She's Number One!

We have just received news that Mom/Mary Anne has finished the year as the number one ranked Melges 17 sailor in the world. In the world, people! This is an amazing accomplishment for any sailor, let alone one who started seriously training in her forties. Mom, once again, you're a hero and a role model. Congratulations!

Photo Highlights of Piran, Slovenia

This is the view of Tartini Square, named for a local composer/violinist, from the top of the Campanile, which was modeled on the one in Venice.

In his eponymous church, St. George slays the dragon. (Isn't it interesting that Christianity allows for the existence of dragons?)
Like much of Ljubljana, Piran is prettiest at night. This is the view from our balcony.

These Slovenian preschoolers were soooo excited about seeing a train!This is near the Piran lighthouse; the photo was taken from a harbor cruise boat.

Piran is famous for seafood, such as these mussels. (We ate them several times -- delicious!)

This sweet kitty sat next to me both times we had lunch at Pizzaria Tartini, which included what may have been the best pizza M and I have ever had.
M gets into the spirit of the local graffit.

Photo Highlights of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Views of the snow-capped Julian Alps greeted us at the airport.

We hiked through a huge natural forest, preserved in the middle of Ljubljana, in Tivoli Park.Old Town, an easy stroll from our B&B, was loveliest at night.

The Ljubljana Zoo has been called one of the most beautiful in Europe.

Photo Highlights of Amsterdam, Netherlands

How many zoo penguins, other than these at the Artis Royal Zoo, have this kind of backdrop for their habitat?

This is the famous floating flower market (Bloemenmarkt); it was just outside the apartment we rented for the first part of our Amsterdam stay.


This lighted sculpture hangs above the children's section of the new Amsterdam Public Library (Bibliotheek).
The foliage began to change the last few days we were there.
It looked even more beautiful at Hortus Botanicus, the horticultural garden founded in 1638.
This is the Japanese garden at Artis.

Slovenia is Wonderful!

(I apologize in advance for the tzpos -- Ićm typing on a Slovenian keyboard!)

As we caught the flight to Ljubljana Tuesday morning, I was a little nervous. Although all the guidebooks made it sound heavenly, we had never talked to anyone who had been here. What if it turned out to be dismal?

We need not have worried. As the little prop plane (ugh) descended and we got a first look at the country, it was staggeringly beautiful: snow'capped mountains, forests, fields dotted with sheep. That was two days ago and it was a perfectly apt introduction to this wonderful place. The people are friendly and speak great English (although I,m having lots of fun trying bits of Slovenian -- mostly please, thank you, good morning and excuse me.)

In the middle of Ljubljana is a huge ( hundreds of acres!) park called Tivoli, which includes a giant swath of forested hills, so we did a big hike yesterday. It almost could have been the Superior Hiking Trail in Northern MN. We also did the Ljubljana zoo -- my favorite thing on the trip so far. It,s one of the oldest zoos in Europe, but most of the animal enclosures are very modern: big, with lots of water and stimulating activities for the animals (very few small cages).

The city itself is charming. The guide books did it justice: it does indeed feel like a tiny version of Prague. Everything is easily walkable. We strolled through Old Town last night along the Ljubljanica river and will head over there again this morning.

Tomorrow, we catch a bus to Piran on the Adriatic coast -- about two hours from here. Luckily, we,ve been told that it,s much warmer there (it,s been remarkablz cold here). We,ll spend three days there, and although we originally planned to do day trips from there to Venice and Trieste, we,ve noticed that our itinerary feels a little rushed (five cities in three countries, all in two weeks? That,s a lot of running around), so we may save those for another trip and instead relax a bit more and enjoy being at a place with a private balcony right on the sea. We,ll also investigate whether we can do some horseback riding -- M is particularly excited about that.

Slovenia may seem like an odd destination, but I would absolutely recommend it to anyone. It,s friendly and beautiful, and can be relaxing or hopping depending on what you want. It,s turned out to be a perfect choice for us.

Ciao!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

And we're off, almost! We fly out tonight at 7:40; the flight will be about nine hours -- a prospect that's far less icky than it would have been yesterday because we were able to get slightly better seats last night.

Tangent: Over the weekend, we called to see if we might be able to upgrade using miles. Nope, but the funny part came when Mason asked, just on a whim, how much it would cost to pay for an upgrade. The answer: nine thousand dollars. EACH. We laughed pretty hard -- couldn't we probably rent a private jet for that?

We'll be back in time to be at work on Monday, September 29. I'm hoping we come home to a lovely Minnesota fall, rather than an early dose of winter. But given that it's going to be almost 80 degrees in both Ljubljana and Venice today, we might even be able to enjoy a nice last dose of summer while we're gone.

And one last thing: believe it or not, we're each taking only a single backpack for luggage. All y'all who like to call me "high maintenance" can suck it. ;)

Two Days and Counting!

It's been a flurry lately -- both at work (for both of us) and home -- but in two days, we'll be on the way to the airport ready to catch our nine-hour flight.

Not long ago, we weren't sure exactly what we wanted to see and do. Where did we ultimately decide to go? See if you can tell from the photos below -- one for each of the cities on our itinerary.

City 1: City 2:
City 3:
City 4:


City 5:

Give up? Here's the answer key:

1. Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2. Ljubljana, Slovenia
3. Piran, Slovenia
4. Venice, Italy
5. Trieste, Italy

Venice and Trieste will be day trips from nearby Piran (Venice by ship, Trieste by bus). We may also be able to do a day trip to Utrecht from Amsterdam, but we're trying to balance the "see lots of cool stuff" desire with the "don't make yourself too busy to enjoy the trip" mentality. If we get too crazed, we'll skip Utrecht and maybe Trieste. Can't wait!