Bet you can't say Ljubljana ten times fast

We stopped in Slovenia's capital city, Ljubljana, on our way from Croatia to Bosnia. While there I caught my first view of a marathon finish line. I'm not sure what it's like in New York or Boston, but in Ljubljana everyone's a familiar face, and the whole the crowd knows each person crossing the finish line personally. It made for a fun time. I'm pretty sure I'll never run a marathon, but I'm now at least interested in scoping out the finish lines. The city's primary claims to fame involve its bridges. This "dragon bridge" became so closely associated with the city that dragons in general are now Ljubljana's mascot. And yes that's a castle in the background:)


This last picture isn't the clearest shot of Ljubljana's "three bridges," which is really one bridge with three diverging walkways, but Aaron looks cute, so whatevs.


xoxo Jessie

Poreč & Rovinj

First, Aaron suggested I call this Cruis'n the Croatian Coast - just thought you should know. Second, in Croatian, as in all the dialects spoken in the former Yugoslavia, the letter "j" is pronounced like the letter "y" is pronounced in English. So Rovinj as really Rovinny, and Jessie is really Yessie. I was Yessie in seven years' worth of Latin class - hated every minute (the Yessie not the Latin). It was worth it though because at least once Katie D. tried to see if Magistra's bun was a fake by firing rubber bands at her head. Poor Magistra. She was everything you could ever hope for in a middle school Latin instructor: endlessly patient, always more enthusiastic than my powers of translation warranted, and an ever present cheerleader at my bi-annual ballet recitals. And this is what she gets. But I digress.

Besides the typical white-stone pedestrian-only streets, Poreč boasts a gold-mosaicked Byzantine basilica. Poreč is also notable because while there we searched for and eventually found a recommended pizzeria named Nono, and at least once a week ever after Aaron adopts a cheesy Italian accent to point to an imagined pizzzeria and say, "That's a Nono!" Whaddya gonna do?


Rovinj is a slightly larger coastal town, where we enjoyed another sunny day by the water, hiking up winding cobbled paths to the church and sampling Istria's famous truffles :)

Well in the immortal words of Meg Ryan, "Beautiful, gorgeous, wish you were here...."

xoxo Jessie

Venezia!

Nothing I'm going to say here will really do Venice or our perfect day there real justice. Even in October spots like Rialto and San Marco were swarming, but just a few blocks into the maze of canals and we were on our own with glorious weather, delicious pizza, and a day free to wander.

Though we spent most of the day in these side streets, no blog post of mine would be complete without the other highlights. First the major landmarks, the basilica and famous shops at the Piazza San Marco:

This pair:

And last, but never least, dessert:

xoxo Jessie

Tidings

So Tripnic is behind still, though I'm getting within striking distance of reality. It's worth breaking the continuity though to comment on a few significant events in the past days. First, we were thrilled to watch the BBC report the results of the presidential election as they were announced in what were the early morning hours of November 5, 2008, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. We fell asleep happy with news of mid- and south- western electoral wins and overwhelming turnout across the nation. In the morning though we finally got to a computer and to the news that Proposition 8 would pass in California. Now, a week later, the election results have been rendered still more bittersweet by the passing of Aaron's dear friend Phil. Aaron will be in New York this weekend for those of you also there.

On a far happier note, today is my uncle Tom's birthday. Happy six oh!!!

xoxo Jessie

Trieste

We spent one day walking around Trieste. We drank good coffee (yes I'm drinking espressos regularly now, and almost admitting I enjoy them), saw the roman ruins and medieval castle, and generally enjoyed the city's winding hillside alleyways and the grander sights along the harbor.






Also, we got to enjoy the practical joke that is Italian automotive engineering:


xoxo Jessie

Istria

We rented a car in order to see the Istrian coast. I drove a diesel-powered, manual transmission, Skoda hatchback through Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy. This in and of itself brought many adventures. First I had to find reverse. Then the klutch. Next came conversions metween miles per hour and kilometers per hour. Don't forget toll roads and choosing among the four different kinds of diesel fuel (no, I did not repeat any part of the Peage to those Kornbergs following at home). Last but not least, the traffic signs. For example, the speed limit on the freeway is 130 km/h, but only slower speeds are ever marked (so a belated apology to all those people trying to pass me that first night when I thought the speed limit was 100 km/h because that was the reduced speed on the onramp...). This sign means you have left the thing that's crossed out (in this case a coastal town in both Italian and Croatian).
This is just a basic warning sign, but it was used frequently and inexplicably. In this case it's warning of an upcoming bridge over a river, but in many cases it appeared by itself on an otherwise unchanging roadway.

I always did the sign justice but freaking out, slowing down, and creating a traffic situation worthy of the sign. I think between now and the next car rental Aaron may take it upon himself to learn how to drive stick.

xoxo Jessie

WTF?!?

One of the strangest things we've seen are what appear to be quite unabashed depictions of African slaves. They were most prominent in Austria, but we continue to come upon them in many former Austro-Hungarian territories. They defy any real explanation. First, an example from Prague:
And two more from Venice: