It's been just over 10 years since we last visited Europe.
This was a much bigger trip to visit the senior SLO-CRO homeland while they were still able to. This trip wasn't for me, it was for everyone.
It was to reconnect with the Old World. See the ancestral home the SLO-CRO left behind to escape hardships for a safer and better place. I know that Tresa has been back a few times before when they were kids, and family in EU have visited Toronto. And this was good for Kieran to practice his Slovenian as well hang out with the EU clans and re-introduce the Asian she hooked up with and produced a euro-asian-halfling.
Time sure flies. And I found out there are no longer screens on the back of headrests on AirCanada planes. You have to download their AirRouge app and connect to their on-board wifi to watch movies. Woulda been nice to know this ahead of time.
So for hours I played Zelda on my Switch. until the battery ran out. I should have tried to sleep because it was an overnight flight. So when we arrived, I was bagged, and it was over mid-30 degC. Europe was experiencing a multi-week heat wave.
That's okay. I'm from the tropics. I'm genetically made for this type of weather. Last time i said that I got heat stroke in Thailand. Hoping I make it through this trip without getting sick.
Zagreb
This was my first ever visit to Croatia, and it won't be my last! It's one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The capital city of Zagreb is alive day and night. I learned that ordering a coffee gets you an espresso, but asking for kava with milk is more like what I was expecting. I also learned that a 9 passenger van won't fit into a parking spot.
My cargo-bus-vehicle driver training was just beginning and what better place to start than in the captial city with tight spaces. To say it was stressful was an understatement. It really made a difference to pre-plan meeting spots. And then basically follow what other Eurodrivers do and do whatever the heck you want as long as they can still get around you. And the 2L bottles of beer that's cheaper than water helps to calm the nerves.
Sisak and Jasenovac
The border towns of Sisak and Jasenovac were sleepy-quiet places. It felt like time had slowed down for these places. At least driving around here was not stressful. Until I had to park the van at the hotel/apartment. I basically had a foot of clearance on each side of the van to get it through that opening. This seems like a lot until you are driving this bus we rented and have to fold the mirrors in to hope an pray you get a spot you can just drive straight into.
Right next to the border of Bosnia, along the Sava river, Jasenovac was a simple place, families still lived off their land just as they had done since the dawn of man. They had live chickens and pigs, and gardens for their food, they had piles of chopped wood for winter heating. It was like looking at history books, except no VR, but in real life. It was great to see and experience this way of living. And you quickly learn to appreciate what you have and are able to do instead of what you don't have.
Tresa's mom came from this region. One of the best comments I heard on this trip was sort of on the lines of 'you are what you eat'. When we were along the Adriatic, we commented on how tall the Dalmatia CROs were there, but back in Sisak, they're kinda Hobbit-like. And Tresa's dad commented that they are what they eat. And they eat a lot of pork and chicken there. Where as on the Adriatic it's a lot of seafood.
This was supposed to be an all-female pic. But some photobomber dude got in there.
Dubrovnik
Split
Zadar
The Adriatic sea is this amazingly clear blue water. It is spectacular. The rocky beaches make it a bit of a challenge to get in and out of the water but that's why the water is so clear. There isn't any fine sand and debris floating in the water.
The highways from Zagreb to Dubrovnik were great! It was smooth and fast. A better choice than going through Bosnia. There was only 1 person wanting to go that route. And I'm not going to say who, but he and GPS don't work well together.
It was a long way from Sisak to pretty much the bottom of Croatia - Dubrovnik. Glad we paid the extra $$$ for an additional driver. I needed the breaks from driving. It was still stressful in the passenger seat. Especially when we got to Dubrovnik and the winding mountain roads were several hundred meters up and guard rails were conveniently non-existent.
Any GoT fan will know that Kings Landing is Dubrovnik. And I was looking for that Walk of Shame. I wasn't quite sure what to expect in Dubrovnik, but it beautiful. Hilly too. From the van it's scary hilly. But when you aren't driving it's amazing. Glad Tresa got us a place with 5 steps instead of 500. No joke. Look at the photos. One way up, one way down. Steps.
So glad we didn't have to pay for parking. Also glad I was able to get into a spot. It wasn't easy. I was ready to move that scooter out of my way to park the van easier.
We left Kings Landing way too soon. There's a lot to see, we could have easily spent 5 days there. It just means we will have to come back and I'll walk that walk.
The city of Split was a lot of fun. There's a lot going on there too. We could easily have spent 2 weeks in these two places. The boat outing to visit the islands was the funnest thing we had done is ages. I wasn't really sure what it was going to be like but it was a blast. Taking a speedboat when you're 80 though, bad back, worn out knee, can't be as fun.
So happy the Rozman clan met us there. They just love to live life. Wished we had stuck with them a bit longer, but what can you do.
I wished I had brought my GoPro to the Blue Grotto and beach where we swam. But that's okay.
One thing I had noticed was the food in Croatia. My gut never felt bloated or upset. It was always content. We also noticed the abundant restaurant cafes. Absent were the fast food places everywhere in N.Amer. It's just how it is in other parts of the world. The smell of good clean simple food. I love it.
We were told that Zadar has the 3rd best sunset in the world. Not sure what the other two are, but it was stunning. The sun sets on the Adriatic. The sky pink and the sun's reflection shimmering off the water. I feel lucky to have experienced it.
We'd been to Slovenia before and I have fond memories of Moravske Toplice. I was looking forward to relaxing at this thermal spa. Swimming in the 50m pool and just chilling out. Slovenia is a simple and beautiful place. The pace is slow and easy.
Moravske Toplice
This was to be our home base for the next 2 weeks. The SLO senior master plan was to do day trips all over his home country, since it was small. But it's not that small. The plan was to visit Tresa's dad's village and surrounding areas. Visit the tourist spots of Postojna caves and Bled. We had seen these a decade earlier with Kieran when he was 3. He remembers some of it. Then we'd head towards Soca Valley region close to the Austrian Italian borders where the southern parts of the Alps are.
Trojane
If you want the best donuts in the world you need to visit Trojane. This place has got Tim Horton's and Krispy Kreme beat by a mile. The portions are USA sized, so 1 order can easily feed a family of four non-americans. Get a window seat and you get to enjoy the beauty that surrounds this cafe by the hills, while you eat a kremesnita and have a cup of kava.
Kranska Gora
Slovenia is mainly farmland, but the lower part of the Alps are here and so many parts of the country can get quite hilly and steep. We found that out when we went to Kranska Gora and made our way down towards Soca Valley. The village of Kranska Gora is at the foot of the mountains. The road is scenic and a mecca for cyclists wanting to do an epic climb. And it climbs up and up. we also found out that what goes up goes down and back up. When the larger roads are closed, Google Maps sends you on alternate routes that could and do get really narrow. Lots of fun when you are driving a van overlooking a long way down!
These are the locations we visited while we stayed in Moravske Toplice as our base.
Dolic
Kuzma
Murska Sobota
Maribor
Celje
Logarska Dolina
Postojna
Dobrna
Budapest
Ljublana
Bled
Tresa's dad is from the Kuzma region. We'd been here before when Kieran was 3. So he's been to Bled, Postojna caves. It has changed a bit, more built up for tourists. And this is high season, so be prepared to wait in queues.
We had been to Maribor before, since family lives there, but never to Ljubljana. Pretty city, lots of bridges. Sladolade at Veld is amazing. It's across the bridge from the market.
Celje is where they brew Lashko beer. That's all I can say. But it's also pretty in the center.
Logarska Dolina is a bit of long and winding road to get to but it's very pretty there. It's a big park with hiking trails and waterfalls. Amazing.
On the way back to Moravske Toplice we stopped in Dobrna.
Mostly to eat and have a pivo.
Cevapcici is a Yugoslavian sausage kind of dish made with 3 meats. It was really good here. It tasted different from other places I'd tried and I learned that they made it with lamb.
We visited 3 countries while on this trip. Technically 4 since we had to cross into Bosnia to get to Dubrovnik, but it's a 10km stretch of road.
We were going to also go into Italy but glad we didn't. We logged over 4500km in 3.5 weeks.
We were tired.
But we did visit Budapest.
That city is huge. The turkey schnitzel is really good!
People are quite friendly. I was trying to pay for parking, but the meter didn't take Euro, only local currency. You can use the to send a SMS and get a link to pay, or use an app. I tried the app, got so far, but then I couldn't read Hungarian to complete the registration.
A fellow helped me by using a translator app on his Android phone and we had a conversation back and forth, and I ended up heading to a parking garage that was easy for me to park.
Also they drove around me like I was a whale and they were those little fish eating the crap off it's body.
Pohorje
There was one thing I wanted to do on this trip and I saw it 10 years ago but didn't do it, and it was ride down Mt Pohorje. This ski resort is minutes from Maribor center. It's the southeastern part of the Alps. 10 years ago I was just starting to mtb. Fast forward a decade and I felt like I was more capable of riding and surviving the DH runs.
I'm not gonna lie, I was scared. But I was excited. My first run down - FLOW Line was bone jarring, but what a rush! I survived. And I didn't get hurt. The next day we were heading to Zagreb to fly back to TO. I needed to be able to drive.
But I took a 2nd trip up the gondola to do another run. Sharing the gondola with a SLO and a Glasgow fellow, we chatted a bit and learned that the Flow line isn't well maintained, Red line was better. So I did that one. What a blast! The upper portion is so fun. Steep but fun. Never having ridden a DH specific bike, it handles the rough stuff like it's nothing.
The fellow from Glasgow was brand new to DH, and didn't really ride anything that hilly. Although he did say he did ride mtb. I smiled and wished him good luck. I would definitely do this again.
I'll be honest, language was not really a barrier. Although some Kranjecs didn't speak any english that didn't stop us from communicating and laughing with them. Anything and everything is possible if you are positive and open. There's been a lot of change. Families moving, uniting and growing. We caught up over 10 years of change in a few weeks. It was great! I would do it again next week, but my wallet won't let me.
There's a lot of photos to go through here. It's a beautiful part of the world. Amazing place, people, food and family.
It felt like a test. I'm glad I passed this test. We passed this test.
And I know you would do the same for me and have, whenever I (and my family have) needed you. Hey they love having you around more than me. And that's okay with me. It just shows how great you are as a person.
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