My SloCro-Asian Tour

I had said to Tresa a year ago after visiting Croatia for the first time that I'd like to come back.  It's beautiful.  The water, the cleanliness, the food, the architecture, the history and the sunsets.  I was impressed.

I didn't think we'd be back so soon.  I've never seen Tresa work so diligently and tirelessly.  But she and Rose put this trip together.  I just showed up a few days later.  It'd be great if she was like this with our home reno projects.  Or anything else other than travelling.

Sometimes if you keep putting it off, it never happens.  So you do what you can to make it happen.  You will pay for it, one way or another, but that's how it goes.   Either way, find some way to travel to the places you want to go and experience the culture there.

So here we are doing the SloCro-Asian tour again.  Feels like I was just here in Europe.  Oh that's right we were.  Italy 2 months ago.  Time flies.  This is the most travelling in a plane we have done, I've done. Ever.
This is Zagreb's Trg.  I just like saying this vowel-less word. "terg". That's how you say it.  I like how European cities have these car-less places that you can just stroll around aimlessly, discovering eateries, pubs and shops.  It's a lot less stressful.  But the parking to get here.  That's a different story.


Zagreb

We were only here for 1 night.  I can't remember because there was drinking every night.  Not sure if you know this, but spritzers aren't considered alcohol in these parts.  But it's a main ingredient.  The other part is mineral water.

From Zagreb we headed towards Krk on the Adriatic to catch a ferry to the Isle of Cres, and drive down to Losinj.  We stayed in Veli Losinj. 'Veli' means 'big' although the town is quite small and cosy.  It's just that it's on the bigger part of Losinj. Whereas Mali Losinj, 'mali' means 'small' is a much larger town but it just happens to be on the small part of Losinj.

It beautiful here.  The waters are so clear.  There are tiny islands that you can hire a boat to take you and go swimming, eat on the boat - we had fresh fish bbq'd on this little DIY bbq thing on the side of the boat that looked like it was from Gilligan's Island and the captain looked like Jack Nicholson.

It's hard for me to believe that this was very polluted 30+yrs ago.  They were able to turn it around.

The thing about the sea is that, as long as you don't overwhelm it, it will take care of you.   They get that here.   It all starts with us.  Not the gov't, or biz.  Us.  It's our responsibility.  And it needs to be taught to the next generation.

It was fun here.  I got to play tennis again, and even got some lessons to improve my form.  The place we stayed had everything to make you relax.  It was the perfect place to get into the vacation mode.

Losinj

I was ready to leave Losinj and it's amenities.  4 days was enough.
We were on the road again and a quick ferry ride and on to the town of Pula.  Lots of history here.  This region of Croatia is called Istria.  It was once a part of Italy.  Although everyone speaks Croatian, many will say they are Italian.  If you know this Italian TV cook named Lydia, if you check out her last name it doesn't sound Italian.  That's cuz she from Istria.

I think it was formerly a ship-building place, but just recently closed down.  The Pula Arena or Amphitheater, like the one in Rome. is one of the 6 largest Roman built amphitheaters remaining in the world.  It's not covered under UNESCO as a world heritage, but it should.   Sections of it have been rebuilt to preserve the structure.

They still use it today for concerts and performances.  There was a stage set up when we visited.  And if you want you can dress up like a Roman and take photos.  One fellow was walking around in Roman garb.  I felt bad for him, as it was hot.

We were only in Pula for 1 night.  Parking was not that far from the hotel which was very boutique-ish.  And right down on the main strip.  In the heart of the action.  And the Hari Krishna's.  There was a group that sang and danced.

Pula

We were off again, this time just less than an hour up the Istrian coast to the city of Rovinj.  Good thing too.  As Joe's swim trunks were ripening in the greenhouse environment of our parked car.  We were all checking the bottom of our sandals and shoes to see if we had brought in some dead carcass or something.

Rovinj is a very nice place, it had a large open market area and a shopping avenue just one block off the seaside.  So glad the hotel we were staying in provides a shuttle service to and from the parking area.  You just call and you get picked up and or dropped off.  They were so accommodating.  I saw many travellers dragging their suitcases across the cobbles.

It didn't seem that far from hotel, but the streets don't exactly go north south east west.  They curve and go up and down, following the terrain of the land.  Many cities in this part of the world are built like this.

The buildings are built right on the water.  Their backyards right on the Adriatic Sea.  You can 1 step out of the house and go for a dip.

No Capt Jack or Happy boat here, we got one that was very new.  They took us to a few swimming spots, and even a side trip to a family owned spot for a bit of lunch.  it was so nice.
There was even grappa too.  The drinking thing is a part of everyday life here.  I don't think a day goes by where there's no alcohol consumed.  The offering of a drink that they made with their own hands is a social thing - an engrained part of their culture, in their DNA.

There is a constant theme, I noticed.  No matter where you came from, if you have roots that link you back to this part of the world, they welcome you and treat you like family.
It's quite something.

Rovinj

From Rovinj we made our way towards Slovenia.  But before we crossed the Shengen border we made 2 pitstops Motovun and Buzet.  Motovun is like a city from a fairy tale.  A castle and village on top of a hill next to the clouds.   Streets wind their way up to the gate entrance.

We didn't stay here but we stopped by a hotel for a bottle of wine or 2.  This building was rebuilt brick by brick so that it looks like it was, just more structurally sound.  It was a beautiful hotel. The place was quite amazing and there's nothing else around!

The real mid-point pit stop was mins away in a village called Buzet.  It's a truffle place.  This region produces the most truffles in the world.  They train dogs to sniff out and find truffles.  You need a license to hunt for truffles.  And there's specific times of the year when you can hunt for White and Black truffles.  You can get fined or jailed if you do not have a license, but like anything people don't always follow the law when it comes to making money.

We didn't stay here either, we did a tasting. And bought beer and truffle oils.  It was quite good.  The dogs were very friendly.  Except for 1 shy one.

Actually just before we stopped here, we had lunch in Buzet.  Joe was hitting his 4hr fasting limit and had sniffed out a roast piglet ready to eat at nearby Gostiljna, like a trained truffle dog, so we had that and spritzer and beer for lunch.

Before we reached our next overnight stay at Stanjel.
The hotel wasn't in the castle at the top of the hill, but down near the vineyards.  It was more of a meditative healing kind of place.  Really calm and serene in the middle of farmers fields.  And the parking was next to the place.

Motovun
Buzet
Stanjel

The capital city was our first family visit stop.  I think we were here for 2 nights.   Tresa got to see her cousin and we got to visit Rose's cousin's family that we just saw in Canada a few weeks prior.   When we were in Ljubljana last year, it was almost 40 degC and it was hot!  This year it was 10deg cooler and way more comfortable.

Rose's cousin is a historian and gives tours of the city.  We saw and learned so much more from her.  If you can get a tour from a tour guide like Inka.  Do it!  it's well worth it.  You will experience so much more than just wandering around.  The architecture, the history, the food, the people.

It's a beautiful city.  Slovenia has done a lot to create a tourist welcome city.  And not just for tourists but it's own inhabitants.  The whole downtown centre is pedestrian only.   Toronto can learn a lot from this example.  The city centre is thriving and there's a lot of people but it doesn't feel congested.  However restaurants and cafes get full quick.  And the food is really good.

Ljubljana

Bizeljsko was another family visit pitstop.  But we still got to see and experience a lot.
It is amazing how many vineyards there are here.  All family run.  This is what they do.  The work the land.  And the land takes care of them.   And there are many fruit trees.  They don't just eat the fruit, they make liquor from it.  Rakija and Slivovitz.  Basically I think they are both brandy made from various fruits, except that slivovitz is made only from plums.  There are different flavours of rakija depending on the fruit used. They're all clear alcohol, so don't accidentally mistake it for flat water.  It'll knock you flat on your ass.

Many know Melania Trump is Slovenian, but I never knew about this Trump thing until we were here.  Apparently there is a statue made in her honour by some American German-based artist that commissioned a local to make it.
It took us a while to find it, as no one really cares much about Melania as she doesn't promote SLO.  So many of the locals don't even know where this thing is.

In any case, it's hideous.  Joe didn't even want people to know he came here.  But this is the only photo he was in.

One of the last visits we did was to two vineyards that produce commercial wine in small quantities.  In the ball park of 20,000 L or more.
This one was a like a hobbit cave.  In a region called Ribnica there's this family run winery that has caves that were hand dug starting over 100yrs ago.  They used the caves to store their wines.  It's now become a tourist destination and they hold tastings for the tourists.  Every year they have enough tourists visiting to sell all their wines.  We got to go because Joe's brother-in-law is related to this family.

Bizeljsko

We can never leave a hometown visit with out passing by a cemetery to pay respects.  I was supposed to meet this guy back in 2008 when we were first in SLO, but he and his family past away 7 years ago in an unfortunate accident.  I had gotten to know him via email.  He was a great guy.  Its a sad reminder that if you have chance to do something, do it, cuz you never know if you will have the chance again.

In this photo, in the background about 500m away is the Croatian border.  That's where the Schengen is currently.  Until they decide to move it.

This was our last day in SLO as we were heading back to Zagreb to catch our flight back home the next day.  I was thinking that this would be a light to no drinking day.  The days spent in Bizeljsko are a bit muddy.  I recall the visits, it just feels like it happened in 1 long day.   It ended up being another heavy drinking day.   Rose's cousin produces amazing wine.  Bottles

The Hobbit Cave winery visit was fun and amazing.  It was beautiful in it's natural surroundings.  Hand dug, rural, rustic and artistic.  I could say similar things about Rose's cousin's vineyard too.  Life is so simple here.

I think it's one of the most beautiful places in the world.  it's simplistic way of life is one of the reasons why.

I'm glad i got to experience SLO-CRO in this way.  Family.  There's a strong familial bond here.  I've experienced it here in Toronto.  And it's even stronger there.  My SLO-CRO vocabulary is very limited.  I learn about 1-2 words phrases every time i visit.  Maybe one day I'll be able to understand the conversation, but the words I do know and say is always warmly appreciated by family i have been fortunate to meet.

This is my 50th year on this planet.  I thought it was going to be just another year, but Tresa made sure it wasn't.  I didn't have any expectations.  But it has been amazing so far.   I couldn't have imagined.