Our final adventure with the Essigs was a trip to Italy's neighbor to the east -- Slovenia. My friend Laura and her son, Sam, came along with us too (hubby is deployed). I found us a water resort in the mountains, only about 3 hours from home, in between the two towns we wanted to see. The resort was great! Indoor and outdoor pools, a restaurant, and inexpensive, immaculate apartments. We spent 2 nights here.
Andrew going down the waterslide...
Slovenia looks a little German/Austrian and a little Italian and a little Slovenian --whatever that is! It was very charming. And strangely enough, we found the BEST pizza we've had anywhere in a little town by the resort. We liked it so much we went 2 nights in a row.
It was neat to see how they dry their hay here, with these fence-like structures. The slats are removable and they also stack wood there.
We drove to Lake Bled the first full day. We went straight to the Alpine slide and we all had several long, speedy rides down the hill. Here's the gorgeous view of the castle and the lake from the top.
Sara, going fast!
Laura and Sam...
I think kids are never too old for a playground!
We found the most amazing place for lunch, right near the lake and the base of the slide. The food was of the mix of cultures. It was fantastic!
Robyn, me and Laura...
Next we took a boat ride over to the church on the island in the middle of the lake. It was so beautiful and peaceful, partly because we didn't have to do the rowing!
In traditional weddings here, the groom must carry his bride-to-be up all these steps!
Or these steps on the other side...
After the boat ride, we fed some ducks, looked around and headed back to the resort for more swimming. Next morning, we checked out of the apartments and stopped in Ljubljana (pronounced loo-bee-yana), the Slovenian capital, on our way home. We spent just a few hours walking around their river, markets and square.
Turns out, that very weekend, the Slovenians celebrated 20 years of independence (from their former communist government). George bought the t-shirt and raised a beer in celebration. Guess we wouldn't have enjoyed a nice weekend here only 2 short decades ago! Hard to believe!
There are 4 of these dragon statues guarding a bridge into the center of town. Andrew loved these!
This turned out to be everyone's most favorite trip! We had the perfect mix of activity and relaxation, amazing scenery, great friends, and perfect weather!
So, back at Villa di Watson, with only 2 days left until they had to go home, we spent lots of time on our veranda drinking wine. We also ate lots of cheeses and gelato ... all their faves they had grown to love over the past 3-1/2 weeks. We had such a great time and they were such perfectly wonderful company! We did joke that 25 days together could have easily ended 25 years of friendship! But, it actually made it even better! Love ya like a sister Robyn!
All in all we visited about 12 cities in 4 countries during their stay. Whew! So much fun! Arrivederci friends! We miss you!
