a lazy day at the lake

Today I had shin splints (something I haven't really suffered from since my lacrosse days) from my sorry attempt at hiking yesterday, and was feeling a little....not sick, but not 100%. So, I took a "vacation" day. I took a leisurely (but long) stroll from the train station to the lake, and, as I am learning is typical of Slovenia, I hardly saw a soul. It was great. I just walked along in the most beautiful of nature, listened to the birds sing, and sang a little myself. I've missed singing, since I can't sing in the hostels like I do when I'm at home, and if I sang on the trains the way I do when I'm alone in the car, I'd probably be sent to the crazy bin.
Once I reached the lake, I meandered around it, stunned at the beauty of the place, and the wonderful (and surprising) solitude that it offers. Having Robyn in Italy was perfect, I would have been super lonely there alone and we had a blast. But enjoying Slovenia alone, (completely and utterly alone) has been so wonderful. Anyway, I found a clean dock and read for a while, with my feet in the water that, even this early in the year, was the perfect, cool temperature. Never have I seen a lake with water this color (the picture below is no exaggeration), it is stunning, and it is FULL of trout. They are everywhere. Lake Bled must be one of the most beautiful, calm, quiet, peaceful places left in the world.
I love sLOVEnia!!


Tomorrow I leave for Croatia, and am suddenly plagued by mixed feelings. Slovenia and Croatia are the parts of my trip that I looked forward to the most (and Slovenia surely hasn't disappointed those hopes), but then...all I have left is Spain and Portugal. In Spain, I must briefly return to real life and responsibility in order to get some work done for my thesis, and then Portugal and then...IT'S ALL OVER!
What the devil (as James would say), where did the time go?

sLOVEnia

My first day in Slovenia was, as I have mentioned, very slow and relaxed. I arrived on a Sunday, and due to some poor planning on my part, didn't get to go to church. When I asked the receptionist at my hostel to give me directions to the nearest grocery store, she looked at me like I was crazy for a second and then told me it was closed, because it was Sunday. "Wow, that's neat," I thought. "A place that respects the Sabbath." Then, I went out for an evening stroll up to the castle and through a park or two. At first, it was almost eerie to see the absolutely deserted streets and hear the almost deafening church bells. Nothing was open and no one was there. Later in the evening people came out for walks, and luckily for me the kebab (gyro) places were open on Sunday. I honestly don't know what I'll do when I have to go back to the states and can't eat a Doner Kebab every day. I need to petition to have one put into the Cougareat or something.
Today was also pretty chill, it it's own, exhausting way. I jumped on a train this morning, only about 70% percent sure that it would take me where I wanted to go. It did. After a short bus ride, I asked for directions to Vintgar Gorge. "Up the hill to the left," she said. This is where I ended up:

Not a bad destination, to be sure, but not what I was aiming for. Someone there gave me new directions, "Leave the castle and go left.It's not very far." But the next person I asked said, in his very British accent, "It's at a terrible distance. Too far to walk, I'm afraid. We took a coach." "Yes, well," I wanted to say, "you are old and rich; I am young and poor and very stubborn. I'll walk." He insisted that I needed his map more than he did, which was probably true, so with that in hand, I headed off again for my destination. It was quite a walk, but quite a pleasant one, because the scenery was to die for.

But my destination would have been worth a much longer walk through much less pleasant territory. This is where I ended up today.


After the gorge, most people exit the same way they came in. I am not most people, and went for the road less traveled by. It was great. I got lost in the Slovenian woods for a good 30 minutes without ever seeing a soul, and it lead to just the right amount of hiking--about all that my weary legs and flip-flop-laden feet could handle.
I love, love, love sLOVEnia!

just what I needed

The last couple of days have been, as the title of this post would suggest, just what I needed. Yesterday we met up with a friend of Robyn's, Loredona. Loredona was an exchange student in Spanish Fork ten years ago, and that's the last time they saw each other. When they heard we were coming to Italy, Loredona and her boyfriend decided to treat us to a wonderful day in Venice.
First, we went to the Natural History Museum, which for some reason was free that day. It was fascinating, and reminded me of when I was a kid and how I wanted to be a zoologist or a marine biologist. Alas, I can't study everything.
Then they bought us a "mixed seafood platter". First, they wanted me to try the calamari, which I've eaten before, but it wasn't my favorite. I liked it more when I ate it at the Chinese New Year party at BYU, but still it isn't something I'd ever order. Then they wanted me to eat a fish about the size of my thumb--eyes, fins, bones, and all. It wasn't at all appetizing, but I had to be able to say that I tried it, kind of like the cucumber and feta gelato. And who knew, I might end up enjoying it as much, too. I didn't. The spines of the fins poked my tongue and the bones were crunchy...ick. Good thing they also bought me a diet Coke to wash it down with.
Later they bought us dinner at the cutest, most picturesque little cafe. We ate in the back courtyard with ivy over all the walls, and the menu completely in Italian, and it was just the sort of place you imagine when you think of Italy. It was fabulous. Then they wanted to buy us T-shirts that said Ciao Bella in the cursive writing typical of Coca Cola. I wanted one really bad, I have since I first saw them in Rome, but they had spent enough money on us as it was. But thanks, Loredona and boyfriend. A day of not spending any money like that was exactly what my budget needed.
Then, I finally got to talk to Danny, and later I found out that our hostel was about half as cheap as I had planned on, again, just what my budget needed.
And today I am here in Ljublana, Slovenia. It has been a very slow, relaxing day. Which, if you haven't guessed it, is exactly what I needed. I knew this trip would be exhausting, but I don't think I fully understood just how much. I'm just about at the half-way mark, and every morning when I get out of bed, my legs seem to say, "Really? You're still going? You're going to do this to us AGAIN?" And I say, "Yes, legs. I'm the boss, and we're in Europe, so get a move on." And they obey, although they protest for a while in the morning and when I sit down at night.
But it's worth it. Because this trip has been just what I needed.

roaming the "streets" of Venice

So our hostel here in Venice is awesome. Robyn and I have a private room and a private bathroom. We have an AC unit and a fridge, and it's the cheapest I could find. The downside? It's not actually in Venice. I guess that makes sense, since Venice is so small and...watery...and it's not that hard to get to, so I don't mind. But this morning when we finally decided to get out of bed, we ended up waiting at the bus stop for over an hour. We were told that there was some sort of strike, that the bridges into Venice were inaccessible, and that even the pricey shuttle from the hostel to Venice wasn't going. Luckily, it finally came.
Venice is super neat. It's like Prague, in that you want to take a picture every time you turn a corner, and there aren't too many people here. It's so cool that the "streets" are actually water ways as often as not. They even have "water taxis" which I would love to have an excuse (and the money) to take. One guy, dressed in the traditional garb of black slacks and a horizontally striped shirt, tried to talk us into a gondola ride. It breaks my heart to be here in Venice, probably for the only time in my life, and not take a gondola ride. So, just for curiosity's sake, I asked how much. €80! I replied, "I wish!" Then, he offered me a free gondola ride. All I had to do was kiss him. He wasn't that old, so I might have even considered the offer, except that he followed it up by saying, "We could make love on the water." Thanks, but no thanks.

Can life get better? I submit that it CANNOT!!

Today we went to the Uffizi Galeria. We saw works of art by Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and da Vinci. You know, the usual.
You are all going to think that I am uncultured, that I am unworthy of this trip, of being in this beautiful city. You are all going to look down your noses at me as an uneducated, silly girl. You may even shake your head at me, because the Uffizi was not the highlight of my day. Cool, yes. Highlight, no.
The highlight of my day was when I found out that Florence is the birthplace of gelato, and in honor of that fact, they are holding a gelato festival, which just happens to be on the days that I will be in Florence. We stumbled upon it quite by accident today, and, as many of you can imagine, I was pretty excited.
So the deal was you bought a gelato card and that entitled you to five "samples", which were about a full scoop. Robyn and I tried three together: advocado (which was good), cucumber and feta cheese (which was D-lish), and lemon and basil (which Robyn and I labeled a "slap in the face" of flavor, but after the initial slap, it was pretty good.) With our remaining two flavors, we each got one of our own. Robyn (crazy) got mushroom flavor, while I went with the safe bet of cinnamon cream to finish it off. It is entirely possible that we will go back again tomorrow before heading off to Venice.
But how cool is that, that of all the days of my trip that I could have ended up in this city, I, a gelato fanatic, just happen to be here for the gelato festival. I left my walking/hiking shoes on the train from La Spezia (typical), and have had no success in searching for them. I was so looking forward to hiking in Slovenia (and Timp when I get back for that matter) and after walking around in my beloved Havaianas on cobblestones for two days, my feet are...not happy. I was a little frustrated this morning when we went all the way across town to the agency we were told would have them and they weren't there,but after the gelato festival, I once again feel assured that Heavenly Father must really love me. Just, do me a favor, and pray for me to find my shoes too, OK?

Awesome and all of its synonyms

This morning started out not as crazy as I had feard. Yes, we had to set our alarm for 4:40, but I was wide awake at 4, so that didn't bother me. Our taxi was expensive, but we made it in plenty of time. When we got to La Spezia, we had no idea how to get to Cinque Terre, but we met a couple of girls from Michigan that had it all figured out. Everything just kept working out great.
When we got to Cinque Terre, we stared at the furthest villiage called Monterozzo. Awesome. Then we hiked (legitimate hiking) to Vernazza. Amazing. It reminded me of hiking Timp with Peter last year when I kept saying, "Look, Peeta, MOUNTAINS!" because I was so thrilled by the views. Today, I kept saying, "Look, Robyn, its MAGNIFICENT." After switching out 'magnificent' with 'unbelievable', 'unreal', 'wonderful', 'beautiful', 'amazing', 'breath-taking', and every other synonym in my active vocabulary, I just remained speachless. And, I was stoked to be hiking, so I was doubly in heaven. After hiking, I tried some cinnamon gelato, and it was as divine as the landscape. I had foolishly left my swimming suit in my other bag at the train station (what with our hurried departure from Rome and the rain yesterday, I wasn't fully prepared). But the water there was so inviting and after hiking I was so hot, that I jumped into the Mediterranean sea in my tank top and capris. And you know what? Totally worth it. I went swimming today in Paradise. Then we took a train to Manarola and walked to Riomaggiore. One of the villiages was inaccessable due to construction, but four out of five isn't bad. I was so worried that only one day there, with the stresses of catching trains, wouldn't be enough time, that the stress would outweigh the reward. But we had an indescribable, (insert several synonyms, etc.) day. Robyn and one point, in wonder of our surroundings, said, "Thank you so much for planning this. If I were planning Italy, I wouldn't have thought to come here, but this is great!"
Just when I thought we were through the potentially stressful part of the day, things got hectic. Our train back to La Spezia was delayed, so I ran frantically to get our luggage. We would have missed our connecting train to Pisa, but that one was delayed too. That made us miss our train to Florence, but luckily they come often. Once in Florence, we couldn't find our hostel because they gave us bad directions and because there are two streets by the same name, one far outside the city, and because it was already getting late. Some nice man working at a hotel front desk let us use his computer to search for hostels, and then helped us find them on the map. So, finally we are safe and sound in a hostel, and a pretty cheap one at that. Comparatively, anyway. Italy is proving to be SO expensive. I have to figure out how to convince Ben to buy me dinner while I'm in Lisbon. That, or just fast every other day in Slovenia and Croatia.
Anyway, this is the bay where Robyn and I went swimming, and our gelato shop is just there to the right. Be jealous. Be very jealous. Because today rocked.

a rainy day in Rome

This morning started off with the adventure of trying to find the church, which was far enough to be literally off the map. But with my good memory and map skills, and Robyn's people skills, we got on a bus in the general direction, sure that we could find it. We eventually did, but not without a lot of help. When we were very near the church, we asked a short Asian woman if she knew where Piazza Cornaro was. "Why?" she demanded. That was a new response. We said we needed to find an address there and again, "Why?" But then she continued, "You Mormon?" "Yes!" we replied, excited that obviously knew the place we wanted. "My husband active Mormon," she explained, as she smoked her cigarette and lead us to the church.
Then it was off for Robyn to see the outside of St. Peter's Basilica while I wrote post cards in the shade. Then more banana gelato (YUM!) and then more of lazy tourist life, just walking around, deciding what we want to do and when. Then it started to rain. We had left the hostel in such a hurry (we barely caught our shuttle into the city), and it had been so hot and sunny, that I didn't bring my rain jacket. I was OK with being rained on, but Robyn bought an umbrella and graciously did her best to share it with me. In then end, I decided my rather large bag was wet enough, and let it have a turn under the umbrella to protect my stuff, so I ended up pretty wet. I can't even count how many people tried to sell me an umbrella. But I'm far too stubborn. Robyn, bless her heart, offered to buy one for me, thinking it was only about the money. It was more than that. I am a tough girl, and when I planned this trip, I planned on enduring discomforts, on living like a vagabond, without many of the comforts of home that I am used to. If that included rain, then I was going to get soaked and love it, dang it!
But we had a great time, just wandering around, amazed by the history of the place and the splendor of it all. I wish it weren't so crowded here. There are too many tourists, but for a good reason, there are plenty of wonderful things to see.
We didn't get to see La boca de la verita, the stone sun where you put your hand in its mouth, and if you say something false, it is supposed to crush your hand. But I couldn't think of anything clever to say, and I like my hand whole. My feet have and are continuing to endure enough, I think I'll leave my hands alone.
One of the things I like most about this place (besides the obvious) is the smell. It always smells good here, like delicious food, or that wonderful white flower whose name I really need to learn, or like expensive perfume. That is such a pleasant change from other places I've been. Also, I like how men address me as "Bella". Does it matter that I know that they call every girl Bella? No. I'm still flattered.
Tomorrow is going to be nuts. We have to take a cab at 5:00 am to get to the train station to do a whirlwind tour of one city, then get on another train to Florence. It's going to be stressful and EXHAUSTING. But do a google image search of Cinque Terre and you'll be jealous, no matter the trouble it causes us.