Let There Be Light

I'm not much of a photographer, but I took this photo of the door leading into the Church of Assumption in Bled, Slovenia. While I don't normally take pictures of doors, I'm glad I did. Maybe I am getting inspired by all the great photographs over at http://womanwandering.blogspot.com/.

Bled, Slovenia

View from our Hotel Room at Sunset


View of Slovenia's Only Island from Bled Castle



View of Bled Castle from Church of Assumption

Top of the Mountain in Vogel

Postojna Cave in Postojna, Slovenia

Piran, Slovenia

Dan and I just spent a week in Bled, Slovenia. We absolutely fell in love with this country! We skiied, hiked, spelunked (Ok, so we went on a tour of a cave. I think it still qualifies as spelunking!) and spent quality time in the spa. I even bottled my own wine!

We stayed at this marvelous hotel on Lake Bled, with a view overlooking Bled Castle and the Church of Assumption, which sits on Slovenia's only island. The best way I can desribe the place is it that has the beauty of Lake Tahoe, the quaintness of a Swizz village, the charm of the Romanian countryside, and a fairy tale setting!

We would highly recommend the Grand Hotel Toplice. Service was amazing, although, we did feel like we were in a scene from the Shining on the first day that we arrived. There are only 80-some odd rooms in the entire hotel and, when we checked in, it was as if there were 79 unoccupied! There was no one else at the hotel! Kinda spooky.

The side trip to Postojna Caves is a must for anyone going to Slovenia. The cave system was discovered in 1818 and it dates back about 3 million years! The formations (either stalagtites or stalagmites) grow just a fraction of an inch in 100 years! For more info, check out http://www.postojnska-jama.si/.

We also did a day trip to Piran to check out the Adriatic Coast. It is a lovely little seaside town with some great seafood restaurants.

Good times, Good times!

All in the Family

My little sister, Susie, and her husband, Chuck, just left after spending two whirlwind weeks with us (I should say, "me" as Dan was gone all but the last 2 days of their visit. Coincidence?). We were able to pack in Brussels, Brugge, Paris, Rome and Amsterdam. They were blessed with decent weather, short lines AND a costume on the Mannekin Pis. Good times, Good times!

Seeing Green

After almost 2 years in the works, I am the proud holder of a Belgian residency permit! Now, I can stroll confidently toward passport control with the knowledge that I will not be turned away at the border. It's the little things that make me happy.

The timing of the card could not have been better, as my temporary card expired today, March 7th, the same day that Dan and I leave for Slovenia. I could just see me being denied entry back into Belgian, with Dan turning back and laughing at me. Fortunately, we won't be crossing that bridge.

Now, let's see how long it will take to get a Belgian drivers license!