Thursday, Friday, Shabbat

A quick update with some photos.

Thursday we went biking.  We planned a 35 km route and did about 25, cycling through rolling hills, small, quaint villages, stopping for a drink at one that had a little restaurant (it must have been a bigger one, because the smallest ones where just a cluster of houses).  The sun was shining, green all around.

selfy

friendly eighth graders

mike

 All was going well until Mike's gears broke right in the middle of a fairly isolated bike path.  We stopped to to try to fix it (not possible) and to figure out our next steps, when our angel appeared:

He loaded up our bikes and drove us back to the bike shop, ad 20 minute drive away by car! People are really nice here.

Later that day we met a couch surfer. We arranged to meet him by the lake at 5, and promised to bring a bottle of israeli wine.  We made good on our promise and also brought crackers, cheese and olives, as well as real wine glasses.  He brought the picnic blanket.  His name is Matej, he is 33 y.o. and we had a lovely two hours with him learning about him, his life and Slovenia.  My guess is that we will see him again on our side of the sea.

And a few shots of the beautiful lake:

church on island in middle of Lake Bled

Castle overlooking the lake

Friday dawned a bit more cloudy, but still the weather unbelievably perfect.  Cool nights, warm days.  We planned a full day trip to the Julian Alps since shabbat doesn't start until 8:35 here.  The Julian Alps (named for Julius Cesar) are a bit shorter than the Swiss Alps, but beautiful nonetheless. Here are pics from the Vrsic Pass.

as high as we went ( i was cold)

yes that is snow

#43 of 50 switchbacks- this is already almost at the bottom

After coming down from about 2000 meters, we meandered in the Socha valley, following the beautiful Socha river that is also called the Emerald River (you will see why).

a suspension bridge

We planned our way back via Italy, so we could catch a good cup of coffee and a decent supermarket.  What a treat!

There's nothing like a taste of Italy, even for an hour.

And then it was back to Slovenia, for an hour's ride back to our apartment.

Shabbat was incredibly relaxing and very long.  We had wonderful food (thank you Italy), and a beautiful three hour walk through the countryside to Lake Bled.  We were fortunate to catch a concert and a wedding party as we sat by the lake, to add to the entertainment.  The wedding party had its own accordianist.  

Today we are off to Lake Bohinj, hopefully another bike ride (Mike is an intrepid soul), and our last night in this apartment.  Tomorrow we are off to Lublijana and then to the Riske Terme spa for a night or two (depending on how we like it).

Love to all.  We are thinking about you.