Slovenia

Over a long weekend in February, I surprised Susan with a 4-day trip to Slovenia. Okay, I admit that I did accidentally give it away several weeks ahead of time, but Susan still pretended to be surprised. Nonetheless, she didn't know exactly where we were going, so the actual destinations within Slovenia were a surprise.

The flight in may have been the easiest flight ever. It was a 70 minute flight on a prop plane from Budapest. Within 10 minutes of landing at the airport we arrived at the bag claim just as our luggage was being spit out and then walked about 20 meters to the exit where we immediately found a shuttle to take us to the Slovenia's capital: Ljubljana.

The next morning we took a 90 minute scenic train ride to the Skocjan Caves in Slovenia (just about everything in this small country is within a 2 hour ride of Ljubljana). We first walked around the national park, with some views into some deep sinkholes called dolines (I think). See photos above and below.

Then our tour of the caves began at 1:00pm and the caves were absolutely spectacular. Check out this photo:















Okay, they didn't allow us to take any photos in the cave, but this is what it looked like when our tour guide at one point turned off all the lights. Susan and I have gone on several cave tours before (in Colorado and Missouri in particular), but this was far and away the most spectacular. After going through several huge chambers the size of football fields, we then entered a section of the caves where we were on a walkway suspended on the cave walls about 100' above a raging river. Think of the cave scene in Lord of the Rings ("You shall not pass!") and you're close. Here are some photos of the cave I got off the internet:

Finally we could take photos again when we exited.

We returned to Ljubljana and spent the night there before leaving for Lake Bled the next day. Lake Bled was in the opposite direction, nestled in the Julian Alps.

For some reason Susan included this photo. But, we were both amused by this duck that kept blowing bubbles. Besides crazy ducks, Lake Bled is known for its lake (duh), which is surrounded by mountains - including a castle perched on a precarious ledge high above the lake, and its church located on an island. In the summer one can swim to the island, but it was a little to cold in February.

Views from the castle

We walked around the lake on our first full day at Bled (about 3 or 4 miles around).

The island church with the castle on the left and the mountains in the background.

The castle at sunset

Valentine's Day night

The next day (Sunday), we took yet another bus to Lake Bohinj, which is even furthur up in the mountains. We were the only idiots in this town without skis or a car. So we rented snowshoes and walked/ran 2 miles to the ski resort while cars were whizzing by us. We then took a gondola halfway up the mountain (to about 1500m/5000ft above sea level) where we then stood out for the second time. This time we were the only idiots walking up the mountain (on snowshoes) while everyone else was taking the chairlifts up to the top (2000m/6500ft) and skiing down.

This is the highest point we reached. Susan is the figure down below as she was shivering and was in hurry to get out of the wind and the shade.

View of Lake Bohinj about 4000 ft below us.

Susan kept saying that the snow up here looked like marshmallows. The snow was about 10-15 feet thick as we saw a few holes in the snow where we could see the top of some pine trees several feet below us. It was an amazing experience to be up in these mountains in the middle of winter. We have summited many mountain peaks before, but never one like this in the winter. Since we aren't downhill skiiers and don't plan to be anytime soon this was a special opportunity.

The final night we returned to Ljubljana where we spent the night in a prison cell.

Okay, it was actually formerly a prison and is now a hostel - the smallest room we have ever stayed in. The bed is suspended above the doorway.

Ljubljana at dusk.

Ljubljana is famous for its Dragon Bridge. If you've read the novel, "The Historian," Ljubljana was described in this book under its Roman name - Emona. I also just wanted to prove that I can make cultural references other than to the Lord of the Rings, The Da Vinci Code, or Seinfeld.

View from Ljubljana's castle

If you're not completely sick of viewing our photos more from our Slovenian trip here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/runningmonkey01/SLOVENIA?authkey=07U3mmcK02Y&feat=directlink

Winter vacation photos

If anyone is interested in seeing more photos from our trip, click on the links below:

RUNNING PHOTOS:
http://picasaweb.google.com/runningmonkey01/RUNNING?authkey=KigsRh6Agds&feat=directlink

ITALY:
http://picasaweb.google.com/runningmonkey01/ITALY?authkey=zPxTXCa_tg8&feat=directlink

CROATIA:
http://picasaweb.google.com/runningmonkey01/CROATIA?authkey=NWFFWwQLrfU&feat=directlink

BOSNIA:
http://picasaweb.google.com/runningmonkey01/BOSNIA?authkey=ESWQesXCTko&feat=directlink

ITALY - Rome

Rome was flooding, Venice was already under water, the Hungarian airport workers were striking, and I was struggling to get packed in time: our Winter Break vacation appeared to be off to an ominous start.

Nonetheless, our fears were unfounded. After arriving in Rome late on Saturday, Dec. 13, we woke up early on Sunday and did what we always do when we want to explore a new city. We ran. And for the first time in several weeks, the sun came out in Italy.

Just one block from our hotel, we ran into this park and discovered these old ruins. Unlike other trips, we did not have the time to research the sights of Rome before coming. That perhaps was a blessing as just about everything we saw in Rome was a pleasant surprise. I challenge anyone to find a city with such a rich and clearly visible history.

We wound our way through a couple of narrow streets before entering this park, with several ruins of its own, and suddenly seeing the Colosseum rise from behind a hill. Later we returned to our hotel and woke up Melanie and Steve, my sister and brother-in-law, who had flown in from London to meet us for the long weekend. Taking advantage of the beautiful day (probably high 50's and sunny) we headed back to tour the Colosseum.

At 8:00 am when we had run by the Colosseum we had the area to ourselves. Now returning at mid-day, the place was crowded with tourists. After getting harassed by several tourist guides, we finally caved and paid for a tour - which turned out to be a smart choice.

Our older tour guide enjoyed his hyperbole. He entertained us by describing over-and-0ver again the delirium that erupted in the ancient Roman crowd as they watched some hapless beast or gladiator get torn apart limb by limb.

Susan, with Melanie and Steve in the background, watching a brutal gladiator contest.

In the center of the Colosseum, with the stadium floor long since eroded away, you could observe the labyrinth of undergound passages that were at one time filled with a myriad of animals - beasts - captured from the distant margins of the Roman Empire.

Susan, with Melanie and Steve. With some more tattered clothing, the three of them could front a poster for a "Feed the Hungry" campaign.

We then continued our tour by visiting the Palatine Hill, just a short walk away. While the Colosseum met our expectations, the sights on this hill blew us away. There were 100's of ancient monument, columns, temples, and tombs.

A good view of all the ruins on Palatine Hill with the Colosseum in the background.

Susan played with this photo to get it to look historical (minus the modern road and streetlights).

Susan & I, graffiti, and the Colosseum. Melanie and Steve, coming from London, seemed surprised by the amount of graffiti in Rome. We told them they should see Eastern Europe. The graffiti "artists" in Budapest seem to know one English word for sure (starts with an "F") and seem to love Jean Claude van Damme (who doesn't?).

Real men don't ask for directions.

Susan in front of a Fontana di Trevi. I don't remember it's history, but I do know it was one of the fountains featured in Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. I think the albino killed some guy here (or was that the Da Vinci Code?).

The Pantheon

More ruins...

Monday, Dec. 15

We played our hand well. After touring the Colosseum and Palatine Hill on a beautiful Sunday, we visited the Vatican when the rains returned on Monday. That was fortunate, as most of the places to see in the Vatican are indoors - except of course the plaza.

The Basilica of Saint Peter

After walking through St. Peter's we then went to the Vatican Museums.

Susan in the Map Room (I don't know it's official name, it just had a lot of beautiful painted maps)
This was another time where our lack of expectations left us totally surprised. The Museums are no ordinary collection of museums. Instead, you make your way through a seemingly endless maze which connects building after building filled with amazing artwork until you reach the finale: the Sistine Chapel.

Seems to be some sort of inquisition.

I stumbled upon this painting in the Museums, a painting that I had read about while teaching in St. Louis. The man sitting on the steps in green (left-center portion of painting) is Averroes (or Ibn Rushd), a Muslim Renaissance man from Spain. I taught about him when I taught a unit on the "Arabic Renaissance" which preceded and influenced the Italian and European Renaissances. I felt this was important for students to learn about how the Middle East, North Africa, and Islamic Spain were such important centers of science and learning at the same time Europe was undergoing the "Dark Ages." This is in contrast to the view we have of the Arabic world today.

St. Peter's Square which isn't a square. All the history that has taken place here, and all the four of us could think about is the ridiculous scene from Angels and Demons where the main character jumped out of a helicopter chasing the imposter pope (again I may have the details wrong - but its fiction)

Steve and Melanie like to where all black. So they get a black and white picture.

Piazza del Popolo

I took this photo because of the tall monument and the two temples behind it. But, in retrospect, it looks like a 70 foot tall phallic symbol.

Piazza Navona - Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or 'Fountain of the Four Rivers' by Bernini

We stumbled on these ruins by chance. After finding a tourist sign in English, I was shocked to learn that this was the place where Julius Caesar was assassinated just over 2050 years ago. Who would have suspected we would stumble upon a place like this? Susan, however was just mesmerized by all the cats that had made this archaeological sanctuary a home of their own.

You really feel like you are in Europe when walking on a winding, crooked, cobblestone street.

Palatine Hill at dusk

Our last night in Rome. This was the night that I did not spill the wine (unlike the previous night - I don't handle my wine well).