May 29, 2018 Slovenia, where Melania Trump is from, is a beautiful country. The history is similar to Croatia: Illyrians, Celtic, Roman settlements, then Slavs moved in when the Roman empire declined. The Franks conquered in 8th century, then Hapsburg empire. The Ottomans tried to conquer, then they were caught between the Austria-Venice tug of war for power. Then Napoleon came through. Many people confuse Slovenia with Slovakia. Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia and is bordered by Italy, Austria, & Croatia. Slovakia was part of Czechoslovakia and the Czechs & Slovaks split up and now we have Slovakia. It is NE & two countries away from Slovenia. We are here at Lake Bled, which is not far from the Austrian border, and the buildings look very Austrian. We are in the Julian Alps which is just ... read more

I don't know the names of most of them, but the flowers were out and they were beautiful.... read more

Today we left beautiful Dubrovnik to travel north to Split. We passed several cruise ships, one of them was the Celebrity Constellation which had been in Kotor yesterday. Our hotel was near the New Port and there are lots of "booze cruise" one day boats here that take you around the islands and fill you up with food & booze. There is a small piece of Bosnia that goes to the Adriatic Sea, so we crossed from Croatia to Bosnia, stopped for coffee, then 6 kilometers later back into Croatia. The border crossing were quick. Apparently this land strip provided a buffer between Dubrovniks land to the south, and Venetian controlled areas to the north, and it has stayed that way. The Croatians are actually discussing building a bridge to nearby islands so that drivers don't ... read more

I arrived in Dubrovnik Tuesday, May 22nd, but after a long flight from San Diego via Frankfurt I was too tired to do a blog entry - and jet lagged. Croatia is 9 hours ahead of California. Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a city on the Adriatic Coast, also called the Dalmation Coast, with a long, interesting history. First a quick history of Croatia: First settlers - Illyrians believed to be ancestors of Albanians. Romans moved in around 229 B.C., Rome fell in 5th century & Slavs moved in. 925 A.D. Tomislav united north & south Croatia. Croatia entered into alliance with Hungarians in 1102, Venetians controlled coast; by 15th century Ottomans controlled inland & challenged Venetians for control of coast (& lost). 17th century Habsburgs forced Ottomans out inland Croatia, then Venice & ... read more

I want to start out by thanking everyone for your wonderful comments. I'm so busy right now that I barely have time to do this blog, so I can't respond to your comments. I'm glad you are enjoying this blog and an insider view of how the Olympics operate and what volunteers do. I'm sure you have seen all the volunteers at the venues and competitions in their red and gray uniforms. I have no idea how many volunteers there are, but it's alot. My position is an NOC Assistant. I was offered the position as an NOC Assistant in October 2017. They described the duties as: "The role of an NOC/NPC Assistant you have chosen is an elite volunteer position who offers assistance in a variety of tasks during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. You'll ... read more