Return to safari countdown

I cannot believe that five months have passed since I booked the next safari.  At times it feels like ages.  And yet I still have just over 3 months to go.  I’m not even under 100 days yet.

So many things running through my mind.  I’ll need to get the new eTA rather than eVisa. I wonder what it’ll be like to be back with Ping at Enaidura (I was first there right after the camp opened).  I’ve been following him on social media and see that he’s spending time in Naboisho a lot too, so he’ll have plenty of on the ground knowledge there.  He’s seeing a lot of servals…a wishlist cat for me!

I’m also still keeping an eye on Nashipae and her four cubs through other photographers’ social media.  They’re now about 14 months old and still with her.  She’s done an amazing job keeping them alive and so vibrantly healthy.  It’s hard to distinguish her from her cubs now, they’re almost the same size.  I hope they’re still together when I get there, but I know that’s really pushing it as she will want to move on from them before they’re 18 months.  Fingers crossed that maybe I’ll get lucky.

I’ve also been following the trials of a few of the Marsh pride lions.  I’d seen Yaya when I was with Ping in 2018. She had some young cubs with her at the time.  In the last year or so, she and her granddaughter and grandson have sort of split from the Marsh pride and been more on their own.  Yaya is pretty old for a wild cat, but she did well raising these two grandchildren in absence of her daughter who was killed at the same time Yaya’s last cubs were killed.  I’m nostalgic for Yaya because she is Siena’s daughter, and I’m pretty sure I saw Siena with Yaya as a very young cub in 2016.  And of course, Siena was the victim of a horrible buffalo goring that she miraculously recovered from, only to be poisoned by humans who thought she’d encroached on their cattle.  So Yaya comes from Siena’s tough stock, but she’s clearly burned through at least 5 of her 9 lives in the last year alone.  Various pride incursions have left her weak, wounded and near death.  Reports on the ground say the end is near, yet somehow she rallies (knock wood).  This last time after a pride incursions, her granddaughter Pamoja2 did not make it but Yaya looks good.  Hopefully she can hang in for a meet up in January!!

But as I well know, Mother Nature has her plans for me and it may involve none of that.  Whatever the case, I will be at my favorite place on earth with my eyes peeled for my beloved cats, in whatever shape and with whatever names they may have.  The thought of it is what’s getting me through this fall, with the onset of some pretty serious seasonal affective disorder settling in (oh how I loathe winter!) so hopefully the next few months fly by to get me there.

On the other side of this trip, I have plans to make for (maybe) Turkey next year and a “next” safari to Botswana, which I’ve been salivating over on the BBC show Big Cats 24/7.  It looks amazing!  But one step at a time.  One safari at a time.

At last….Elbow

 7 May 2024

Absolutely did not sleep well last night.  Of course I arrived here at almost 10 and went right to bed.  The hotel is on a main road and the traffic never really stopped.  I miss the quiet neighborhood in Ljubljana.  Thankfully just here for 2 nights and then I’m back in my own bed.

I hit the breakfast room around 8:45 and it too really paled in comparison to my great breakfasts of the past week.  Iw as excited to see a fresh hot tray of scrambled eggs, but that was the highlight.  The rest was a non-vegetarian-friendly arrangement of meats and some ok croissants.  I had juice and a large cappuccino which I took back to my room and drank in front of the window.

I hit the streets for the morning.  I first walked across the street to check out the sea.  My sister and I make a habit of checking out the water in any place we visit.  Well, I misjudged the waves and ended up with soaked sneakers and socks.  Ooops.  So back inside the hotel to put on my alternates.  For all my worry about drenched feet in the rains in Ljubljana, it would happen here.

Back out and I first located the venue for tonight’s show, which is maybe 4 minutes down the main road from my hotel.  I made a circle around it and saw the roadies loading in gear and a tour bus, but that was it.  Hard to tell the entrances and even if it’s the right venue, no marquis or anything.  No one queuing yet anyway, these folks aren’t like Morrissey fans I guess.

I walked up through town and did some shopping at Boots (chocolate, pain meds and Savlon cream, more chocolate) and got a Lucozade to help rehydrate.  Then I passed a Greggs sausage roll shop and had to stop and try a vegan one after my sister raved about them last year.  2 pounds for a sausage roll and a water!  A bargain, and it was quite good too!

I found the Royal Pavilion and just took a walk around the grounds, which were quite pretty and as the day was nice and sunny it made for some nice photos.  I dropped my purchases at the hotel then walked out to the end of the pier and back and toward i360 tower that you can take up 450 feet and back again.  I put in 13k steps before lunch.

I’d been texting with a guy on the Elbow Facebook page who I’d helped navigate from Heathrow to here yesterday.  We met up and walked around the venue again (still looking for the queue to start) and then we took an Uber out to Brighton Marina, about 2 miles away because he’d heard that you can see the white cliffs of Dover from there.  Well they start there, apparently, and yes, we did see them from the marina.  Interesting enough.

There isn’t much to the seaside that’s really of interest.  The pier is a bit rundown with amusement rides at the end, and the same repetitive churros/donuts/candy floss/ice cream stands the length of it.  Some things haven’t opened for the season yet.  It was nice walking the beach (which is all rocks, not sand) but the rest of it got old quickly.  I keep hearing a Morrissey lyric in my head “this is a coastal town that they forgot to close down” and that kind of fits this.  Even the main city away from the water has seen better days.  And maybe it’s because I didn’t see any smoking in Ljubljana, but the smoking here is off the wall.

We ate at a nearby fish and chips stand and I had haddock which was quite good. I decided I needed a break before the show to rest and get ready, so we’d regroup around 5:30. Meanwhile I ate some of the chocolate I bought and drank more Lucozade.  Checked in for the flight tomorrow so I was ready to roll.

I’d planned to take a nap and head to the venue later but at 4:30 Randy texted that there was already a queue at the venue for GA.  I wanted to be close and this was my chance, so I hurriedly got dressed and headed over, only to find maybe 8 people there.  It was fine, I was practically guaranteed to be on the front rail at that point and I only had to wait less than 2 hours to get in, so all was good.

The folks I met there were so nice and very kind to me here at my first show.  All the members of the band except the lead singer Guy left the venue and were friendly with the fans who approached them (I did not but would have if it was Guy).  Soon enough we were inside and I was indeed on the rail at the very front on the left side.  We only had to wait an hour for the opening act The Waeve who were good enough to pass the time.  So far it was all very low stress and low drama, quite unlike what I’m used to for Morrissey shows.

To say that Elbow were spectacular is an understatement.  I’d waited so long for this and had such high expectations and they were just wonderful in every respect.  I’m so glad I did this and am angling to try to see another show if I can, but who knows.  This was good enough to live off for some time.

I was so keyed up after the show that I did not sleep well and was up before 7 to eat and head to the airport.  Fortunately ThamesLink ran properly this time and I made it to Gatwick on time.  The JetBlue flight home was wonderful, like flying in the good old days!  And we landed and I was home by 5 pm.  All in all, a pretty amazing trip!

Twisty turny travel day

 6 May 2024

Last day in Ljubljana, or half day really.  I slept pretty well and woke around 8.  I know there’s a tour group in the hotel so I waited until they’d mostly cleared the breakfast room before I went down.  Same breakfast as yesterday.  There was no way I wasn’t having that struklji again.  Holy cow.

There was a nice older couple next to me who I got chatting with and turns out they are from the south shore of Boston, and oddly enough are named Bob and Sue (my parents).  This is the second time in as many trips I’ve met a couple who share my parents’ names.  Dad if this is your way to give me a shout out, message received!

When I checked out and handed over my luggage for storage, the desk clerk asked if I would mind leaving 15 minutes earlier for the airport, because the taxi driver was worried we would need more time.  I didn’t really have any plans other than walking around so that was fine with me.

I just did a few loops around the city center and Old Town.  I found a cold brew coffee cart in the market and had another coffee there, and popped into some souvenir shops but didn’t see anything that called out to me.  It was a nice, comfortably warm morning, so I didn’t need my coat again.  I grabbed a yogurt drink again to hold me over until the meal on my flight, and meandered back to the hotel.  

I made one more stop at another Plecnik-designed building, this one the national library.  Every book written by a Slovene is kept here, and when the building was bombed during the war, citizens did a bucket brigade of sorts to take all the books out to safety.  It’s an interesting design with stones jutting out against flat brick and windows shaped like books that have been laid open, face down on a table.  Apparently inside he perpetuated his seating style of keeping everyone uncomfortable because it’s better for working and all the seats are ram-rod straight and slightly slanted forward to keep sitters on their toes.

I got back to the hotel and Boris showed up.  The man had to be about 80 and pretty slow.  Now it made sense because he drove as he moved on foot and we needed the extra time to get to the airport.  Boris took the time to berate me for only staying here for 5 days (while the guides I had thought it was brilliant that I was here for so long!) and sniffed when I said I was heading back through London rather than Frankfurt.  You can’t please everyone.

It was pretty straightforward finding my way through to one of Ljubljana airport’s dozen or so gates.  I did use the Business Class lounge which had an open air deck overlooking the runway.   Business Class on BA offers no extra legroom but it does block out the middle seat and as a bonus the aisle seat is also empty so I’m alone here in this row.

All took a turn however when we decided we had to wait for two final passengers to board.  They ended up boarding a full 25 minutes late (which is odd because I saw them both when I walked into the airport) and we lost our landing slot at Heathrow.  We were an hour behind schedule when we were told our reassigned slot means we’re not leaving for another 20 minutes.  I was livid, but what can you do.  We ended up leaving 2 hours late, which obviously stinks for me since I still had to make the connection to get to Brighton by train tonight. 

I did appreciate the nice flight attendant who hooked me up with enough gin and tonic to ease the anxiety.  I had some vegetarian finger sandwiches, clotted cream (for what?) and carrot cake for lunch/dinner.  The flight was otherwise uneventful.

By some freak of nature, landing at 6:10, getting on the Tube at 6:51, arriving at Farringdon at 7:28 and getting on the last nonstop Thameslink to Brighton at 7:34, I felt like I’d won the lottery.  Until we reached Gatwick, 40 minutes from Brighton, and the train stopped.  And all trains stopped. Flooding ahead, they don’t know what’s going to happen.  There was a scramble for another train that was going to go forward a few more stops, but I scratched that plan when the train looked overfull and got an Uber.  So 56 pounds later, and a near death experience with a speeding Uber driver, I arrived at the Queen’s Hotel and settled into my seaside view room.  Of course I can see no sea since it’s pitch dark, but I plan to set my alarm for 5:00 and at least open the curtains, if not go outside.

But I’m here, and Elbow is tomorrow, and all is good in the end.

Last full day in Slovenia

 5 May 2024

I must have been crazy tired from yesterday’s activity, excitement, fresh air…you name it.  I slept the sleep of the dead again, waking only to use the bathroom.  

I hit the breakfast room around 8:15 and shook up the breakfast selection this morning, instead choosing the traditional sweet (not savory) struklji.  I wasn’t sure exactly what I was getting myself into but enough people had told me how good it was that I was game.  I waited while it was prepared by having some granola and yogurt with OJ and my daily cappuccino.  When the struklji arrived, I realized I should have been eating it all along!  It was a pastry dough with cottage cheese rolled up like a jelly roll and the sliced and fried (I think!) then topped with butter and brown sugar.  Oh my goodness.  That was pretty darn good!  I took another cappuccino to go and got ready to head out for the day.

It looked to be another warm start to the day so I went out without a coat, a choice I did not regret.  I would not end up getting as hot as I did yesterday because both a strong breeze and some clouds kept it a tad cooler today, but it was nice and comfortable to walk around.

My first stop was the Plecnik house, the home of Joze Plecnik, the architect who redesigned Ljubljana as well as other cities like Vienna, Prague and Belgrade.  I’d heard on a couple of tours that he was not just a genius but also a character.  A loner, Plecnik made no bones about not wanting guests or visitors.  His waiting area had benches with seats that slanted forward under a roof that was missing.  If visitors stuck around through discomfort and rain, they weren’t getting his message.  It’s always interesting for me to be in a historic house and especially one where artists live.  His was meager and simple.  He took elements from other sites and integrated them into his home design, from a perspective of being frugal as well as not wanting to see things go to waste.  He worked for free on all of his projects and was a harsh self-critic.  He is now one of the two most celebrated names here in Ljubljana (along with poet Preseren).  I also took in two exhibitions on about him while at the house.  It was an interesting stop and one I’m glad I made.

I then headed back toward the city center and just strolled around a bit until I came across a road race.  I was curious what it was all about and looked it up on the web.  From what I could gather, there is a course but no finish line. Runners start and a half hour after they start a chaser car sets out after them, increasing speed every 30 minutes. When the chaser car catches you, you’re done. Last person to be caught by the chaser car wins. Interesting concept.  I stood and watched the race unfold on the big tv screens in Congress Square.  I then went and had lunch and returned closer to when the chaser cars were going to be setting off.  I was hooked but also trying to mentally calculated how far I’d get at my current race pace before the chaser car caught me.  Hmmmm.  The female winner of the race ran 33 miles before she was caught, the male 42 miles. That’s crazy.  I can’t times or paces for them but I am curious.

Lunch was at a riverside cafe.  I had a Beefeater G&T and a bowl of stew with fregola sarda pasta and spring veg (peas, carrots, zucchini, onion).  It was really filling and tasty.  Also I think I needed the liquid to rehydrate from yesterday.

With the Chicago ladies last night, we’d stopped by a place where they had learned had the best struklji in town.  It looked so good that I decided to go get a piece after I’d checked in on the race again.  It was at Moji Strukjli over by the market. It was a nice sunny seat with a slice of triple chocolate struklji and a cappuccino.  Delicious.  I could get used to this….

I ran back to the hotel for a bit before heading out to join the 3 p.m. Old Town tour given by Ljubljana Free Tours.  I was psyched to see Helena was doing it, as I had done the classic tour with her Thursday and really liked her.  This tour focused only on the Old Town and covered different subject matter and time periods than the first tour.  As I expected, it was a very fast 2 1/2 hours and I learned a lot.  It also included a climb back up to the castle but a much less steep route than I found on my first day here.  She took us through the castle complex, most of which is open for free to all since the city owns it now.

I was still full from my earlier lunch and dessert, so I just popped into a riverside cafe for a Bloom G&T and a mozzarella and tomato panini.  The sandwich was passable but the G&T was excellent.  Funny enough I looked it up and I can get the Bloom gin at home!  Here I was savoring it as if it was novel.

Damiejn had recommended Zvezda (meaning Star) ice cream parlor near my hotel, and having accidentally on purpose stumbled on it walking around today, I stopped there for a small dish of chocolate and pistachio, and it really was quite good.  I’ve certainly done my share of eating the good stuff on this trip!

I was back at the hotel by 7:00 and fully packed by 7:30.  I ordered the taxi to the airport for tomorrow and am calling it an early night.  I’m ready for the UK!  The Elbow fans who went to last night’s warm up show are ecstatic but keeping lips sealed on the setlist.  I can’t wait to get to Brighton for Tuesday!

Another one of those days…

 4 May 2024

As I’ve gotten older and gained more travel experience, I have learned to truly appreciate in the moment those days that are just pretty special from start to finish. As in, I realize they’re special as they’re happening and savor them then and there, but also tuck them away as day-long memories to savor later.  Today was one of them.

The day started as those before it did, same breakfast, same morning routine, just a couple hours earlier.  I was to meet the To Do Slovenia van at 8:10 at the Napoleon monument just outside the hotel.  The van pulled up just as I walked up with two guys from New Hampshire (go figure!) already in it.  We had a misfire with an Asian couple who also got in the van with us, nodding and agreeing to everything the guide asked them, then the two women from Chicago on my Thursday tour arrived, and it turns out they were meant to be with us instead, so we swapped the most and off we went.  It was 5 of us from the US and Damiejn our guide.  He was a cutie and very chill.  

We drove first to Vintgar Gorge, another place I’d already “run” on my treadmill. I knew what to expect from the treadmill workout, but even that could not prepare me for how awesome this actually is.  It was by far one of my favorite things I’ve ever done.  As gorges go, water from upstream or up mountain has been flowing repetitively through this crack for thousands of years, forcing its way and carving up the landscape as it sees fit.  We tourists are allowed to walk along narrow footbridges suspended along the side wall of the gorge for the length of about a mile of the gorge, experiencing rushing rapids and waterfalls along the way.  The power of Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me, and this was no exception.  I was truly blown away.  It was over way too fast.  I’d go back and do it again and do it longer, if I had the choice.  It was truly beautiful and an overall very positive experience.

Next stop was Lake Bohinj.  I’d read it was much less visited due to its somewhat out of the way location.  We arrived just as I was starting to feel hungry and were given about an hour and 15 minutes there.  Which was great, except that other than taking in the view of the lake and the mountains and the overcast and threatening sky, there wasn’t much to do.  And I was hungry.  So the Chicago ladies and I hit the single very small restaurant and had Beyond Burgers and fries with an Aperol spritz right on the edge of the lake.  We were still enjoying the lake, just multitasking.  Due to excessive chatting we did run a bit late but Damiejn was fine with that.

Interestingly, yesterday’s rain finally stopped around 7:30 am and it got progressively clearer and sunnier and warmer as the day wore on.  Except at Bohinj, was seems to be permanently sacked in with clouds.  Other than that, I could not have asked for a more picture perfect day.

We back-tracked a bit to Lake Bled.  This is probably what people think of when they think of Slovenia (if anything…so many people still don’t know it well).  Lake Bled is the iconic lake with the island with the little church on it.  It also has a castle high up on a hill over the lake and a cute little lakeside church and a gorgeous mountain backdrop.  There’s also more restaurant, shops and hotels around the lake, meaning far more people.  Not crowded to the point of uncomfortable but also not nearly alone as we were at Lake Bohinj.

I was glad to have eaten already because that was not something I wanted to waste precious time doing at Lake Bled.  But, Bled is also home to the world famous cream cake and we just so happened to be standing in front of the restaurant that invented it, so Chicago ladies and I went into have a slice and a cappuccino to fuel our next efforts.  The cream cake was quite good and I’m glad I got a slice before setting out.

We had just over 3 hours here, and my options were: climb to the castle (where another iFit run on my treadmill had started), boat out to the little island, or walk the circumference of the lake (another iFit run).  Damiejn strongly suggested the boat out to the island, but it was 20 minutes each way, plus an hour on the very small island with a bunch of other people to do what? Entering the church was another 12E, on top of 18E to get on the boat.  Nah.  So off I went up to the castle.  The sign at the base said it is a 20 minute walk and I did in 8!  (Don’t forget, I’ve technically done it before a few times!). There were three plazas over the lake within the castle grounds but I had to pay entry fee into the castle itself, which was fine.  By now though, it was hot both from the climb and being in full sun at 3 pm.  I sucked it up though and just figured out how best to take photos on a blindingly sunny day.

I was snapping away when I heard a Slovene voice talking about me and I realized it was Luka, our guide from Thursday.  We chatted a bit and I told him how I’d love to come back and hike.  He showed me some photos of a climb he did of Triglav Mountain last fall.  It looked tough but also pretty special. He slept at the top and woke for sunrise where an antelope was waiting to watch the sunrise with him from the peak.  It was fun chatting with him.  He is a good guy.  As is Damiejn.

I had just over an hour left at this point so decided to walk around as much of the lake as I could.  Damiejn said it’s about 3 miles, which I can easily do in an hour, but a part of it is closed to pedestrians.  So I decided to walk a half hour or directly opposite where I started, whichever came first.  My goal was to get closer to the island for potentially better photos that weren’t shooting directly into the sun.  Turns out the other side of the lake was just over a mile away, so I walked there and back and still had a half hour to myself, so I sat in a lakeside cafe and had an Aperol spritz.  It is vacation after all.

It was about 45 minutes back to Ljubljana.  We said our goodbyes to Damiejn and as it was only 5:30 we decided to hit the wine bar and have some Slovenian wine and cheese before dinner.  That ended up being a 4 hour affair as we really enjoyed chatting and laughing and sharing travel stories and wine and cheese became wine and dinner (shrimp salad for me — vegetables here are wonderfully fresh).  It was a great time.  It was fun to laugh like that again.  As one has relatives near me, I’d love to see them again.

I will sleep well tonight, from fresh air, robust exercise and meeting good people.  Another one of those days, I recognize that.

Rainy days mean back-up plans

 3 May 2024

Rain means backup plans.  I slept so soundly, again, that I had no idea it was even raining, but not so bad that I’d want to stay in entirely.  After the same breakfast as yesterday, I slowly made my way out of the hotel, leaving around 10 this morning.  I borrowed a hotel umbrella and headed toward the two churches I saw on the walking tour yesterday.  I paid the small fee to enter both just to see what the insides looked like.  Each was also quiet and empty, and dry, so it was nice to get in out of the rain.

After that I made my way up a street next to the church in Preseren Square and took in the Banksy exhibit going on there.  I’m not a huge fan, but it is always good to see art however I can find it.  It was a good sized exhibit and included a Picasso and a few Warhols (as those who influenced him).

After that I stopped in a supermarket (finally, shops are open!) and picked up some bottled water and a yogurt for lunch.

Around 1:30 I headed back to the hotel because the rain was really coming down and I didn’t want to get me or my sneakers soaked.  I read and wrote my blog and otherwise relaxed. I headed out again around 3:30.  I was going to walk to a couple of other museums further afield but decided instead to take in the Ljubljana City Museum which is about 500 feet down from the hotel.  It was wonderful!  I passed it several times and saw they have an exhibition on about how Ljubljana’s citizens dressed through time, and it was really excellent.  I liked how they offered stories about the wearers of the clothing.  And they did an excellent job with engagement activities for little kids (I wanted to do them too!)

In the basement of the museum there is an archeological exhibit of what was unearthed on the site of the museum that was actually quite interesting too.  A lot of Roman artifacts as well as foundations of previous buildings on the spot of the palace.

After the museum I headed to a nearby wine bar where I asked the bar man if he could put together a few Slovenian wines for me to try.  I had a Buffalo mozzarella with bread and tomatoes as a small plate with them.  By then the rain had really lightened up so I was good walking around a bit.  So I strolled through the Old Town again looking for where to have dinner.  I settled on a place right on the river called Vender.  I had parmesan ravioli with black walnuts and pickled cherries and a slice of apple streusel, along with a glass of orange wine (orange because of the maceration process, not the fruit used).  That was quite tasty.  

Since I’m up early tomorrow for the day tour, I headed back to the hotel by 7:00 to get ready for the trip.  I’m excited to see Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj and Vintgar Gorge tomorrow.  Weather looks to be excellent!

Castle, caves and some darn good pastry

2 May 2024

Well, there’s something to be said for jet lag sleep (I refuse to believe it has anything to do with not sleeping without two four-footed kids on the bed).  I fell asleep at about 10:30 last night and slept until 8:24.  Welp.  I haven’t slept like that in a long time, must have needed it.  Needless to say, the bed is comfortable and the hotel is quiet!

I had a quick shower and breakfast at the hotel.  It was a nice omelet with avocado and cheese and a bowl of granola with yogurt.  The coffee machine here is quite good but I was looking forward to a proper cappuccino somewhere.  I headed out in the direction of a coffee shop my guidebook recommended, but it was closed (as are 80% of the stores and restaurants around here due to day 2 of Labor Day holiday).  I finally sat down at a riverside tourist trap type place and had a cappuccino.

It is also next to impossible to find bottled water for sale anywhere.  I haven’t yet found a convenience shop, drug store or newsagent selling water and soft drinks.  I found a gelato shop selling water and picked up a bottle for the walk.

I met the Ljubljana Free Tour folks in front of the Pink Church in Preseren Square.  They split our group into two and we were off.  It was 2  1/4 hours but really very interesting and it seemed to be over in a flash.  This was better for me than trying to follow the guidebook on my own (forgot my readers, and can’t read with my contacts…poor planning!). The tour covered Preseren (national poet) and Plecnic (national architect) and how the city developed into what it is now.  Interestingly it was a main thoroughfare for most of its existence before it became the capital of Slovenia, linking Central Europe to the Balkans and on to the east.  Napoleon once had it a capital of the Illyrian province (hence the Napoleonic column outside my hotel).

The tour looped around the Old and New towns, pointing out various buildings that were built by Italians after the earthquake (most of the skilled labor came from Italy or Austria…there are Italian Baroque buildings as well as Austrian secessionist style).  So much here is a blend of the countries and cultures around it.

Helena, our guide, was wonderful.  She took us to a shop that sells local foodstuff and got us sample of pumpkin oil and fig liqueur (both very good) and she gave us suggestions for food we have to try.  At the end of the tour, we were to tip her what we thought the tour was worth, so it was free in the sense that you don’t buy a ticket, but I thought she was well worth a good tip.

During the course of the walk, we had hot, full sun, pouring rain, dark cold skies and then bursts of sun again, about 4 times each.  It is so incredibly changeable.

I picked up a slice of pizza and a bottle of water for lunch, then popped into a gelateria for a dish of Snickers and salted caramel gelato.  I was short on time as my day tour van was to pick me up at 2:15.  I had time enough to pop back into the hotel for a few minutes to freshen up.

Luka from To Do Slovenia picked me and two other Americans up just outside the hotel.  Today’s destination was Predjama Castle and Postojna Caves.  I’d already “been” to the castle running on my treadmill (I showed Luka the iFit app on my phone and he too was fascinated by this!). I’m not sure which I was more excited about.

The drive to the castle was about 45 minutes.  Since we were in a van, we were more nimble than in a big bus.  There were 3 Canadians and 2 Polish women in addition to us.  Luka got us our tickets and audio guides for the castle and we were off on our own, to meet him at the end in 50 minutes.

I was surprised by how big the castle was.  Since I’d seen it on iFit, I pretty much knew what to expect but it was so big!  It is literally built into a cave, but what I didn’t know until I went inside is that the back walls of the castle are the cave!  There is even a tunnel that goes through the mountain and out the other side!  I was able to climb the steps up to the very top on the inside and see the tunnel Erasmus used to sneak food in while he was held hostage here (his captors had no idea how he was getting food in for over a year!). It was just really cool.  I’m really glad I got to go here.

The Postojna Caves were about 15 minutes from the castle.  I had some idea of what to expect, but this was pretty crazy.  And cold.  We boarded a little train that took us quite quickly deep into the cave.  The ride was maybe 10 minutes.  From there we walked over a mile of paths through various caverns.  All the while stalactites and stalagmites everywhere, all sizes and various colors.  These caverns were just massive, one big enough to fit a cathedral in.  I would not give in to my claustrophobia and start thinking about how deep in or down we were.  At one point we were 360 meters down, I didn’t even try to convert that in my head, it’s too much!  The walk was just under an hour, it was a looooot of cave.  I was glad to finally reach the end and realize I’d be getting warm again once we were whizzed at warp speed back to the entrance.

Luka says that bookings this year are already 100% what they were last year.  They have more work than they can handle.  That is good for them for sure.  I didn’t find anything today overly crowded, but like Helena said, the 50 or so people we had show up for the free tour this morning is over 200 in July and August!  Crazy.

We zipped back to Ljubljana and I walked to dinner.  There is a vegan Slovenian restaurant that I’ve read is quite good, so I tried that.  It’s Guzjina and it’s right in Old Town. I had goat cheese with pumpkin oil on bread, which was quite good (there is no way anyone could tell that’s vegan cheese!).  For my main I had dödöle (baked flour and potato croquette) with onions and cream and buckwheat.  This was really hearty and warmed me up well!  I had this with a glass of Slovenian sauvignon blanc.  I was full, so I took a slice of premurska gibanica (traditional sweet dish from eastern Slovenia  with a strudel dough and poppy seeds,walnuts, cottage cheese, apples) to go and had it back at the hotel (It was amazing!!).  I also picked up a small bottle of blueberry liqueur (similar to the fig) as my after dinner drink.

All in all, an action packed day.  It’s 10:30 now and I’m ready to call it a night.  They say rain tomorrow so I’m not sure what’s in store for me…I’d like to do another free city tour but not in the pouring rain.  There is also the Open Kitchen street food market on Fridays, but not sure if that will go off in the rain.  We’ll see.

Back out exploring new places

1 May 2024

Ljubljana, Slovenia, you ask?  How did I get here?  Interesting question.  Like any good travel decision, there’s a story behind it.

After visiting Poland in 2019 and loving it, I decided then to make a point to start visiting smaller, less high profile countries.  Then the pandemic happened and all my good intentions went out the window.

To keep running during the pandemic once bad weather kicked in, I bought a treadmill and with it came iFit, a video program built into the treadmill screen that allows you to “run with trainers” all over the world.  Essentially the trainer is running on location and the camera operator following behind him is meant to be you.  I ran and walked everywhere: Turkey, Tanzania, Paris, Mexico, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Costa Rica, and one series combining Slovenia and Croatia.  It looked interesting, I’d always been interested in Croatia, but had no idea Slovenia was also so pretty.

And then Slovenia was a destination on the Amazing Race last fall, and it was almost as if the travel gods were summoning me.  I really had to get here.

Originally I’d planned for this to be a two week tour of the Dalmatian Coast on a Rick Steves tour, and I’d even put a deposit down.  But somehow, I couldn’t find a way home from Dubrovnik that didn’t take two days, and I was already over my work-sanctioned 10 day FTO limit.  So that was scuppered.

And then….Elbow, a band I’ve loved for years but have just never managed to make the connection when they’ve been in the US on tour, announced a UK tour starting this week.  I got a ticket for their first show in Brighton, England and worked backwards from there.  So my 5 nights in Ljubljana will be followed by 2 nights in Brighton, since I’m “in the neighborhood” and will just stop there on my way home.  Ha!  In any event, I feel like the stars aligned for me to both explore a new to me country and see Elbow.  Score on both counts.

For whatever reason, once I had airfare and hotel, I didn’t do much planning until a couple weeks before I left.  I booked a couple of day tours and that was it.  I was literally reading the guide book for the first time a couple days before I left.  It’s not that I wasn’t interested, just that I had trouble focusing.  Fortunately, my travel OCD kicked in and I checked all my reservations and realized the hotel I’d booked back in December was for 2025, not 2024.  Thankfully they still had one room left for me when I realized my mistake.  And just before leaving I realized I’d packed my contact lenses only for my left eye, not both.  That was a good catch.  But I feel like maybe I’ve lost my travel mojo a bit.  I need to get it back.

Five days before the flight, an email from Delta arrived.  I’d purchased Premium Economy, planning on being economical on this trip (since I still had a safari I wanted to book).  I could not resist an upgrade to Business Class for $400.  It is worth it for the ability to spread out flat, not be piled on top of other people for 7 hours and get a really good meal.

It was a quick flight and I’m not sure how much sleep I got.  Dinner was wonderful:  celery truffle cream soup, tuna ceviche, 3 cheese ravioli, salad, and an ice cream sundae.  I may or may not have had a couple of gin and tonics to celebrate being on vacation.

I didn’t feel like I slept much, but I started watching New Amsterdam and woke up four episodes in, so apparently I got a few hours.  The galley behind me was quite loud, despite being 3 rows back.  I may change my seats for safari based on this experience.

Transiting at Charles de Gaulle in Paris was crazy.  Plane to bus to walk to security to immigration to walk to bus to terminal 2G.  An hour start to finish.  This terminal is small.  The planes are only Embraer jets so I’ll likely have to gate check my bag. 

And then there was the four hour wait until my flight to Ljubljana.  Interesting trivia: Ljubljana airport only has 21 arrivals a day.  And it only has 7 gates!

Starbucks in Paris has apparently done away with plastic cups. I ordered a cold brew and she pulled up the paper cup and started to mark it with my name.  I confirmed my order, and she said she knew.  There were no plastic cups to be seen.  Or straws.  That’s really something.

The flight to Ljubljana was uneventful.  I dozed for most of it.  Randomly, a Slovenian woman sat next to me and it turns out she now lives in Newton (near Boston) and works at a law firm working on a Patent project, just like I’m doing at work.  Crazy!  We chatted for a bit and then both slept.

The drive in from the airport took about 20 minutes.  The car the hotel sent was 42 euro.  It was worth it not to worry about logistics or shady taxis and be dropped at my door.

The receptionist here was very nice. She asked why I came to Slovenia and when I told her my treadmill story and showed her the iFit app with the Lake Bled run, she was amazed.  And she’s also a runner and has run 10k in the same time I have (and collected a bunch of running injuries!). Small world!

I checked into my room which is good sized and has a sofa as well as a king sized bed.  The shower is small but all is immaculate and very quiet so far.  This is the hotel Rick Steves tours use at the start of their trips so I’ll be curious to see if any tours are here this weekend.

I took a quick shower and threw on clean clothes and headed out for a walk.  The map is deceiving because I thought it’d be a long walk to the center, but it was maybe 10 minutes.  And then I climbed from Three Bridges to the castle at the top of castle hill.  That was probably the steepest climb I’ve ever done but it took less than 10 minutes and felt good after sitting so long.

While it was sunny when I landed, the overcast rolled in quickly and there were a few very quick sprinkles as I walked around.  I decided not to go in the castle today since I’m probably jet lagged so I just walked along the river deciding on where to have dinner.  Since Slovenia is nestled between Italy, Austria and Hungary, there’s a lot of pizza/pasta/gelato, schnitzel and stews.  Not many “traditional” Slovenian places that aren’t sausage.  I settled on a margherita pizza with a Last Word cocktail.  Followed by gelato (Snickers and 80% chocolate) and then I found a gin and tonic bar!  I had a G&T with Bloom gin and Fever Tree Mediterranean tonic.  It was delicious.  I’ve not had Bloom at home.  It was very citrus and floral, very light.  I enjoyed that.

I stayed out long enough to head back to the room around 7:45.  Tomorrow I’ll buckle down and do some proper sightseeing and a day trip.

Coincidentally, today is the 5 year anniversary of the last new-to-me trip I took, to Krakow in 2019!

You knew it wouldn’t last

You knew it was going to happen.  Safari 2025.  And it is going to be Kenya, of course it is.  But how it played out is so fortuitous, I almost don’t know how to process it.

I was getting a bit squirrelly because I was hearing that camps were selling out already for Jan-Feb timeframe.  I didn’t want to get closed out, so I reached out to my safari planner who’d put together the last two safaris for me.  I was certain I knew what I wanted:  Lewa Wilderness (a return to a camp from this year), Offbeat Ndoto (where I’d never been but sister camp to Offbeat Mara, which I love) and Kicheche Valley for the third time.  And Surprise!  It ended up being none of those.

I didn’t hear back from Richard right away, so I reached out to another safari planner a couple of friends have used.  I also heard from my friend Tom that the Wild Source, who I’d traveled with to Ping’s camp in 2018, were coming in with good itineraries and really good pricing.  When my Lewa-Offbeat-Kicheche itinerary came in way more than I’d hoped, I decided to scale back.  I had to get back to Kenya but maybe an all-Mara safari will help rein in the price.  A revised quote for Tangulia-Offbeat-Kicheche all in the Mara came in lower.

At the same time, I reached out to Wild Source and asked them for an itinerary combining Tangulia-Offbeat-Kicheche.  Their response was quick, remembering that I’d been with Ping at Enaidura when the camp first opened several years ago.  “Are you at all interested in Ping for the time you’re here, he’s available.”  It never even occurred to me to ask.  I assumed that first, he wouldn’t be available and second, having him as a guide came at a premium, which was not within my budget.  I didn’t hold out a lot of hope that I could afford him.  I also told them that I would love to go back to Olare Motorogi Conservancy, but not at either of the two camps most people would be sent to (for personal reasons).  Were there any other options there?  And I asked them to spec out my original request anyway, figuring for sure I wouldn’t be able to afford a Ping itinerary.

And as if the safari gods intervened, 6 nights with Ping (split his camp in the Reserve and a camp in Naboisho) and 4 nights at Mara Plains (at Olare Motorogi) happened, and within my budget!  Holy cow.  This was too good to pass up, and no way was I going to.  Just goes to show that even when you think you know exactly what you’re looking for, you really have to be open to other ideas.  This could not have worked out better.

Then I set Google flight alerts for the fares I was interested in for my dates.  It took only a few days before I saw the dip that made Business Class as low as it’ll go.  I really need not to get used to that, but it makes the trip to Kenya much more comfortable and easier to hit the ground without feeling like a zombie.

So now it’s all over but the waiting.

Halfway there

 22 Jan 2024

Halfway there…

There is an oxymoron of sorts between the safari/visitor experience outside the airport and the visitor experience within the airport.  Anything in the airport makes me never want to travel again.  Landing is always a nightmare with immigration (although this time I totally won the lottery and breezed through) but leaving…ugh.

I got the Four Points shuttle from my hotel to the terminal.  I have Sky Priority, so I got to use that entrance, but it was still about 20 minutes to get in the building because of the suitcase scan.  And no one respects queues.  Or personal space.  No one.

Then passport control.  There was a Sky Priority line that had easily 150 people in it. That is somewhat odd because there were 3 Sky partners flights going out last night, Kenyan, Air France and KLM.  Business Class has about 25 seats, so where do all those people come from?  And the people who think they can just breeze past everyone waiting in line….argh.

Then a second security check.  Yes you just had to take off your shoes, remove your laptop and have your bag scanned to enter the terminal.  Now you’re doing it again as you enter the airside section of the airport.

I went to the Sky Lounge which was jam packed and no seats available.  I finally found one and sat long enough to drink a Sprite but that was it.

I avoided the worst of the boarding area pandemonium (another sore spot of traveling out of that airport) by having Sky boarding priority, so I was settled into my seat and sipping champagne with my seat mate while everyone else was herding on.  I cannot get used to that.

My seat mate was Julius from Uganda, now living and working in Kenya.  We talked a lot about his work and moving to Kenya and why I go to Kenya so often.  We then both slept for about 7 hours of the 9 hour flight and picked up our conversation where we left off on the flight and in the Sky Lounge.  He’s off to L.A. for work, so I gave him a list of things to do for fun there.  We also exchanged details in case I decide to go to Uganda next year or meet up in Kenya when I go back.

The re-entry to reality is more turbulent than landing at Schipohl in 60 mph winds.  I’m trying to hold on to that safari feeling but man, humanity doesn’t make it easy.

About an hour to kill until I have to go through pre-screening to re-enter the US and get ready to board.  In the lounge drinking them out of cappuccino and orange juice.  Not long now until I’m back with my own big cats.