Headed South: When Things Go Wrong.....

Deirdre and Michael's Terrible, Horrible Day

So we are packed and ready to leave the heavy history of Berlin behind and indulge ourselves in a stay at a Beer Spa followed by a jaunt through the Julian Alps. We have parked our car in an underground lot associated with the apartment. We reach the first of two gates that should allow us to emerge, we click the clicker and...nothing. This is a strange garage. You go through a first chain gate which then drops down behind you. You have to wait until it is fully down to click again and the second one rises. Assuming they will work at all. I suppose the reasoning behind this is that once you pull through the first gate, your attacker will have enough time to enter the garage, get into your car and kill you before you can get the second gate up. But all this is a moot point because we cannot get the damn thing to open no matter what we do. Michael logically suggests, after infinite attempts to free ourselves, that I press the red emergency button on the wall, thinking this will override the gates and open them. But no. As we learn later, the emergency button shuts the entire system down trapping whoever is having the emergency IN the garage. I want to meet the person who designed this ingenious system. Michael manages to free himself and walks to the Hotel that manages the garage. After a mere two hours a person comes and deals with the system. We are really not pleased. But we are now on our way towards beer, massages and cool mountain air. It will all be fine. It is VERY hot.

It is three and a half hours later and we are tooling down the highway to Pilsen. I scream: "dirty laundry!" It is one of those senior synapses in which suddenly something you should have thought of hours (or days) before pops into your mind and out of your mouth seemingly involuntarily. "You!" yells Michael. "No you!" I yell back. It is clear that neither of us has put the dirty laundry moldering in its white plastic trash bag in the car with the luggage. It is almost half of our clothing. It is a month long trip. We "brainstorm" the issue and decide it won't be too bad. We'll email the owner and have him send the stuff to Dubrovnik. Other lodgings we are heading to have washers and dryers. While we won't have the lost clothes on the rest of the trip we'll get them back at least. At this point we are unaware that the owner is a total moron.

What with the garage delay and the laundry mental breakdown we are in rather foul moods as we approach the Purkmistr Beer Spa. First order of business is to order up two badly needed massages. But no. They are very busy and we have not pre-ordered. The best they can offer is a beer soak in which you climb into a bathtub of craft beer outfitted with a plank across the tub on which you can balance the "bottomless" beer steins that are forthcoming. While drowning drunk in a tub of suds is looking more appealing by the second, we both refuse the bath out of fear of being sticky for the rest of our lives. We reach our room to discover that it has a large, beautiful south facing window which has raised the ambient temperature to about 106 degrees. The "air conditioner" groans and sputters while providing no relief whatsoever. On the assumption that distance may make our respective hearts grow fonder after a trying day, Michael strips down and throws himself on the bed while I head to the courtyard for a cold, cold beer. We have a really delicious dinner and, in a stupor, fall into bed. Tomorrow is another day....we hope.

Laufen? What's In Laufen?

The next day, back in the car once more, we are headed South. "What is in Laufen?" asks Michael. "I have no idea," I reply. "We needed a place to stay between Pilsen and Lake Bled and this was the best I could come up with. We'll just be surprised." But sometimes surprises are GOOD! Like Laufen! It turns out that it is this adorable little town perched on a peninsula. On either side of the peninsula flows the river Salzach. While Laufen is in Germany when you cross the bridges that span each part of the river you are in Austria. So you can walk from Austria to Germany to Austria in about 20 minutes. There are NO tourists. None. Nadie. We dine in the beautiful garden of a former Monastery and take a leisurely twilight stroll through the town and once again remember why we love to travel. Except for yesterday.

A footbridge connected Laufen in Germany to Austria on one side.

Talk about ivy covered walls. The narrow passage is why it always pays to rent a small car in Europe.

A house on the Austrian side. Notice all of the flowers on the balcony.

There were many locks on the footbridge, but this personalized lock caught my eye.

The statue of St. John of Nepomuk, patron saint of raftsmen & boatmen. Behind the statue is a steep set of stairs leading up to the Calvary Chapel.

A view from the top of the stairs looking back across the footbridge.

The Calvary scene at the top of the stairs.

The architectural style may not be the same as Mexico, but the colorful buildings reminded us of our little village back home.

Even down to the statues of the Virgin (reminiscent of the statues of the Virgin of Guadalupe)

This is the car bridge on the opposite side of town.

On one side is the crown & shield of Germany...

and on the other side the crown and shield of Austria.

Mexico does not have tile roofs like this however.

This building was built in 1902. Apparently the town survived the ravages of World War I & II.

A narrow passageway into the main square of the town

This is just a pedestrian passageway.

We are still trying to figure out what a multi cultivate bar means.

This child could not resist touching the flowing water from the fountain.

Every house had flowers, but this one had the most.

A Little Detour to Vintgar Gorge

It had been 10 whole days without a waterfall fix so on the way into Lake Bled we stopped at a gorge a few miles out of town. Not as imposing at Plitvice or (still to come Krka) but definitely beautiful and at least 10 degrees cooler than "above ground". Photos will suffice.

The landscape around the gorge was spectacular.

The gorge is 1.6 kilometers long, carved by the Radovna River.

Many areas along the gorge had these cairns by the river.

This is the Sum Waterfall which drops 13 meters and is the largest river waterfall in Slovenia.

Lake Bled - The Most Unspeakably Quaint, Beautiful Lake Town Ever Overrun by Tourists

It is everything the guide books say and the photos will attest to it. However, even early in the season, this place was just cheek to jowls (and there were many) with tourists (phobia #3). We did the castle, we walked the Lake a bit, we sat in traffic, we stumbled into people and bicycles and dogs and said, "We've got to get out of here." We asked a waiter about another lake up the road and he said: "Go. Immediately. It is much more unspoiled, almost as pretty and all the locals go there. This place is a nuthouse." So we did. And it was everything he said. And the countryside was maybe the prettiest ever --even maybe prettier than Switzerland. Well, you judge with the photos. And the waiter told us about a restaurant overlooking the lush fields and mountains and it was all just...well...it was...blissful (not a word often heard out of my mouth).

The Julian Alps stretch from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 meters at Mount Triglav.

A portion of the exterior of Tito's former summer home on Lake Bled. It is now a very high end hotel.

The path from the hotel leads down to the lake.

The church on the island in Lake Bled had been destroyed by an earthquake & was rebuilt in the 17th century.

These Pletna boats, unique to Lake Bled & made by locals, are a wonderful way to tour the lake.

Bled Castle is the oldest castle in Slovenia, dating from 1011. It rises 130 meters above Lake Bled.

A scale model of the Pletna boat.

The origins of the Pletna boat go back to 1590.

There are old buildings...

and new modern buildings that surround the lake.

The entrance to the main area of Bled Castle.

A portion of the castle.

Looking down on one of the new modern hotels on Lake Bled.

A view of the lake with the island church in the distance.

A better view of the island and the church.

The Pletna boat is operated by the Pletna oarsman, a very respected profession which is handed down & has remained in individual families throughout the centuries.

A "small" house on the lake with a connected boathouse.

The Japanese win the prize for the number of photos taken of themselves by others as well as selfies.

An amazing water slide and a hawk, which happened to be flying by as I took this picture.

An electric boat taking tourists around the lake. This is the only type of power boat allowed on the lake.

Even at the end of June, there is still snow on the slopes of Mount Triglav in the Julian Alps.

The chapel in Bled Castle was very interesting.

The Slovenian flag flying above the castle.

We escaped the touristy Lake Bled, encountering woods with moss covered trees & rocks...

and this body of water created by the confluence of the Sava Dolinka and the Radovna River as it exits Vintgar gorge.

The settlement of Blejska Dobrava, where this series of photos was taken is one of the oldest villages in the area. It dates from the 12th century.

Hayracks (kozolecs) are free standing vertical drying racks found chiefly in Slovenia.

Wood also seems to be the principal fuel used for cooking and heating.

The most colorful, unique communal mailboxes we have ever seen.

Back to the laundry. So, despite two emails to the Berlin apartment owner he still insisted he hadn't gotten the address of the hotel to which he should ship the clothes. But he had. Twice. He DID however have the clothes he said. He finally admitted he had the address and would mail them "soon". NOOOO! Now! We won't be here forever. We were now down to almost no clothes but I assured Michael it would be OK because the Lake Bled apartment had a washer and dryer according to Air bnb. This was when we began to understand what, in Central Europe, is considered as having a washer and dryer. There was a washer but it was in the owner's house and she could do the wash tomorrow for a price. There was no dryer-- in the 21st century meaning of the term-- but a clothesline which is all well and good as long is there is SUN. I finally hand washed the bare essentials, stuck them on a drying rack under cover and hoped for the best. By morning it was raining but the clothes were dry. We would be clothed for two more days. We began to buy T Shirts at every stop.

Napoleon Changed Clothes Here!

Everybody has stayed in some hotel or room where a famous person slept. Not us. Not once. So, we were pretty worked up when the owner of the rental flat in Ljubljana said: "Yes, Napoleon was right here in this apartment." "He SLEPT here?" I shouted with glee. "Well, no. He changed clothes here...or they say he did." Close enough. I'm happy. I say with breathless anticipation: " Speaking of clothes, you have a washer and dryer -- right?" "Oh yes. Right here. It's a combo washer and dryer." I am salivating at the thought of clean laundry. "You can use it I think but the Italians (it's always the Italians) broke the door completely off. But if you put it on just right..." Still no clean clothes. We continue buying shirts.

Ljubljana is another really "must visit" town in a still relatively undiscovered country. It has it all. A university with lots of young people, charming small river bounded by endless cafes, restaurants and bars, and terrific architecture. We managed a morning walk about town, and headed to lunch at a charming outdoor cafe. Just as we sat down, a troop of waiters immediately started removing all the tableware and table clothes and scurrying inside. It was pretty cloudy but... .And then it hit. A torrential, explosive storm of significant proportion. Lightening, thunder, hail, rain for the entire time we ate (inside of course). Eventually we sensed it easing and exited the restaurant. We made it ten feet to the umbrella tables and BANG! It was back. Worse than before. Back into the restaurant. Two drinks later we wended our way back to the apartment in drizzle. Same exact thing at dinner. Except it never stopped at night. I will say, however, that it wasn't hot. Need to go back there and see something more.

This statue was one of a pair on an older building...

which is being renovated. Fortunately the statues are being preserved.

Ljubljana has a lot of older buildings as well and statues as well...

along with a more modern building.

The open air market featured food (in this case honey)...

as well as colorful mugs, cups and bowls.

This is one of the strange sculptures on the Butchers' Bridge, which spans the Ljubljanica River between the Central Market's colonnade and the Petkovškovo embankment. The renowned Slovenian sculptor Jakov Brdar created the sculptures.

This is also Ljubljana's love bridge. Not only are the padlocks attached to the sculptures as above, but also all along the bridge.

Some lock manufacturer had a brilliant idea to increase his business based on the number of padlocks we saw throughout our travels.

This statue on the Petkovškovo nabrežje side depicts Prometheus.

The juxtaposition of the love padlocks and the macabre statues is one of the more strange of the romantic stories of Ljubljana.

The Central Market's colonnades, designed by the architect Jože Plečnik overlook the Ljubljanica River.

One of two sculptures on the aptly named Dragon Bridge.

The outside of the apartment building where we stayed. Looks a little rough, eh? It's historic so they are waiting on a ruling on paint color etc. We freaked but the inside was charming.

A rather whimsical bicycle sculpture.

I tasted orange wine for the first time in Ljubljana. Refreshing like white with the complexity of red, the wine derives its name from its color & does not contain any citrus fruits.

The umbrellas where we briefly took refuge outside the restaurant, before being driven back into the restaurant by the torrential rain.

One of the only modern houses we encountered in Ljubljana.

Krka (Kirk-ah)

That is just such a silly word that I didn't want to dilute it's silliness with other words near it. Krka is a National Park which features -- you guessed it --- waterfalls! People compare it unfavorably to Plitviče but we thought it was great. We actually went to it twice because I screwed up and didn't notice that we had a stop at Krka on our cruise (next blog). It was amazingly hard to find our apartment even with GPS -- that's how remote it was. As we approach, it appears there is a raging forest fire and we appear to be driving directly into it. Our landlord has given us directions that in their entirety read: "from main road, take second left after canyon and soon be our village." Oh, boy. Eventually we find it.

So, here we go with the clothes again. This is our last chance. We get on the boat next and there is no laundry on board. Upon inquiring of the landlord's wife about the location of the washer and dryer (since I can't find it in our apartment) I am told that it is in the upstairs apartment -- which is rented. But they are sure the people wouldn't mind our using the washer -- REALLY? I know I'D be thrilled. The dryer is a nonissue because there isn't one. A wash and fold place is out of the question as we are REALLY in the middle of nowhere. I now hand wash most of what we own and utilize the available drying rack-- swearing most of the time. The landlord shows up and I inquire about the raging forest fire that might engulf us. He has a really cute accent: "OOYYEE, yez. Not to be worrying you. Fire ez 5 km far. " "JEEZ," I shriek "Shouldn't we get out of here? " Thoughts of the Portugal fire that killed 60+ people the prior week flood my mind. Tanker planes are flying directly over the house and you can see them spilling tons of water on the inferno. Lots of tanker planes. "NO, NO we not to burn," he assures. KrKa very important for tours. Much money. The fire be put out". It always comes down to money. Sure enough. It was out in the morning.

The canyon...

the road...

and the views on the way to the place we were staying outside Krka.

The Visovac Monastery is located in the middle of Visovac Lake in Krka National Park. The Franciscan monastery of Our Lady of Mercy and the Church of Our Lady of Visovac, have been here since 1445.