Travelling Lore

After stopping by Croatia's wine region in Istria , we drove to the coastal town of Rovinj, which is also in Istria. According to Rick Steves , while Rovinj was prosperous in the Middle Ages, it also flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries when refugees flooded the city from the Ottoman invasions and the plague.  Since Rovinj was part of the Republic of Venice from the 13th to 18th centuries, a lot of its architecture, culture, and language are reminiscent of Venice.  (We did notice that there were a lot of Italian tourists in Rovinj and, as such, we heard a lot of Italian spoken around us.) Napoleon eventually seized the region, but after his defeat it became part of Austria.  The Austrians brought railroads, gas lights, and a big tobacco factory.  Luckily for Rovinj, the Habsburgs used other cities as major ports, which allowed Rovinj to keep its quaintness. During our relaxing stay in Rovinj, we visited the Church of St. Euphemia .  Once there, we climbed up the

Sally Hansen "White On" China Glaze "Make A Spectacle": an opalescent glitter Sinful Colors "Ruby Mine": a textured hibiscus red Milani "Blue Flash": a blue one-coat glitter Butter London "Silly Billy": a pumpkin orange Revlon "Lime Basil": a kelly green Sally Hansen "White On" Sinful Colors "Flower Power": a sheer pale pink base with white and pink glitter OPI "DS Classic": a rosy nude holographic polish Essie "Absolutely Shore": a pale sea foam green

Getting back on track with recounting my Adriatic Adventure vacation, we drove from Ljubljana, Slovenia ( Slovenia Part 3 ) to Croatia's Istrian peninsula.  Istria actually has a rather complex and rich history in that it was ruled by the Romans from the second century B.C.; then by the Slav tribes from the seventh century; then by Venice from the thirteenth century; then by the Austrians when the Venetian empire fell in 1797; then by Italy in 1918; then by Yugoslavia in 1945; and then by what we now know as Croatia from 1991.  Needless to say this is very simplified, but it helps explain why there is so much diversity in the region. We spent a few days in Istria, but our first stops in the region were aimed at trying some local wines.  We had heard that we'd be in town just in time for Open Wine Cellar Day , so we'd planned on going to some of the larger wineries in the area since we were able to find information about them on the internet.  There are a lot of winer

Switching gears for a hot second away from my Adriatic Adventure vacation round up (don't worry, I'll resume the recap soon!), I wanted to share my mini vacation to Acadia National Park from Independence Day weekend.  I first got inspired to see Acadia National Park from the U.S. Interior's Instagram , which posts tons of beautiful photos from across the U.S.  Let me just say that what I saw of Acadia NP in such a short time was gorgeous and I can't wait to go back one day!  New England has some really picturesque spots, let me tell you. We arrived the Wednesday leading up to the Fourth of July weekend.  After checking into Hanscom's Cottages , we took the free local bus to Bar Harbor, the main tourist town by Acadia NP.  There we had a delicious lunch at Galyn's .  I had the most amazing crab cakes (caught in Maine!) ever!  And we loved that the owner collected art and displayed it through out the restaurant. Our first day there (more like half day

The last city we visited in Slovenia was its capital, Ljubljana.  (It looks like a tongue twister in English, I know, but it's pronounced "lyoob-lyee-AH-nah.")  This was probably one of the prettiest cities I've been in and the cafe culture was in full swing.  There are a few museums in the city, but we opted to spend our one day there strolling around the city, people-watching in a cafe, and tasting some local wines. Here I am posing (awkwardly) on one of the many bridges in Ljubljana. This view was taken on our way up to Ljubljana Castle (Ljubljanski Grad).  Rick Steves says there's most likely been a settlement on this site since prehistoric times, but that the first true fortress at this location was Roman.  It eventually fell into disrepair in the 17th century, but was rebuilt in the 1940s and renovated in the 1970s. It was interesting to look at all of the before and after photos to see what was rebuilt differently from the original design

After our drive through the Soča River Valley and Vršič Pass, as seen in Part 1 , we checked in at Guest House Marco in Bled, Slovenia.  Our host Marco was an absolute delight with a warm and inviting personality.  He knew so much about his country and gave us great advice on what we should see and what we could probably pass on.  If you're ever in Bled I definitely recommend staying at his Guest House.  We were lucky and had the entire place to ourselves.  Perks of traveling right before summer tourism picks up! Within walking distance from Guest House Marco is Lake Bled.  As seen in this photo, Lake Bled also has a little island on which perches the Church of Assumption .  It's apparently tradition for the groom to carry his bride up the 99 steps from the island's dock up to the church.  You can visit the island via the pletna boats or by renting a boat (or swimming or stand up paddle boarding!).  While a lovely option, we instead spent a good 1.5 hours meanderin

Lillian Eve "Ballet Slipper": a delicate, pale pink (Provided in June's Goodebox .) China Glaze "Metro Pollen-tin" : a moderately neon taxi yellow China Glaze "Thistle Do Nicely" : a bright neon pink (Very difficult to capture on camera. It's actually several shades lighter in person.) L'Oreal "Brit Invasion" : a purple-y brown with gold micro flecks American Apparel "Rouge" : a mauve