We have just got back from spending some time on the Slovenia coast (yes they do have one and it's about 46kms in length!!).
Found an apartment in the middle of Piran that was a reasonable price and it took just under 2 hours to get there from Bled.
We had checked our "bible" (lonely planet) book and on arrival we had lunch at Pri Mari which is a fish restaurant. Gemma had a superb fish soup, where the soup really had a great spicy taste to it and I had shark, which was just as good. For those of you that don't know me very well usually the only fish I will eat either comes in a bag or has fingers!!, but I must say that both were excellant and the restaurant certainly deserved its' number 1 rating on trip advisor.
After lunch it was time for a siesta in the apartment before venturing out for an ice cream and to walk along some of the ancient town/city walls. A quick return to the apartment and a shower before heading out to dinner at another highly rated restaurant. However, this time Stare Gostilina was a bit of a let down as Gemma's main course was literally prawns and nothing else (except a good sauce) despite her asking if she should order any accompanying dishes with it to which she was told "no". After my adventure with shark I decided to play safe and went for the Ljunljana chicken, which was basically a bit of chicken with ham and cheese wrapped around it in a breadcrumb covering. It was neither appetising or fresh. We ordered a bottle (litre) of wine which was quite poor, so all in all the restaurant was a tad of a let down. The good thing was that it gave us a chance to chat and also to compare how good the lunch was.
It didn't help that we were the only people in the Gostilna and thus we ventured to a local bar after dinner where we had a further 2 half litres of wine to which we did as the locals do and added water/ice cubes to the wine to water it down. This resulted in more fun and frolics and Gemma waking up with a tad of a hangover the following day, as well as a cut on her finger where she broke a wine glass.
We checked out of the apartment and drove down to Portoroz which was a bit more touristy (Brighton/Blackpool) compared to sophisticated Piran. The weather here was hot and sunny with a bit of a sandy beach. We had a couple of hours here and a couple of dips in the sea and I tried out my new water shoes after the old ones had fallen apart in the water at Lake Bled.
Afterwards we went for lunch where a couple of slices of pizza (they are HUGE) were consumed and I managed to persuade Gemma to play around with me (mini-golf that is!) where I managed to reclaim my crown of mini-golf champion after losing it in Bled the week before. It was a particularly poor course and not really worth going back to. Gemma put it down to the heat that she lost and I just thought I was lucky that it was a hot day or a second humiliating defeat may have ensued.
The drive back to Bled saw the temperature go from 28C down to 16C and then back to 26C by the time we reached home after going through cloud, rain and sunshine.
All in all, a good trip and we are now looking forward to Bosnia and Herzogivina next week.
Thursday 26 July 2012
Thursday 19 July 2012
Postojna caves and Predjama castle
Sunday was a bit of a rainy day here - so we decided to head south for a bit of sunshine (the mountains do seem to attract thunderstorms!). On my list of things I wanted to do when we got here were the Postojna caves and Predjama castle. They are about 20 miles south of Ljubljana and an easy drive away - just over an hour on the very nice motorways here. We did get caught up in a lot of holiday traffic - I think it must have been the start of the Belgian school holidays 'cause we saw almost as many Belgian cars as we did when we were in Belgium. Only one other GB plate though, and we waved rather vigorously at him! The weather cleared up nicely, with some sunshine coming through.
The Postojna caves are a bit of a tourist trap. The tat outside is laid out nicely, lots of restaurants for snacks and shops to buy your souvenirs in, but it is still a bit touristy. And they rip you off for the car park! We had to queue for an age to get the tickets, and were pestered by staff trying to sign us up for the "four-in-one" tickets for all the extra bits you don't really want to see for a "discount". I'd rather some of those extra staff manned the ticket desks so I didn't have to wait so long.... We got tickets for the 2 o'clock kick off, so grabbed a quick bite in the "Self-service restaurant" - nice! Then went and queued again to get into the caves. Nice British queuing.
The caves started by us being loaded onto little trains and whizzing down through some pretty caves with lots of stalagmites and stalactites - never sure which way round they are? I tried to take some pictures but they got a bit blurry.
At the end of the train ride, the three train loads of us separated out into different languages - since our slovene is still pitiful, we joined the english language one. It was an exceedingly large group, and although the guide tried to talk to us it didn't really work with so many people. We were told not to take pictures, so tutted at those around who were doing it. The walk was up and down through a lot of large caves, with lots of pretty rock formations, different colours and shapes. It went on and on and on. Probably the largest caves I've ever been in. Of course, Richard said "seen one cave seen them all".
It was a little cool in the caves, so after the train ride back, I was very pleased to get out into the sunshine and warm up!
Although it was getting on in the afternoon, we decided that since we'd been "persuaded" into a multi-ticket including the Predjama castle we might as well scoot down the road and see it. It was well worth it. Not as touristy as the caves (although we got ripped off for 1 euro for the loo!), it is a fabulous castle built right into a rock face, using the caves behind as extra space and a secret way out for when they were under siege. We spent an enjoyable hour going up and down the stairs investigating all the nooks and crannies, and getting a taste of liquor in the cellar!
After all the stairs, it was getting late so tootled off back towards Bled, although ended up as Richard put on his blog stopping at the cinema in Kranj to see the new Spiderman film. Popcorn was good value too - only 1.50 euros. I think we might have to visit again for the Batman film!
The last couple of days we've been sorting some more chores - we found the health centre yesterday and signed on with the doctor. That was interesting trying to find the right person to talk to, and no forms to fill in - much less red-tape than back home. At least they all speak reasonable English, or we'd have been stuffed. I also bought a slovenian sim card for my phone to reduce the costs, so have a new number now. Today, we've spent a big chunk of time planning and booking our first travels from Bled. We are going to Piran at the seaside next week for a couple of days - I want to be able to have a nice fish dinner with wine and not have to drive home! Then the week after we've planned a trip to Bosnia. We are going by train, as my car insurance doesn't cover for Bosnia. We are going to stay a night in Zagreb on the way there and back as the train trip from Zagreb to Sarajevo is a long one. I don't think Bosnian trains are very modern. So we get to see Zagreb, Sarajevo and Mostar. I'm looking forward to it, although we will be careful and avoid the landmines, I promise!
The Postojna caves are a bit of a tourist trap. The tat outside is laid out nicely, lots of restaurants for snacks and shops to buy your souvenirs in, but it is still a bit touristy. And they rip you off for the car park! We had to queue for an age to get the tickets, and were pestered by staff trying to sign us up for the "four-in-one" tickets for all the extra bits you don't really want to see for a "discount". I'd rather some of those extra staff manned the ticket desks so I didn't have to wait so long.... We got tickets for the 2 o'clock kick off, so grabbed a quick bite in the "Self-service restaurant" - nice! Then went and queued again to get into the caves. Nice British queuing.
At the end of the train ride, the three train loads of us separated out into different languages - since our slovene is still pitiful, we joined the english language one. It was an exceedingly large group, and although the guide tried to talk to us it didn't really work with so many people. We were told not to take pictures, so tutted at those around who were doing it. The walk was up and down through a lot of large caves, with lots of pretty rock formations, different colours and shapes. It went on and on and on. Probably the largest caves I've ever been in. Of course, Richard said "seen one cave seen them all".
It was a little cool in the caves, so after the train ride back, I was very pleased to get out into the sunshine and warm up!
Although it was getting on in the afternoon, we decided that since we'd been "persuaded" into a multi-ticket including the Predjama castle we might as well scoot down the road and see it. It was well worth it. Not as touristy as the caves (although we got ripped off for 1 euro for the loo!), it is a fabulous castle built right into a rock face, using the caves behind as extra space and a secret way out for when they were under siege. We spent an enjoyable hour going up and down the stairs investigating all the nooks and crannies, and getting a taste of liquor in the cellar!
After all the stairs, it was getting late so tootled off back towards Bled, although ended up as Richard put on his blog stopping at the cinema in Kranj to see the new Spiderman film. Popcorn was good value too - only 1.50 euros. I think we might have to visit again for the Batman film!
The last couple of days we've been sorting some more chores - we found the health centre yesterday and signed on with the doctor. That was interesting trying to find the right person to talk to, and no forms to fill in - much less red-tape than back home. At least they all speak reasonable English, or we'd have been stuffed. I also bought a slovenian sim card for my phone to reduce the costs, so have a new number now. Today, we've spent a big chunk of time planning and booking our first travels from Bled. We are going to Piran at the seaside next week for a couple of days - I want to be able to have a nice fish dinner with wine and not have to drive home! Then the week after we've planned a trip to Bosnia. We are going by train, as my car insurance doesn't cover for Bosnia. We are going to stay a night in Zagreb on the way there and back as the train trip from Zagreb to Sarajevo is a long one. I don't think Bosnian trains are very modern. So we get to see Zagreb, Sarajevo and Mostar. I'm looking forward to it, although we will be careful and avoid the landmines, I promise!
Monday 16 July 2012
Compare the market.com and finding Spiderman
We have settled int the apartment and decided to try out the best places for shopping as there is quite a choice around the local area. We have Aldi, Lidl, Spar, Mercator and Tus (which in Slovene means shower).
In order to try and find the best place(s) to shop Vicki and I tried out Lidl and the Mercator whilst all 3 of us went to Spar and Tus. For some reason we gave Aldi a miss!!
Our compare the market items for each shop were: potatoes (krompir), beer (pivo), bread (kruh) and nutella (nutella!).
We tried asking Sergei if he could help us with the task at hand but his whiskers were unresponsive!!
Our task(!) was mad harder by Gemma and Vicki looking at all the different things you could buy in these shops and in particular in Lidl you could buy frozen meat right next to pegs and a set of womens underwear. Needless to say we only purchased the pegs!!
Turns out that Spar is cheaper for Nutella and has a good range of krompir (as well as other fruit and veg) whilst Tus is better for kruh. Pivo seems to be roughly the same price wherever you go.
Gemma was quite keen to see the new Spiderman film and looked up on the internet to find out where the local cinema was. Turns out it was just down the road in Kranj (about 15-20mins drive away) and it was at Planet Tus. For those of you who remember your Slovene Tus means shower so the cinema was located at Planet Shower!!!
We had a day out at some caves and a castle (expect Gemma to write about that) and thought we would try and find the cinema whilst on the way back to Bled. We only intended to find the cinema (Kino) and go back another time but ended up watching the film in 3D for the princely some of 6.30 Euros each (including the 3D glasses).
The complex the cinema was in was all owned by Tus and included shops, places to eat, 10-pin bowling and several pool tables.
All in all a productive few days whereby we have found that if you want anything in Slovenia it is best to head for the shower!!
In order to try and find the best place(s) to shop Vicki and I tried out Lidl and the Mercator whilst all 3 of us went to Spar and Tus. For some reason we gave Aldi a miss!!
Our compare the market items for each shop were: potatoes (krompir), beer (pivo), bread (kruh) and nutella (nutella!).
We tried asking Sergei if he could help us with the task at hand but his whiskers were unresponsive!!
Our task(!) was mad harder by Gemma and Vicki looking at all the different things you could buy in these shops and in particular in Lidl you could buy frozen meat right next to pegs and a set of womens underwear. Needless to say we only purchased the pegs!!
Turns out that Spar is cheaper for Nutella and has a good range of krompir (as well as other fruit and veg) whilst Tus is better for kruh. Pivo seems to be roughly the same price wherever you go.
Gemma was quite keen to see the new Spiderman film and looked up on the internet to find out where the local cinema was. Turns out it was just down the road in Kranj (about 15-20mins drive away) and it was at Planet Tus. For those of you who remember your Slovene Tus means shower so the cinema was located at Planet Shower!!!
We had a day out at some caves and a castle (expect Gemma to write about that) and thought we would try and find the cinema whilst on the way back to Bled. We only intended to find the cinema (Kino) and go back another time but ended up watching the film in 3D for the princely some of 6.30 Euros each (including the 3D glasses).
The complex the cinema was in was all owned by Tus and included shops, places to eat, 10-pin bowling and several pool tables.
All in all a productive few days whereby we have found that if you want anything in Slovenia it is best to head for the shower!!
Saturday 14 July 2012
First few days in Bled
We are well settled now into our new apartment, and Vicki has had to go home to go back to work.
We had a slight issue with the internet for a couple of days after a particularly violent thunderstorm, but the landlord has got it back up and running since yesterday. The thunderstorm was overnight on Tuesday - Wednesday and was the biggest I've ever seen. We had to leap out of bed to get all the windows closed as the wind and rained howled around our top floor apartment, and the lightening just didn't stop. It reflected around the hills and just kept going. It reminded me of that bit at the beginning of the War of the Worlds film with Tom Cruise, when the aliens are arriving via the lightening. Flash after flash after flash. Then a big roll of thunder.... After looking out the window I decided if aliens were invading I'd rather be comfortable in bed and went back to sleep!
Since we've arrived we've had to sort a few chores - like finding the tax office in Radlovjica to get a tax number (this will allow us to open a bank account), looking for various bits that the apartment needs such as a colander, spatula, crockery drainer for the sink, and sussing out the local supermarkets to find out if Slovenia does our favourite foods and bits. On the positive side we found Heinz tomato ketchup, Persil washing liquid and some nice cheap wine, but couldn't find any baked beans!
Also, we've had a chance to reacquaint ourselves with Bled. Richard had a go at rowing us to the island, and I insisted on having a go too!
We've been swimming in the lake several times and have started to acquire a tan. Although we've had a few thunderstorms it has been mainly hot and sunny. And when it has rained we've usually managed to find a friendly bar to shelter in!
We did the hot walk to Vintgars gorge, and walked over the hill after - stopping in a superb gostilna for lunch, best salad I've ever had.
Also, walked up the hill to the castle in temperatures of 29 degrees. Views are pretty and sprite is excellent when you are that hot!
We managed to get the Wii set up and I'm very good at the bowling, Vicki and Richard had fun with the tennis. There seemed to be a lot of cursing of remotes...
I've put up the few pictures and ornaments I brought with me and all the lovely leaving cards that I got, so the place feels more like home, and we've started to figure out the cooker. The recipe book is getting good usage, as they don't have ready meals here, not even oven chips! Had one disaster with some pork chops getting used to the grill, but since then the meals have got better. It is fun trying to find the ingredients in slovenian.
Since we've arrived we've had to sort a few chores - like finding the tax office in Radlovjica to get a tax number (this will allow us to open a bank account), looking for various bits that the apartment needs such as a colander, spatula, crockery drainer for the sink, and sussing out the local supermarkets to find out if Slovenia does our favourite foods and bits. On the positive side we found Heinz tomato ketchup, Persil washing liquid and some nice cheap wine, but couldn't find any baked beans!
Also, we've had a chance to reacquaint ourselves with Bled. Richard had a go at rowing us to the island, and I insisted on having a go too! We've been swimming in the lake several times and have started to acquire a tan. Although we've had a few thunderstorms it has been mainly hot and sunny. And when it has rained we've usually managed to find a friendly bar to shelter in!
We did the hot walk to Vintgars gorge, and walked over the hill after - stopping in a superb gostilna for lunch, best salad I've ever had.
 |
| Richard's new hat! |
Also, walked up the hill to the castle in temperatures of 29 degrees. Views are pretty and sprite is excellent when you are that hot!We managed to get the Wii set up and I'm very good at the bowling, Vicki and Richard had fun with the tennis. There seemed to be a lot of cursing of remotes...
I've put up the few pictures and ornaments I brought with me and all the lovely leaving cards that I got, so the place feels more like home, and we've started to figure out the cooker. The recipe book is getting good usage, as they don't have ready meals here, not even oven chips! Had one disaster with some pork chops getting used to the grill, but since then the meals have got better. It is fun trying to find the ingredients in slovenian.
Friday 6 July 2012
Petrol prices
As I now feel like I've travelled a bit, I thought I might have the right to a word on the sensitive subject of how dreadfully much we pay for petrol in the UK. I know the government has U-turned and said they won't impose the extra 3p tax in August (which I was counting on missing out on!) but I still expected with all the hype, that petrol prices would be hugely less as soon as we hit Calais. Surprisingly, they weren't. In France the price we paid was 1.58 euros, which with today's exchange rate is £1.26 (which has gone up slightly in the last few days) and then 1.61 euros further down (£1.29). In some places it was as high as 1.68 euros which is £1.35 a litre - so much for cheaper european petrol! It was suggested we fill up in Luxembourg because it is known to be cheaper, this might be true but we would have had to queue for a hour to get it, so didn't bother. As we got further south into Austria we were excited to see the price was finally dropping to a wopping 1.43 euros, or £1.14 a litre. I don't think we can count on our money going further with less spending on petrol, it appears most european governments are propping up their finances with taxes on fuel.
Thursday 5 July 2012
Hi,
I guess its about time I put my two-peneth onto this blog! After several days of travelling and many different countries we finally arrived in Bled yesterday. We also seem to have found summer - 33 degrees when we arrived :-) This meant that after we had unpacked the car and lugged our stuff into the appartment we needed some liquid refreshment! I can happily report that the slovenian liquid refreshment is very good! (Union in particular). The view from our appartment is gorgeous and lake spectacular as in the pictures I had seen. We walked into bled last night to try the infamous pizzeria rustica! It did not disappoint - fantastic pizza!!
We have navigated our way to and around the local supermarket this morning to get our essential supplies and now looking forward to relaxing. Think I will be cooking tonight - lets hope we got the ingredients right in Slovene! If not the blog may go quiet for a while!!!!!!
I guess its about time I put my two-peneth onto this blog! After several days of travelling and many different countries we finally arrived in Bled yesterday. We also seem to have found summer - 33 degrees when we arrived :-) This meant that after we had unpacked the car and lugged our stuff into the appartment we needed some liquid refreshment! I can happily report that the slovenian liquid refreshment is very good! (Union in particular). The view from our appartment is gorgeous and lake spectacular as in the pictures I had seen. We walked into bled last night to try the infamous pizzeria rustica! It did not disappoint - fantastic pizza!!
We have navigated our way to and around the local supermarket this morning to get our essential supplies and now looking forward to relaxing. Think I will be cooking tonight - lets hope we got the ingredients right in Slovene! If not the blog may go quiet for a while!!!!!!
Monday 2 July 2012
The place to be in Titisee
Since our last update, we spent an afternoon in Luxembourg on Saturday. It didn't seem like a terribly interesting place so we decided to visit The Casemates - an Unesco World Heritage site made up of a long stretch of underground caverns that were used to protect the city when under siege. The network of galleries were once 23 km long, luckily for us, they aren't that long now as I wouldn't have managed the walking! It was interesting and involved lots of going up and down stairs in the dark and ducking to avoid hitting our heads.
After all that exercise, of course it was imperative to find a bar and a couple of beers. Not as nice as Belgium beers, but we made do.
Sunday, was made up of a long drive to Titisee in Germany, mainly through rain!! Apart from the first day, this trip has been mainly rain and thunderstorms - not quite what we'd hoped for. We managed (with Richard's navigation) to find our way through France and into Germany. And arrived in Titisee for the end of the day.
Today, we've had a day off from the driving and planned to rest in Titisee and enjoy the lake and the town - but it pee-ed it down again. So, we went to the local spa & swimming pool and luxuriated in the warm waters and bubbles! Definitely the place to be, on a rainy Monday in Titisee. They even had a pool bar, where we could enjoy a nice drink!
After all that exercise, of course it was imperative to find a bar and a couple of beers. Not as nice as Belgium beers, but we made do.
Sunday, was made up of a long drive to Titisee in Germany, mainly through rain!! Apart from the first day, this trip has been mainly rain and thunderstorms - not quite what we'd hoped for. We managed (with Richard's navigation) to find our way through France and into Germany. And arrived in Titisee for the end of the day.
Today, we've had a day off from the driving and planned to rest in Titisee and enjoy the lake and the town - but it pee-ed it down again. So, we went to the local spa & swimming pool and luxuriated in the warm waters and bubbles! Definitely the place to be, on a rainy Monday in Titisee. They even had a pool bar, where we could enjoy a nice drink!
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