Yesterday I did my sightseeing in Ljubljana, seeing the huge Saturday Market, some of the important buildings, several squares, a famous architect's house and such. It was a lot of fun, but not really that interesting for pictures. Had lunch at the same pizzeria that I had dinner at the other night. It was just as good. I had checked out of the hotel and left the car in the hotel parking lot, so I was able to wander around at will. Around 1 I grabbed the car and headed to Croatia. The drive was very easy. I had been on [View Full Entry]

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Wow, today was a lot of fun. I headed back towards Trieste, Italy (but stayed in Slovenia) to an underground cave system called Skocjan. It was huge. In America only Mammoth Caves and Carlsbad Caverns are larger. The tour was about an hour and a half through 2 separate caves areas. One was the silent cave and the other was the murmuring cave because it has a river flowing through it. I'm telling you, the caves were absolutely huge. I bought the book on them they were so impressive. I took a couple pictures although we weren't really supposed to and [View Full Entry]

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Today I went to Lake Bled, a beautiful lake up by the Julian Alps. It was a bit of a challenge finding the right freeway, but with the help of a nice lady out to walk her dog, I was pointed in the right direction. The guidebook said to follow the signs for Bled, which would have been easy if there were any. Here, the signs pointed to another town. It would be like looking for a sign to Vancouver, BC while in Portland; you would have to follow the signs to Olympia and Seattle and then there would be signs [View Full Entry]

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I am once again at a hotel with internet access through the hotel computer, so no pictures again. If I find an internet bar, I will see what I can do. Driving up here from Firenze was actually very easy. I only made one wrong turn, exiting the autostrade, but I was able to fix it quickly and easily. Trying to figure out where I need to go while driving with the flow of traffic was exciting in itself. I stopped in Trieste for coffee. To celebrate, I had 2 cappuccinos. 1 to drink and the other to wear on my [View Full Entry]

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Today was the day I had reservations for the Uffizi Gallery It was a madhouse with lines, people, groups, everyone pushing to get a better place in line. I was able to get in and saw the picture I most wanted to see The Birth of Venus. It was truly spectacular. As for the rest of the art, I enjoyed a lot of it, but didn't spend a lot of time there. It's not as if they had food pictures. lol I headed over towards the train station, taking time to climb to the top of the Camponile. As I was [View Full Entry]

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What a great day today was. It started out differently, with the fire alarm going off in the hotel. I didn't think anything of it, but it wouldn't stop. I called the front desk and found out that it was a problem in the kitchen. It's one of those things. I didn't imagine there was going to be a fire, but then again, I'm sure no one at the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas thought that either. I made my way to the train station without getting lost, bought my ticket at a machine and headed to Pisa. At Pisa, I [View Full Entry]

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Today I had a 10 AM reservation for the Galleria dell' Accademia. I left the hotel around 9 to give myself plenty of time. I'm glad I did, because I have spent almost my entire time here in Florence either lost, really lost, or just plain super duper lost. I just can't get the hang of this place. It doesn't help that every whip-stitch there is another church or something that looks similar to another one a few blocks over. As I was starting to get anxious and frustrated, it started to rain again. I grabbed a cappuccino and took a [View Full Entry]

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Getting here to Florence was the big adventure today. I have discovered that driving somewhere is pretty easy as long as I follow the signs; however, finding my way back to the starting point is the real issue. For the life of me I could not find the car rental place. At each turn I second guessed myself, finding myself turned around every which way. At one point I was driving on a roundabout that even now I am not sure whether was a road or sidewalk. No one yelled at me, nor did I hit anyone, so I am guessing [View Full Entry]

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Well, today was a terribly rain, overcast day, so I thought it would be fun (?) to just drive on up to Parma. Heck, I am an Americano, so I figured I would drive up, see a 30-foot tall cow statue holding a giant piece of Reggiaono Parmesan to indicate factory tour here. It does not quite work that way here. I did not find a single tour for cheese, prosciutto or balsamic. For that matter, I couldn't even find anyone that spoke English to help me. I drove past lots of plants that produced these yummy goods, but they were [View Full Entry]

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For those of you who have been to my home, you probably remember the picture of the quaint town and harbor that I have over the fireplace. That picture was the reason I decided to make this trip, and today I went to where the picture was taken. Cinque Terre is a group of 5 towns along the Mediterranean Sea. I drove to the first one, parked and walked the pathway to the second one. I was hiking along towards the third one, but the path was closed due to the rain and bad weather. At that point, I took the [View Full Entry]

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