Ljubljana, Slovenia

So.... Yesterday, we were scrambling. Obviously, we are not in Venice or visiting friends in Italy. Covid impacted our plans, so we had to make new plans REAL fast. I mean like we were checking out the next morning!

Seth and I spent a full day figuring out where to go with only a lunch break. The kids were very wild and distracting during this process, but I don't blame them. They had traveled far on a train, gone to bed after 10pm (the sun is still up), no real schedule in life, walked ALL over Verona, eaten lots of candy and were cooped up a bit because it had rained. I love summer rain though. The perfect storm for crazy kids. So, that means movie time, How to Train Your Dragon 3, while we plan. Seth handles these situations with such cool, but not me. I think handling stressful situations with constant calm might be his super power. Thankful to have him!

We had to consider balancing our visa days (Shengen days) in our thinking process, which meant heading for the UK and cooler weather or Southeast toward Croatia and more heat. After spending hours exploring train routes and such, we decided to head toward Croatia. A photo Seth showed me of the Croatian coast is what really convinced me to taking this adventure.

We hit a lot of road blocks at every turn it seemed. We couldn't book train seats, boat didn't have five seats left and on and on like this. We finally booked one night in the capital of Slovenia and decided to walk to the train at 4:45am and to catch a train that didn't require booking ahead of time. Risk it like a biscuit! Whatever that means.

Well, we made it to Slovenia, so our plan worked out! We got on a super nice train and Slovenia doesn't make people wear masks! Yay! The Italian trains were a little nerve wracking because they require a certain mask, which we did not have. I was afraid we might get kicked off. The views coming into Slovenia we're similar to the mountains of Austria. God made a beautiful Earth, that's for sure!

We stayed in Ljubljana, the city of dragons. Good thing we prepped our girls with a dragon movie. This place was HOT! Thankfully, they had COLD water fountains/spouts all over the city. The 4:00am early rising was hitting us hard (as you can tell by my pumpkin face). We were exhausted and melting at this point, but had to stall until our apartment checkin. Luckily, Seth found us a boat tour with shade and a nice breeze. The girls saw otters, beavers, swans with their babies, ducklings and we got to rest from carrying our packs.

Next, we ventured up one of the shortest funiculars in the world to see the Ljubljana Castle. We saw prison cells, walked a bazillion stairs, explored ancient hallways, encountered several dragon statues, had ice cream (of course), and saw the first Bible translated into Slovenian language. Very cool!

The next day we discovered a lovely park in the shade. Mabel climbed to the top of the little houses all by herself and felt quite proud. The kids played for 3 hours. Just what we needed before our train to Croatia! This trip was short, but full of fun. Hopefully, we will get to come back and explore more another time. We even got chocolate and tree climbing in. ;)Read more