March 29, 2014

I just realized I wrote about the pre-wedding day festivities, but never recorded my thoughts from the actual day. Whoops! I better serve posterity and git 'er done.

Tony and I defied tradition by staying in the same hotel the night before we got married, so we definitely saw each other ahead of time on the wedding day. We also defied tradition by moving in together before the wedding, but let's not quibble over details. We were staying at the Commando Inn on Hurlburt Field, along with a good chunk of our guests. We didn't realize the Inn had multiple buildings, one of which was across a highway, so that was a bit of a headache. After a quick breakfast of a super healthy chocolate-chip granola bar and banana, I think, and of course a leftover ginger cookie (thanks, Mom!), I headed over to Eglin to set up the venue. Jennifer, Mom, and Nicole came with, and we had no issues on our trial run of bringing guests onto the base. Yesss! One source of stress eliminated.

Well, when we got there, the building was locked, even though we were assured it would be opened for us bright and early. One source of stress, found. We waited out front for a few minutes, hoping that our point of contact was just running late, and I called every phone number on the contracts. No joy. At that point I started walking around the building and opening doors, and luckily found one unlocked. Crisis averted! I had a hair appointment at 11, so we were in a crunch to set up though. Thankfully, I had an awesome assistance crew, even though Nicole was feeling under the weather. We decorated all of the tables in record time, but I was still running late to my hair appointment. Fortuntely, the lady was very understanding when I called and said it was no problem.

Mom and Jennifer dropped me at the salon and left to run some mysterious errands. I have a confession to make: I hated my hair. I brought several pictures to show the lady, and it ended up not being what I had in mind at all. She tried a few times to do it that way (I'd requested some braids) but gave up and started curling. I get it; my hair is very fine and sometimes braids aren't the best, but even my back-up pictures didn't seem to get the message across. I like how my hair looks in some of the pictures, but from some angles I really just want to cringe. Oh well. C'est la vie. It was fine, just not what I had envisioned. Thankfully, when Mom and Jennifer came back to pick me up, they said they really liked it, which cheered me right up! I think a girl is entitled to be vain on her wedding day.

We went back to Hurlburt and...I'm a little fuzzy on what happened next. I must have eaten lunch in there somewhere. There was some confusion in getting my grandparents on base, so I met them at the gate and escorted them over to their building. Joey was delivering Emily to do my make-up, and they ended up picking me up on one side of the highway and then bringing me back to my room. I did not anticipate all the logistical issues when picking that hotel and venue, let me tell you! But Em did a wonderful job, as I of course predicted, and I really love how my make-up looked. I'm not just saying that to be nice, either. It held up great (as did my hair) throughout the evening and I think I'm just glowing in all the pictures. I was a little sketchy on the plan from there, but Em and I ended up riding with my dad over to the other hotel to lead a caravan, and Tony took our rental car to another meeting place to lead a separate caravan. It was like a little reunion in the parking lot! We also met the photographer there, and she rode with us, too.

Dad leading the caravan

I'm not sure how many vehicles we ended up leading, but I think it was about 8. No problems getting anyone onto the base! Woohoo! I think it helped that the vast majority of our guests were on a pre-approved list, and there was another larger wedding the same day. That was really the only thing that truly caused me stress in the few days leading up to the wedding. We had so many guests traveling from out of town that I would have been crushed if any of them couldn't be there to celebrate with us.

We arrived at the venue on Eglin right around the same time as everyone else, maybe a few minutes earlier, so it was like another little reunion in the parking lot. I remember walking across the parking lot in my loafers and zippy sweatshirt (can't mess up the hair!) and watching an old lady approach my high school friends. It looked like they answered a question for her, and then she went on her merry way. She was cute and tiny, but not part of my group, but I didn't think much about it at the time. I remember watching my mom hug everybody and being so happy about it. Anyway, then I scootched into the ladies' room to finish getting ready.

Party in the bathroom, whoop! It was basically all my high school girls, and mom, and my cousin Chantal, and a few other people passing in and out. I had about 5 different jewelry options and I made everybody vote. And then I needed help getting into the dress because of the silly slip, and Sarah tied a very lovely bow on the back of the dress for me. It was about 5:05 or maybe 5:10 at that point, and we were running late. We joked ahead of time that we were starting at 5 sharp, threatening people that we were on military time and if they were late, on their own heads be it. Everybody vacated the bathroom except me and my mom, and we had a couple minutes to ourselves. She commented that I didn't seem nervous at all, and I just smiled because all I felt was assurance. Well, and happiness and excitement but mostly just a calm conviction that I was absolutely walking on the right path. We hugged, and I asked her to give me a minute to myself and go let everybody know I'd be out shortly.

I looked at myself in the mirror, took a deep breath, and told myself I was a smoking hottie! Ha ha, not really, but I should have. I just did a mental once-over to make sure I had the bouquet and ring and the bow was still tied, my shoes were buckled, I didn't have lipstick on my teeth or anything, and then I walked out. It was a very short walk to the ballroom doors, and when I walked through I could tell nobody was ready yet. I hovered there for a moment and made eye contact with one of the djs. They scrambled a little bit and I debated turning around and going back to the bathroom for a few more minutes, but at that point Tony saw me. He started walking toward me and everyone noticed I was there. We ended up walking toward each other and meeting at the top of a little ramp, which was totally unplanned but worked out perfectly. One of my favorite pictures is of us smiling at each other at the top of the ramp. We made our way to the dance floor and I gave my mom my bouquet.

I'd never met our minister before, but we had corresponded via e-mail a few times. He did a really great job for us, and I'm glad he was our officiant. He sent us a few sample "scripts" for his message and our vows, and we picked a few that we liked and combined them. We specifically asked him to talk about surrounding ourselves with people we love, and to thank everyone for traveling so far to be with us. When we exchanged rings, Tony put mine on my hand first and when it was my turn, the minister made a little joke about "with this much larger ring" and got a good laugh.

Next up, the vows.

Hey, remember that little old lady from the parking lot? If you were there, you know where this is going. If you weren't, I bet you never thought she'd play a bigger role in our story, did you? Anyway, I happened to be facing the water and Tony was facing back toward the parking lot. Our ballroom was glass on two sides, with a view of the water and a field and woods behind us. The shades were halfway down because of the sun, but you could still see outside quite clearly.

As Tony was saying his vows, I got distracted by a motion behind him. This is terrible, but I wasn't really listening to what he and the minister were saying. I was too busy trying not to bust out laughing. You see, the little old lady was slowly, methodically making her way across the field behind us! I was literally biting the inside of my cheek and saying over and over to myself, "Pay attention to Tony. Pay attention to Tony. Don't laugh. What he's saying is actually pretty important to your future, you should listen. Don't laughdon'tlaughdon'tlaugh!" I was nearly shaking, and I knew Tony knew something was up, but he couldn't see the little old lady! I knew better than to look at anybody in the audience either, because I surely would have lost it. Regardless of the distraction, we got married, the minister said we could kiss, and he said to the crowd something like "I am now happy to present Mr. and Mrs........"
He forgot how to pronounce our name!!!

We laughed, Tony turned around and reminded him (because he specifically told him how to pronounce it just before the ceremony started), and we were properly introduced to the crowd.



Tony reminding the minister how to pronounce our last name

I'll leave off there and finish another time. Suffice to say, it was a very happy moment.

You thought I was kidding about the little old lady, didn't you?

Haircut & Spontaneous Jaunt

I got my haircut in Louisiana a week before our wedding in March, and haven't touched it since. After five months I was long overdue! I found a military spouse who cuts hair out of her home (or travels to yours) and booked an appointment for this past Monday. It was the first day of school, so it was easier for me to go to her house than for her to come to mine. She lives north of Del Din in an area I'd never visited before. I recognized a few landmarks - like a Brazilian restaurant we ate at once - on the way over, but definitely ventured out of my familiar territory. GPS got me pretty close to her house, but not exactly, so I ended up passing it three times. Whoopsie. Anyway, she cut off 3-4 inches and cleaned up my lairs, and did a great job.  My appointment was for 1030 and originally I intended to just head home afterwards and make myself some lunch. But...I was in a good mood and got a wild hair to go check out a town I'd heard people speak of. I checked and it was less than twenty miles from the stylist's house, so off I went.

After the haircut, just air-dried. Not all that different from what it was before...

Bassano del Grappa is the home of grappa, the spirit. Since we moved here I've determined that I do NOT like grappa. It's too sweet for me. But the town has a castle and a couple of museums and I'd heard it was pretty quaint. I passed near Marostica, where Tony and I visited once before, and Nove, which is famed for its hand-painted ceramics. I also passed Breganze, which is also on my list of places to check out on day trips. All of these towns are part of the Veneto province and are snugged up against the Dolomites, so have great scenery.

At first I planned on just kind of cruising through Bassano and seeing if it was a good place to bring friends or check out with a group. (My first round of visitors are showing up this weekend!!!) If I found a cute place for lunch with easy parking, that was also a potential agenda item. I still get a little intimidated driving here, but parking is the WORST. Lots of parallel parking on tiny streets. Or else you have to pay, but the meters aren't always in English. While driving toward the town I saw some interesting-looking church towers, and just followed signs for the city center. I ended up going right past the church, and over a beautiful bridge from which you could see some spillways. Lots of pedestrians were walking across both sides of the bridges, and I decided to find a parking spot and walk across it myself. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but my iPhone takes good enough snapshots. I ended up driving across that dang bridge three times and going down a SUPER narrow dead-end street, from which I had to Austin Powers my way out. Ugh. Did I mention I'm not too crazy about driving here? On my third time across I noticed a nice, friendly blue P, and aimed toward it. I saw another P with a sign that said "gratis" and an arrow pointing left, so left I went. A half mile later, I parked at a cemetery, and there was only one other car there, so it was wide open. And it was free! So I walked down to the bridge and took a couple pictures. I noticed another bridge upriver, a covered one. It looked like a lot of people were walking across it, so I made up my mind to find it. I found "my" church and took a couple pictures, and then started weaving my way through the city.

I ventured into a couple of shops selling local products. Not exactly tourist traps, exactly. Instead of post cards and magnets, they sold things like dried mushrooms, licorice, grappa (duh), and cherry sauce. Oh, Italy, how I love thee. I noticed several gelaterias, a creperia, and some interesting-lookiing antique shops, too, but didn't venture into any of them. (Well, that's not entirely true. I did have gelato, but only AFTER lunch. More on that in a second.) Eventually I found the covered bridge, and stopped to take a few pictures. They call it the Alpine Bridge, and it was designed by Palladio in the 1500s. (That's two Palladio bridges I have personally travelled over!) There's a museum, but it's closed on Mondays, and a tavern that's supposedly been open as long as the bridge has been. I did learn the original bridge burned in the 1700s, but it was rebuilt according to the same design. Supposedly the town was settled in the 2nd centure BC, but there's evidence suggesting people inhabited the area even hundreds of years earlier than that. Wikipedia, yo. I crossed the bridge and walked a block or two upriver for more pictures, then came back. I noticed lots of people sitting outside at a few bars and restaurants, and settled on a Bar & Bruschetteria for lunch. Can we all just stop and take a moment to appreciate the fact that I live in a place that has such things as bruschetterias, gelaterias, and creperias?? It looked like some locals were at the Bruschetteria at the foot of the bridge, or at least people familiar enough with the area to be drinking Spritzes. (3 parts Prosecco, 2 parts Aperol (Italian aperitif like Campari, but milder), splash of soda over ice and garnished with a slice of orange) When in doubt, eat where the locals are eating.

Y'all. That was the best bruschetta of my LIFE. I do not exaggerate. Parma ham, mozzarella, Asiago, artichoke hearts, and truffle oil. Another side note: Asiago is about 45 miles away and Parma is about 100 miles away. I think there will be some cheese and ham tasting in my future. But did I mention the bruschetta was amazing? And by the way, bruschetta here is not served like what we think of in the States. It's not served on crunchy little melba toasts, but instead on bread that has a texture more similar to french bread. Like garlic bread times a thousand.

After partaking of my wonderful bruschetta, I crossed the Alpine bridge again and got a chocolate gelato, and proceeded to wander for a few minutes more. Eventually I made my way back to the cemetery, which was remarkably well-kept. I did walk through it, and was impressed by the variety of gravemarkers. The oldest one I saw was from the 1960s, but I didn't walk all the way through the place, just up one side and back. Maybe I'm weird, but I like walking through graveyards. It was about 1:30 at this point and I decided to head home. I could see the castle, but didn't really feel like finding it. Lots of places in Italy are closed on Mondays, and I was in riposo period by then anyway. I had to save something to do for when I go back!

(You can see the castle in the background. And yes, I took this picture with my iPhone!)

Not too shabby for an impromptu trip! Bassano is a scenic little town and good for wandering. I recommend it, if for nothing else than the bruschetta.

Electrifying

Most of my adventures lately have been powerful experiences. Electrifying. I get a surge of adrenaline just thinking about it. In fact, I light up like a Christmas tree.

Not.

Most of my adventures lately have involved going downstairs to flip the breaker after our power trips offline. And then going back upstairs. And then back downstairs. You see where I'm going with this, don't you? We had this issue last Saturday evening/Sunday morning, and then everything seemed to go back to normal. And then Tuesday when I got back from volunteering at the Red Cross office, the power was out. And then every two minutes after that it tripped off again. Sometimes I wouldn't even make it back upstairs before it tripped. We weren't running the air conditioners, neither of the televisions were on, nothing doing with the computers or any big power users. The only thing we could figure was something to do with the horrible weather - torrential downpour.

The housing office called our landlord, and arranged for him to come out with a maintenance guy to do some trouble-shooting. They were very responsive, but after two hours -of no rain - couldn't figure it out. When Tony got home from work they started trouble-shooting our transformers, of which we have four. After repeatedly unplugging and plugging in the largest transformer, which is downstairs with the entertainment center, which caused the power to trip multiple times, they told us the transformer wasn't working. We were a little skeptical, but at the same time relieved to have an answer. And there did seem to be a direct connection (see what I did there?) even though that transformer had been turned off all afternoon and the power tripped off 3-4 times while it was off. So everybody smiled and shook hands and went their own merry ways.

An hour later, while we were sitting on the couch watching an episode of House, the power tripped.

Arrrrrgh.

It proceeded to turn off again 4 times in the night and twice more in the morning. And then...nothing. And hey, guess what, that transformer was still unplugged! And the only thing we can think is that there must be a ground or short somewhere that is affected by the weather, reducing available power to our house. The handyman was supposed to come back this morning, but I waived him off because we made it the entire night without any issues and because the sun is out today. I highly doubt he'll be able to recreate the problem or do anything different than last time. Considering he didn't find the problem last time, it's unlikely he would find the real issue this time. So...fingers crossed that it was a fluke, I guess? That it stays a dry winter? Or else that we get a couple solid days of rain triggering the power outages and the handyman can come back when it's a more consistent issue.

*sigh*

Yep, real adventures over here.

Alpine Adventure

Last weekend I did TWO things I never in a million years thought I would do: ride a luge and "hike" across Tibetan suspension bridges. In the Alps. Wait, whaaat? For those of you who follow along with me on Facebook, you probably already saw the eleventy-million pictures I posted, so this may not be a surprise to you. I didn't talk about it ahead of time because I was afraid something would happen at the last minute to prevent us from going (sickness, weather, Army change of plans, etc) or that we'd get there and it would be completely lame and I'd be ashamed to brag about it.

But no, it happened, and I am going to brag away. We are completely badass.

We went with some friends, Fay and Shane, who were kind enough to drive. We stayed at the Anova Hotel & Spa in Montgenevre, France, which is juuuust over the border from Italy. Less than a mile, I'm pretty sure. We stopped on the way for a very classy parking lot picnic, wherein we ate a lot of fruit and cheese and crackers, and I particularly enjoyed looking at all the vineyards and castles we passed, and traveling through some Alpine tunnels. The drive wasn't bad, though it was about 4-5 hours and cost 40 Euro in tolls. Anyway, Anova was a very nice hotel, especially for the price we paid. However, we are quickly learning that hotels here tag on all sorts of extra fees for things that would normally be included in the cost of a hotel stay in the States. So, sadly, we did not take advantage of the Spa, but I'm not too broken up about that. Each room had a deck balcony with a fantastic view, and we spent a lot of time hanging out with Fay and Shane on their deck. Tony smoked his first pipe, and I got to lean back and just enjoy the view. OF THE MOUNTAINS, YOU DIRTY-MINDED PEOPLE. We left our home around 10:30 in the morning, so arrived in the afternoon. Once we got settled in the hotel, we walked around Montgenevre, which is quite a small town. It reminded me a lot of Vail, Colorado, mostly because it is a very distinctly ski town. I bet that place is booming in the winter! I read somewhere that it has 100km of ski trails, and through the lift network you can access even more trails than that in other nearby towns. We ate dinner outdoors in the little square after listening to a jazz group play live music.

Tony noticed a tiny picture on the back of one of the hotel pamphlets included in our welcome packet, and we started asking around. It turns out you can take a gondola ride up the mountain and ride a luge back down. I don't know much about winter sports or terminology, but this was not what I think of when I think of a luge. Anyway, we talked about it as a group and agreed that if it was 25 Euro or less, we would do it. Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and checked out, and Tony hit up the Tourist Information Center to find out about this mysterious luge. Turns out it was only 8.30 Euro! So we parked the car and walked to the ticket office. We stood in line behind two families buying their tickets and it took FOREVER. (Say that in your head like they say it in The Sandlot.) I don't know why it was so complicated for them, because it took us less than a minute for the entire transaction. Maybe because they had to measure their children, I don't know. Kids 1.2 meters and taller could ride alone, and kids smaller than that had to ride in a kid safety seat in their parent's lap. I figured if babies could do it, I could do it. With my purse. HA! I put my purse between my legs and wrapped the handles around one of my arms, and I am very glad I did, otherwise it would have gone flying down the mountain on a steep turn. The luge was about 1400 meters long and supposedly descended over 300m vertically, and you could control your speed somewhat with a lever in front of you. I only slowed down once, I am pleased to say. :) Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and a nice little discovery! Here's Tony after flying through the last tunnel toward the finish line:

And here is photographic evidence that I, too, took the Monty Express:

After that, we hopped in the car and Shane drove us the 2km down the road to the Tibetan bridges. They had their dog with them, a sweet Poodle-Maltese mix named Lolly, and there was some debate about what to do with her while we completed the experience. In the end, the bridge folks agreed that she could go if she stayed in Fay's backpack, and Fay was a trooper! Lolly is now the first dog to traverse those bridges, which happen to be the longest Tibetan suspension bridges in the world!

We got all togged out in our gear, which was basically a harness with two carabiners, and got a quick 5-minute lesson on how to use the carabiners and move them along the cables properly. After that, we set off on a short hike, about ten minutes, to the start. We got an amazing overview of some of the bridges, passed by a little chapel, and descended basically a mountain goat trail. Very scenic, and Lolly completed that portion of the hike all by herself before going into the backpack. Turns out you can also hike UNDER the bridges, along a stream, which we noticed when we saw a lady down there taking pictures...of  her idiot husband and children, who started at the end and went backwards along the route with inadequate safety gear, and then lied to the guide about "not seeing signs" when they started. All to avoid the entry fee. I say again, IDIOTS. So we had to wait forever for those ding dongs to cross to our end before starting, which was annoying but actually turned out to be a blessing as we had huge stretches of bridge all to ourselves. (We later found out one of the guides at the starting location escorted the family to the entry and made them pay. Good!) I went first, and after the first step or two, I felt very confident. Tony started next, and the bridge got a little more wobbly once we were both on it, but it wasn't too bad. The rungs were like ladder rungs, so plenty sufficient for a foot to stand on it. We crossed the stream and then made a 90-degree turn onto more bridges which paralleled it to a waterfall. I lost track of how many bridges there were, but I did take time to stop and enjoy the view and take pictures. I'll admit, the first time I took both hands off the railing was a bit nerve-wracking, but I survived. I tried not to do that too often ("one hand for myself, one for the ship" played in my head over and over, along with "maintain three points of contact." Thanks, USCGC EAGLE!) but I was able to get some really fun photos along the way. I was able to handle most of the transitions with ease, but the transition from the first bridge to the second was a little odd. We had to climb via ferrata spikes and cross a short 15-foot bridge, which somehow tripped my brain a little bit. After that though, I was golden.

I hung out at the waterfall and waited for the rest of the group to catch up. At that point, I gave Tony my camera and went back out halfway across one of the bridges so he could get a few pictures of me as well. We completed the last section, which included a hike and the tallest bridge, as a group. This time I brought up the rear, and was able to get my favorite foot picture ever! I always think of my Connecticut sponsor family when I take foot pictures to prove that I was in a certain place. (Hi, Herods!) The entry fee to the bridges is 10 Euro, and it's 5 Euro extra to rent the gear. I thought they could EASILY charge three times that and people would still have a fantastic experience worth that price, and I would happily go back if any future visitors are interested in going. Unfortunately, because of the weather (you know, it's in the ALPS and all) the bridges are only open from May to September, so we hit it up at the perfect time of year. It was an adventure well worth the trek.

I don't know why this loaded 90 degrees off. And I can't figure out how to fix it. So, feel free to use your imagination!

Verona Opera

Until last week, we hadn't ventured to Verona yet, even though it's less than an hour away. Now, I can't wait to go back! Tony's leave expired on a Wednesday night, but he planned it so well he only had to work on Thursday before a four-day weekend. Cha-ching! I really wanted to visit the Verona Arena and see an opera, and had a hard time deciding between Carmen and Aida. Ultimately I bought tickets to Carmen for Thursday night, because I figured it would be a great show for a newby, with its gypsies and familiar music. It's not playing at next year's Opera Festival, but Aida is. Hedging my bets in case I don't get another chance to go this year, Carmen was the winner. I think Aida is staged nearly every year at the Arena, a tradition since the Opera Festival began in 1913.

The Arena is one of the best preserved Roman ampitheaters, and now that I've seen it first-hand I think it is simply astounding. It seats up to 25,000 people (though we were packed in so tightly I'd believe it could hold half again as many, honestly) and I don' t believe there's a bad seat in the house. Apparently it was built of limestone in AD 30, though much of it has been rebuilt after earthquakes and it's slightly smaller than it used to be. Of course for operas, one end is used as the stage and the seats behind that area are blocked off, but even still, we shared the experience with many thousands of people. The staging was fairly simple, as there aren't any true backstage areas, but that didn't stop the production from being magnificent. I'm pretty sure there were 200 performers - plus dozens of live animals -on stage during many parts of the show, and it was never distracting. And I couldn't believe the acoustics! Just, wow.

Anyway, the show started at 8:45, since sunset was close to 9pm. We left home about 7:15 or 7:30 and made it to the parking garage with plenty of time to spare, even after a couple of wrong turns. Let me tell you, that garage is nerve-wracking though. The Honda Accord felt gigantic going around the corkscrew turns, but we found a spot and fit in it just fine. It was a short walk to the Arena from there, and we passed many of the set pieces for Aida, as well as singers getting ready and all of the horses and donkeys that were in the show. Some of the old entrance tunnels were made over as green rooms and prop storage areas, and it was neat to see those spaces as we walked past.

Getting into the Arena was kind of a chore. We found our numbered gate and entered the throng of people slowly making way upstairs. It was hot, crowded, smelly, and full of rude tourists. When we made it to the seating area, our "designated" area was full so we had to go over a section or two. Next time, we will definitely splurge for numbered seats. We ended up sitting on the stone benches with people crammed against our knees and backs. I had every intention of bringing pillows and blankets, but somehow left home without those AND without my binoculars, though fortunately I remembered water. Did I mention it was hot? Probably about 80 degrees, plus we were packed in tightly with everyone else. Many people brought snacks and wine, so I'm going to remember that for next time.Once the sun set, we got a little bit of a breeze, but it was still very uncomfortable. I had to shift my weight every few minutes to keep my butt from going to sleep on the stone, and I desperately wanted to kick the German asshole sitting in front of me who wanted to use my knees as a backrest. Still, it was worth it. They took an intermission after every act that was at least 20 minutes long, so it was a very long show. We didn't stay until the end because our backs were hurting, but kudos to all the people who did! I'm sure I will get a chance to go back one day. Verona seemed to be a beautiful and interesting city, and I would definitely like to spend some more time there in the near future, even if it's not for an opera.

That last picture is from travelersdigest.com and the second-to-last is from 2venice.it. All the others are mine.

Opatija, Croatia and Trieste, Italy

After visiting the Predjama Castle in Postojna, Slovenia, Tony and I hopped in the car and drove South to Croatia. We went through customs and got stamps on our passports! Though Croatia is part of the EU, they still use their own currency, the Kuna. It's rough 5 kuna to one USD, maybe even more than that. Compared to the U.S. and Italy, most things were generally cheaper. I think if we hadn't been in a resort town, we would have noticed an even bigger price differential.

The drive between the two cities was an easy one, only about an hour and a half, though I did get a little queasy from the twisting roads. It was a beautiful route, and I was quite happy to be a passenger for it. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty rainy for the drive and our first couple of days in Opatija, but we still made the best of it. Opatija is in the northern crook of the Adriatic Sea, and a popular resort town even though it doesn't seem to be a cruise ship stop. The city is built into the hills and goes right down to the water, and we noticed there are no beaches anywhere! The waterfront is paved, and there is a beautiful sea walk called the lungomare, and there are lounge chairs, canopies, bars, and restaurants all along the water. Swimming access is generally via ladder or diving board!

I captured this kid jumping at the perfect moment; it looks like he's going to capsize the sight-seeing submarine!

Here's Tony deep in thought at our hotel bar:

We stayed at the Grand Adriatic Hotel, and while we enjoyed it, I probably wouldn't really recommend it. It was very nice, but some of the reasons we booked it ended up being not what we expected. For example, use of the pool was free, but towel rentals were 4euro each! Luckily, we packed our own. However, thbe hot tub was not included, and it was about 12euro per person for a four-hour block of time. WHAT?!? We did it once, because the pool was a little bit chilly and the view was amazing, but it would have been nice to have that included with the room or a multi-day pass offered.

One of our goals on this vacation was just to relax and enjoy some downtime. So, in light of that, we got massages! They were fantastic, but that was a very different experience for me, too. Our appointments were for 10am, so being the good military folks we are, we showed up ten minutes early...and the spa area was locked. We hung out in the hallway until they opened the doors, but the lit candles on the floor everywhere weren't nearly as romantic and relaxing when you witness the staff rushing around like crazy to light them.

My massage therapist was named Miri, or Mini, or Mimi. I'm not quite sure; I asked her to repeat her name but my ear still didn't catch it the second time around. I don't think her English was very good, but she was friendly enough. Let's call her Miri. Imagine a James Bond movie where the masseuse is a very tall, beautiful, dark brunette in a double-breasted khaki minidress that looks like a flight attendant could have worn it in 1971. Now imagine that masseuse's twin sister, who is equally beautiful and competent but in a slightly less mesmerizing and sinister way. That was my Miri. :) She was very tanned and her pedicure matched the orange candles around the spa, but I did notice that her toes were wrinkled, which I found odd in someone my age or slightly younger. She also wore a charm anklet that had a purse, a blinged out Michael Jackson-esque glove, a high heel, and what looked oddly like a blinged out Ping Pong paddle. Riddle me that. I dunno, sorry, I spent a lot of time looking at her feet when I wasn't dozing on the table. Oh! And we also got fake little paper slippers and thongs to wear, only my slippers were two very different sizes and the male thong (which Tony did not wear but saved for me to see because he knew I would appreciate the humor) was more like a banana hammock.

Anyway, we did get to enjoy the lungomare and a hike up the cliff, and we ate some very delicious food. I pretty much officially decided I don't like Grappa, but we did come home with a bottle of Croatian Cabernet Sauvignon. Tony tried several of their beers and enjoyed them, and I had one local apple-cranberry cider that was so delicious as to be dangerous. The hotel casino opens every night at 8pm; I played roulette for a few minutes but it was no fun by myself, and Tony went back one night for a Texas Hold 'Em tournament. I guess he was the only English speaker and he got a little annoyed at all the opportunities for folks to re-buy, but apparently when they took a break the hotel/casino provided drinks and an antipasto selection. I gotta say, Europe wins the cured meats and cheeses competition hands down. Our last full day in Opatija we debated taking a fishing charter because the prices were so low, but the weather didn't look very cooperative. We did get some sunshine on our last day though, which was great considering our first meal there we had to move seats because we kept getting rained on and taking sea spray because we were so close to the edge of the canopy. I'm happy for our time together there, but I would like to see some other parts of Croatia.

View from the lungomare:

On our drive back home, we took a quick detour through Trieste, Italy. We specifically went to climb their Vittoria lighthouse, one of the oldest in Europe, but we discovered it is only open on Saturdays. Oh well. We found it, it was beautiful, and the coastal drive from Trieste back to where we live was quite beautiful. We were surprised to see how big and modern-looking Trieste was, but once you get up on the hill it is a lot more rustic. We even saw deer! Oh yes, and we stopped at Ikea on the way home to pick up some more picture frames for our family and friends gallery wall. It's not vacation without Ikea, amiright? Just kidding!

Postojna, Slovenia

If I thought it was funny listening to our "British" GPS trying to pronounce Italian street names, it is ten times more amusing listening to it battle with Slovenian and Croatian names! That said, it was a lifesaver on our most recent vacation. Tony has some travel coming up, so we wanted to take advantage of the relative down time before his schedule gets crazy again. I'll probably be back in the States in November and/or December, so aside from a couple random weekends, this was it.

When planning out a vacation, we agreed that we wanted something sunny and relaxing. Initially we thought we'd go on a cruise, but even the last-minute deals were not such a deal. We made a call to one cruise line based on advertised prices that we thought were very reasonable, but turns out were only for senior citizens. Gotta read the fine print, folks! The "normal" price was more than double that listing! So while we still dream of a Mediterranean cruise one day, we will be adding it to the budget for a more planned trip and less of a last-minute thing.

Honestly, researching this vacation was pretty overwhelming. Poor us, I know. After the cruise plan failed, we started looking at all-inclusive resorts. I was wildly inclined to go to Croatia, simply because I've heard such wonderful things about it, and it's relatively close and relatively cheap. We also researched B&Bs and wineries as well. Tony went to Postojna, Slovenia a little while back for work, and really enjoyed it. They had a delay for some reason or other; I forget if it was related to weather or equipment or what, but they took a group trip over to Postojna Jama, or the Postojna Cave. He raved about it so much and really wanted to take me there, so we started a rough itinerary based on one or two days in Slovenia and then 2-5 days in Croatia. Because of his approved leave, we had some good flexibility, but I really wanted to avoid traveling on the weekend if at all possible. (Thank goodness, more on that later!) We also had a houseguest with some flexibility in her schedule, so that helped nail down our timeline as well. We'd get the weekend with our guest and take off Monday morning and come back Friday.

Eventually we settled on Opatija, Croatia, as our final destination. Mostly because it is a well-regarded resort town on the Adriatic Sea, and we found a nice hotel with half board (breakfast and dinner) included, plus it had a spa and casino on site. Sounded like a winner to me!

We left Monday around 11, and headed straight to the cave in Postojna. It took us 1/4 tank of gas to get to the Italian/Slovenian border, but we went ahead and filled up at the last gas station, and bought our vignette. Tolls to get there were 15.5 Euro, and the vignette, which they use in lieu of an individual tolling system, was another 15 Euro for a 7-day pass. We did not have to go through customs, and it took about an hour and a half to get to Postojna, minus the stop time. We bought our tickets, which were I think 23 Euro for a tour of the cave and a tour of a nearby castle, and had a quick bite to eat before heading in. Our tickets were for the 2:00 tour, so we had plenty of time for that, even though we ultimately settled on "fast food." Meh, it was okay.

At 2:00, they opened the line for the English tour, and we headed on in. I didn't know this ahead of time, but you take a train ride into the cave before getting out for the walking portion of the tour. That train ride is a good 5-7 minutes long! The cave is the largest in Slovenia and one of the largest in Europe! I learned the rail tracks are 3.7km long, so we walked another 1.5km or so once we were inside. I'm having trouble loading my pictures today, so below I've posted some from the cave website. http://www.postojnska-jama.eu/en Suffice to say, it was amazing!







We saw stalactites and stalagmites that were thousands and thousands of years old. No surprise, really, since the cave itself is estimated to be over two million years old! It is a limestone cave, carved by the river Pivka, which we got to see at the end of the tour and a few places during. We toured the middle level. I forget why the upper level isn't open, but the lower level is closed because - duh - that's where the river is. At one point we were in a cavern 40m high. Apparently they hold concerts there a few times a year; mostly vocal, as instruments don't like the cool, damp environment of a cave. Makes sense to me. But now I really want to go hear a concert! Tourists are invited to sing on every tour, as there's a certain part where an echo can last as long as 6 seconds. We did hear a really quite fantastic opera singer, though he sang a bit prematurely before we got to the concert hall. Bravo, opera dude, bravo. We also saw a bridge built by Russian prisoners of war - from WWI. It connects the old and new caves; so-called not because of their age but because of their relative discovery. The old cave was discovered in 1818 and opened to the public in 1819, and the new cave was discovered in (I think) 1891 and open to the public around 1920. We got to walk across the Russian bridge into the old cave, and we saw the "white room" and the "red room," in addition to the aformentioned concert hall. We learned anything green is a type of moss or algae, and not normal in the cave system. That stuff grows because of the lighting installed. Red or orange stuff is due to iron oxide, and black and gray colors are due to manganese or sometimes carbon. The white formations are pretty much pure calcite, and they almost glow, they are so white. Oh, and we went into the "spaghetti room," where - you guessed it - all of the stalactites are long and skinny like pasta.

After we toured the cave, we checked into the Hotel Kars in Postojna, had a nap, and then wandered across the square to have dinner. I had beef and Tony had veal and they were both delicious. We had an okay bottle of Slovenian Cabernet Sauvignon, and then I got a chocolate souffle and he got two kinds of apple desserts. All delicious!

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and drove about 10km to the Postojna Predjama castle. I think Predjama translates to "in the cave" or something like that. Parts of the castle date back to the 1200s, and the majority of it as it stands today was built in the 1500s. There have been some modern upgrades, but it is sparsely furnished so you can get a really good idea of what it was like to live in it back then. Our first view of the castle was after parking the car and walking up to the entrance. And yep, there's a 27-room castle built right into the cliff! I guess the original builders picked that location for its security. It's not like anyone can sneak up on you there, with a cave at your back, a cliff above you, and a river below you. We spent about 40 minutes there, climbing around and looking at things, before taking off to Croatia.

Again, having problems posting my own photos, so here's one from viator.com. I'll put mine up on Facebook soon.