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Adriatic Roots Tour

May - June 2019
Dennis & Myj traveled to the Eastern European countries along the Adriatic sea, including
Slovenia, Croatia and a little of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Myj's grandparents are all from this area, thus we dubbed this trip the "Adriatic Roots Tour." Read more
  • 30footprints
  • 6countries
  • 22days
  • 248photos
  • 11videos
  • 24.3kmiles
  • 17.7kmiles
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  • TravelerAdriatic Roots Tour
    1
    Day 8

    Nasvidenje, Ljubljana

    June 5, 2019 in Slovenia ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Our last full day in Ljubljana began with a walking tour with local guide Sasha. He explained how the political history influenced the architecture of the city, and the contribution of Jože Plečnik to creating the beautiful city that Ljubljana is now. Our afternoon was free for a little shopping in the Farmer's Market and of course, some kava, some pivo and some vino with our lunch at a sidewalk cafe.
    Our new tour friends Barbie and Debbie invited us to join them for dinner at restaurant Danilo in Skofja Loca, about 20 minutes away by taxi. Danilo was one of the first "slow-food" restaurants in Slovenia. It was an amazing meal.
    We have absolutely loved Ljubljana. It is a beautiful, walkable city and the residents seem to know how to enjoy life.    Read more

  • TravelerAdriatic Roots Tour
    1
    Day 9

    An OMG! Day: Part 1

    June 6, 2019 in Slovenia ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    Thursday we left Ljubljana headed toward the mountains. It was a day of "OMG! Isn't that gorgeous?"
    Our first stop was at the incredibly beautiful Lake Bled. We drove most of the way to the castle, then climbed to the top for an amazing view of the turquoise water, the surrounding mountains and the tiny church-topped island. The color of the water is from the Karst limestone.
    A group of us decided to take the trip to the island in one of the "pletna" boats. Each boat is rowed by one man, similar to a gondola, but the boats are flat-bottomed. This guy makes up to five trips per day; no need for a gym membership for him!
    Unfortunately, the trip took longer than we thought, so we had to do a "fast food" sandwich lunch and skip the famous cream cake (we had had some in Ljubljana though).    Read more

  • TravelerAdriatic Roots Tour
    1
    Day 9

    OMG! Part 2: We're going to die!

    June 6, 2019 in Slovenia ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    Leaving Lake Bled, our next stop was the Planica Nordic Center where we were able to watch skiers practicing their jumps. The World Ski Flying championships will be held here next year.
    Then began our journey over the mountains via the Vršič Pass. This was the "OMG! We're going to die!" part of the day, at least for Myj, who is not fond of roads with steep drop-offs. The pass is the highest in the Julian Alps and includes 50 hairpin turns. The road is quite narrow in spots, so encountering cars along the way was hair-raising. In fact, we came upon a car pulling a travel trailer (what were they thinking?) and they actually had to back up to let us by. There were also crazy people on bicycles and motorcycles!The pass has a somber history, as it was built by soldiers and POWs during World War I, many of whom died in the harsh winter conditions.
    Having survived the pass, we continued along the Sava River to our hotel in Bovec, set in a beautiful alpine valley. Our group walked through the little village to a dinner of local trout and venison. There are many shops and outfitters for every outdoor sport : rafting, kayaking, hiking, skiing, climbing and more.    Read more

  • TravelerAdriatic Roots Tour
    Day 10

    Lisjak Vina

    June 7, 2019 in Slovenia ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    We traveled today through the beautiful Soca Valley to the town of Kobarid. The small museum there explains the importance of the Soca Pass, and the terrible fighting during World War I through the stories of the soldiers. It is a moving and very well done museum, highlighted by the excellent guide who led us through.
    With thoughts of the terrible price of war in our minds,we continued on toward the sea. As we followed the river through the Soca valley toward the Istrian peninsula, the landscape changed dramatically from the alpine peaks toward the green hillsides and finally the more Mediterranean coastline. Our lunch stop was at the beautiful Lisjak vineyards, where we sampled the young wines, as well as the mature whites and red Teran wine. This vineyard has been in the family for eight generations.    Read more

  • TravelerAdriatic Roots Tour
    Day 10

    Our Castle Fortress in Motovun

    June 7, 2019 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    After leaving the Lisjak vineyards, we followed the Istrian coast to our hotel in a 17th century palace on the very top of the hill in Motovun. Our trip involved a border check as we crossed out of Slovenia and into Croatia. The bus had to drop us off at the bottom of the hill as it is not allowed into the oldest part of the medieval village. It was a steep walk to the hotel, but the amazing 360 degree views were worth it. After a delicious dinner of local pasta with truffles, we walked along the walls built in 1278, when the village was under Venetian rule (Istria has gone back and forth from Italy, to Austria, to Croatia).Read more

  • TravelerAdriatic Roots Tour
    1
    Day 11

    A Bit of Italy in Croatia

    June 8, 2019 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Today we explored the Istrian Peninsula in the city of Pula and the seaside village of Rovinj. Although now Croatia, this area belonged to Italy for centuries, and still has a strong Italian minority. Pula is the site of the sixth largest existing Roman amphitheater, but the most intact and best preserved, built by the Romans in the first century (as in the year 80 AD). It was easy to picture the gladiators fighting wild animals in the center of the arena. It is interesting that our modern football and soccer stadiums are much the same design. In fact, the amphitheater in Pula is still used for concerts, etc; Sting recently performed here.
    After a lunch of "frito misto" (calamari, small fish and huge prawns), we drove on to the charming Venetian town of Rovinj. We spent most of our time just sitting in a cafe near the marina, enjoying lemonade and espresso and watching the people passing. By the way, lemonade is fresh squeezed juice in a glass. accompanied by a bottle of mineral water to mix as you like; no sugar, but there are packets on the table. As it is Saturday, there were many locals out and about. We wandered the colorful little cobblestone streets and alleys for a bit.
    Our final stop was in Brtonigla for another delicious dinner. We worked off some of the pasta on our walk up the steep hill to our hotel in Motovun.    Read more

  • TravelerAdriatic Roots Tour
    1
    Day 12

    Opatija to Plitvice

    June 9, 2019 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    Sunday morning we left our castle in Motovun bright and early to begin our drive to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Our lunch stop was in the seaside resort town of Opatija. During the 18th century, the wealthier residents of the nearby industrial city of Rijeke built beautiful Austrian-style villas.
    Then we left the coast to head inland to Plitvice Lakes National Park. We stayed the night in the Hotel Plitvice, a communist-style hotel built in the 1970s when this was part of Yugoslavia.    Read more

  • TravelerAdriatic Roots Tour
    1
    Day 13

    A Thousand Waterfalls

    June 10, 2019 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    We woke to the birds singing in the forest surrounding our hotel in Plitvice Lakes National Park. An electric bus took us to our designated entrance to the trails. In order to protect the ecosystem and manage the number of people in each area of the park, tickets have a designated time, entrance station and direction of travel in the park. Most of our walk was gradually downhill through the forest encountering waterfall after waterfall, meandering through a series of lakes at the bottom of the canyon. Rustic boardwalks and steps crossed over delicate wetlands and streams in places, sometimes with the water rushing beneath our feet. There were waterfalls of all sizes and lakes of the clearest emerald green. It was like walking through a fairytale forest.
    When we reached the largest lake Jezero Kozjak, we boarded an electrically-powered boat for a peaceful ride to the other side. Of course, what goes down must go up, so the next section of our hike was uphill. However, this section revealed even more spectacular waterfalls, with the grand finale: Veliki Slap (Big Waterfall - a descriptive, if not very romantic name). Even the last and steepest section of the trail, with multiple switchbacks came with a reward. At the top, we could look down on the beautiful vista.
    Leaving this water wonderland behind, we headed over the Dinaric Alps toward the Dalmatian coast. Again, there was a dramatic change in the landscape, leaving the lush green for the dry desert-like area on the seaward side of the mountains.    Read more

  • TravelerAdriatic Roots Tour
    Day 14

    Sights and Sounds of Split

    June 11, 2019 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    We arrived in Split in the late afternoon, tired and hot after our long day in Plitvice, Opatija and driving to the coast. But after a refreshing shower, we found the energy to join part of our tour group for a short orientation walk, with stops for gelato (guide Darija's treat) and the laundromat to drop our clothes for washing. The pedestrian old city of Split was very active even on a Monday evening with both locals and tourists shopping, eating, drinking and enjoying the "live entertainment " of people-watching. Dennis enjoyed escorting five women to dinner. Most of our group had pizza, Dennis had pasta, and Myj had a delicious tuna steak. We needed sustenance to restore us after the 19,415 steps, we walked!Read more

  • TravelerAdriatic Roots Tour
    11
    Day 14

    Diocletian's Palace

    June 11, 2019 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    The Roman Emperor Diocletian chose Split as the site of his "retirement" home. This morning we were guided through the remains of the palace and the Roman history of Split by local guide and Split native Maja. It is truly amazing that the engineering and construction techniques of the Romans survived from 304 AD. Parts of the palace were "recycled" by medieval inhabitants who used them to build new homes on top of the foundation. The temple to Jupiter and Diocletian's mausoleum were "rehabbed" by the Christians and are still in use as the world's smallest cathedral. In fact, the residences built into the walls over the original palace are also still in use.Read more

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