When we walked out of our room, we saw that the Easter bunny had left mini chocolate eggs scattered down the hallway (as predicted by Manka). In the restaurant, a central table was filled with traditional special foods: a large knotted Easter bread, dyed and decorated hard-boiled eggs, and swiss-roll-style cakes with poppy seed and walnut-honey filling. The eggy Easter bread tasted rich and filling. Onto the buses (suitcases fully packed) by 9:00, we took enough time in Bled to see and photograph the incredibly beautiful deep-blue Lake Bled and the distant towering medieval Bled Castle that looked down on the valley from a dizzying height. On this holiday weekend, hundreds of tourists were relaxing around the lake, absorbing the spring sunshine, or energetically walking and biking ... read more

After breakfast, a quick walk in the crisp fresh air through the village down the road into the farm land was my only opportunity to check if my hiking pole was in one of the buses or had unfortunately fallen on the ground. Lelia came with me for pure pleasure, and our walk was pleasant indeed. The newly green grass beyond the little church gave us a vista all the way to the forest near the farm. Before we had walked half-way, the bus driven by Paul (transporting the luggage) and Manka came by. I looked under the seat from last night without finding the pole. We continued our walk, happy in our pursuit. Just as we turned onto the road that let to the farm, Tomas’s bus with Susan and Gary slowed to a stop ... read more

Our guide in Trieste, Suzi, was a serious person and a wonderful teacher. She brought a binder full of maps. Showing us the local geography and national boundaries was helpful in our gaining a bit more understanding of the complex history of the Adriatic area. Trieste changed nationalities seven time in relatively modern times. It was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which the government invited in as a defence against Venetian hegemony. For thirty years it was occupied by Napoleon, who in this area was defeated by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After WWI Mussolini was granted the city for the Italians and changed its character for twenty years, persecuting Slavs and Croatians. Endemic fascist tendencies resulted in the city being on the wrong side of WWII. For some years it was almost part of Slovenia, but a ... read more

We had a late start at 10:00, which allowed me to write notes and others to go for a walk on the sea front. We drove through the 5 km tunnel again. Coming out, Tomas pointed out the top of Mount Ucka shining in clear sun. After some highway travel, we turned onto a local road and then onto a single-lane, recently-asphalted road that wound in an intricate pattern through villages and local houses. That led to a narrow dirt road, bouncing the bus, and winding steeply to the tiny hill town of Hum. The current population is 23 people, although in the 12 century it was 1100. Apparently, Guinness has recognized it as the world’s smallest town. Inside the high stone walls was the 18 century basilica and tower. Hum is where Glagolitic script was ... read more

We woke to a sunny day full of promise for a spectacular trip to the top of Mount Ucka. The highway was winding, and the asphalt road up through the parkland was even more winding, with potholes. About half way up the mountain, to our initial delight, the trees were decked in crystallized snow. To our dismay, eventually there was enough slushy ice on the road that the two buses had to stop. Our drivers worried that the tires would not be able to negotiate the downwards return journey if there were more ice higher up. Full of vigour we donned our warm clothes and jaunted along on foot, enjoying the beautiful photo ops … until the ice became too slippery for walking safely, especially for our two sub-tropical companions from California and Hawaii. The men ... read more