  I was just happy to be in the same country as Krakow.  So after camping out on the floor at the airport for an hour, I spotted a human behind the Lot Airlines ticket desk and pounced, asking if they could give me a
voucher for a bus or train to Krakow in the morning.  Instead, they gave me a voucher for a TAXI to Krakow!  It was a five hour taxi ride!!  And I was the only passenger!

So, long story short, I have arrived in Krakow!  I fell asleep as soon as I got here, so sorry I didn’t touch base sooner.  I figured it was the middle of the night for you anyway when I arrived, but then I slept for quite a while.  The only really bad part of the whole experience was that, in my sleepy confused state at when the bus let us off in Warsaw, I forgot to get a whole bag of souvenirs from the overhead bin!  I’m so sad, I lost my
hard-bargained for souvenirs from Istanbul!!  Luckily the expensive ones were in my suitcase, but still!!  So stupid of me.

I just started chatting with a couple of guys from my dorm, so I think we’ll go grab some dinner.  Love you!!!  Can’t wait to see you soon!  Dad sooner than mom, but
still!  Mom, I thought the same thing on November 1st, this is the month I see you again!

Jess

Hey Stoddards!   Check out link to a new site called stodfam.com !  Great video of Aaron playing with Grandpa!

The editor (Bruce) wishes to apologize for switching the order of the last two posts.  “One More Day” was written before “Slovenia and Austria”.

The Editor

You are likely waiting with bated breath to learn what happened on our trip to Postojna. Don’t get too excited, we didn’t meet cave creatures or anything.  We took a bus
about an hour awaynfrom Ljubljana to a town called Postojna, whose two major
attractions are a huge system of caves and Predjama, a castle which is built
into a cave.  Upon arrival to town, we stopped by the tourist office to get some information about how to get to these destinations.  The caves were only about
2km from town, an easy walk.  However, the castle was supposedly 9km from town, with no good walking trail to get there.  A taxi would charge about €40, which was a little rich for our blood.  So the lady at the tourist office suggested that we could also rent
bikes to ride to Predjama, which she described as a lovely, scenic ride with
“a little bit of up and down.”  Apparently she thought we were Lance Armstrong.  The little ups and downs were GREATLY underestimated!!!  It took a solid hour
and a half of hard riding (and by that we mean walking our bikes up the worst
hills) before we finally reached the castle.  All other visitors had apparently remembered that we were in fact in the Alps, and had decided to drive.  We were the only ones sweating profusely in chinos.  The worst part is we had JUST done laundry the night before!  However, as terribly strenuous as it was, the girl at the TI was not lying about the fabulous scenery.  We passed such cute little hamlets nestled into the folds of luscious green foothills that it ALMOST seemed worth it.

Predjama castle had many owners in its centuries-long history, but the most interesting was a robber-baron who lived there in the 16th century.  He would plunder from merchant caravans and his wealthy neighbors, and in Robin Hood style he would often
distribute some of the spoils to his peasants.  Eventually everyone in the area decided this guy needed to die, so they began a series of attempts to attack and lay siege to the castle.  However, because the castle was built into the mouth of a cave high above the surrounding fields, it was almost impossible to overtake.  So they laid siege during
winter, when they hoped to starve him out.  You can imagine their surprise when it was the attackers, not the baron, who were hard up for food.  The baron would taunt them during the long cold winters they spent camped out in his front yard, sending them baskets of fresh fruit, sausages, and fish.  They began to think that he must certainly be
a wizard or something!  What they didn’t realize was that the castle concealed a network of passages at the back of the cave, which eventually opened up to villages miles and miles away.  Despite his trickery and marvelous security, they finally got him with a cannonball while he was in the loo.

We really took our time with this attraction, dreading the tour de France we faced on the way back to town.  But as we coasted the entire way, we were vindicated in realizing that the journey to the castle was entirely uphill.

On the way back to town we stopped at the Postojna caves, another huge network of caves. Fun fact: perhaps you’ve heard the term karst topography (Uncle Dick, we know you have) but did you know the term actually originated from the Slovenian word “kras”, which they used to refer to the area of the country that had so many caves. Eventually this word was used to refer to any area with an abundance of limestone and C02. The cave in Postojna is the longest cave in Slovenia at 5.7km and has chambers up to 48
meters (144 feet) tall! It also had some amazing stalactites and stalagmites,
some of which take 100 years to grow just 1cm.  We also learned that when you see stalactites or stalagmites that sparkle, they no longer have a water supply and have dried out, and they will not grow any longer. Geologists refer to them as “dead”.  To get to the most impressive caverns, tours first begin with a train ride that takes you deep into the mountain. I mean a small train with open-air benches, like the kind you see at carnivals or amusement parks, or to access your vault at Gringotts.  While the open-air ride through the narrow tunnel does provide some thrills, some tourists were taking caution to the next level, sure that they would be decapitated by a low-hanging stalactite. It was particularly hilarious to watch the diminutive man sitting in front of us as he practically laid in the laps of his companions. Never mind that he was 5’2 at
most, while the giant in front of him remained seated upright and unharmed. It
was a perfectly hilarious end to a wonderful day.

We have lots of sightseeing to do tomorrow in Salzburg, so we’ll have to keep working on catching up on updates tomorrow!

XOXOXOXOXOX

Maggie and Jess

Disclaimer: The following email is very long and possibly boring at times.  Please take care to wear appropriate eyewear, and take frequent breaks.

The day after Postojna, we packed up our stuff and headed to Lake Bled, on the edge of the Julian Alps.  That’s what they call the area of the Alps that runs along the borders
with Italy to the west and Austria to the North.  It is a picture-perfect town (literally, it
is the picture on the cover of our Rick Steves Guidebook) with foresty green
foothills surrounding a large lake, craggy mountains in the background, and
liberally sprinkled with church spires.  A castle overlooks the lake from its perch high on a bluff, and in the middle of the lake is a small island with a grand 99-step staircase leading from the dock to a dramatically steepled church.  Not surprisingly, this picture perfect setting is a popular spot to get married.  The Slovenian couples who get married there have an old tradition that the groom must carry his bride up the 99 steps to the church, to prove he’s a worthy husband.  Supposedly the pass-rate is about 80%.  We decided if we were getting married there, we’d favor a long engagement to make sure our groom had plenty of time to train!

We arrived in Bled around noon and after checking into our comfy, homey hostel we enjoyed a leisurely lakeside lunch.  After that we walked around town for awhile,
stopping into various adventure tour operators to compare day trip options in
the Alps.  We settled on a trip offered by Amigos which promised a quote “fun and friendly time”.  Sign us up!  To finish the afternoon we strolled the 3.5 mile trail that circles Lake Bled, stopping to take a ride on an alpine slide (aka summer toboggan, aka luge ride).  For those who are not familiar with the thrill of the alpine slide, it’s a steep track that twists and turns down a mountain slope.  You ride down the track in a little sled-like cart, which has a handbrake to control your speed.  Or, in our case, to completely disregard.  You get to the top of the slide via chairlift, which is a nice experience in itself because in addition to enjoying the scenery you get to watch people go flying down the hill.  We saw all types: speed demons, timid brake-riders, wailing children, but by far the most memorable was a teenaged girl who was nonchalantly chatting on her cellphone as though she did not even realize that she was hurtling down the side of a mountain.  We could not stop cracking up about that one!  That night, we opted to save some dough by cooking our own meal in the hostel kitchen. We ran across the street and bought spaghetti fixings and some much-needed fruits and veggies (apparently not popular in European restaurants).

The next morning we were up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,at 7am for our day of adventure!  The Amigo van picked us up at 8 and we drove to a pretty lake not far from Bled that has a statue of Golden Horn, a mythological deer with golden horns. The
legend says that there was once a pagan girl who, at the birth of a boy, prophesised that he would become a great hunter and that he would one day find Golden Horn and kill it.  The mother of this boy was angry with the pagan girl for making this terrible prophesy, so she trapped her in the side of a nearby mountain, where you can still see the face of the pagan girl in the stone.  The boy did become a great hunter, and fell in love with a young girl from his village. He would sing her songs, write her poetry, and be generally very romantic. However, a wealthy Italian merchant passed through town one day and also fell in love with the girl. He gave her gifts of gold, precious gems, and
used his Italian charm on her. The girl told the hunter that in order to win
her over, the hunter would need to give her something of great value. So he
decided to go find the great Golden Horn. When he found him and shot him, the
shot only wounded the creature and from its blood grew the healing flower. The
animal ate the flower, was healed, and rammed the hunter off the side of the
mountain. Our guide told us that the moral of the story, of course, was never
to trust a woman.  We feel the same lesson applies to Italian men as well.

Unfortunately, the statue was on private property that had recently been fenced off, so we couldn’t get any pictures with the statue.  We did however get a nice show
from the owner of the property, who upon seeing us lined up like refugees at
his fence decided it was the perfect time to prance around near the statue
doing sun salutation exercises, including one where he just hopped around doing
windmill actions with his arms AND legs.  We dejectedly got back in the van and drove up the 24 hairpin turns to the top of Vrsic Pass, the highest pass in Slovenia, and also surely the one with the least vowels.  We did a good 45 minute hike and then stopped for a lunch of traditional Slovenian fare.  I had stuffed pepper and Jess had goulash
with polenta.  Then it was timefor canyoning!

We stopped at an adventure rec shop to pick up our canyoning guide and our gear. We were a little nervous when we were told by the Amigo guide that our canyoning guide
had been up til 6am playing poker. We felt better momentarily when we learned he came out way ahead, but became nervous again after learning he had blown
most on drinks for the whole bar.  In the end though, he proved to be a great guide. We suited up in our full body neoprene suits, grabbed our helmets, and were feeling pretty cocky.  It probably should have been a warning when, right before setting out, the Amigo guide gave everyone a shot of homemade blueberry schnapps.  We later realized this provided the double benefit of liquid courage and liquid blanket!  The adventure started by hiking up the canyon we would later descend.  Since it was
raining that day, the rocks were pretty slippery and in many places we had to
hang on to a cable attached to the cliff wall to keep from falling.  Finally we made it to the top and worked our way back down the canyon by either jumping, sliding, or practically falling down waterfalls into little pools of VERY cold water (about 55 degrees). Many of the waterfalls created natural water slides, which sometimes we slid down on our bottoms, sometimes on our backs, and sometimes headfirst!  We definitely gave our brains a good rinse-down on those!

In addition to the slides, there were waterfalls that we just jumped off of.  For the most part, the jumps were no higher than maybe 2.5 or 3 meters (7.5-9 ft).  The slides were maybe 2 meters.  So we were feeling pretty confident with our bravery.  But then we came to the last waterfall.  Our guide had mostly used a no-nonsense demeanor with us thus far, pushing us down some of the taller slides and ridiculing us when we hesitated on jumps.  But for the last one, he told us we could go look at the waterfall first, and then decide whether we wanted to do it or not.  It was 12 meters high. 36 feet. And it looked like a slide from our viewing standpoint, but when we were poised to go down it, we realized that it was mostly a straight fall.  But of course we did it!  While our screams up to that point had mostly been gleeful bursts, the last drop was the sound of true
terror, which it turns out is more in the baritone range.

After the Big Plunge, we quickly changed out of our wetsuits and were given a beer for our triumphs. Then we high-tailed it out of there due to the sounds of hunters’ gunshots getting rather too close for comfort.  We snuggled into the nice warm van and headed over the border into Italy, only a few miles away.  We stopped at a lake that the Amigo guide told us is the highest alpine lake in Italy and is filled only by rainwater. It was interesting because there hasn’t been any rain in at least 3 months in the area, so the lake was so low that you could walk to dry land that is usually an island. Our guide had never been able to do that before, so they must be in a pretty bad drought.

Afterwards, we headed back into Slovenia and stopped for a peek at the world’s tallest ski jump (though we later learned that a larger one has been built this year).  Unfortunately, our day of adventure finally had to end, and we headed back to Bled to enjoy a cold rainy night in our cozy hostel.

The next day was our first cold and rainy day of our trip. We slept in (which feels so great on rainy days) and then caught the 12:30 bus back to Ljubljana. We checked into Hostel Celica again (our room had a rustic, timber lodge feel this time), had a quick lunch, and headed into the city to meet up with Dan again. Because of the rain, our lounging in the park plans were ruined so we opted for the Slovenian National History Museum.  Then we headed to Dan’s favorite wine bar for some great wine, delicious tapas, and good conversation.  We also learned how flight attendants can tell where a person is from right away.  Dan is a flight attendant and likes to greet people in their native tongue. We were shocked that he was able to know what language they speak before even hearing them speak, but he filled us in on the secret clues. For example,
Italians make a huge fuss about what to do with their things. Should they take
off their jacket or leave it on? What should they do with their hat? Should they put their bags in the overhead compartment, or keep it with them?  Should they trade seats with their companion, and then should they trade back?  The French are terribly chic, mildly disappointed, and mostly keep to themsleves.  Germans find fault with everything, yearning for the Eden of a flight on Lufthansa.  Slovenians like to act like Germans when they fly Slovenian airlines, but when they fly on other airlines they are total
wimps.  So finally, we had to know about Americans.  After several attempts to
change the subject, Dan came straight out with it: we talk loudly and always
wear tennis shoes. Of course Jess and I roared with laughter, making fun of
“THOSE Americans”, until we realized we were laughing rather loudly.  And, wouldn’t you know it? Tennis shoes on our feet.  So we had many laughs and some more serious discussions about the usual topics of world peace and the economy and then finally parted ways.

The following morning we hopped on the 10am train to Vienna, which was stunningly beautiful.  Low foresty mountains dotted with emerald green pastures, deep, dramatic
valleys, and little chalets nestled in the hills.  We didn’t get there until about 6, but after
a rather heartbreaking realization that Jessica’s iPad screen had mysteriously
shattered, we were in need of a tall beer and some friendly conversation so we headed down to the hostel bar and had a fun night chatting with the various residents of our hostel.

The next morning we got a somewhat late start, but still managed to do plenty of sightseeing. The day’s main attraction was the Belvedere Palace, which has been turned into an art museum. We were able to see some great artwork by dozens of artists from all different periods, from gothic icons to the contemporary, including a large collection from the Viennese artist Gustav Klimt (most famous for The Kiss).

That night we went for dinner at a restaurant that was suggested in Rick Steves to have delicious wiener schnitzel. We had to try it! It was a cute little place with great atmosphere AND fantastic food. Maggie couldn’t pass up trying the famous wiener schnitzel, and Jess went with a fabulous roast. And we appreciated the Austrian no-nonsense hospitality, which was showcased when we showed up to the tiny, packed restaurant a 7:00 and requested a table for two.  The host said the were totally full, but one of the tables was reserved for 8pm so they would let us sit there if we’d get out in 45 minutes.  They also sat another twosome with us at the table, although we must not
have been smelling our best because the two bailed on us right after sitting down.  After dinner we followed our noses to a fantastic pastry shop with display cases bursting with confectionary delights.

We went to bed early that night in preparation for our big sightseeing day the next day. We started with Vienna’s famous landmark, Stephensdom Church, with its 137m (400 ft!!) South Tower and indescribably beautiful interior.  We decided to brave the South Tower’s winding, narrow 343-step staircase to get to the viewing platform.  It was a magnificent view over all of Vienna and the mountains beyond.  But the viewing platform was still only halfway up the tower!!

Then, we headed to Hofburg Palace, home for centuries to the imperial family, the Habsburgs. The amazingly decked out Baroque-style imperial apartments were a sight to see, but we actually spent an equal amount of time in the Silver Museum, dedicated entirely to the Habsburgs’ enormous collection of tableware and kitchen gadgets, which fully filled at least a dozen rooms.  Our tour also included an interesting museum dedicated to Empress Elisabeth, or Sissi, who married the beloved Habsburg Franz Josef I.  She is still legendary today, but not because she was particularly well-liked. She was very strange and was apparently quite unhappy during her lifetime. She was also an agoraphobic and was obsessed with her beauty, her ankle-length hair, and her
ridiculous dieting and exercise.  Apparently it’s unbelievably rough to be a monarch during a country’s golden age.

That night was particularly special in the city where cultural arts reign supreme. We found out from Rick (we feel we are on such a first name basis with the author of our guidebook) that for only €4, on the night of the performance, you can get standing room only tickets to the Vienna Opera. We thought, how could we pass up the opportunity to see an opera in the city that inspired Mozart – and to see Don Giovanni, a Mozart opera?!  Expecting to have nosebleed tickets without a view, we were shocked to find that although you have to wait in line for 2 hours and stand for 3, the Vienna Opera reserves its best seats for standing room only! We were on stage level, directly center, on a tiered floor with a lovely velvet railing to lean on. We had a great time, and Jess and I are both dying to see our next one!

We planned to move on to Salzburg the next day, so we decided to spend a leisurely morning in our hostel and make breakfast in the communal kitchen.  We popped over to the grocery store next door and picked up Bavarian sausages, eggs and cheese for a
scramble, and some fresh rolls.  It would have been helpful to be able to read German…but at least we had the rolls.  When we got to the kitchen we
realized we had no idea how to cook the sausage, as all the directions were in
German.  So while Jess went to ask the front desk staff how to cook our sausages, Maggie got crackin’ on the eggs….hahaha.  But it only took one crack to realize that, being illiterate, we had purchased hard boiled eggs.  So in the end we enjoyed a
breakfast consisting of the very disparate elements of boiled sausage with mustard, yogurt drink, cold hard boiled eggs, and a block of cheddar cheese.  Breakfast of champions.

In Salzburg, we were delighted to discover crowds of people of all ages walking around in traditional lederhosen (leather pants) and dirndl (full-skirted dresses ala St. Pauli Girl).  It turns out we had arrived just in time for the feast of St. Rupert, the patron saint of Salzburg!  They were in full-on festival mode that Friday evening, complete with carnival rides, handicrafts, beer gardens, and of course lots of pastry stands.  We found our hostel, which happens to be housed in a Catholic church and is primarily a student dormitory.  We dumped our stuff as quickly as we could and followed the crowds to the festival, where we had a very enjoyable afternoon watching Salzburgers out celebrating together.  After a half-pantomimed conversation with our gray-haired Argentinian bunk-mates, we hit the sack, excited for a Saturday in Salzburg festival-land!

The breakfast included with our hostel matched the monastic setting, but a roll and tea was all we needed given the cornucopia available at Rupertfest (as we called it, not ever actually knowing the official name).  We had elevensies at a sausage stand, where our gawking stares caught the attention of the pastry-maker at the tent next door.  So
lunch-dessert was a free eclair, stuffed with marshmallow cream!  We walked off our impending food-coma with some window shopping, catching various parades and demonstrations along the way.  Then we hiked up to Festung Hohensalzburg, the fortress/castle sitting a bluff overlooking the city.

We experienced the security of the fortress first hand, as we cheaply opted to walk to the entrance rather than pay €5 for the funicular.  By the time we got to the top
of that steep climb, we were in no shape to attack!  The fortress grounds were great for
wandering, and the audio guide was interesting.  But the views of the Salzburg countryside from the towers stole the show!

In the evening we hooked up with our new bunkmates, twin sisters from Seattle, and went to find a beer garden recommended in our guidebook.  Supposedly it had seating for 2800 people, so we figured we wouldn’t have too much trouble finding the
place.  However, all we found up the quiet street was a small door with a non-descript sign, which appeared to lead inside a church.  We felt completely certain we were in the wrong place, but numerous consultations and cross-references with various maps and guidebooks pointed squarely to where we were, which was a silent hallway in a church annex.  We crept a little further and thought we could hear a dull roar, so we kept going, across hallways and down stairs, until we finally opened a door and stumbled onto a massive indoor/outdoor beer garden, complete with food court!  If we were smarter, we would have remembered that monks were the original recipe-holders of the city’s brew, so it would be only natural to find the beer garden in the bowels of the church.

We woke up bright and early the next morning, bound for Innsbruck.  The two-hour train ride was a visual delight, and we were in town by 11am.  We spent our first day doing all the tourist stuff, including a walking tour of the old town and a visit to the local palace museum.  They all have palace museums around here.  Then we got a few groceries and made dinner and conversation with our dorm mates, a Spanish girl and a Scottish guy.  We got a good night’s sleep in preparation for a big day of hiking the next day.

The best part about our hostel was by far the breakfast, located in the cafe/ pastry shop just downstairs. After being served a hearty portion of cornflakes, fresh bread, and homemade jams, we thought we had hit the jackpot. But then the waitress brought out 2 huge slices of cheesecake! Double jackpot!

So, riding the wings of our extreme sugar high, we headed out for some hardcore Alpine hiking.  Innsbruck has a great cable car system to take you up some of the
mountains so we hopped aboard. We rode all the way to the top of Nordketten,
which everyone suggested as the best. Though we arrived when the mountaintop
was still in clouds, the sun quickly burned them off and we were greeted with
incredible, breathtaking views of what seemed like the entire range of the
Alps! We snapped a few (or more) photos and then started our hike along the top
ridge.  We did not find the trails to be as well-marked as they were reported to be, and as a consequence, or more like as a reward, we got to do a lot more hiking than we initially planned for the day.  And it was all marvelous!!  We finally got back to town around 5, so we got a solid 6 hours of breathtaking views and Alpine fresh air.

Today was both exciting and sad, as we headed back to Munich for Oktoberfest (exciting!) as well as for Maggie to catch her flight home (sad!).  We finally got to take the long-awaited walking tour we missed our first day here, and then we had a
grueling afternoon of wading through store after store, searching for the perfect dirndl (at the tolerable price).  Appropriately outfitted, we’re ready to hit the scene tomorrow!

We recognize that this email is obscenely long, and for that we apologize!  Thanks for reading!

-Mags and Jess

Hello!  Here’s our latest update. We’re working on catching up before Maggie has to go back. 

I believe we left off with our awesome Lado concert that  we stumbled upon. The next day, we got up bright and early to catch the bus to  Plitvice Lakes National Park. Apparently, it’s just not in the cards for us to  have an uneventful day of traveling! But hey, that’s what makes for great  stories, right? Our bus was fine for the first two hours and 15 minutes of the 2 and a half hour trip, and was only about 10km from the entrance to the park before it broke down. Can we even call it a breakdown? It stopped to pick up  more passengers and then, for no obvious reason, the driver opened the engine  compartment and that was apparently the end for our bus. So we hung around the  rather remote bus stop (a campground with a tourist info office and a small
grocery store), grabbed some bread and cheese for lunch, and waited.  Our knight in shining armor showed up in the  form of an enterprising taxi driver, who cut a deal with us to take us the last  few km to Plitvice. So about 6 of us piled in and off we went to what seemed to  be our certain deaths. This cabbie clearly wanted to make the most of a bus load of stranded tourists, because he was going at least 80mph around a
mountain road full of blind turns.  At  one point, Maggie truly saw her life flash before her eyes as the driver  rounded a bend (on two wheels, maybe even 1) and drifted into the other lane  just as another oncoming car rounded the bend, also drifting into our lane.  Neither driver seemed concerned as neither attempted to return to his
designated lane, and we missed the other car by centimeters.  But, we made it intact to Plitvice  Lakes!  (Incidentally, we have steered clear of taxis since then.)

We entered into the park just ahead of a large group of  Japanese camera-wielding tourists (whew!), but still were able to see 3 or 4 of  them literally crouched among the foliage, well off the path, snapping close-up  shots of a single violet flower.  Then we
came around the first bend and were immediately rendered speechless by the
beauty of the Lakes. A huge waterfall was on our right and the tiered lakes on
our left were cascading down into each other. The water is almost  indescribable. Crystal clear, and more turquoise than the Bahamas. The lakes are surrounded by forests and the park has nicely maintained boardwalks throughout.  We decided to tackle a longer hike and got to see all 16 of the lakes. It was a really great day and
we were so glad we decided to hit Plitvice!

That night we returned to Zagreb and decided to book our  hostel for Ljubljana  (Loob-lee-ah-nah).  Hostel-booking is an activity we will refer to as “No Room at the Inn:
Variations on a Theme”.  A very annoying trend we are noticing is that some hostels do not have an online booking method and can only be booked through email or over the phone. So our number 1 choice, Hostel Celica, required an email. We waited a few hours for their response but it was getting late and we were running out of battery power
(both on the computer and personally) so we gave up on Celica and checked out
the availability of every other hostel we could find, including a guidebook-suggested hostel with a great location called Alibi. They seemed to be the only place in Ljubljana with empty beds, so we quickly booked there for two nights. THEN we read the reviews…. yikes. Dirty, bedbugs, unfriendly staff, one shower for 20 people… In fact the only compliment it got was the location. We were so dismayed. By then, we had heard back from Celica and they had beds for us. We tried to cancel our reservation atAlibi but because of their 24-hour cancellation policy, we were stuck paying for the first night. Oh
well, we thought, we’ll just eat the cost and stay at the highly reviewed Celica!

The next morning, we tried unsuccessfully to catch an early(ish) bus to Ljubljana, but after waiting extra long for our bill at breakfast, we missed the noon bus by only 5 minutes. Que barbaridad! But it was for the best as the next bus wasn’t until 6 and we had some time to explore Zagreb. We made it to two very neat and unusual museums (yes, Mom, TWO m-words in one day!!). The first was an unplanned visit to the Museum of Broken Relationships. Yes, really, a museum dedicated to break-ups! It is a traveling
museum that accepts donations across the globe from anybody with an interesting, humorous, or tragic demise to a relationship, along with a related artifact. Exhibits had everything from wedding dresses to frisbees to an Obama NewsWeek cover (the description simply said “I really wanted it to work out…”).  The next museum was the
Museum of Naive Art, a small but mighty collection of untrained Croatian
artists from the past hundred or so years. These were often farmers whom
painted only during the winter (when there were no fields to tend to) and
painted a lot of landscape scenes and scenes about g general peasant life. Interestingly, most artists painted on glass instead of canvas because in that time, glass was much cheaper. This gave the works a very luminous appearance and made the
colors very vibrant!

So we show up to Hostel Celica in Ljubljana at about 9:00pm, weary and tired from our day of museums and train rising.  And we are informed that the dorm room we had
booked beds in was infested with bed bugs. Of course.  The other occupants of
that dorm room were singles so they were rebooked for the remaining empty beds
in other rooms, and they had nowhere for us to stay that night.  We were literally the only two people in the entire hostel that were turned away at the door due to the bedbugs.  But no worries, they had booked us rooms for the night at another hostel…you guessed it…Alibi!  So long story short, we were obviously dismayed and not looking forward to walking across town at 10pm with our backpacks on to a hostel that we were trying desperately to avoid, but ultimately we did not have to sleep on a park bench and we did not get bedbugs from EITHER hostel….which is nice.

Despite the rocky start, we had a great time in Ljubljana, thanks largely to our friend Dan!  We had met him on the bus from Split to Zagreb, and promised to let him
know when we were in his hometown of Ljubljana.  We’re so glad we did because we had our own personal, very knowledgeable tour guide!  We spent the whole day
walking all over the city.  He pointed out every building, took us to a museum about the history of Slovenia which is housed in a castle overlooking the city, and as a Serbo-Croatian raised in Slovenia he gave us some very interesting insights about the recent Yugoslav wars, Slovenian independence, and EU membership.  We fell in love with Ljubljana, which like Zagreb is a very hip, laid-back, real life city.  In comparison with Dalmatia, it seemed completely devoid of tourists and very real.  We loved that there were just people out EVERYWHERE, having lunch or coffee at a ubiquitous sidewalk cafe, buying groceries at the permanent outdoor produce market, strolling through the park, window-shopping with friends, and just generally enjoying their city.  We
couldn’t help but wonder…what do all these people do for a living?  Because they certainly didn’t seem too burdened by work.  So we had that in common. 

The following day we took a day trip to some caves and a castle about an hour from Ljubljana.  But, unsurprisingly, that turned into a tale of its own which we will
save for the next update.

Well….our optimism was tested again in Slovenia.  We’ll explain the whole tale in the next email, but basically when we got to our hostel last night at 9pm, we thought it
was just too good to be true…and it was.

Apparently the room we were staying in had contracted bedbugs, so we were literally the only two people in the entire hostel who did not have a bed and had to stay somewhere else.  Not quite so cheery last night, although it’s funny this morning.  More to come later, now we’re off to meet our new friend Dan and see Ljubjlana!

Love,

Mags and Jess