Our landing course had us swooping over the Atlantic Ocean, with surfers below in the wave-capped bay, landing alongside a river that marks the border with France. At the end of our 20 minute cab ride to San Sebastian, we had to be let out across the river from the Old Town where our friends were staying because the streets were jammed with thousands of people, blocking our path.
We spent the week getting acquainted with the City walking or taking the touristic bus 12 hours per day. We found good restaurants and ate 3 course meals. We took a walking tour of the Gothic Quarter. We took every opportunity to see anything Antoni Gaudi had designed.
The Northwest end of Mallorca provided much adventure with the international school Escola Global, our hillside cottage in an olive grove with sheep for neighbors, rocky inlet of Cala de Deià and an amazing hike from Deia to Valldemossa.
After a rough first impression, we jumped right into the crazy tight streets, steep steps, sharing the narrow, windy, cliffside highway with roadbikers and tour buses, and a massive deluge.
We spent the rest of our day in Graz doing the usual…walking up hill to a castle and eating ice cream. On the way to the castle, crossing the various rivers over the river running through Graz, we observed 3 things: 1) the river is huge, very wide with lots of volume and rapids.
We arrived at our apartment, which turned out to be across the street from the Presidential Palace and the first thing we did after unpacking was to sign up on-line for Bicikelj – Ljubljana’s bike sharing system.
By Emily
The castle restaurant was fully booked for reservations so Marina, who owns the local SUP touring company, recommended this restaurant for a late lunch. The main dining area is cozy and intimate with views of the lake across the street. The cloudy weather and made this a really terrific spot to duck into before it rained. The waiter was very friendly and offered great tips on the menu, as well as travel in Slovenia. We started with 3 soups, a fish/seafood, mushroom and beef with noodle. All were beautifully presented and delicious. The main courses of sea bass and veal cheeks were recommended and likewise, tasty and beautifully presented. The desert was the most impressive looking, a combo of mango tiramisu, creme brûlée, moist yogurt and peach cake and touches of chocolate mouse, berries and chocolate straws all arranged on one wooden board, that we shared. We licked every plate clean.
By Emily
This place defines hidden gem and off the beaten path! A few turns up a hillside, this cozy family restaurant is worth the trip. It was recommended by our host as a place that sourced local food. On a Sunday evening at around 5pm we got the last table in one of two rooms filled with fun loving locals. The waiter was exceptionally kind, attentive and helpful in recommended dishes. It was not an extensive menu but the descriptions of the handful of offerings were mouth watering, with creative accompaniments. We had both soups – the soup of the day (creamy mushroom) and the standard beef broth with noodles. Both were excellent. We shared two entrees: the wild boar and chicken breast. I wish I could remember the accompaniments but they were so plentiful and varied that it’s hard to recall other than cranberries, cheese strudels, foie grad, and yummy sauces. It was all so very tasty and filling. We were ful but had to try desert so opted for the raspberry cake which was a light cheesecake style with crumbly crust and gelatin style raspberry filling served with tarragon/white chocolate ice cream. So good! We look forward to going back to try all the other dishes.
Nemski Rovt 21 a, SI-4264, Bohinjska Bistrica 4264, Slovenia +386 4 572 10 79
For those of you planning your trip to Slovenia, or just wondering what these caves are all about; read on. In our crazy Slovenian adventures, we ended up going to the two most popular tourist caves in Slovenia, Škocjan caves and Postojna caves.
Arriving to Lake Bled we found a vision from a fairy tale: A sparking blue lake with a castle on the ridge overlooking a small island with a beautiful church, and a bell, continuously ringing, with flat bottom boats being rowed to and from the island.