Slovenia and England: Rovinj, Lake Bled, Ljubljana, London

Split for Rovinj after Vis. Pretty town on the Istrian coast with colorful buildings evocative of Venice. Caught some World Cup fever and watched Croatia lose to Brazil. Climbed to the old church on top of the town. Went for bike ride along the coast where I broke into a water slide. I was excited until about halfway down when I realized the water wasn't running fast enough to carry me down. Sucks to be stuck halfway down a water slide. But I made it with some arm power. Anyhow, hiked along the rocks and enjoyed the view. Went on a fish picnic (quickly redubbed "fishnic") boat cruise to a meager pirate cave. Ate grilled sardines along the way and went swimming.

From there it was off to Slovenia. First stop, Lake Bled. Touristy but pretty resort area around a lake that has an island with an old church and a nearby castle on a hill. Very picturesque but too many vacationers made it seem a bit Disneyish. Went hiking in the woods and took a daytrip to a tiny town with a beekeeping museum that was surprisingly interesting. Last Slovenian stop was Ljubljana (pronounced like lube-on-ya), the capital. Small city but very pretty with lots of nice architecture, cafes on the street, castle on a hill, etc.

Last leg of trip was London for a few days. Stayed at Chelsea Arts Club, swanky old private club with lots of character. Put up there by Patrick Hughes, great artist, and we got to visit his studio while in town too. Did a lot of walking through parks and the hop on-off bus trip which was actually a great way to see the city. City is so damn expensive so we mostly stuck to free museums: great Egyptian stuff at the British Museum, modern art at Tate Modern, bad Natural History Museum, interesting National Portrait Gallery, etc. Got to see a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theater which was neat. Stood in front with the rest of the "groundlings." Btw, Titus Andronicus = lots of blood and guts. Last day we saw England win it's 2nd round World Cup match at a pub while eating fish and chips. Doesn't get more British than that.

6/28/2006 | Permalink |