Roadtripping with Mom & Dad....continued
We had a bit of a late start on Friday morning as there was a bit of a miscommunication....I was waiting in the lobby to go to breakfast and M & D were at breakfast waiting for me to show up!!
Sorting everything out...we headed to the Janis natural habitat- the car- and headed out on our way to Slovenia. To be fair, the whole trip we had no real idea how long it would take us to get anywhere. If we went solely on the interstate, it would be fairly quick, but Mom wanted (and it was nice) to go the slower, country roads route. Which meant we could see all the little villages, nature, etc. along the way...it, also, meant a few detours/ wrong turns/ arguments between M & I. It was a good thing that D was there to referee!!! (maybe M & I are too much alike) :)
We crossed the Danube (which was REALLY high) and passed into Austria. The scenery was really gorgeous the entire drive: mountains, valleys, fields. And the weather was nice as well. Funny thing...the moment we got into the car, the sun would come out. The moment we stepped out of the car? RAIN!! Curses!!
We stopped for lunch in the town of Graz in Austria. Now.....technically I could cross this off my UNESCO list as it is listed there....BUT it is the old town area that is a UNESCO sight and we did not see that area. Bummer!
We did find a nice little neighborhood to have lunch. We stopped and had a beer with all the locals who were out on a sunny (at the moment) Friday afternoon. Then walked around a bit to find one of the only places open for lunch. I believe I had a hot dog plate.....forgive, I don't remember (it being almost 3 months ago!!). After lunch, we went back to a wine store we had seen to get some fortifications for the evening...and stopped at a chocolate shop as well- YUM!!
Our quick little stop for lunch ended up being a bit longer than planned- traffic from the city to the interstate was at a stand still. I believe there was some sort of footie match going on and people were trying to get there...Nevertheless, eventually we were on our way once again.
Continuing on our way, we crossed into Slovenia...and the weather started to deteriorate. About an hour or two out of Ljubljana, we were going through some mountains/ hills and it was POURING and then it started to HAIL. At one point, we had to actually pull over and wait it out for a bit. Side note: there were a lot of motorcyclists on the road...and bicyclists. I can only guess that they were quite miserable on that Friday afternoon.
We kept seeing signs for the Skocjan Caves (which are a UNESCO area) and realized we were going to be passing by them. Always on the lookout to cross places off my list, we made a side trip to the caves. We, also, figured it would be a great way to get out of the rain and let it pass, as it was a bit sketchy driving in it. Unfortunately, once we arrived, we realized that it would take at least 2-3 hours to do the tour. We just did not have that kind of time. It was getting late in the afternoon, we still had a bit to drive, and no telling how long it would take. Distances were proving to take a bit longer to cover than we expected.
Eventually, we pulled into the lovely capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, and found our B & B for the night. It was not quite next to the center, but it was maybe a 10 minute drive away. And it was super cute! The pension ended up being kind of a whole little area...several buildings with a restaurant, pub, ice creamery/ bakery, and pension. A neighborhood kind of place with people from the area hanging out, drinking coffee/ wine, kids having ice cream, etc. The owner was super nice and, though, we arrived late in the evening, he was really excited to see us and pointed us in the direction of the restaurant. We settled in our rooms and I went to M & D's room to have a little wind-down, happy hour vino. Actually, we had the wine we bought in Graz. And had some of the chocolates as well- happy times!
A little afraid that we were too late for dinner, we needn't have worried as there were several other parties in the restaurant having a gay ol' time!! Dinner was delicious!! Seriously good.. although I don't remember specifically what we had, I DO remember it was quite good. After dinner, we wanted to stop at the pub and have a nightcap, sadly it was not to be as they were closing up shop. It seemed that it was bedtime for us...which was welcome after the long drive.
**no pictures this post, but have no fear...next post will be picture loaded!**
Sorting everything out...we headed to the Janis natural habitat- the car- and headed out on our way to Slovenia. To be fair, the whole trip we had no real idea how long it would take us to get anywhere. If we went solely on the interstate, it would be fairly quick, but Mom wanted (and it was nice) to go the slower, country roads route. Which meant we could see all the little villages, nature, etc. along the way...it, also, meant a few detours/ wrong turns/ arguments between M & I. It was a good thing that D was there to referee!!! (maybe M & I are too much alike) :)
We crossed the Danube (which was REALLY high) and passed into Austria. The scenery was really gorgeous the entire drive: mountains, valleys, fields. And the weather was nice as well. Funny thing...the moment we got into the car, the sun would come out. The moment we stepped out of the car? RAIN!! Curses!!
We stopped for lunch in the town of Graz in Austria. Now.....technically I could cross this off my UNESCO list as it is listed there....BUT it is the old town area that is a UNESCO sight and we did not see that area. Bummer!
We did find a nice little neighborhood to have lunch. We stopped and had a beer with all the locals who were out on a sunny (at the moment) Friday afternoon. Then walked around a bit to find one of the only places open for lunch. I believe I had a hot dog plate.....forgive, I don't remember (it being almost 3 months ago!!). After lunch, we went back to a wine store we had seen to get some fortifications for the evening...and stopped at a chocolate shop as well- YUM!!
Our quick little stop for lunch ended up being a bit longer than planned- traffic from the city to the interstate was at a stand still. I believe there was some sort of footie match going on and people were trying to get there...Nevertheless, eventually we were on our way once again.
Continuing on our way, we crossed into Slovenia...and the weather started to deteriorate. About an hour or two out of Ljubljana, we were going through some mountains/ hills and it was POURING and then it started to HAIL. At one point, we had to actually pull over and wait it out for a bit. Side note: there were a lot of motorcyclists on the road...and bicyclists. I can only guess that they were quite miserable on that Friday afternoon.
We kept seeing signs for the Skocjan Caves (which are a UNESCO area) and realized we were going to be passing by them. Always on the lookout to cross places off my list, we made a side trip to the caves. We, also, figured it would be a great way to get out of the rain and let it pass, as it was a bit sketchy driving in it. Unfortunately, once we arrived, we realized that it would take at least 2-3 hours to do the tour. We just did not have that kind of time. It was getting late in the afternoon, we still had a bit to drive, and no telling how long it would take. Distances were proving to take a bit longer to cover than we expected.
Eventually, we pulled into the lovely capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, and found our B & B for the night. It was not quite next to the center, but it was maybe a 10 minute drive away. And it was super cute! The pension ended up being kind of a whole little area...several buildings with a restaurant, pub, ice creamery/ bakery, and pension. A neighborhood kind of place with people from the area hanging out, drinking coffee/ wine, kids having ice cream, etc. The owner was super nice and, though, we arrived late in the evening, he was really excited to see us and pointed us in the direction of the restaurant. We settled in our rooms and I went to M & D's room to have a little wind-down, happy hour vino. Actually, we had the wine we bought in Graz. And had some of the chocolates as well- happy times!
A little afraid that we were too late for dinner, we needn't have worried as there were several other parties in the restaurant having a gay ol' time!! Dinner was delicious!! Seriously good.. although I don't remember specifically what we had, I DO remember it was quite good. After dinner, we wanted to stop at the pub and have a nightcap, sadly it was not to be as they were closing up shop. It seemed that it was bedtime for us...which was welcome after the long drive.
**no pictures this post, but have no fear...next post will be picture loaded!**
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