Slovenia

JG: Katja and Martin (and let's not forget the parrot Jacques) welcomed the whole caravan, and it was a blast. Took in a bit of Ljubljana city center catching up with the entire group, then took a drive mainly around northwest Slovenia the next two days. Visited Bled and its emerald lake, took a dip in the luminous Soča River (might be the coldest water I've ever swam in - 10 degrees C), and spent a night in Kranjska Gora. The entire region including the Soča Valley is crisp and mountainous - truthfully, I don't know what my expectation was of Slovenia going into it, but it was impressive.

After a long weekend with the crew, Paweł and Anita regrettably departed for Krakow, and K&M let us recharge over the next few days at their place. And recharge we did - caught up on some administrative travel things, slept like we were getting paid for it by the hour, and even managed a round of golf! It was particularly fun playing house at their apartment, making dinner each night, having coffee in the morning - a lot of the normalcy we miss living like nomads. If I'm not mistaken, Ljubljana marked the 75th bed we'd slept in. And we've only gotten bed bugs twice, so that's not a bad percentage, I suppose.

Sandy and I have remarked repeatedly how fortunate we've been on this trip. Getting together with Teams Poland and Slovenia - having met them just four months prior 7,000 miles away - reinforces this all the more. I can't wait till we meet again...

SS: Together again!!! 
It's amazing how many great people you meet when you travel, but to be able to meet up again is remarkable. With a mix of 3 different countries (really 4) we made the effort to reunite for a fantastic weekend. Katja and Martin warmly welcomed all of us and had an excellent itinerary to show us the best of Slovenia. Hitting up the mountainous region of Slovenia that shares the boarder with Italy, we swam in stunning waters - very cold - close to Canadian cold! - climbed up to an ancient castle perched on a 100m cliff over the lake, walked up zig-zagged mountain paths for breathtaking views, and most importantly - we took the time to truly vacation and enjoy being together again. 

There was a diving competition in a nearby town that only takes place once a year. Before the competition begins, you can jump off any of the three platforms at heights of 6m (~20ft), 12m (~40ft) and 18m (~60ft). Johnny immediately thought that this could be another excellent way to overcome his fear of heights and jump off the very top board. But taking it a step farther, he enrolls in the competition!  As the 'professionals' start to make their dives, I literally was talking John off the ledge! As they called his name to preform, we all ducked our heads a little in the crowd and waited for the next diver to be beckoned. Geez - boys. 

Katja's friend works for the local radio station and arranged an interview to get our take on Slovenia and how we are managing on our world tour. It aired the following month, and the recording can be found here:

http://www.val202.si/2013/10/evropa-osebno-popotnika-okrog-sveta/

Later, we had a super tourist moment and 'locked our love' on Butcher's Bridge with a mini padlock. Throwing 3 keys to the lock into the river, legend says there is one for each lover and one for the river man. 

We nestled into Katja and Martin's apartment almost as if it was ours - that means time to go or we may never leave!  A special warm thank you to both Anita and Pawel and Katja and Martin for their generous hospitality. So nice to see a friendly face while traveling. Till next time....

A day in Bratislava, Slovakia-->

And Slovenia-->