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Flying My First Inaugural - London to Ljubljana
IntroductionIt's been a while since I last posted anything on FT and I've missed it. My excuse is that I've spent the last year not really travelling much and what little travel I did manage I wrote about on my own website in the hope of being able to produce some more personal or experimental content rather than just the straight up hundred miles an hour photo-fests I've happily posted here in the past. This will be a pared down version of something I wrote for my own site late last summer that focuses more on the flying, planning and airport experience than every last twist and turn I took before, during and after the trip. For those who are bored and impatient you can read it here: Fly To Takeover The World - Slovenia TR At the time of booking we had an AMEX 2 for 1 voucher on the brink of expiry and not that many Avios or much in the way of funds for a summer holiday. Mrs. Spymon and I trawled through the destinations on the BA website until she came up with the idea of Slovenia. I was a little surprised as I had no idea that BA even flew there and it was only a little closer to the travel date when I checked the schedules and the BA FT forum to look up the lounge info that I realised we'd be on the inaugural flight! For everyone else let's get started on this tale of beautiful lakes, amazing food and an inaugural flight as we travel back in time twelve months to Slovenia and a very different world. Part 1: My First Inaugural FlightI'm not sure what time we woke up, but my Grandma was right, the builders would do it. If you ever wanted to know what it might be like to live on a building site, or perhaps a coal mine you most likely have something wrong with you! We attempted to sleep for another half hour but gave up right at the point where we thought they'd made the breakthrough. Not wanting to wait and see if we'd be receiving a Jack Nicholson, Shiningstyle good morning, some trapped Chilean minors, or perhaps even discover the real reason why Crossrail had yet to open we got up. We were then able to enjoy the remainder of Rip Off Britain before saying our good-byes and getting the Piccadilly line to Heathrow, thankfully dodging a large school group on route. I don't know how but by the time we had checked in it was already 13:39. How did it take so long to get to T5! The Club check-in queue was reasonably long but fast moving considering every 2nd person had enough luggage to fit a family inside! Service was friendly, with an apologies for waiting and an attempt to make conversation. Both were appreciated. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...97a6249f_b.jpg Whilst waiting in line in dawned upon me that I couldn't recall the last visit we'd made to Galleries Club. Our last visit to Terminal 5 was on an economy flight to CDG with no status. Prior to that was in First to India. So in all it was probably more than 6 years ago. No wonder that whilst the terminal felt familiar I was struggling with a few wrong turns and forgotten moments. Security was cramped but fast and after a quick stop at Boots to replace Mrs Spymon's leaking make up remover we headed off to the lounge. British Airways Galleries Club SouthFinding the lounge was still relatively easy, though again I forgot about the extra run of escalators to the Club lounge and felt confused at seeing only the Concorde Room and Galleries First. We were soon in the lounge and at first we were taken aback at quite how busy it was. It made us realise how lucky we'd been with so many of our flights over the last few years departing from Terminal 3 which allowed us to spend so much time in the quite wonderful (and my official happy place) Cathay Lounge and most recently the beautiful cocktails on offer at the Qantas Lounge.https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2cd0f962_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...88871ee9_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cb6ce392_b.jpg We turned right and found a dining table and chairs by the side of the cinema and hunted for food. The furniture had definitely been changed since our last visit and the food had definitely seen an improvement: curries, sandwiches, soups, bread, drinks hard and soft or hot and cold. The choice and brands of drink felt more varied and of higher quality than I recalled from our last visit but then again I'm probably mistaken. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f8ba432f_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b83856cf_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...058be2da_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bc223734_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f6b91567_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c083a9ed_b.jpg I started with some curries and a soup accompanied by a glass of white wine before moving on to a sweet and delicious aged rum and coke. I also drank my usual black Americano alongside some quite tasty cappuccino cake. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...06c676fc_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c11e7bbe_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...df235643_b.jpg[/url] https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f811d1c2_b.jpg[/url] https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e197bb38_b.jpg[/url] The Union Coffee is definitely an improvement over what went before but does anyone know why it tastes better at the LGW lounge? https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b1e019ac_b.jpg We then moved to the opposite side of the lounge to enjoy some sunlight, minor plane spotting and to charge our devices where for once my phone worked on the wireless charger! Oh and I kept hydrated with some rather delicious fruit infused water. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...031f59fe_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7be501aa_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e9871b20_b.jpg Flight: BA690 |
Thanks for sharing! Slovenia is on my to do list and I hope I can visit soon!
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lockdown in Ljubliana?
Dude, I was all set to post my suggestions on what to see & do in Ljubliana.................until I saw the date on the onboard menu?
Did you take this trip in August 2019? If so, why wait nine months to post your outbound pics? And where is the rest of the TR? Are you locked down in Ljubliana?? |
Originally Posted by Antonio8069
(Post 32398562)
Dude, I was all set to post my suggestions on what to see & do in Ljubliana.................until I saw the date on the onboard menu?
Did you take this trip in August 2019? If so, why wait nine months to post your outbound pics? And where is the rest of the TR? Are you locked down in Ljubliana?? Maybe now that social distancing is occuring he has the time to format and publish his TR. It does not matter to me that it took place 9 months ago, it was still an enjoyable read, and having visited LJU and Lake Bled - by car on our from Venice to Salzburg, I for one am looking forward to reading the rest of the TR. |
Originally Posted by i_travel_for_work
(Post 32398445)
Thanks for sharing! Slovenia is on my to do list and I hope I can visit soon!
Originally Posted by Antonio8069
(Post 32398562)
Dude, I was all set to post my suggestions on what to see & do in Ljubliana.................until I saw the date on the onboard menu?
Did you take this trip in August 2019? If so, why wait nine months to post your outbound pics? And where is the rest of the TR? Are you locked down in Ljubliana??
Originally Posted by adampenrith
(Post 32404973)
It does not matter to me that it took place 9 months ago, it was still an enjoyable read, and having visited LJU and Lake Bled - by car on our from Venice to Salzburg, I for one am looking forward to reading the rest of the TR.
Looks like I better get the next parts up soon! |
Onwards to Lake Bled!
We spent the night at a cheap hotel, Rooms and Apartments Jana that really wasn't much to write home about. I posted my thoughts on the original version of this TR from my website, so you can click the link in the first post if you want to read more about it. We pick up this tale again with an anxious wait at LJU's bus station:
Arriving at the airport we suffered a brief moment of confusion due to the bus time table at the bus stop and the one shown on Google Maps both being wrong. Luckily we ended up on the 10:05 bus to Lake Bled exactly as planned. The bus was comfortable and clean with plenty of space. The journey along the motorway was picturesque without being spectacular and we made good time until departing the motorway as we approached Bled. The narrow road towards the lake was no match for the traffic snake that had developed and our worst fears of tourist overcrowding looked to be realised as we crawled past the rather frighting for all the wrong reasons, Dino Park... In the end we pulled into Bled Bus Station about 10-15 minutes late. After grabbing our bags from the luggage storage it was a short walk via the lake to our hotel. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fc4c3671_b.jpg With the sun already beating down hard we were glad that it was only a short walk uphill from the lake to our hotel. Our accommodation for the next two nights, Penzion Kaps was situated on a small square opposite the deceptively large Rikli Balance Hotel (named after Arnold Rikli, the Swiss healer who founded a health resort in Bled in the 19th century which helped make Bled the tourist attraction it is today) and a few other similar sized Penzions and properties to ours which gave the square a rather pleasant, homely feel. Penzion Kaps |
Originally Posted by Spymon
(Post 32410631)
Thanks i_travel_for_work, Our short time in Slovenia was beautiful. I hope you manage to visit there soon.
I did take this TR back in 2019. Apologies if it wasn't clear from the beginning of the post. I hadn't originally intended to post this on FT but with the current situation I had more time to post, just not as much as I thought! I have finished every TR I've started on here and I don't plan on changing that anytime soon, even if it takes me a while! Thanks adampenrith, LJU and Lake Bled were indeed beautiful. We took this as a bit of a throwaway trip but by the end we actually really wanted to go back to try more of the food and especially the wine as well as the landscapes. Looks like I better get the next parts up soon! |
The region is really worth a visit
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Originally Posted by offerendum
(Post 32416598)
The region is really worth a visit
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Lake Bohinj: Up in the Mountains, Down by the Lake
We had agreed on an early start in order to spend the bulk of the day at Lake Bohinj, but honestly being on holiday and getting up at 07:00 felt like hell so in a welcome change from the norm I slept in till 07:30 whilst Mrs Spymon got ready.
Around 08:15 we popped down to the basement for the breakfast buffet. The breakfast room was near enough empty and we were warmly welcomed and offered made to order egg dishes if we wanted them. I can't say that the buffet was excellent quality but then I've been lucky enough to have been royally spoilt over the years. That said, there was a solid selection of hot and cold food, fruit juice and most importantly a coffee machine! After breakfast we made the short walk to Bled Bus Station to get our connection to Bohinj. It was a bargain at €10 each one way. There was a good system set up where a multilingual person sold all us tourists tickets before we got on the bus, saving the not so multilingual bus drivers a lot of work. Our bus was a little late, very busy and thankfully well air conditioned. The views from the tinted windows were pretty decent as well; mountains, railway lines (train geek alert) and little villages. We got off a little later than the majority of the bus who headed straight for the lake as a few stops down the road we had a cunning plan to enact! At the cross roads with the funny to those with bad British humour sign (It says 'Slap Savica' I couldn't help myself) we headed slightly away from the lake and up hill. Five minutes later we'd arrived. Yes, we were taking the cable car up the mountain side to Vogel Ski Centre. However, it would't be us without some minor drama... First of all the cable car ride wasn't super cheap at 24€ return per person and secondly it did not help that we didn't double check our tickets. It helped even less that the lady at the ticket office seemed to have taken a particular disliking to us and gave one of our two tickets to the group behind us (we worked this out as they stated they had an extra ticket) and then completely denied it. We all make mistakes and luckily on this occasion two wrongs and one nice tour group (yes, they do exist!) made a right and we were luckily reunited with our missing ticket as the cable car was about to depart. Thankfully Mrs Spymon https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...64ac702c_b.jpg For the next few hours we enjoyed the mountain air, mountain walking, the most beautiful mountain cows, mountain hens and apparently the most amazing mountain pig you ever did see! We took loads of silly photos that are not fit and proper for FT! A word to the wise, whilst you don't need any fancy walking poles or hiking boots to tread the mountain paths, a pair of trainers with a decent grip are a must as the gravel paths are steep and slippery making it easy to loose your balance. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...18f5fa54_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...26f5b3e8_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...37f2d860_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...21f89d94_b.jpg I persuaded Mrs Spymon to take the chairlift down, in hindsight I'm still in two minds about the quality of my idea. On the plus side it definitely helped her overcome her fear of heights. On the downside there's nothing worse than seeing someone you love suffering from a full blown anxiety attack in a space where once you are on you cannot get off without killing yourself! To put it mildly for at least the first half of our chairlift ride Mrs Spymon was petrified and I thought she was going to hyper ventilate into a full blown panic attack. The marks from my hands have only just faded. That being said it was a smooth ride and a beautiful way to enjoy the mountain scenery if you can keep your eyes open! It's also a heck of a lot easier to get off these things when you're not wearing skis! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e9173be6_b.jpg It was now lunch time, that cool mountain air and 'hike' had left a hole in my belly and being captive on the mountainside we had a choice of - 'tourist trap' place by the chair lift exit or 'tourist trap' place by the chair lift entrance! We ended up at Chalet Merjasec which was closer to the entrance. Whilst the service was a touch brisk we were treated to huge portions of food at a very reasonable price. Mrs Spymon ordered the sausage with buckwheat mush and sauerkraut and I chose Wild Boar Stew with Polenta. We enjoyed our beverages of choice as usual, with me going for an ice cold beer. I have to say our meal was very tasty and noticeably cheaper and quite possibly better quality than the previous days lunch. Unfortunately during our meal I was struck with a horrible bout of Bohinj Belly and if you like making jokes about my stew resembling my diarrhoea then now's your chance! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...50aa1097_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6a14ce6b_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5c547ea3_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d3772c8c_b.jpg I'd like to say I enjoyed the cable car ride down, taking in my last glimpse of the wonderful views but that would be a lie. I had one thing on my mind, being first off the cable car and first to the bathroom. Luckily we were near the door and I and made a dash for the loo. Whilst I'm not a big fan for paid for public toilets at restaurants/tourist attractions, especially those with faulty locks on the door that are not particularly clean, that was the best 50 Euro cents I've ever spent! Once I'd relieved myself in anger for the last time that day - further movements during the day were not of the involuntary kind, we were able to walk the lake. And what a stunningly beautiful place Lake Bohinj was! If Bled is where the cool kids hang out for a stroll and a drink or five, Bohinj is where people come to camp and soak up the sun. We followed the Fairy Trail past the battalion of tents, stamping our hands at the various Fairy Trail checkpoints like the overgrown kids we are. There are a few caveats in that parts of the walking path around the lake are not in great shape. I would imagine it would be significantly worse if you were going by bike, with bits of the lakeside bumpy in places with rocks, tree roots, a dry river bed, skinny dippers young and old and the searing hot sun. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...000ebd8d_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5cd36d8d_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e47bf9bf_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...09468a45_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5f69fa23_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8b11567b_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...62268396_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7eb79d74_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9ac57e43_b.jpg It was a great walk and exhausted we stopped for drink at possibly the worst place I can ever imagine, but they had cold drinks, shade and aircon which made up for the awful slow service, flies and appalling atmosphere. And despite what another TR writer might say, my Pepsi Max was just perfect. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9267e774_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...99cd21d6_b.jpg It was time to head back to Bled. Finding the bus stop was easy enough. A similar ticketing system operated to Bled Bus Station where tickets were purchased before getting on the bus. Time ticked on and the queue got bigger and bigger. Some of the hotel hoppers and park and rides were filled to the brim, but the folks kept on coming and coming. In the end our bus was 15 minutes late and annoyingly for those of us that had arrived on time, they opened the rear doors letting all the late comers on first. The bus was very crowded and thanks to Mrs Spymon's quick thinking we were lucky to both have a seat. At least the bus was cheap, the views pleasant and time passed quickly. Our company was some backpacking kids talking boyfriends, girlfriends and drinking, what more could we want. After getting off the bus we retreated to the hotel but not before enjoying our first encounter with the brass band Orange Friends from Copenhagen. We then enjoyed a well earned rest and much needed shower. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a54cac4f_b.jpg After a good rest it was dinner time! Our first attempt was Penzion Berc (Sounds so funny in French, but what the heck), it looked good and was right next to our hotel but we failed as it was all booked up for the night. In the end we followed that Bled Blog and our instincts and ended up at Restaurant Babji zob near the lake. I have to say it was a pretty decent choice and we were lucky to get a table almost straight away. The service was friendly though 100% on holiday time (perhaps they were a person short, at least that was how it felt). We started with a delicious bottle of Slovenian white wine, perfect as a cooler on any summers day. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...35c74142_b.jpg Not feeling massively hungry we skipped starters. I chose the "Chicken Breasts Wrapped In Prosciutto, Filled with Spinach, Dried Tomato and Feta Cheese with Spiced Roasted Potatoes" https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f5d4b1e6_b.jpg Mrs Spymon picked the "FuŽi with Smoked Salmon and Smoked Cheese". Both portions were humongous and beautifully presented. This was definitely better than your average trap by the lake, it was a perfect summer holiday meal. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...18d9e2a1_b.jpg Somehow we cleared our plates and of course no trip to Bled is complete without a slice of that famous cream cake. Although the photo doesn't quite do it justice the portion was easily big enough for two. It was a good job we shared! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e1f82bd1_b.jpg Whilst we finishing off our wine we noticed a flash in the sky and the far away clap of thunder. No rush we thought, just a few minutes walk back if it starts to rain. By the time we'd polished off the bottle the flashes had become a touch more frequent and rumbles a little closer. We requested the bill and prepared to head home as quickly as possible. We settled up as the first drops of rain fell from the sky. The wind had really begun to whip up at this point but with so many folk sat calmly outside, beers in hand we didn't really worry too much. About half way back to the hotel the wind had more than just whipped up and some of the bars were closing up. The rain had also got a touch heavier and those rumbles and flashes felt ever closer. Despite this we still felt safe being just about five minutes from our hotel. Those five minutes turned out to be one of the longest five minutes of our lives. The rain poured, the thunder roared behind us, the lightning filled the sky and we were stuck outside with no shelter as the howling wind blew the torrential rain this way and that. With 4 minutes and 30 seconds walk to go things had moved on from a nice spot of summer rain and the calm before the storm had turned into a disaster. We were soon soaked to the skin and if I'm being honest a touch scared. After about 5 minutes that felt like half an hour we decided to make a run for it. I'm not sure if this was a mistake or not but as we stood petrified by our bedroom window watching flash after flash it was probably the right choice. Strangely enough I really felt like a hot shower. Exhausted it was time for a sleep as tomorrow we were back on the road! |
Eating Like A King in Ljubljana
Our morning started off with the now customary basement breakfast buffet at Penzion Kaps. Whilst I enjoyed eating from the decent spread, I would later find out again that there was something in my selection that did not agree with me at all. Once again I would find to my distress that it would be the second lunch in a row where I had the runs... Fun times, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...353cdcd7_b.jpg We checked out and settled up in cash as for some reason Penzion Kaps chooses not to take card payments when you book with them directly. We then took a slow and slightly sad walk along the edge of Lake Bled for one last time. Whilst the both of us were looking forward to exploring the capital city of Slovenia we knew we were going to miss the beauty of the lake and even now writing this up I do hope we can find the opportunity to return to Lake Bled in the future. The bus to Ljubljana ran every half hour from Bled and just like our previous trips on the bus it was late and busy. The initial part of the journey was incredibly scenic and the strong air con meant we quickly forgot about the heat outside. The journey took about an hour and much like arriving into any large city our final approach into Ljubljana took us past all the least scenic parts of town from industrial buildings, the Union Brewery and some derelict land, before we pulled into the giant bus terminal adjacent to the main train station. Our first impressions of Ljubljana left us with feelings of regret that we'd decided to spend two full days in the city rather than allowing ourselves some extra time to enjoy the beauty of Bled. It only took a moment or two to get our bearings before Google Maps showed us that our hotel was just a short walk in a straight line from the bus with the quality of the buildings improving with every step we took away from the bus station. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...08d708b8_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c963fb14_b.jpg We arrived about three or four hours early for check in at the Grand Hotel Union. Despite the hour, our first impressions were excellent. The staff were friendly and offered us the option of a twin room if we wanted a room straight away or we could wait till check in time if we preferred to stick with the double room we had booked. We were also allowed to use their 'Business Centre room' to change clothes and repack our bags in the mean time. Before we headed out into the sunshine I also asked the concierge to book us a table at Gostilna Na Gradu the slightly cheaper of the two fine dining restaurants at Ljubljana Castle. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6eac98cd_b.jpg We left our baggage at the hotel and headed out into the midday sun for Park Tivoli. Despite the heat we quickly got a feel for Ljubljana. Small car free streets, lots of independent shops and restaurants, galleries plus what appeared to be a healthy mix of tourists and locals. On our way to the park we passed a couple of museums before taking the underpass into Park Tivoli. At the entrance to the park there was a small outdoor photography exhibition on the sights of Ljubljana, one of exhibits even mentioned the restaurant we'd booked for dinner. Looking past the exhibition and towards the highest peak of the park were a couple of large houses. We paused for a moment to argue over our lunch options. The downside to our approach for this trip compared to some of the more micro managed trips we have done in the past is that when you lose your guide book you are at the mercy of the internet. So as became the custom for this Slovenian adventure, we fired up Google Maps for food options. Let's say the results didn't look great. Most of the places coming up were nowhere near the park except for one which was right slap bang in the middle, the alpine lodge like building in our sights was apparently a restaurant with rather good reviews. However, its website was not particularly helpful. The set menu looked awfully cheap compared to the pictures on the site and most of the information seemed to be about booking the place for a wedding reception! Seeing as we had little choice if we wanted to lunch in the park we headed up the hill, past the Tivoli Mansion home to modern art and a children's' play area and up to the second building. Approaching from behind Bistro Švicarija (a.k.a. The Swissery) didn't look much like a restaurant but we did see a few mostly empty tables out front and as we turned to face the restaurant we spotted a waiter bringing wine and plates of food to a table of guests. Mrs Spymon picked us a sweet spot in the shade and we waited for service. Something seemed a little off that the set lunch of soup, main and salad was only 9€ but what the heck, for that price we thought we'd give it a try! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...343a5e48_b.jpg After waiting just long enough for us not to walk away, our waiter came over to take our orders (in English) whilst apologising for his language skills. We told him there was really no need. My thoughts are when you are a guest in another persons country it is your duty to try and learn a little of their language and not the other way round. In fact our waiter's English was pretty good. We both ordered the set lunch. Anne-So had the fish and a soft drink whilst I had the gnocchi with turkey and a fresh glass of Slovenian wine. We did feel a little sorry for our poor waiter who was very friendly and good humoured in the way he complained of being a touch tired from a rather brutal sounding shift pattern. Having had the fun of working with the public and doing the occasional 10 days straight from time to time I had some idea how he felt. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4f611bbc_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e1b1edbb_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...393f3650_b.jpg Whilst it will never win any prizes we both really enjoyed the food and setting, plus at 25€ for the both of us Bistro Švicarija was a total bargain. Whilst we were eating a familiar sounding brass band started up in the distance. We enjoyed the musical entertainment at first thinking nothing of it. I was especially pleased when they played a James Bond medley. After finishing lunch we got up to have a closer look at the source of the music and having joked at how funny it would be if it were the same band that we caught at Lake Bled, we were in hysterics to see that it was indeed our orange clad friends from Copenhagen playing their hearts out and having lots of fun. We felt like a nice long walk after all that food and began following the walking trails through Park Tivoli until we heard a clap of thunder. No sooner had the thunder played the opening notes of its tune we beat a swift retreat down the first available path heading towards the exit, we then saw two young German speaking ladies who had the same idea as us make an even hastier retreat. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3dd99810_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5232ce14_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5af1a75d_b.jpg They say lightning doesn't strike twice, but I don't recall anybody saying the same thing about thunder or food poisoning! There was another storm brewing for the second time in as many days and with it being too soon to blame lunch for my nasty stomach ache all that was left for me to do was speed walk in the direction of the nearest toilet. Thankfully the National Gallery was right outside the park and I enjoyed its glorious, wonderful and free facilities to the maximum! Feeling about a thousand times better after our quick stop at the museum we made our way though the light rain back to Grand Hotel Union to ride out the bad weather.<br> Hotel Grand Union |
Slovenia looks lovely. It won't be this year but I will put it on my list. I'm hopeful any stomach problems were on your side and not a Slovenian thing. Having such issues is something of a phobia, especially when it involves public toilets.
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Maria Callas an amazing soprano who became more famous for marrying Aristotle Onassis than for her amazing singing.
Callas is in that handful of incredible voices that us opera fanatics know. She was divorced by Onassis so he could marry Jackie Kennedy the widow of JFK |
One of my abiding travel memories is standing on the viewing platform of Ljubljana Castle and listening to the thunder claps get ever louder. You haven't been in a thunderstorm until you've been in a Slovenian thunderstorm!
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Originally Posted by Fredrik74
(Post 32436182)
Slovenia looks lovely. It won't be this year but I will put it on my list. I'm hopeful any stomach problems were on your side and not a Slovenian thing. Having such issues is something of a phobia, especially when it involves public toilets.
Originally Posted by adampenrith
(Post 32448549)
Maria Callas an amazing soprano who became more famous for marrying Aristotle Onassis than for her amazing singing.
Callas is in that handful of incredible voices that us opera fanatics know. She was divorced by Onassis so he could marry Jackie Kennedy the widow of JFK
Originally Posted by Top of climb
(Post 32449271)
One of my abiding travel memories is standing on the viewing platform of Ljubljana Castle and listening to the thunder claps get ever louder. You haven't been in a thunderstorm until you've been in a Slovenian thunderstorm!
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