Travelling Lore

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope everyone brought in 2016 with fun, good cheer, and--most importantly--good friends!  My fiance and I hosted a small, low key party in our home with some good friends.  This was our third year hosting and, like the two years before, we had a new signature drink ready for our guests.  This year we went with a White Cranberry Martini , which was very delicious and subsequently a big hit! With 2015 now behind us, I wanted to take a look at my top 5 most read 2015 travel adventures on my blog.  I started this blog as a creative outlet, and that's still how I'll continue to run it, but I'm pretty happy with my stats considering I use a free blogging platform.  Most of my readers are, unsurprisingly, based in the United States; but I was surprised to see that a fair amount of my readers hail from Brunei followed by Germany and the United Kingdom.  I've discovered a ton of travel bloggers along the way and I really enj...

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 desig...

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, w...

Our next stop after Venice was the Soča River Valley and Vršič Pass in Slovenia.  We picked up our rental car at Venice airport, where we were blessed to be given an automatic, and went on our merry way.  We used our handy Rick Steves Croatia and Slovenia guidebook  to help us pick good stopping points along the way. First we drove through the So č a River Valley.  During WWI this area was the Soca (Isonzo) Front where hundreds of thousands of soldiers lost their lives.  We drove through the small towns of Kobarid and Bovec before making our first stop at the Bunkerji suspension bridge over the So č a River.  This was a beautiful stop with the Julian Alps and lush vegetation as a backdrop for the crystal clear water. Next we stopped at the  Church of St. Joseph , which is just beyond Bunkerji on the left-hand side of the road.  Rick Steves describes the church as having a red onion dome tucked behind a big tree, but we were very co...

Hello, U.S.A.!  Long time, no see!  After a wonderful three-week vacation (and an extensive return flight delay), we're finally back home.  While on our Adriatic circuit we visited Venice, Italy; Slovenia; Croatia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; and southern Italy.  I have a ton of photos to sort through before I can properly share my vacation on here.  But in the meantime please enjoy my Instagram roundup of some of our vacation destinations. Evening gondola ride in Venice, Italy. View from Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy. Vintgar Gorge hike in Slovenia. Tasting some orange wine at Dvorni Wine Bar in Ljubljana, Slovenia. View of Rovinj, Croatia from St. Catherine Island. Plitvice National Park, Croatia. Amazing view from our guest house in Korčula, Croatia. Beaching it up in Lumbarda, Croatia. Enjoying some Bosnian coffee  in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Pompeii, Italy with Mt. Vesuvius in the background. ...