Today we woke up in dreary Manchester and took a plane back to Nj. Our plane was huge and it had two levels! It felt like a really long flight because we were tired and wanted to get home.

With the exception of Manchester, all the places we visited we beautiful and one of a kind. My favorite stop was proabaly Rovinj, Croatia but Ljubljana is a close second! We visited/passed through six countries on our trip: Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, and England. It’s interesting how the culture is so different in each country. (Even a Slovenian train feels very different from a German train) All and all we had a awesome trip! Thank you for following along on my blog and hope to see you soon.

We sadly started our journey home today. We got up in Salzburg and went to another house that Mozart lived in during his later life. We saw some of his instruments and got a better sense of his life. We then headed to the train station and took a 2 hour train ride to Munich, Germany. From Munich, we took a 2 hour plane ride to Manchester, England. We arrived in Manchester at about 7 and just had dinner. Manchester is not a pretty city. Dinner was a let down and we haven’t managed to find a nice part of the city. The people here remind us of Matilda’s parents. (Look them up if you don’t know what they are like!) At least Manchester is not touristy! Tomorrow we will be getting on a plane heading home:(

Hello! Today we got up and saw more of Salzburg. We listened to a Rick Steves audio tour on our phones and walked around the city, seeing a lot of the major sights. We got to see a very impressive church that Mozart went to and played in.  We also saw Mozart’s birthplace, where he grew up. The city is known for Mozart and the Sound of Music (which are my two favorite things!) but they don’t seem to care about the Sound of Music as much as they do about Mozart. After we walked around for while, we had a nice lunch and ice cream.

In the afternoon, we went on our long awaited Sound of Music bike tour. We all loved it and lived out our fantasty of being members of the Von Trapp family by cycling and singing through the Salzburg countryside. (Except for Daddy who has never seen The Sound of Music. What a crime!) We got to see so many recognizable places where the movie was filmed. We also had a great tour guide. He had a speaker playing music from the movie and as we got to bike to the sound of Music. Here are some pictures. See if you can recognize any spots!

The minute the bike tour ended we headed to a concert at the Mirabelle Palace. We listened to a string quartet play a lot of Mozart (what better place) and Tchaikovsky.  Miraculously, they played 2 of the chamber pieces I played at Kin Haven and one of the orchestra pieces! It was a beautiful concert and concert hall. And to think that Mozart played in that same room!

 

We have arrived in Salzburg and had a very good dinner. We haven’t been able to see much because we got here late and it was dark. For dinner I had Wiener schnitzel. Can’t get any more Austrian than that! Daddy also had a Austrian beer:) Tomorrow we are going to further explore and also go on a Sound of Music bike tour to see where a lot of the movie was filmed. I’m excited!

Yesterday we spent our last morning in Bled. The day started out cloudy but we got lucky and it cleared up. We took our final swim and even Mommy got into the lake!

Next, we drove 45 minutes to our next destination, Ljubljana, Slovenia. We stayed at a really nice hotel and we had access to the club level! Our first activity in Ljubljana was a bike tour. We had a great guide and biked all over the city. We learned a lot about what current life is like in the city. The current mayor of Ljubljana has been the mayor for 12 years and has done so much for the city. He made it so no cars could be in the town square and also made changes to make the city more green. There are several kinds of recycling bins and the city monitors each family’s recycling. The place is also very clean. We didn’t see one piece of trash on the streets the whole time we were there. In turn, Ljubljana got awarded greenest city. There was also golf carts going around the city that had a phone number on them and said “call for a free ride.” We saw many people riding around on them. I don’t think we’ll find those in New Jersey. In addition to learning a lot about Ljubljana, we biked all over the city, and overall had a fantastic tour.

After the tour we went back to our hotel and took a swim in their rooftop pool. It had a great view of the city. For dinner we went to a interesting Slovenian restaurant. We were first brought delicious homemade bread. Then they brought us two more kinds of awarded Slovenian olive oil. It was so good. As if that wasn’t enough, they brought us a treat from the chef. By the time our entrees came we were all pretty full. Nevertheless, our meal was delicious and we got to sit outside on a nice street. On our walk back you wouldn’t believe how bustling the city was on a Tuesday night.

Today, we walked back into the old town and did some shopping. We went to a place where they made special Slovenian salt (it was recommended on our bike tour) and bought some cooking salt and got to try dark chocolate with sea salt. Very tasty. We then did some more walking around and got a few more nice souvenirs. For lunch we had a very specific kind of Slovenian food. It was good, but very different. Of course, we went to the best ice cream place in the city and had some delicious ice cream.

When we first arrived in Ljubljana we weren’t sure if it was going to be that great, especially because our hotel wasn’t in the best location, but by the end, we all thought it was a really great and interesting place. (Especially Mommy!) We are now on a train heading to our next stop, Salzburg! See you there:)

Today we had yet another delicious breakfast at our hotel with a beautiful view of the Alps and Lake Bled. We then made our way down to our hotels private beach area by Lake Bled. The lake was so nice and we got to relax by the lake for a while. There is a little island that many people take rowboats to, so we set off on a rowboat. Unfortunately, Daddy had a lot of trouble rowing the boat and it took way longer than it should have. As you can see from my face in the picture below, Charlotte and I weren’t happy. On the way back from the island, we decided to swim back in our life vests. Even though it was a long swim, we beat Mommy and Daddy on the way back!

Here are some more pictures of our deck and swimming area. (They are in a slideshow)

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Greetings! We’ve been very busy. 2 days ago we spent our last night in Rovinj, Croatia. They were having some kind of festival and all the lights were off and there was music and people everywhere. It was SO crowded.

The next morning we bought Croatian perfume for Mommy, truffle oil for Charlotte, and a snow globe for me. We then took a long car ride and drove to Bovec, Slovenia. It was about 4 hours but we drove through the mountains and it was very scenic. 

Once we got to Bovec we went on a white water rafting trip in the Soca river. Charlotte and I were very scared and didn’t want to do it. We went on the shortest and easiest tour. The water was SO clean and known for its “emerald” color. Not to mention the river is surrounded by the alps. While Charlotte and I were scared about the rapids, Mommy was going crazy that she didn’t have her camera on the trip. The rafting company is supposed to send us photos so stay tuned!

After the rafting trip we drove about an hour and a half to our hotel in Bled, Slovenia. The drive was a little treacherous because we were high up and the roads were windy. When we got to our hotel it was very late and quiet. We quickly found a restaurant and had a very nice meal. Now, we are sitting outside our hotel, eating breakfast right next to Lake Bled and the mountains. Pictures to come soon!

Hello! Today we got to swim in the Adriatic Sea. The water is clear, blue, and the perfect temperature. In the morning we had an amazing breakfast out our hotel. (See below) Next, we got on a 20 minute boat ride which took us to a little island off Rovinj called Red Island. We swam and had a nice lunch there.

After Red Island, we took a bike ride on a nice bike path that goes around Rovinj. It was very crowded with bikes and people because everybody was leaving the beach.  (There were places off the path to swim) We took another swim here too.

Today we have been in 3 countries! It has been a long day.

Last Morning in Venice

We woke up in Venice, had a quick breakfast at our hotel, and said good bye to Venice. We took a water bus and train which took us to Trieste, Italy. (Right on the border of Italy)

Slovenia

From the train station in Trieste, we took a cab to a town in Slovenia called Koper, where we rented a car and had a late lunch (with ice cream of course!)

Croatia

We drove about an hour and finally arrived at our final destination, Rovinj, Croatia. We are staying at a beautiful hotel. It’s very modern and has great service. We took a walking tour around Rovinj with a very good and informational tour guide and now we are back at the hotel getting ready for a late dinner. It’s been a busy day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

For dinner, we took a boat off to a part of Venice that is it’s own separate island. The boat ride only took 2 minutes but you would be surprised how choppy the canal water can get. The only form of public transportation in the city of Venice are these boats that act and look like buses. They run frequently and stop at many places. We first got a drink and sat on a roof terrace in a Hilton. There was a very pretty view of Venice. Then for dinner we sat by the water which was also very pretty. I got pesto pasta and it was my favorite meal so far! Buona Notte!

After our tour we did a lot of walking and got lunch. For lunch we had really good sandwiches and then we got more gelato. It was even better than last night!

After yesterday and today, I can say we have gotten a good sense of what Venice is like. There are so many different ally ways and turns which makes it very hard to navigate around but everything is relatively close. We’ve learned that not a lot of people actually live in Venice and majority of the city is tourists. Some people say it’s like Disney world because with all the canals and tourists it doesn’t feel real! I wouldn’t go this far but it definitely doesn’t feel like any other European city we have gone to.

It’s now about lunch time and we are all very hungry! We had a great but hot tour. Here are some beautiful pictures of the canals.