May 29, 2018

    The ship is docked in Koper, Slovenia today. Koper is pronounced like “copper”. It was only 100 nautical miles from Venice.  The temperature was about 21°C, little wind and a thin haze inland and a thin distant marine layer mist.  The ship had docked before 6:30 a.m.  The sea pass card is a proximity card rather than having to insert the card into a slot to open your door.
    We had an early start for the nine hour tour into Slovenia to the capital, Ljubljana.  We needed to take our passports with us. We had time to walk a kilometer on the track since the tour will have a lot of highway driving.
    Our guide’s name was Dušan and the driver was Laurer.  Laurer had 20 years of driving big trucks through Europe and three years of driving tour buses throughout Europe and was a superb driver handling the 50 person bus through tight turns and streets with ease. Koper has a population of about 17,000 and the land closest to the dock is reclaimed by adding rubble over the years and is a flat area something like “Beaunifica”. There is a lovely Robba Fountain as you exit the port area. Good Morning is Slovenian is “dober dan” and Thank You is “kwala”. The area has been settled since Neolithic times by the Imora people. The Greeks occupied the territory, then the Romans, the Huns and Slavic tribes until the Austrian Hungarian Empire in the medieval times were invaded by Napoléon Bonaparte around 1800, but the French were only there for a few years. From 1946 to 1991 Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia. The gasoline prices in Slovenia are 20% lower than in Italy. We climbed into the Julien Alps from the port up as high as 650 meters at a pass on the highway.  The highway passed forests and some fields where we saw goats, cattle and sheep grazing. There are vineyards and olive orchards along the way.  Since the soil tends to be acidic and not very deep, the crops that can be grown is limited.  There are many trucks on the highway, some carrying the weekly delivery of South Korean cars for destinations in eastern Europe.
       The drive to the first stop, Ljubljana, took about 75 minutes. Ljubljana is pronounced Yoob-yana. It’s population is about 300,000 and the surrounding urban area is another 320,000. Ljubljana is the economic, cultural and geographical center of Slovenia. Ljubljana was badly damaged in 1511 by an earthquake and fire. The rebuilding was done in stone rather than wood including city walls to protect against invasions by the Turks. During the time when the country was ruled by the Austrian Hungarians the language was German, but changed to French with French rule, then returned to Slavic languages.  Many of the medieval buildings were destroyed in the 1896 earthquake. We had a 45 minute walking tour starting at star shaped Congress Square and the university building with its gold shields representing the states of Slovenia.  One of the older buildings is the 1701 Academia Philharmonic concert hall where Gustav Malher attended for two years.  The monastery on the opposite side of the square has the best Baroque alter in Ljubljana. Above the square, high on an overlooking cliff, is the Castle of Ljubljana with its 15thcentury and the 18thcentury clock tower visible from below. There were lots of people on bicycles in the pedestrian area and other parts of the city. On the other side of the river and about 400 meters from the town hall is the funicular that can take 15 people up the cliff at one time.  We were led over the river on a wide bridge to the pedestrian main street of the old town to the town hall in Preseren Square and went inside to see the interior design centered around the outdoor tiled courtyard. Outside of the town hall is the Robba Fountain. As we walked along the street to the triple bridge, Dušan pointed out the 1706 cathedral that was built by fishermen ad sailors, but it was not open to tourists.  The three bridges, designed by Jose Plecnik, were built to cross the river in 1930, the widest and central bridge is for general passage, on each side are narrower bridge the toilet facilities below. One side is for women while the other side is for men.  The group had 45 minutes of free time to wander and we found the organic produce market, where there were stalls selling beautiful flowers bouquets.  The strawberries were tempting and smelled fresh. There were also a number of second hand clothing booths. Once back on the bus the steps count was 9,200 equaling 6.85 km.  A light rain lasting less than five minutes started as we travelled out of Ljubljana.
   After a 45 minute drive and an unexpected detour, we stopped at Penzion Zaka restaurant part a Slovenian inn, for a traditional Slovenian lunch: chicken noodle soup, salad followed by roasted chicken slices, roasted potatoes, steamed carrots, broccoli and cauliflower with apple strudel for dessert.  It was nestled beside Bled Lake and its famous island church –“Church of the Mother of God on the Lake”.  We could see the Castle of Bled dating back to 1004 which rises 105 meters above the lake.  There was a modern crane looming over it helping with repairs. As we pulled away there as a sprinkle of rain.
    The final stop was the other side of Lake Bled for a cruise on the glacial lake in the traditional “plenta”. It is a rowboat the can carry 20 people, but you get in carefully with people alternating on which side bench they sit, so as not to tip the plenta. Only one person steers and rows from the stern with two long oars. The plenta is the age old way to transport people to Bled Island, a sacred place to the ancient Slavs. There are 99 steps to climb to get to the summit of the island and the church. We had 30 minutes to explore the island and try the delicious gelato at the souvenir shop. The step count was 11,834 = 8.8 km. While on the island storm clouds were gathering and thunder could be heard as Dušan gathered people to the landing to take a return boat to shore.  As we walked the 500 meters to the bus lightning flashed and thunder boomed over the nearby mountains, then as the bus drove away the rain started for most the two hour drive back to Koper.  When we arrived at Koper the sky started to clear and the temperature was 22°C. We were back 45 minutes before the ship departed and had only half an hour to get ready for the Evening Chic, formerly Formal, dress code evening, which more than half the passengers ignored dressing in casual clothes, including jeans in the dining room.
    Mike and Lynn joined us for dinner after watching the ship pull away from the berth and leave the port for Zadar, Croatia.  We still do not know if a third couple might join the table of six place settings.  A punch of rum and passion fruit juice was distributed to guests for the Evening Chic meal. After dinner there was a Meet the Ship’s Officer’s gathering in the small Grand Foyer between shows.  The theater show featuring the singers, dancers and acrobats was called Soundtrack featuring numbers choreographed to music from the movies.

Final day’s steps 15,163 for 11.28 km.
        

Pictures to be posted

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