SLOVENIA
March 27, 28,29,30
We took a final, beautiful, functional, vaporetto ride to the train station .
We left Venice on the 15:44 train to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Ljubljana, as we all know, is phonetically pronounced. 
The train ride was, again, beautiful. The beauty was different though. As we passed Trieste (imagine.. Ann says….we are in Trieste) we noticed trees, trees, trees. Slovenia, I would later find out, is 85% forestland…less buildings, villages, people…more spruces, firs, pines, lakes and rivers. Oh, and Ann noticed something else…..toilet seat covers on the train….and we are headed for Slovenia….is this a sign she wonders? Turns out Slovenia, of all the countries of the former Yugoslavia, was the most organized and advanced – in the modern sense of having creature comforts. These are the first toilet seat covers we’ve seen since Encinitas Ann says. Is she obsessed? She says yes and doesn’t mind.
We arrived close to 8PM. As usual, because of our luggage, we’re the last people off the train. I meet the eyes of an anxious greeter, who then looks away and shouts, “Ana, Ana”….
It’s Ann’s aunt, Anica who came to pick us up and bring us back to her home in Kranj, about 15 miles away. She brought her friend, Marta with her, which was a plus on many levels, part of which was that Marta was bilingual and no one else came close. Ann’s Croatian language skills are minimal…not to minimize them.
I don’t want to get too warm and cuddly here but over the next four days these two women, in particular, were unbelievably protective and loving towards us. Everytime I heard Anica say Ann’s name, I felt the special relationship that existed between the two of them although they struggled to verbally communicate and they had not seen each other in 8 years. They had kept in contact through correspondence…..Anica has her English speaking friends translate these letters for her. She even had a file on Ann with all her letters and pictures Ann had sent of our family….all correspondence meticulously translated.
We met up with Ann’s uncle, Ivo,
a sweet man, who is equally loving towards my wife. His English is halting, at best, but he easily manages to say to Ann, “I love you”.
Ivo is a retired commandant in the Yugoslav Army. He is currently having some health problems so he doesn’t accompany us on our travels but we do meet up with him in the evening.
We actually stayed at Marta’s house because she had more room.
We had never met before but you’d never know it, judging by her
kindness and graciousness. Turns out she had two children living in the New York area and had lived with her family there in the 90s. On the first night we were there, at Anica and Ivo’s home, she asked us what we’d like for breakfast. We said coffee and toast would be fine. We woke up to a banquet: croissants, prosciutto, salami, different cheeses, fresh fruit, juices, jams, spreads, Turkish coffee, et. al.
We ate meals at Ivo and Anica’s
home with Anica’s sister, Elizabeth, joining us. We had pastas, chicken, veal roasts, specially prepared cheese pie, fresh fish, risotto, blitva (a swiss chard and potato mixture), great home made wine and prosek (a special dessert wine only made on the coast and islands of Dalmatia) and rakija/ medicina (an equivalent of ouzo or clear tequila which has been infused with herbs from the Croatian islands). This shot of medicina is commonly taken in the morning…..for your health.
Anica, Marta, Ann and I had three major excursions, with Anica driving her stick shift Renault and at times gunning the motor…but only when she was shifting! It became our joke as we toodled along the tree laden roadways. On our first day, we drove about 30 miles to Lake Bled (pronounced blade).
Ann had heard about this place from a Slovenian girl she had met in Long Beach. No prior knowledge can prepare you for the beauty of Lake Bled; especially on a cloudless, mild sunny day. We walked up to a castle on the lake,
toured it briefly then went outside and saw the lake 
below with its island, 
containing a church, in the center. The lake is surrounded by forestland….with a backdrop of snow covered mountain peaks. 
Tito’s summer residence at the lake is now a hotel on the lake front.
Swans are paddling over the water…..this is a place to be experienced. Afterwards we went to a lakeside restaurant and sampled a dessert, Kremna Rezina, that visitors and natives travel to savor.
The next day we drove 40 miles to the caves of
Postojna. 
Marta and Anica stayed outside having 
coffee (there’s a lot of uphill walking in the caves and they had been there many times before) while we got cave-educated. There was a Disneyland quality to the caves since we had 2 underground 15 minute tram rides. Ann commented how she felt like a grain of sand in time as our English tour guide gave us a commentary on how long the caves took to be formed.
On our last day,
we went to the Brdo (pronounced birdo) Estates, 
another former home of Tito’s and the State Protocol facilities of the Republic of Slovenia. (Incidentally, I have never heard anyone here, or in Croatia, say a bad 
word about Tito. Actually, he appears revered.) They had beautiful gardens there as well as a castle. Lipizzaner horses are raised on this estate and there is a beautifully manicured hippodrome. In a couple years, it will be the acting headquarters for the European Union since Slovenia will take its turn as head of the Union.
Anica and Ivo maintain the family Simunovich home in Racisce, Island of Korcula, Croatia where Ann’s mother was born. They have invited us to stay there on this trip although they themselves will not be heading to the island for a couple of months. Anica and Marta essentially made our travel plans to the island(train from Ljubljana to Rijeka, then an overnight boat, The Marco Polo, to Korcula). We had a final lunch at Ivo’s home followed by a car ride to the train station. The farewells were filled with lots of emotion. Personally, I was stunned by the love and kindness that I received and it seems to fill in the whole picture of who Ann is as a person, her ability to love and depth of feeling. I’ll never forget this.
March 27, 28,29,30
We took a final, beautiful, functional, vaporetto ride to the train station .
We left Venice on the 15:44 train to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Ljubljana, as we all know, is phonetically pronounced. 
The train ride was, again, beautiful. The beauty was different though. As we passed Trieste (imagine.. Ann says….we are in Trieste) we noticed trees, trees, trees. Slovenia, I would later find out, is 85% forestland…less buildings, villages, people…more spruces, firs, pines, lakes and rivers. Oh, and Ann noticed something else…..toilet seat covers on the train….and we are headed for Slovenia….is this a sign she wonders? Turns out Slovenia, of all the countries of the former Yugoslavia, was the most organized and advanced – in the modern sense of having creature comforts. These are the first toilet seat covers we’ve seen since Encinitas Ann says. Is she obsessed? She says yes and doesn’t mind.
We arrived close to 8PM. As usual, because of our luggage, we’re the last people off the train. I meet the eyes of an anxious greeter, who then looks away and shouts, “Ana, Ana”….
It’s Ann’s aunt, Anica who came to pick us up and bring us back to her home in Kranj, about 15 miles away. She brought her friend, Marta with her, which was a plus on many levels, part of which was that Marta was bilingual and no one else came close. Ann’s Croatian language skills are minimal…not to minimize them.I don’t want to get too warm and cuddly here but over the next four days these two women, in particular, were unbelievably protective and loving towards us. Everytime I heard Anica say Ann’s name, I felt the special relationship that existed between the two of them although they struggled to verbally communicate and they had not seen each other in 8 years. They had kept in contact through correspondence…..Anica has her English speaking friends translate these letters for her. She even had a file on Ann with all her letters and pictures Ann had sent of our family….all correspondence meticulously translated.
We met up with Ann’s uncle, Ivo,
a sweet man, who is equally loving towards my wife. His English is halting, at best, but he easily manages to say to Ann, “I love you”.
Ivo is a retired commandant in the Yugoslav Army. He is currently having some health problems so he doesn’t accompany us on our travels but we do meet up with him in the evening.We actually stayed at Marta’s house because she had more room.
We had never met before but you’d never know it, judging by her
kindness and graciousness. Turns out she had two children living in the New York area and had lived with her family there in the 90s. On the first night we were there, at Anica and Ivo’s home, she asked us what we’d like for breakfast. We said coffee and toast would be fine. We woke up to a banquet: croissants, prosciutto, salami, different cheeses, fresh fruit, juices, jams, spreads, Turkish coffee, et. al.We ate meals at Ivo and Anica’s
home with Anica’s sister, Elizabeth, joining us. We had pastas, chicken, veal roasts, specially prepared cheese pie, fresh fish, risotto, blitva (a swiss chard and potato mixture), great home made wine and prosek (a special dessert wine only made on the coast and islands of Dalmatia) and rakija/ medicina (an equivalent of ouzo or clear tequila which has been infused with herbs from the Croatian islands). This shot of medicina is commonly taken in the morning…..for your health.Anica, Marta, Ann and I had three major excursions, with Anica driving her stick shift Renault and at times gunning the motor…but only when she was shifting! It became our joke as we toodled along the tree laden roadways. On our first day, we drove about 30 miles to Lake Bled (pronounced blade).
Ann had heard about this place from a Slovenian girl she had met in Long Beach. No prior knowledge can prepare you for the beauty of Lake Bled; especially on a cloudless, mild sunny day. We walked up to a castle on the lake,
toured it briefly then went outside and saw the lake 
below with its island, 
containing a church, in the center. The lake is surrounded by forestland….with a backdrop of snow covered mountain peaks. 
Tito’s summer residence at the lake is now a hotel on the lake front.
Swans are paddling over the water…..this is a place to be experienced. Afterwards we went to a lakeside restaurant and sampled a dessert, Kremna Rezina, that visitors and natives travel to savor.The next day we drove 40 miles to the caves of
Postojna. 
Marta and Anica stayed outside having 
coffee (there’s a lot of uphill walking in the caves and they had been there many times before) while we got cave-educated. There was a Disneyland quality to the caves since we had 2 underground 15 minute tram rides. Ann commented how she felt like a grain of sand in time as our English tour guide gave us a commentary on how long the caves took to be formed.On our last day,
we went to the Brdo (pronounced birdo) Estates, 
another former home of Tito’s and the State Protocol facilities of the Republic of Slovenia. (Incidentally, I have never heard anyone here, or in Croatia, say a bad 
word about Tito. Actually, he appears revered.) They had beautiful gardens there as well as a castle. Lipizzaner horses are raised on this estate and there is a beautifully manicured hippodrome. In a couple years, it will be the acting headquarters for the European Union since Slovenia will take its turn as head of the Union.Anica and Ivo maintain the family Simunovich home in Racisce, Island of Korcula, Croatia where Ann’s mother was born. They have invited us to stay there on this trip although they themselves will not be heading to the island for a couple of months. Anica and Marta essentially made our travel plans to the island(train from Ljubljana to Rijeka, then an overnight boat, The Marco Polo, to Korcula). We had a final lunch at Ivo’s home followed by a car ride to the train station. The farewells were filled with lots of emotion. Personally, I was stunned by the love and kindness that I received and it seems to fill in the whole picture of who Ann is as a person, her ability to love and depth of feeling. I’ll never forget this.
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