Month: August 2019

We set off in good time this morning for our day in Ljubljana. Only problem was, as we approached the Slovenian Border Chris realised she’d left her purse behind i.e. no drivers licence, passport, money etc. So a U-Turn was in order. She dropped me at the WiFi Cafe and came back here for her essentials. The long and the short of it was a late start to our day out.

A few more wrong turns and purchase of Autostrada passes for Slovenia, and we made it without further ado into Ljubljana. The reason for going into L was the Biennale of Graphic Art. Chris was very keen to see it. There were some 10 venues for this exhibition. I went to the first 3..one in the absolutely gorgeous Tivoli Gardens, another in a Swiss- style house that was once a grand hotel and the third in the National Gallery. All interesting exhibitions and great venues.

Then I peeled off as Chris went to find the rest. I decided I love to poke around in the lovely little shops of Slovenian crafts. I do this every time we go there and I love it. So I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of my afternoon and Chris thoroughly enjoyed her afternoon. It’s a charming city that I love each time I go there.

We met up at 6pm and headed off back to Italy…starving by this time. So as we got close to home we detoured to Santa Croce, up in the Caste and went to a restaurant we’ve been to before called Bita. We had a nice meal of anchovy, mussels and clams. Very satisfied we have finally descended the steps back to home to sit on the verandah for a night cap to soak up the evening breeze. You’ll be pleased to know the rats have apparently gone to sleep!

The days are running into each other. It’s Sunday and there are more people. People on either side of us now. The water remains enticing, the sun continues to beat down. Our only activity today was to walk along the rocks to the restaurant (BellaRiva) for lunch. More Mussels, clams and fish, all cooked to perfection. The mussels and clams are cooked superbly…busara- style they call it, I’ll have to look it up when I get home. Wine by the litre, as is the way here.

Chris walked back but once again I swam back, I like to do this after lunch, it is refreshing. Then I spend the afternoon doing a little washing, reading a book, a new one today, overlooking the sea and the activity below me. Chris has a very painful foot…I’ve given her a voltaren which seems to be working a treat.

Tomorrow we will activate just a wee bit and get into town.

This is so relaxing we’ve almost, but not quite come to a standstill. Yesterday we went in to the WiFi cafe for our morning coffee and to send the email. We then went off on a merry chase looking for some oil the car needed. This was hard to find and very annoying but eventually we did find it. We then went to our favourite Mussel restaurant for lunch and once again indulged in the most delicious Mussel Soup with wine, of course, everything is with wine!!

A stop at the supermarket and then back we come to head straight down for swims and a read and a lie around until dinner of antipasto, picky things. We go to bed early and we get up late.

Today, we head off down for our morning swims, finish off the antipasto for lunch then kind of mooch around in or out of the water as we see fit. Then we decided we were just being too lazy so we picked ourselves up and headed up the stairs to the car. We went up to the Caste above where we are which is Italy and Slovenia rolled into one and I never know which country I’m in.

We went to this fabulous Botanic Garden that is replicating the micro-climates of the caste with all the native plants. It really was lovely and quite unique. Then we went to one of the many wineries, (Osmizas), I described them last year but they make their own rough but cheerful wine, you sit in fabulous settings and have a hard boiled egg and some wine. They get packed with people at the end of the day and the atmosphere is great.

We then stopped at a little restaurant up in the Caste before coming home. It’s very hairy coming down the stairs to the house after dark and I’m always glad when I make it without falling down the precipice.

Time is going fast and soon I’ll be on my own again navigating Budapest but I’m loving this respite and the company while I have it.

Really not much to write today. More of the same: breakfast, then down for a swim and a read on the rocks. Lunch, then down for a few swims and a sit around on the rocks and up on the verandah. Then dinner, watch the sunset….oh oh…music BLARING out across the bay…bloody awful and bloody loud from a group just down in front of us.

So for a while we put up with the thump. thump, thump of disco music. Now Chris has really got up a head of steam and has plowed off down the beach to tell them to turn it down. I’ll keep this open until she gets back for an update…it’s the most excitement we’ve had all day. Even Paradise has it’s little glitches!!!

I’ll be glad when Ferragosto is over and the hoards subside, although it hasn’t really affected us, we have still had the beach to ourselves all day basically. We can just see lots of people in the distance!! And there are lots of yachts anchored off-shore with merriment emanating from them.

Chris is back…the music is much muted. She’s happy and no fisticuffs. Off to bed now

There was another big electrical storm last night. It is magnificent to have long hot days followed by lightning and thunder coming in across the bay at night. It clears the air and cools things down.

This morning it was still blowing a cool forceful wind, so a good day to go into town and get a few things done. Like get some money out given that we had zero between us. Also, a couple of lights had come on in the rentacar that we didn’t understand so we needed to find Budget to ask them what to do. This we did (find budget), it was at one of the wharves. We opened the doors to get out and immediately all the precious rental papers flew away, out the door. Chris had to fly after them, grabbing one of them just prior to it entering the water…yikes!!! A

Anyway one of them meant it needed something similar to Oil (but not oil). We went off to find a garage but, of course all closed for the middle of the day. So we went to find a bank, I had a bit of trouble getting one that would give me money, but I did, although it wouldn’t give me as much as I wanted.

Then of course what else to do but have lunch so we went back to a delicious restaurant we had been to last year and had a lovely lunch of sardines etc. The Restaurant was Osteria Istriano along the end of the foreshore of Trieste..A great place to eat.

Then we drove through Trieste so I could get a pair of spectacles, having already lost 2 pairs this trip and not having a pair in reserve. Not to mention my Italian toothbrushes!!

We kept trying to find a garage but by this time everything was closing for Ferragosto so we lucked out.

Back here to find that we had been invaded by young (and gorgeous, the bastards) Italians somehow related to Mariella who owns this house and their house next door. The ‘kids’ had taken over the ‘beach’ but fortunately haven’t stayed the night and as I write this they are gone again.

All is peaceful now, the wind has died down and the sun is setting over the Bay. We will eat clam spaghetti and that will be another day.

As I say every year I come here, this is my idea of paradise. I went down for my swim this morning and I just couldn’t believe my good fortune. It is an especially good year as there are few things that are detracting from Paradise. At the moment there is no-one in the houses on either side and although people do come and sit on the rocks near our steps in the afternoon, this morning there was just me and sea. Sometimes there are little jelly fish, this year not a sign of them (probably famous last words I admit), the sea was warm and crystal clear. The tide was high which makes it easier to get into the water…..it was just heaven. All of this after exploring the horrific histories of Poland and Bosnia, it’s hard to believe.

So today our only chore was to walk along the beach to the restaurant, sit by the window overlooking the sparkling sea and eat mussels and clams in various forms and drink wine. I then decided to swim back from the restaurant so Chris took my things and I puddled along in the water. Even after a big meal I thought it would be quite difficult to drown.

We read, snooze, swim, shower off the salt with the outside shower and start the cycle again. I’ve discarded the Fitbit for this part of the holiday and am just really able to relax for the first time.

Evening is settling in and it reminds me that there is always one thing to ruin paradise, of course, as the mozzies zero in for their evening dose of blood. We will have a leftovers meal with some Prosecco from this area.

I think, having been brought up with yearly long summer holidays by the sea, there is nothing in the world I love more. This is a rocky, inhospitable beach but we don’t have to sit on it, we walk down the steps into the water and only have to walk along it to get down to the restaurant and it makes it hard for people to get to. Although there are always the resilient ones who do.

Enough of the bragging. I will once again be plodding around in the heat by myself before too long. And then there is the fact that I miss you all, all the time. I imagine how much you’d love being here with me.

On Thursday it is the big Italian holiday Ferragosto. So tomorrow we have to go into town to shop. Do you know I haven’t yet had my Italian coffee which I long for every year? So tomorrow I may have to move into gear again.
But in the meantime……

I write from dear old Trieste. I’m sitting down, bathed in a pool of sweat. It’s just so hot at 9pm. We’ve both had cold showers to try to cool down. We haven’t been here long, after the biggest day of all time!!

We set off this morning for the Plitvicka Jezera National Park for the mandatory walk around the Lakes. A 3 hour round trip, supposed to be 1.5 hr walk, ferry ride and bus at the end. Well firstly let me say 1.5 hrs my bum, unless you’re one of those fucking athletic Europeans (or Chinese). Anyway, I have to say it was stunningly beautiful, beautiful clear, blue, blue lakes, waterfalls, amazing green vegetation. Just splendid and nothing I say hereafter should detract from that because we had enough space, particularly in the morning because we set out early and the first hours were just lovely. We walked into the National Park and down to the Lake. A Ferry took us across to the other side and down where the walk was to begin. The queue for the ferry was the first oh ho moment and a precursor to things to come.

As we walked, the crowds just built up and built up, people seemed to come from everywhere. And indeed they were “From everywhere”!!!! So, some of these paths are wooden slats over the water which was tricky for me, I had to watch my step but people were stopping to take photos and stepping back so you thought for sure you were going to end up in the water. Anyway onwards marched the hoards, us included. It was a really, really big walk but I loved the area and was glad I’d done it. So, you get to the top of the ridge, having been around the Lake eventually and there is a bus (with lots of carriages, like a train) to take you to the next stage. And it is packed!!

The plan, or the plan we thought was the plan, was that we got off the bus, walked downhill for 20 minutes, past the Giant Waterfall, to get back to where we caught the ferry in the beginning and then walked back up the hill, out of the park to the car. This is where it all went horribly wrong. Again I cannot reiterate enough, it didn’t detract from what had been a magnificent walk. The information Office at this stage, told us the giant waterfall was in a different direction to our destination and was another 4km. Well fuck that!!

So Chris, God love her!!, had the bright idea that she’d just do that last bit, pick up the car and come and get me. I was dubious but hugely tired, so OK…what could possibly go wrong???
Well as we all know from the Law espoused by Murphy…just about everything. She got back to the car OK…and really this is her story so I won’t go into too much detail, but suffice to say she could find where she’d left me. Somehow, and this is a bit hazy, she found what she thought was Entrance 1, but it was a different Entrance 1 …or another part of it. So she ditched the car illegally and came forward on foot to find me. Then she had to race off to rescue the car to find the police had put hazard cones around it. Then she finally got back to pick me up, having nearly killed herself in the effort. Christine has just read this blog and wants me to add that she deserves a medal for stamina. She also has a bite of some description on her foot which is now red and swollen!!

On we drove heading to Trieste. We stopped to spend our last Kuna on a beer/wine and a tad to eat then kept driving for Trieste. We flew into the Supermarket to get a few essentials ( wine being the biggest imperative) and finally, it had to be faced, down the steep steps with all the luggage. God it’s an effort. We were bathed in sweat. It’s SO hot here, such a contrast to what you guys are dealing with but both have their challenges.

Chris has been cooking dinner, a quick but delicious spaghetti. We’re sitting outside, feeling cooler and more relaxed. So that’s it for another day.