Thoughts on Ljubljana

Rick and I have been in Ljubljana for 6 days now.  We are getting settled, he is going to the office every morning and spending most of the day there.  I am learning my way around town, figuring out the bus system, free bike rental scheme, grocery shopping, going on walking tours and using the laundry room.  My first impression of Ljubljana is positive.  The old part of town is very nice, a river runs through the town, there are lots of squares with restaurants spilling out on the sidewalks. There is a wonderful farmers market that is open 6 days a week. The architecture is interesting in the old part of town.  You definitely can see an influence from the Austrian Habsburg Empire and the architect Joze Plecnik.  Out of city center you can see the influence from the post WWII days when the country was part of Yugoslavia.  I find the people are friendly and helpful, with fairly good English skills, especially people in their 20's and 30's.  They want tourist to enjoy their city and they want to make sure you are happy.
Yesterday Rick and I had lunch with his colleague Tanja and her husband, Marko. We were at the restaurant for almost 4 hours talking with them.  It was interesting to hear their take on how Slovenia has transformed and the current world affairs.  This afternoon we walked to the city center to the market to pick up sauerkraut and sausages.  There was a food fair, their version of a food truck rodeo.  I had Indian food and Rick had sausages.  Then we had a wonderful cake! We stood at a table with a nice couple who live in Ljubljana, she is originally from Croatia and he from Italy.
I will post this quickly with a few photos from my walking tour, apartment and today's market adventure.  When Rick returns from the office we will head to Kamnik to meet up with Jerry, Jean, Carol and Don at the chalet.  Rick will be able to stay with us over the weekend, but will have to return Monday morning to prepare for his MBA class he will be teaching next week in Vienna and the seminars he will be conducting later this month here at the University of Ljubljana.

Our apartment. I picked up some fleece throws to cover our bed.  We are sleeping on top of the duvets for extra padding.  The kitchen has one regular and a tiny burner to heat coffee or water.  I can make one pot meals! We do have a living room with futon couch, desk and tv.  The tv has many station in English, with Slovene subtitles.

City Hall of Ljubljana and "old town" square

Ljubljanica River boat rides

St Nicholas Cathedral 

Franciscan Church of the Assumption on  Presernov Square

house representing Succession architecture on Presernov square, the story behind the house is funny.  There was a major earthquake in 1895 that damaged many buildings. This building was not damaged, but the owners put up scaffolding in order to get money from the govt and painted their building in all of these wonderful designs and patterns.

Presernov Square in Ljubljana.  Many musicians and people hanging out.

Lunch today at the food fair,  Indian mix plate with a glass of prosecco 

Rick enjoying a beer and sausage

empty glass, happy person

Ljubljana Friday Food Fair

Getting sauerkraut and sausage cooking advice from this wonderful vendor

lunch on the first day along the river

Under the Tuscan Sun, Rain, and Clouds

I have been interested in Agri Tourism or a farm stay for sometime.  In Italy, it is called Agriturismo and they are everywhere.  I am not sure how I found La Falconara outside of Montepulciano.  I think it was a combination of using trip advisor and a website I found for Tuscany Agriturismo.  I wanted someplace that catered to only a few guests, had cooking facilities and fairly close to a village and of course the price had to be right.  The reviews for La  Falconara were very good and when I emailed them about a possible stay, Alex replied immediately and so with so much enthusiasm that I was charmed.  La Falconara is not fancy, but wow, what a great stay.  Alex and Ingrid are both charming and helpful, they seem to genuinely care for their guest.  The house is located on top of a hill, overlooking a valley and in the distance you can see Cortona.  It is surrounded by olive groves, vineyards and 11 kitty cats.

"Doughnut and Whiskey" in my door.  Alex gives his cats funny names.

Just outside my front door, vineyards

La Falconara farm house

Over the next week we toured the area, not straying far, but enjoying the hill towns of Tuscany.  The weather was not perfect, it was warm and muggy when we first arrived and then we had rain or clouds off and on for 2 days.  We had a personal tour of the winery that Alex is involved with, Il Conventino and sampled his fine wine.  We went to Monticchiello, a small medieval village with very little tourism.  I bought a beautiful silk and wool wrap and we had dinner at a wonderful little restaurant.  We visited the beautiful Le Foce gardens and had a very interesting guided tour about the gardens.  We visited Montepulciano, Montecino, and Pienza.   I was able to arrange for us to return to a winery we went to last year, San Polino and had a wonderful 2007 Brunello wine with the owner's son in the extra kitchen off the veranda.  We also revisited the Sant' Antimo Abbey, but once again got there as the monks were finishing their Gregorian chants.  We also had a tasting at Fanti Winery, the tasting room was beautiful and they were very gracious with their pours.
The last day we spent part of our day with Ingrid.  She took us to San Giovanni thermal pools and we soaked in the mineral baths for about 75 minutes before having a lunch together.  She was absolutely charming and a wonderful person to get to know.  Both her and Alex have an interesting history, having been born in Venezuela to part Italian and Spanish families.  Alex grew up attending an American school in Venezuela and then went to Philadelphia to study pharmacy. After he received a masters degree he moved to Italy, married, was a pharmacists, and became involved in wine making.  We are not sure if he divorced or if his wife died, but at some point he visited Venezuela.  While there he met Ingrid.  Ingrid was a librarian, had been married to a professor at University of Michigan and had a Master of Library Science from Michigan.  They have been married for about 13 years, they are in their late 70's.  So sweet.

Carol, Don and Rick sipping wine

From Monticchiello

Love this sign for a B & B Inn

La Porto, we had coffee and then came back for dinner

Church in Pienza

Pienza

Landscape from the farm

Grand Plaza, Montelpulciano

Alex giving us a wine tour

Rick, Alex, Carol, Don and me at the winery

LeFoce Villa Gardens

Rainy day at Le Foce

Tea and coffee back in Montepulciano

dinner at the the farm

At Sant' Antimo Abbey- I think I have been drinking way too much wine and eating bread, or else that shirt just does not flatter me - haha

Tasting Brunello at San Polino

Rick enjoying a walk through the vines

Our last night at La Falconara

When we returned to the farm we spent the evening enjoying the company of Alex and Ingrid and the  other guest at the farm.  We made an anti pasta plate and enjoyed many glasses of wine.  To top the evening off, Alex made a gelato run for us.  I hope we get to return in the near future.  There are so many places I did not get to see and we lost a day or two of sightseeing due to my cold and the travel problems that Carol and Don encountered. As most of you know, my sister Carol and her husband Don joined us for the La Falconara part of our trip and then again here in Slovenia.   They were to arrive on Saturday evening, the same day we were checking in.  Unfortunately, their flight out of Denver was so delayed they missed their connection in DC.  They had to overnight in DC and did not get out until Saturday evening, which meant they would get to Florence until Sunday evening.  However, what I did not know because I never received her email, was that their flight was changed to go through Frankfort instead of Brussels. The new flight was arriving at a slightly later time.  I also did not know that the Italian trains were going on strike just about the time they landed.  So between landing a little later then they were scheduled, luggage not showing up and the trains going on strike they were unable to make the train to Chiusi on Sunday evening.  They spent the night in Florence and did not arrive until Monday at noon.  In hindsight, we would have probably gone somewhere on Sunday, either Oriveto or Cortono instead of hanging around the farm and just taking a walk.  But again, I was not a 100% so maybe not.

On Saturday, we left La Falconara and headed by train to Venice to overnight. We stayed on the mainland, but went to the island that evening to wonder the streets, have a drink along the canal and pizza and wine later near the Academic Bridge.  Didn't see George Clooney, but the city was busy when we first got there.  Venice is a magical and romantic place.  If you just get off the main "drag" you can find beautiful little squares with restaurants and a lot fewer people.  Sunday we took a shuttle van to Ljubljana and arrived mid afternoon.    Will do a Ljubljana post soon.

Venice

One of the beautiful churches at night

Enjoying drinks and snacks by the Grand Canal

Pillows, Thieves, Italy

This is too long and probably boring post!  I started the blog as we were leaving Vienna, but due to spotty and slow internet connections I was not able to update until today.  So it jumps around from pillows to our stay in Siena, Italy.

First, about pillows and beds.  It has been so long since I have slept in my bed at home that I will have to get use to it once we return.  As much as I miss my bed, it is pillows that have become by obsession! And I think Rick has become just as obsessive.  Every new place I am thumping the pillows and testing their softness.  I like down pillows, fairly soft and I like to sleep with two pillows.  In Switzerland and Austria the pillows were perfect! They are huge, soft and filled with down or a down like material.  Very, very comfortable.  We saw some pillows at a department store in Vienna and I was trying to talk Rick into buying them.  He did not want to haul the pillows all over Europe, but now I think he is regretting his decision! Even the night train had decent pillows.  But then you get to Italy, and it is like sleeping on a rock.  The pillows are flat and hard, especially uncomfortable when you have a cold and just want to elevate your head.  In Austria and Switzerland and now Slovenia the beds are made up with a bottom sheet and a duvet that is folded.  Easy to make, cozy to sleep under unless the room  is hot.  In Italy, the bed is made up with a bottom and top sheet and a thin blanket or coverlet.  So if you could combine the pillows from Austria and the linens from Italy it would be perfecto!  The cultural differences of the pillow and bed are perplexing.  Based on outward personalities you would think the Austrians would have hard flat pillows and the Italians soft pillows, just saying.  I just wish I had taken a photo of the pillows in Italy.
One more story to share about Vienna that Rick and I and are still giggling over.  As we walked down the Mariahilfer, which is just full of trendy and traditional shops we noticed a huge window with a model.  My first thought, wow that is a realistic mannequin, then I realized it was an actual person. This nice looking guy, with no shirt and a buff body was modeling jeans in the window.  It was so funny watching people stop and stare.  I should have taken a photo it was hilarious.

Not sure if you can really see the pillows, but our bed in Siena, Italy

These pillows may just come home with me.  Typical Austrian pillow

We took the night train from Vienna to Milano, and it worked out better then we expected.  We had a sleeper car with our own bathroom and although small was fairly comfortable.  The beds were roomy and the air con in the compartment worked. We both slept fairly well and arrived Italy feeling rested.

I made Rick sleep on the top bunk.

 We arrived Milano in the morning and had a 90 min connection.  I needed to purchase our tickets for the Cinque Terra leg, so we went to the ticket kiosk.  I had purchased train tickets before using the kiosk, so I was confident I could do it again.  However, immediately, we had men swarming us and trying to interfere.  One guy was so close to me, that Rick stepped in.  He was either going to try and pick pocket something from my backpack or try to see if I was going to use my credit card.  Another guy started touching the screen, as if he was making it do something special.  I was paying with cash and when the tickets were printed he demanded 1 euro for his "assistance". I told him, I didn't ask for his help and to leave me alone.  He kept saying 1 euro, we just glared and walked off.  I know the economy is tough in Italy, but stuff like that just ticks me off. After that incident, we found a nice quiet place for coffee and waited our train.  We had no issues the rest of the day and was met by our landlady at the Riomaggiore train station.  She was very helpful and explained hikes, busses, restaurants, etc for us.  I so much enjoy Italy, its culture, food and people, but like everywhere there are thieves and thuds who prey on tourists, old people and women traveling alone.

Cinque Terra was beautiful.  The towns seem to hang from the cliffs and the the colors are so beautiful.  We had drinks at a bar high above the see and met some nice people from Seattle. The sunset was beautiful.  The next day we had coffee and pastry at a local bar/cafe and had a nice conversation with a lady who lives half the year in Riomaggiore and the other half in New Jersey.  She is originally from Ecaudor, but is an American citizen.  She was so interesting and helpful.  We ran into to her several times and she was always asking about our day etc.  We took a bus to Volastra, high above and hiked along a trail for almost 2 hours to another village.  We were thrilled to see locals harvesting grapes on the steep hillsides and see the terraced gardens.  In Cornelgia we purchased sandwiches and picnicked on a plaza.  We had some yummy gelato before heading down the trail to the train.  From there we went to Monterosso, so Rick could see the village and we could taste some local wine.  We then took the boat back to Riomaggiore.  On the boat we met some girls from Seattle and a couple from Medford, Oregon.  Interestingly, he is a VT (80's).  Small world.   That evening we had dinner at wonderful restaurant on the harbor.  Our landlady had made our reservation and she had booked the primo outside table for us.  When we arrived, there was some confusion because they could not find our table.  When I mentioned to the waitress that Martha had called, she knew immediately which table was suppose to be ours.  Some couple had told them they were Jennifer (my name was on a reservation card that had been placed on the table and they must have seen the name and said it was their table).  The male waiter went over to them and had this big argument about them taking our table.  Rick was convinced we would be sitting inside, but low and behold they finally got up and moved.  As they walked by they said "Pardon" to us....yeah right.  After that it was a wonderful meal with a wonderful view.  We talked briefly with another couple, I made a comment that we were taking bets where they were from.  I said Scotland, Rick had said Australia and even guessed Melbourne and he was correct.

After a short stay in Cinque Terra it was on to Siena, Italy with an overnight stop in Pisa.  I woke up feeling lousy from a cold, so as soon as we arrived our B&B in Pisa I went to bed for a nap while Rick explored.  Later in the evening we walked over to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Rick could not resist posing.  It was so funny watching everyone do the "pose"  They were either holding the tower up or pushing it down.

Riomaggiore, Italy harbor

Drinks at sunset

Trail from Volastra to Cornelgia

Gelato as the award for a long hike

Dinner in Riomaggiore overlooking harbor.

 Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Field of Miracles Baptistery

We finally arrived Siena, which is a beautiful and peaceful town in the hills of Tuscany.  We stayed at the same B&B that I stayed at last year with my sisters.  The inn is ideally located and the owners are so sweet.  They even gave us a small bottle of prosecco for Rick's birthday.  We spent our time in Siena being lazy.  We wondered the streets, window shopped, took a wine tasting class, and visited the Duomo.  It is one my favorite churches in Italy, the Piccolomini Library inside the church has stunning frescoes that have never been restored and yet they look like they were just painted.  The floors are beautiful a beautiful carved marble representing stories and legends.  They are only uncovered in Sept and October.  In the one side chapel there are two Bernini sculptures and in another area of the church a Michelangelo.

We had wonderful meals, from a simple mix plate of salads, cheeses and meats and a carafe of wine at a traditional Osteria,  a small restaurant with tables under a grape arbor in the middle of a park, to an upscale restaurant with tables perched on platforms on a steep street.  Here are just a few photos from our 3 days in Siena.

Outside the Duomo in Siena

Lunch at All' Orto De' Pecci

Rolled Focaccia-stuffed with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. 

Walking path back to the Campo from All' Orto.  We needed that walk after eating the focaccia!

 View from the Panorama at the Duomo

Piccolomini Library frescos inside the Duomo

St Catherine's Sanctuary 

Various views of Siena

Bernini Sculpture 

Lights along the street

 Another fresco from the library, obviously out of order.

Ceiling from the baptistry which is located behind the Duomo.  The ceiling was in wonderful shape and since it was not crowded I had time to really take my time.

Italians seem to know how to enjoy life.  They love their coffee, they gelato and of course their wine.  It was fun seeing little old men sitting on benches, just watching the world go by or families having birthday parties.  We even came across a block party for one of the neighborhoods in Siena.

This is the end of this section of our Italy trip.