"Hot Horse" and Other Things in Ljubljana

This weekend we went to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.  We stayed at a lovely apartment, but at first, we weren't sure what we had gotten ourselves into because we saw a dirty, grey building.  But once we got inside, we found a nice place with a loft and bunk beds.  Here's a picture of Caroline and me throwing a ball to each other on bunk beds.  We called it "bunk catch."

Dad told us to prepare for very hot weather, but I thought, "How hot could it get?" Well, I'll admit that I was absolutely wrong, and I'll admit that I was absolutely sweating.  It was 80 degrees and sunny this weekend in not only Ljubljana but Rijeka too.

After an hour or two of settling into our apartment, we set off toward downtown Ljubljana.  On the way, we went through Tivoli Park.  It's a nice, big park with a lot of green open space and some pretty interesting food stands, such as "Hot Horse," which serves horse meat.

To a vegetarian, that is very, very, very disgusting (that was three very's).

Eventually, we kept walking, and we found this area that seemed like the Korzo in downtown Rijeka.  In this area, just like in the Korzo, no cars are allowed, so you can walk where you want.  We saw a cool outdoor market with fruit, vegetables, honey, jewelry, toys, clothing, and more.  We also walked around bridges and buildings, which were kind of boring to me but apparently interesting to my parents.

The castle is up on the hill.

The next morning we woke up ready for the day, but we had no idea what it had in store.  We kept exploring downtown Ljubljana.  Our family eventually walked up to a special thing called a funicular, a kind of train that took us up to Ljubljana Castle.  This castle was built in medieval times, which doesn't fascinate me as much as it does other people.  But I still liked this castle, especially for its stunning views.

View from the castle; Julian Alps in background

Ceiling of the Chapel of St. George, part of the castle

Ljubljana has a bunch of interesting statues.  Here's one:

Something else that might be interesting to Caroline's friends has to do with a pony balloon.  I stepped on hers last week, as I've mentioned before, and she had wanted one ever since we arrived in Ljubljana.  We eventually got her one today.  Here's Caroline, the pony balloon, and a bunch of old shoes that people hung up on wires as a prank.

Our train ride took a little under three hours and went straight from Ljubljana to Rijeka.  I can definitely say that I'm pretty happy to be home.  Or should I say, "home home."  Yes, look below for my code:

Home: A vacation place.
Home Home: Our Rijeka apartment.
Home Home Home: My hometown home.

Alison

Balloons, Linguae, Kantrida Pool, and Buses

I got a pack of balloons, and I've been using them for two whole days.  There are not too many left because I've been making things out of the balloons (but normally not animals). 

I go to this program on Tuesdays and Thursdays right before dinner.  It's called Linguae.  It's where Croatian kids learn English, and it's free for me to go there because I know English well.  There are activity books, and you do fun games and stuff.  And sometimes you win candy!  

The Kantrida pool is really, really fun.  There's a children's pool there.  I have these seals that you can use when you're diving under the water, and my sister and I have so much fun playing with them.  They're called Zoggs and his friends.  Thank you for those, Grammie! 

I LOVE the buses in Rijeka.  You get to stand up if you want.  The buses turn and twist a lot.  It's like a roller coaster to me (but not necessarily to you--well, maybe to you).

Good wishes,

Caroline

Korzo Girls

Yesterday, Caroline and I went down to the Korzo by ourselves. Yesterday was for Mom to go to a meeting at the city hall for an hour. She gave us money--and BA-BAM!--we left. We shopped for Caroline's "necessary" new toy. That took a VERY long time, but we decided on a pony balloon. Then we stopped at a cafe for ice cream. After that, we went to a newsstand for my chips and a lollipop for Caroline. Here's a pic at the mall.

Because I stepped on Caroline's balloon by accident, today we went back to the store but found that it was closed. So we went to the store where we bought our carnival costumes. Caroline bought balloons that you pump up.

And here's a silent movie with music instead of talking:

Alison

We tried to volunteer, but...

Ever since we arrived in Rijeka, Caroline has pointed out the trash on the streets and graffiti on the buildings.  Of course, these things exist in American cities too, but in the States, we live in a small village in a rural area, so by comparison, there's not as much graffiti and scattered trash there.  Caroline often has asked if we could do something about these problems ("can we wipe the graffiti off of the buildings?").

I had discovered through the web that today Croatia would be participating in a waste removal project, and I thought that volunteering for that might be good for us.  First, I tried calling the person listed on the website, who told me to e-mail someone--and that didn't lead anywhere.  So yesterday, after conversations with four different people, I was told what we needed to do to volunteer.  Caroline and I bought plastic gloves, and we were excited to pick up trash in a place that particularly needed us.  I learned that this would be the first time that Croatia would participate in this particular world-wide initiative to help the environment.

This morning, someone was to call me after 9 a.m. to kindly take Caroline and me to the location outside of Rijeka where we were to volunteer.  By 10:30 a.m., I decided to call to see if we'd been forgotten.  No, we hadn't been, but this volunteer coordinator had to transport many people.  He would pick us up at 11:15 a.m.--which he did--except that he also had to pick up two others.  By the time we got to our designated location, it was nearly noon, and the volunteer group there had finished picking up trash.  So we went to a second location, but that volunteer group was done too.  Third location, same problem.  Before we went to the third location, the volunteer coordinator, who was embarrassed by this situation, promised, "If the third location doesn't need us, I will take all of you out to coffee."

So Caroline, the two other potential volunteers in our car, and I--all frustrated because we had wanted to contribute--joined our driver, along with two other volunteer coordinators, to go out for coffee.

We spent several hours at coffee (at a cafe near a playground, happily for Caroline), and this was lovely.  The five people with us were an interesting group--two young women who are undergraduates at the University of Rijeka (our companions in the car) and the three volunteer coordinators: a shipyard worker, an artist and teacher, and an archaeologist who is currently working as a tourist guide.  We spoke a lot about volunteering, creating change, and Croatian attitudes.  My coffee mates claimed that there's little tradition of volunteering in Croatia.  One said that the attitude here is "something should be done."  She argued that Croatians like to complain but don't want to do something to change what they see as problematic.  Another said that people here have given up on the possibility of creating change--that they figure that the only way to get things done is to work the system, and that they assume that grass roots movements won't have an impact.  A third person agreed, commenting that these attitudes keep Croatia from moving forward.  The archaeologist/ tour guide and I had a lively conversation about volunteering, democracy, history and historical sites, and bilingualism (or in his case, trilingualism).  His commitment to improving Croatia--and the world--in various ways is inspiring.

I ended up enjoying this day very much.  I suspect that there was much about it that was quintessentially Croatian.

Caroline and I plan to pick up trash on our own.

Laura

Alison Collection

Top Ten Pics Of Alison

Alison

Caroline Collection

Caroline: Fun Pictures Of Herself

Top Ten Pictures

Alison

The Show Has Gone On!

Hi guys!

First of all, let me apologize for not posting a lot.
I had a fun time doing my play! Here are a few pics of both performances.

And the show starts in 3....2...1...

Why am I hugging a random girl? Awkward!!

The whole crew

This play has taken almost three months! Here's me!

Alison

Break a Leg, ME!

Today is my first performance of "The Adventures of Baron Darcy Popplewhite." My second performance is tomorrow.

I'm warming up!

This is the play I've been working on for almost three months. My character's name is Pamela and this play takes place in England in the early 1900's, I'm guessing.

 

So wish me luck viewers! And I'll tell more after tonight and tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Jondavid!

Today is Dad's birthday!

ALISON!

From a Guest Blogger

Here are a few thoughts I wanted to share before I left Croatia.  I arrived here two weeks ago after having prepared myself (I thought) by reading some travel books.  Nothing could prepare me for the beauty and friendliness of this country.  The small towns are charming, especially the ones that border the Adriatic.  The architecture takes your breath away, from the humblest abodes to the many castles and churches.

Novi Vinodolski, a town south of Rijeka, on the Adriatic:

 

Sinj, another town south of Rijeka:

 

We spent a weekend in Venice.  It is impossible to puts its beauty into words.  It is sort of like looking at the Grand Canyon for the first time.  The city has a surreal quality about it. I have never seen a more beautiful city.

We traveled the countryside and saw so many sights. We went one weekend to the Plitvice Lakes National Park which is a World Heritage Site.  I did more hiking than I ever thought I was capable of.  This area was fantastically beautiful with many waterfalls, etc.  The water of the lakes was so clear we could see lots of large fish.  It was also aqua blue due to the limestone deposits all around.

The Croatian people everywhere go out of their way to be helpful to English speaking tourists.  When I was out on my own going to the cafes (everyone goes to cafes here), I found that if I wasn't understood they would find someone to translate for me.  The same was true in stores and bakeries (love, love, love those bakeries).

The day-to-day living here is much more casual.  The city of Rijeka is a very quiet city.  You don't hear sirens and many other noises that you associate with city living.  I have felt very safe here out on my own.  The above is just a brief description of my trip.

In closing I would like to profusely thank Jondavid and Laura for their never-ending hospitality during my stay.  They certainly pulled out all the stops to show me a good time.  I cannot close without also thanking my roommate, Alison, for sharing her space with me, and my best opponent in Uno, Caroline.  Spending time with you all has by far been the highlight of my year, and will serve me with many memories in the years to come.

Mom/ Judy/ Grammie