greondastravels

We decided to take Harley on a drive to Lake Iseo, the 4th largest lake in Lombardy and situated between Lake Como and Lake Garda.

Much to Rhonda’s disgust Greg decided to take a scenic drive along the Eastern shore line. It was a narrow road with single lane passes through the rocks, on corners! He was concentrating extremely well.

Once through the scary bits we stopped lakeside and enjoyed a piadina and beer for lunch to calm our nerves.

Brescia has been called the City of one thousand fountains due to its 75 public and 2000 private water features. No we did not see all of them but this one we thought was a tad weird! The fountain Pallata is situated at the base of a tower and was added to the city’s medieval walls in the 16th century.

In the heat of the day the beautiful galleries and porticoes gave us relief from the sun and heat and made it pleasant to wander.

The many “Torres” or towers throughout the old town bear witness to the history of Brescia

We decided to eat out and found a cozy little restaurant in a side alley with a menu entirely in Italian so knew it was not going to be overly touristy. 😂 We enjoyed the fried zucchini flowers (although not as good as the ones we cooked in our cooking class in the villa with Giuseppe) . Our mains were a typical Venetian pasta called bigoli, with a pumpkin and smoked speck sauce, it was delicious.

Of course there was time to walk off dinner and take some more photos on the way home.

On our last day in Brescia we still had some churches to see that were not open on our first visit. The Church of Santa Maria in Cachera is a 16th century church, rather plain on the outside but the Baroque interior was richly decorated.

Next was the Church of Santa Maria dei Mirocoli with its quite extravagant facade, although inside was not as stunning as the others however the ceiling dome was rather nice.

Unbeknowns to us, we had left the best till last. The historical Church of San Giorgio was originally built in the 13th century and renovated in the 20th century. We were overawed by the frescoes and we were lucky enough to be shown around by a “local guide” who told us some of the frescoes dated back to the year 1240. We spent a long time in this one, there was so much to admire.

Well that was Brescia done and dusted. We enjoyed our week here immensely. If anyone is looking for somewhere to spend a week we would highly recommend Brescia.

We have now moved onto Trento but that is still to come.

News flash!!! We don’t know who was more upset today, Harley or Gregory, as both were involved in a slight altercation this morning.😩 Police were called, no one was injured, only Harleys pride and front bumper were dented! Not Gregory’s fault!

Time for a drink after a stressful morning!

Ciao ciao for now

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda

We left Udine and made our way to Brescia but had a stop along the way with thousands of others at Sirmione to check out the Castello Scaligero, a fortification built in the late 14th century by the Lords of Verona and is considered to be one of Italys best preserved castles. It was rather striking.

We then arrived in Brescia, the 2nd largest city in Lombardy. Its history dates back to Roman times. Our apartment was in a great location. We stepped outside our front door and turning right we had the statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the celebrated Italian General and a key figure in the unification of Italy during the 19th century, and then turning left, we had a 10 minute flat walk into the Old Town.

We ventured out on our first night and our first drinks were in Piazza Della Loggia. To our surprise not only did we have our drinks delivered , but also some “free food”. We were quite impressed.

The Piazza was surrounded by 16th century Venetian style buildings and the Astronomical Clock Tower dates back to 1546. The Palazzo del Loggia, or Town Hall was built between 1492 and 1570.

We then moved onto Piazza Paolo V1. Standing proudly side by side here are the Duomo Nuovo and Duomo Vecchio, or the new Duomo and the old Duomo, but more about these later! The setting sun had a magical effect on the buildings.

The next day we made our way up the hill to Brescia Castello which the Venetians expanded and fortified adding ramparts and a drawbridge. During the Napoleonic era it was used as a prison. Today it houses museums and is a public park.

Now back to those Duomos! In the afternoon we decided to visit both of them. The Baroque style Duomo Nuovo has the 3rd highest dome in Italy and is considered to be a National Monument. Construction began in the early 17th century and took over 2 centuries to complete. The interior was rather nice but nothing compared to the Duomo echoing where we ventured next.

The Duomo Vecchio was built at the end of the 11th century and is considered a rare and excellent example of “ round plain Romanic architecture”. We walked in and we were blown away! The 13th century frescoes were amazing. We also checked out the crypt which was part of the 8th century church. It was incredible and even more amazing it was free to enter.

We headed out for an aperitivi that evening and agin free food was delivered to our table along with our drinks. We love this place! That night our in house chef cooked us some typical pasta from the region, Brescian casoncello sometimes called handkerchief pasta because of the way it is folded. The filling was dried breadcrumbs, butter and cheese, with a great tomato sauce! It was yum, thanks Greg.

The next day we ventured up to Bergamo for a look and took the funicular up to the Old Town. We had breakie in the Piazza Vecchia, the main Square. Cafe del Tasso is an historical cafe having been in operation since 1476.

The piazza is surrounded by beautiful palazzos including the Palazzo del Podesta, a medieval building, and it stands beside the Torre Civica which stands at 52 meters high and chimes 100 times in the evening. Luckily we there in the morning. The Bergamo Cappelia was a striking building and built between 1472 and 1476 as a mausoleum and chapel for the commander in the Venetian armies. The historic public library ( thru the arch) was built in the 17th century.

The Basilica of Santa Maria has a Romanesque exterior and a baroque interior, magnificently covered with frescoes and artworks. Construction began in 1137 and was a “ vow to the Virgin Mary to protect Bergamo from the plague”. Hope it continues to work!

Later that day we sadly said goodbye to Jude and took her to Milan to catch her flight home. We certainly had a lot of fun together!

Next day we needed to check out some more places in Brescia Old Town, including heaps of churches. We came across the Roman Forum located in the heart of the city and is considered to be one of the most important Roman archeological areas in northern Italy. It includes the Forum, the theatre and a temple all dating back to the 1st century BC.

Then our church tour began and it began with a bang! The Church of St Cristo was quite plain on the outside. We then entered through the cloisters which were very peaceful, then we entered the church and…Wow!!!

It was built in the 15th century and is often compared to the Vaticans Sistine Chapel because of the frescoes that cover almost all the walls and ceilings. It was incredible and free.

The next stop was the Church of St Faustino and St Giovita and houses the remains of the city’s patron saints. Construction began in 1621 and completed in 1711. Again the frescoes ceiling was beautiful.

Word of warning, more stunning churches to come, in a later blog. Brescia has sooooooo many! That night Greg cooked some more castoncelli, but this time with a butter and sage sauce. Again yummy!

So that’s part 1 of Brescia, part 2 to follow hopefully in a few days!

It’s that time, time for aperitivi.

Still warm and we have had a little rain but nothing enough to stop us enjoying ourselves!

Greg’s knee is sort of holding up, actually doing better than what we thought.

lots of love

Greg and Rhonda.

We headed out of Croatia to return to our beloved Italy. We were traveling in 3 countries in one day. Amazing. Breakie was in ZADAR , Croatia. Again the mountain drive was rather spectacular and the roads were good. We took a picnic lunch which we had roadside in Slovenia, and then continued onto into Italy for a 3 night stay in Udine , In north east Italy in the Friulli- Venezia region.

Udine has been ruled in past years by Austria and the Venetians. Our apartment was in a fabulous location, only a flat 10 minute walk into the Old Town. We had to get our heads around the electronic lock system of the apartment. Opening doors with a mobile phone was a little weird to begin with.

Piazza del Liberta is the main square and is known as the most beautiful Venetian square on the mainland. Beautiful buildings adorn the entire piazza. The Loggia del Lionello is a palace built in the Venetian Gothic style and is known to be a version of the Doge’s palace in Venice. Now it is the Town Hall and it dates back to the 15th century but was partially re built after a fire in 1876. We loved it, especially the portico area.

On the other side stands Loggia Di San Giovani or The Porch of St John and dates back to the 16th century. Its clock tower was rather impressive and based on the one in St Marks Square in Venice. The statue with the Venetian lions.so stands proudly in the square.

We headed into Piazza Matteotti for our dinner on the first night and it is the 2nd oldest square in Udine and once housed the city market. We had an aperitivi before deciding on a pizza for dinner.

The Udine Cathedral, although a tad plain on the outside had magnificent frescoes inside, it was quite stunning.

We loved wandering the streets, seeing all the beautiful buildings, and Greg was always eager to find a new friend.

Udine’s Castle is located on a hill in the city’s historical centre, and was built in the 16th century. We walked up but decided it was better for Greg’s knee to take the elevator down!😂

We had a “local” just down the road from our apartment so that was our hang out for our pre dinner aperitivis. People watching can be very fascinating. One night our in house chef cooked us a great pasta dish, it was delicious…..as per usual.

We decided to lash out on our last day and we took Jude to a winery to “do lunch”. We had been there before when we had stayed in Cividale del Friulli. We called into the town first to do some reminiscing then we headed to Alturis Winery.

We began our lunch with an eggplant pie which was absolutely divine and the mains of beef tartare and the Frito ( a fried potato and cheese pie) was just as good. It was washed down with a lovely bottle of Friulli wine.

We enjoyed our stay in quiet Udine after the hustle and bustle of Croatia. Here in Italy, the drinks are cheaper and you get “food” with your aperitivi……and it’s free. Next it was onto Brescia where we are now. We are gradually catching up with our blog now that the pace has slowed down.

Speaking of slowing down, it’s time for a quiet drink.

The weather temperature has increased to the mid 30’s but not as hot as Southern Europe, and thankfully no wild fires here.

Greg’s knee is holding up well considering some days we have walked over 10 kms, albeit with a few stops along the way to lubricate the knee and the throat.😂

Ciao ciao

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda and Jude.

We said goodbye to Dubrovnik to make our way to our next overnight destination of Zadar. It was Republic Day in Croatia so at times there was a lot of traffic on the road. We passed by heaps of fruit and vege stalls directly on the roadside with farmers selling their wares. They were very colorful and we loved the water flowing over the watermelons and juices to keep them fresh in the heat.

The mountainous scenery along the way was rather stunning at times but hard to get a photo when Harley is traveling at 130kph.

ZADAR is an historic old town with Roman ruins and medieval churches set on a small peninsula. Our apartment was in a great location with views of the bridge we had to cross to get to the Old Town, which is called Polutok.

We wandered the cobbled streets. The Narodni Trg is a very pretty square with a Renaissance City Guard building dating from 1562 and it’s clock tower was added in 1789.

The Church of St Donatus is classed as a medieval monument and was built in the 9th century. It is now a venue for summer music concerts , but only medieval renaissance music, thank God. The Bell Tower actually is part of the Cathedral of St Anastasia which stands behind. The Cathedral was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and was badly bombed during WW11 and has been partially reconstructed.

We strolled along the Promenade Alstadt and decided that a fish dinner was in order. We tried to reserve a table at quite a few restaurants but on a public holiday in Croatia , “ no reservations sir, you come and queue for a table “. After spotting some sea bass coming out from one restaurant, we declared that was where we would eat. We went home, frocked up, came back, and got a table straight away. 5 mins later there was a long queue. Lucky for us! We had 3 sea bass and it was delicious, up there in the top 3 for the holiday.

On our stroll back home the Old Town was magically alight. It was a good overnight stop.

That was our last night in Croatia.

Our thoughts……

Way too many people!

Very expensive, 16 euros for one aperol is outrageous.

Beautiful Adriatic views,

Stari Grad on Hvar Island was sensational!

Seafood was mostly sensational.

so next it’s back to Italy.

Time for a drink

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda and Judy

We left our little hamlet of Stari Grad, put Harley on the ferry to return to Split and then drive to Dubrovnik for a 2 night stay. Dubrovnik has been UNESCO listed since 1979. In 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence, it was besieged for 7 months and suffered significant damage, and after much restoration it has re emerged as one of the Mediterraneans top tourist destinations, and boy oh boy, there were a lot of tourists!

Our apartment was lovely, in a very quiet location, and had a great balcony with a sea view. We frocked up and headed down to the Old Town.

We had some great coastal views on the way down and eventually arrived at the Pile Gate, built in the 15th century.

Steps then take you down to the Stradun, the towns main thoroughfare, being 300 meters long.

The sunlight on the buildings was too hard for Greg to resist taking heaps of photos. Here are just a few.

We found a spot to have dinner, sea bass fillets, although Rhonda suspected it was sea bream as she is an expert on sea bass, and Greg had tuna which for him was very over cooked however the ambience was pleasant.

After dinner Greg wanted an expresso but apparently it is impossible in Dubrovnik to get an expresso after around 7pm, so we settled for a drink instead!

The next day we wandered back to the Old Town to do some more exploring. The Town Walls are nearly 2 kms long. It costs 40 euros per person to walk round them, we declined! There are 16 towers, 3 fortresses, 6 bastions and 2 drawbridges and the walls are 4 to 6 meters thick. The walls were constructed during the 13th/ 17th centuries and protected the city from many invaders including the Venetians.

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built between 1671 and 1713. Unfortunately no tourists were allowed inside as it was Sunday and there was a service happening.

We then headed up the Jesuit Stairs , a grand Baroque staircase designed in the 1730’s which leads to the St Ignatius Church, a baroque church built in the 17th and 18th century. Inside was stunning, adorned with frescoes and gilded decorations. There was a service happening here too, however us tourists were allowed entry. The marble columns and altar piece were rather spectacular.

We then came across the Statue of Marin Drzic. He was a well known Croatian playwright and often known as the Shakespeare of Dubrovnik. It is said that to rub his nose and knees will bring you good luck, hence Greg thought he would give it a go!😂

We then came to the Church of St Blaise, dedicated to the patron saint of Dubrovnik and dates back to the 18th century. The interior again was rather spectacular.

Dubrovnik has iconic narrow paths and steep stairways. We had a pre lunch aperitivi along one of the narrow ones, not up those steps! We then enjoyed a burger for lunch.

We then made our way back home, sat on the balcony, and watched the sunset.

We enjoyed our time in Dubrovnik, certainly put some kms in the legs and Greg’s knee stood up to the pressure quite well.

Next stop was Zadar, but that’s next blog.

Weather is certainly warming up here, 36 degrees today!

Time for drinks

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda and Judy.

Our ferry ride to Korcula was about 2 hours and we were lucky to grab some seats as it was quite full. Korcula Old Town is a medieval walled city and surrounded by thick stone walls and towers that date from the 14th century.

St Peters Church is a small Catholic Church dating back to the 14th century and one of the oldest in the old town. We sat and had a drink in the tiny square admiring the church but wished we had moved on more quickly when we received the bill. It was 16 euros each for an aperol spritz…..thank God it was Judy’s shout! 😂

The Revelin Tower was built in 1485 and is the main entrance to the old city. It is adorned with the Venetian Coat of Arms.

St Marks Cathedral built in the Gothic Renaissance style was completed in the 15th century.

The Korcula Town Hall Museum stands opposite the Cathedral and was the Palazzo Gabrelis built in the 16th century. St Michael’s Church was founded at the beginning of the 17th century.

We had a fabulous lunch, a wonderful fish platter for 2, eaten by the 3 of us and we were absolutely stuffed. It consisted of 2 grilled sea bass, 2 grilled calamari , grilled tuna, Swiss chard and potatoes, with a side of tomatoes and fries! Yummy!!!

Jude did quite a bit of shopping while we did quite a bit of sitting and drinking. Wandering the narrow cobbled streets was fabulous, albeit with a little bit of ups and downs which didn’t agree completely with Greg’s knee, however we enjoyed the day immensely.

We were approaching the end of our stay on Hvar, so decided we needed a swim. Again the water was super clear and very refreshing. As per usual, we needed the obligatory drink after our swim, so we chose a bar with great water views.

Our host had told us about a great winery that we should visit so on our last day we thought we would check it out. He did tell us it was through a tunnel, but didn’t say it was a one way, pitch black tunnel, sharply carved out of rock by the army in 1962, and directed by a traffic light system at both entrances…..thank God. It was the longest 1.4 kms that us girls had ever experienced, however Greg loved the drive!😩

The best thing though was that on the other side of the tunnel, we drove along a beautiful coastal road to the winery called Bilo Idro, a restaurant/wine bar where you can “drink with the fish”. We spent a lovely couple of hours there but still had the trauma of the tunnel on the way home!😂

On our last night in Stari Grad Greg cooked up a storm on the bbq, and he very kindly bought us a dessert, ice creams from the supermarket, chocolate coated, banana flavored “things”. The jury is still out as to whether they are worth buying again. 😂

We saw some wonderful sunsets over our 6 nights in Stari Grad. We really enjoyed our stay but had to return to the mainland to have a 2 night stay in Dubrovnik, so that is to come next time.

The weather is still great, although there are hotter days to come apparently, just hope it’s not too hot.
Gregs knee is causing a few little problems, but Rhonda has her fingers crossed that he can last out another 2 or 3 weeks.

So it’s that time again. Yep wine time!

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda and Jude.

We have a huge catch up to do with our travels. We’ve been very busy sightseeing, eating and drinking but the pace has slowed down now.

We spent a fantastic 6 night stay on the Croatian island of Hvar staying at Stari Grad, one of the oldest towns in Europe and supposedly has a history dating back 2400 years! Our apartment was fabulous with a great balcony for relaxing and a fantastic bbq which Greg utilized extremely well.

On our first night we wandered round the town and had a great sea bass and calamari dinner on the gorgeous waterfront which was aligned with heaps of boats both big and small and we even found one named Ronda!

St Stephen’s Church dats back to 1605 and its clock tower was built in 1753. The Church of St Roch was built in the 16th century.

We loved wandering the back narrow streets and we were amazed at how clean everything was…..also the huge number of cats that layed everywhere sunning themselves.

Along the waterfront promenade, there were numerous places for us to hydrate with both coffee and other beverages.

We decided to take Harley for a drive and our first stop was at the gorgeous little village of Vrobska, not far from Stari Grad, and the smallest town on the Island. The Fortress Church of Saint Mary of Mercy is unique in the Adriatic region. It was fortified at the expense of the local people for their defense against the Turks in 1571.

The girls climbed to the top, up a rather steep spiral staircase (Greg declined the offer) and had some great views of the town below.

We then continued onto the town of Jelsa, a larger holiday destination and stopped for a coffee on the waterfront. The Church of St Ivan was built in the 15th Century and sat in a very pretty square away from the touristy promenade.

We then continued along a rather winding road to Sućuraj, the most easterly point of the island. It was very laid back with a quaint fishing harbour and a lighthouse on the point..

It was a rather long day for both Harley and Greg so we stopped off on the way home for a couple of refreshments, then home for a “Roberts Caesar Salad” for dinner. It was a great day.

Another day we decided to catch the ferry and check out the island of Korcula and it’s stunning Old Town. We first had to drive to the town of Hvar and park Harley for the day.. The ferry port had heaps of yachts and boats, both large and extra large!

Behind the port there were loads of the usual small cobbled streets and also quite large open piazzas. We found it a little too touristy for us and were quite happy that we were staying in quiet little Stari Grad.

There will be a Part 2 to follow with the remainder of our time in Stari Grad. Too many photos of Korcula to add to this blog!😂 It was a photographers dream.

The weather has still been great, not too hot, the wine and beer is still good, probably too much of it!

Time to hydrate, and so far today Greg has walked over 9 kms, so his knees are, for a better word…shit!

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda and Jude.

We left Zagreb and had a 4 1/2 hour drive to our next destination, Split, the 2nd largest city in Croatia. Our little apartment was fabulous, a little distance out of the madness of the Old Town. We had our own little garden to relax in….when it wasn’t raining!

We found out on our first night that Uber works well in Split. Our driver dropped us off at the Esplanades and waterfront called Splitska Riva. Boy oh boy, we were hit by wall to wall people, it was extremely busy.

The Riva is a 500 metre long waterfront boulevard stretching along the Adriatic Sea with stunning views of the harbour and lined with palm trees. After our long drive we needed to hydrate so found a nice spot for an aperitivi before dinner.

Dinner was next on the agenda so we wandered and wandered and wandered and finally decided on a great little restaurant in the back streets of the Old Town. The sea bass, the calamari, and the grilled veges were absolutely delicious. Good choice!!

Behind the Riva is the Old Town and it is centered around the Diocletian Palace. In 295AD, the Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered a residence to be built there for his retirement, as one does!

The Cathedral of Saint Domnius is considered to be one of the best preserved ancient Roman buildings still standing and was built as a mausoleum for the emperor. The Bell Tower was constructed between the 13th and 16th centuries and reconstructed in 1908 after it had collapsed. That was the reason we decided not to climb it as we thought it may be due to collapse agin….had nothing to do with Greg’s knee!

The Fruit Square was once a bustling fruit market and now is full of restaurants, bars and shops. It was impressive both during the day and at night time.

The People’s Square dates from the 15th century and has many beautiful buildings built by the nobility over the years. It has a Romanesque clock tower with the remains of a medieval sundial. Again it was stunning day and night.

The following day we opted to walk down the steps to the Old Town to get some water views and quite a few steps there were. However the views were worth it looking out over the Matejuska port. One of our party was a little quicker than the other 2, who seemed to be lost at some stage and looking for something but God only knows what!😂

We wandered again toward the Old Town and came across Republic Square, said to resemble St Marks Square in Venice…..we agreed.

After a coffee, Greg sat and made himself comfortable while Rhonda and Jude went shopping! Greg had enough time for 2 or 3 beers while the girls dodged people walking through the Old Town, going in and out of shops, checking out bargains, and working up a thirst to meet Greg 2 hours later for a well earned drink themselves. The Croatian National Theatre is in Split and was opened in 1893 and is one of the oldest surviving theatres in the area of Dalmatia.

We enjoyed our time in Split, particularly the time spent in our lovely quiet apartment far from the noisy pushy tourists in the Old Town. 😂 It was soooooooo busy.

After 2 nights in Split we put Harley on ferry to make our way to a much anticipated 6 night relaxing stay on the island of Hvar, staying at Stari Grad. And it has been exactly that but that’s for the next entry!

So it’s that time again, time for a mineral water as we all thought it was time for an AFD! 😕🙄🙃😝

Off to Dubrovnik tomorrow!

weather still great, not too hot, wine and beer still cold

lots of love

Greg and Rhonda and Jude.

After a great time in Ljubljana, we left Slovenia and headed into Croatia. Before crossing the border we popped into Novo Mesto, a very cute little town. It also had a great shoe shop, good outcome for Rhonda!

We then crossed the border and made our way into Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. It has an upper town and lower town. Our apartment, although not flash on the outside, was great inside with a small balcony where we could overlook the gorgeous building on the other side of the street!

On our first day we decided to explore the Upper Old Town.The first thing we noticed was the huge amount of scaffolding on many of the old buildings due to restoration work being done primarily due to the earthquake that struck in 2020. The Cyril and Methodius Church was built around 1830 and rebuilt after the earthquake.

St Marks Basilica is one of the oldest buildings in Zagreb and dates back to the 14th century. It’s tiled roof was created in 1880 and bears the Coats of Arms of different areas.

The main square, the Ban Jelacic Square was rather large with the famous trams running through the middle and standing proudly in the centre was Count Josip Jelacic one of the most important Croatian politicians in the 19th Century.

The Dolac Market is a large Farmers Market, open daily , selling flowers, fruit, veges and meat. We loved the red umbrellas which we found all over Zagreb. It has been operating for over 80 years. The statue of Kumica is a tribute to the hard working women of Zagreb. Greg thought she was pretty cool!

Very few parts of the Old City Walls are still standing, most were demolished in the 19th century. We decided to have a typical Zagreb lunch and opted for the Zagrebacki Odrezak, a pounded veal cutlet filled with cheese and ham, then rolled , covered in breadcrumbs and fried! OMG , it was delicious!

We continued on our tour to walk our lunch off and came across the Stone Gate with the statue of St George, after he had slain the dragon, not before. Sorry no photos of the Stone Gate and the statue of the Virgin Mary, too man tourists in front of it!

On our way home we walked through the Tunnels of Zagreb. They were built during WW11 as a bomb shelter. They fell into disrepair and renewed in the 1990’s. They also functioned as a shelter during the Croatian War of Independence tween 1991 and 1995.

Of course in between this walking there had to be time for hydration and we had plenty of bars to choose from.

The following day we hit the Lower Town and found some beautiful buildings that had already been fully restored, well on the outside at least! The Croatian National Theatre was magnificent and built in 1860. At the entrance to the Theatre is the Well of Life, a sculpture depicting people in various phases of life , crouching and twisting their bodies. Sadly a couple of “ring ins” crashed their party!

Greg was impressed with the statue of Nikola Tesla, a Croatian inventor and engineer, best known for his design of the AC electricity supply system.

The beautiful Art Gallery was built in 1896 and the statue of King Tomislav, the first king of Croatia stands proudly in the square.

The Croatian State Archives , again a lovely restored building was built in 1913, and further along the street was the Italian Embassy.

Of course as we wandered we had to try the cream cakes of Zagreb….verdict……Ljubljana wins hands down!

Here is a selection of buildings that didn’t have scaffolding on it.😂

We must admit we were a little underwhelmed by Zagreb when we first arrived, however it did grow on us and by the time we left we loved it. We had great weather, found good watering holes and ate some great food, both out and about, and also prepared by our in house chef!

We are a little behind with our posts, sorry, been a bit busy but we will try to catch up.

No need for an update on Greg, apart from his knee , all other ailments have disappeared!

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda and Judy.

We sadly left our villa in Tuscany to continue on our trip. We now have Judy with us so more fun and frivolity is ahead.

Before we left Montecatini though we visited a couple more places. We made a trip to Montecatini Alto via the funicular for a morning tea.

Montecatini is home to many thermal spas , so we decided to visit one of them! We went to the Tettucio Thermal complex, which served as a meeting place for many of the greatest figures in music and politics. It was originally built between 1779 and 1781 and then reconstructed in 1928. The architecture was amazing and the thermal waters that flow from taps in the complex is supposedly good for diabetes to stomach problems.

We stayed 3 nights in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Our apartment was an easy stroll to the very picturesque Old Town. The Ljubljana River runs through the centre with bars and restaurants all along both banks.

The Triple Bridge , obviously named, dates back to the 13th century and is the oldest in the town. It was redesigned and expanded in the 1930’s, and is UNESCO listed.

The main square, Preseren Square, sits at a medieval crossroad and the Franciscan Monastery and Church dates back to the 17th century.

We decided to eat out on our first night and had eaten enough pasta and pizza over the last few weeks so we decided on a burger. We chose the very aptly named “Pops”. It was a great burger and the onion rings and fries topped off a great meal.

Walking home was rather magical with beautiful illuminated buildings and Greg was extremely happy with the reflections on the river.

The following day was again spent wandering the Old Town. The dragon is the emblem of Ljubljana and is considered a symbolic protector of the city. It represents strength, courage, and might and is depicted on the city’s Coat of Arms. One of the main attractions is the Dragon Bridge named for obvious reasons. Legend says that if a virgin crosses the bridge the dragons will wave their tails. Needless to say there was no tail wagging when Rhonda and Judy crossed!!

The Robbov Vodnjak is a marble and limestone fountain with an Oblisk dating back to the 18th Century. At every corner you wander around, there is more stunning architecture.

The Ljubljana Castle is a key landmark of the city, and accessible by funicular. Most of the buildings date back to the 16th century. The castles watchtower was added in the 19th century. We could have walked the 95 steps via the staircase to check out the view but we opted to take a photo instead. The chapel below dates back to 1489 and is the oldest surviving remnants of the castle.

For lunch we decided on a typical Slovenian sausage called the Carniolan. We knew it had to be good by the long queue of people lining up at the door……and it was.

For dinner it was decided that we needed dumplings so off we went. We were the only ones in the restaurant when we entered, and the waiter had to call the chef to come in as we wanted to have fried , not steamed dumplings. By the time we left the place was full and the dumplings were delicious.

The next day we decided to take Harley for a drive to Lake Bled, a beautiful blue/green lake in the Julien Alps. Bled Island sits proudly in the middle and is accessible by the traditional wooden Pletna Boats. Their origins date back to 1590. There are only 23 of these boats on the lake and very popular for the tourists.

As the boats reach the island you are met by 99 steps which lead to St Mary’s Church. Their origins date tradition for locals who marry inside the church is to take a Pletna boat to the island and the groom MUST carry his bride up all the 99 steps, they marry in the church and then ring the Wishing Bell that is inside and that guarantees them a long and happy marriage. People who enter the church can ring the bell, locals and tourists alike , and the Pope decreed that anyone who rings it 3 times will have their wish granted.

The Clock Tower has 99 steps as well to climb for an apparently lovely view. We took their word for it!

We disappointed Judy by not stopping in the town of Bled so that she could try a Bled Cream Cake. Instead, when we returned to Ljubljana we decided to try their version. It was very similar, full of cream and very light custard.

We enjoyed our stay. Ljubljana is a wonderful vibrant city.

An update on Greg’s knees……sort of holding up! Starting to walk further distances, and still exercising as often as he can. Shingles have finally disappeared, but that can’t be said about the waistlines!!!,

Weather is still around 30 during the day and 20 overnight….perfect.

so it’s time for that aperitivi.

lots of love

Greg and Rhonda