Lake Bled and Split

May 7, 2008 A day of totally new discoveries.

We arrived early in Koper, Slovenia a mere 60 miles from Venice. Neither of us had ever been to Slovenia so before we left America we chatted with Barry Lawson who gave us some thoughts of this country in which he once lived and studied. In addition Bob had arranged with fellow Cruise Critic aficionados to rent a van to Lake Bled. There were six of us (David & Terry – both cruise travel agents from San Francisco and London); Mitzi and Mike Buechele from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and us) and while we waited for the delayed arrival of our driver we chatted amicably about travel in general. When our driver arrived finally with great excuses as to why he was late, we headed through the suburbs of Koper and headed in the direction of Ljubljana.

What impressed me most as we drove along, was the superb quality of the infrastructure: roads, tunnels, toll booths and fields all looked impeccably clean and well designed. Even the livestock seemed orderly and well built. Our driver, recently graduated in ‘tourism’ seemed neither aware of the sites around him nor had much information to impart about Slovenia. He did acknowledge that for many, Tito was still considered a good person and he had made life much easier for all – jobs, housing etc. (not unlike what we heard about life in East Germany before reunification). It seems to be a theme during this time of transition – life wasn’t ideal under communism, but it was easier on a day-to-day basis.

  I realized that prior to this trip, though I consider myself pretty well traveled, I had never been in a communist country. On this trip alone we’re visiting six or seven locations all of which were in communist control. To think that when Daddy traveled, none of these places were communist… and within 80 years it came and went. Not that long a period of time in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly held our attention the entire time as we in America watched the unfolding and the collapse of the iron curtain. Perspective is a glorious thing…. It even allows me to believe that Bush is just a Blip in our lives and that Hitler’s 1000 year Reich lasted a mere 12 years. One can do a hell of a lot of damage in short periods, but they are just that – short periods, and if you can survive them and keep a balanced view hopefully better environments follow. Or so I think as I’m waxing poetical on the Azamara cruise ship.

After 1.5 hours, climbing gradually into the foothills of the Julian Alps (named after Julius Caesar) we arrived at the castle of Lake Bled where we were met by Graeme Chuter a lovely British gentleman who is now a permanent resident of Slovenia, having married a young Slovene girl and producing a new son, Eric, less than two weeks ago. (He reminded me of the gentleman on the British version of The Office, and he sounded the same as swell.) Graeame gave us all the critical information about the area: this is one of the lakes where Tito had one of his summer palaces; the rowers who practice here did quite well in the last Olympics and hope to compete successfully in the Chinese Olympics; the little Church of the Assumption, in the center of the lake, dates back to the 9th century and on one side are 98 steps where young grooms must prove their masculinity by carrying their new brides up the stairs; the castle itself is very old, but not very interesting inside; Lake Bled is a very popular resort situated very close to Austria and Italy and was fought over in almost every war; etc. Once filled with information he allowed us time to take pictures of the incredible views in all directions and then led us back to our bus driver who would take us into the town of Bled for a few hours before heading back to our waiting ship.

Meanwhile he was off on his next business transaction. Bob and I enjoyed a lunch alone overlooking the lake. We chose not to try the specialty of the area – a dessert called kremna rezina (custard and whipped cream). With time to spare and no shopping worth stopping for we wandered around the little town that is very much like any mountain lake resort be it Swiss, American or Italian – tourist shops, kiosks, hotels overlooking the water, and mountains. The whole built in tiered streets. We walked partially around the lake on the footpath and then returned to our van to be swept back again to our ship in Koper.

 I never saw Koper proper or any other parts of Slovenia, so it’s an excuse to come back to this pretty part of the world again. The town had pulled out all the stops for our ship and had provided a delightful 15-piece high school band which played tunes at the foot of the ship, which I assumed to be Slovene ‘golden oldies’.  We listened, applauded, had our passports stamped at Immigration, and retreated to the ship to relax before dinner. Our favorite spot to dine is the buffet on the aft deck. Sitting through many courses in a totally enclosed room just doesn’t compare to sitting and watching the stern wake as you sail into sunsets eating sushi, stir fry or some form of roast meat (beef, pork, lamb). The bar tender, Rastislov (Rusty, for short), seems to always recognize us, and knows our preferences, which makes for a relaxing experience. While there are also two ‘specialty’ dining rooms on board, it’s a question if we feel like dressing to the occasion. We might just hang out on our aft bar with Rastislov before falling under our duvet for the night. One could do a lot worse.

I find that I am just totally uninterested in meeting my fellow shipmates. I enjoy reading, relaxing, staring at water, exploring the towns we visit, and that’s enough for me. There are just as many guests who are happy sitting by the pool reading, chatting, absorbing some ‘rays’. Everyone comes to this experience with different objectives, and so far I think all are being met. The real world is not too close at hand. There are no papers in English at the local kiosks, and our only hints about the outside world is an 8-page supplement slipped into our daily schedule each evening which tells us, from the New York Times Digest, what happened in business, sports and news. CNN International is available from our room TV so we can keep current but until there’s a buzz throughout the ship that something ‘big’ has happened, I’m happy being oblivious for a few days. The only real news of note was the cyclone in Myanmar - which has taken 4,000, 20,000, or 100,000 lives – whatever number, was hideous. I enter this piece of news only because it gives some specificity of what’s happening.

It was frustrating in reading Daddy’s diaries that while he was kept current to some degree we really don’t know what was going on in the world while he and Walter floated around the world. Not that any of us could influence events, but giving some time-marker seems useful.

May 8, 2008

Having again sailed ‘donuts’ through the night, we arrived at our next port of call – Split, Croatia. We awoke at the piers, lined up amidst at least a dozen ferries which shuttle people to Italy, Greece, Albania, and other towns along the coastline….in this case the Dalmatian coast. Of course, it’s another perfect-weather day so once all the tours had debarked, and we had acquired some Kruna at the ATM machine, we headed into the town of Split.

As one always does, one compares a town to one’s base of knowledge, so for me the harbor and town of Split reminded me of Rhodes: a busy harbor; a lovely quay with shops and cafes; and inside a magnificent old town dating back in history. This part of the world has had a variety of rulers starting with the Greeks and moving through the Romans (Diocletian in the 4th century), the Venetians, the Austrians, the French, the Italians and of course Yugoslavia. It is the Romans who truly left their mark with the palace, the cathedrals and the temple of Jupiter. The old fortress walls surrounding these sites now hold shops, housing and markets. A wonderful hodge-podge of centuries so that when one took a photograph there was everything from a roman column to a modern chic boutique.

We ambled through the town, snapped pictures, sat in a large square to drink a bitter lemon and watch the world pass by. Because I had not done enough research on this town, I felt that I was probably walking past many important historic places, but for a first visit, I got a ‘sense of place’ and know that I’d like to return here for a more lengthy visit. (My only problem is that there are too many places where I want to return, and I’m not sure there’s time enough to do them all…but I have to give it a try). This town could have been in Greece, but it was in Croatia and the language being spoken was totally mystifying. I couldn’t tell which people were speaking the local dialect and which ones were speaking Slovene, Bosnian, or Russian. Luckily many of the young people speak English so one could always ask those critical questions and be understood to a certain degree. There is enough English to cover the basics when one asks questions, as long as one sticks to the basics.

 I like to think that our every pore does not ooze ‘American’ but when I stopped in a small grocery to buy a bar of chocolate, the cashier just by looking at me, informed me in English that I owed 15 Kruna. I hadn’t said a word to give myself away, but I guess I didn’t look or act Croatian. (Or maybe there’s a secret handshake one gives in a grocery that I was unaware of). In any case the transaction went smoothly and we headed back to the ship for another beautiful sunset as we sailed off to our next port. I like this cruising concept for getting an over-view of a place, but in all cases, I sense I need repeat visits to be able to wander beyond the small arena provided by a port city.

Our dinner was once more on the aft deck with a British couple sitting next door. They too seem to like being away from the world. They both are reading quietly, chatting and have sat there for the last three nights, like us. Who knows, I may even say hello at some point.