The Last Supper

Yes, my faithful blog followers, it's true.  I'm home.  Cleveland home.  It's also true that I didn't want to come back.  No.  All I wanted was to stay in Slovenia for the summer.  Just a few more months.  But would they let me?  No.  They made me leave.  My 90 days were up, and no matter who I tried to convince, (or who Zvonko tried to convince), they just wouldn't let me stay. 

My time in Slovenia was absolutely wonderful.  Now that I am back in Ohio, it does feel nice to be home (that is, until I remember where I was only a week ago....).  I learned a lot about Slovenian culture, the country, and the language (hehehe).  Ok, I probably could have spent more time studying, but if you had the choice to go to the coast of Slovenia, Bled, with friends to Bela Krajina for the weekend, hiking to a waterfall, meet up with your Slovenian relatives, drink wine by the river, etc.  OR study the six declensions of the Slovenian language, which would you choose?  I'll study now that I'm back in Cleveland  :)

I have probably posted only about one-third of my pictures from all of my amazing Slovenian adventures.  I feel like I should post the rest so that you can all see everything I experienced.  And also so that I can look back on my blog and remember all of the good times that I had there.  So I will work a little bit backward here.  I will show you pictures from my last day in Slovenia, pictures from my mom and Victor's visit, and then other places I was able to visit in Slovenia.  So these are pictures of the last supper we had together in Ljubljana the day before I left.  Zvonko, Nada, my mom, Victor, Vic, and I went to a lovely little restaurant called Rio Momo in Ljubljana.

Zvonko gave Victor a suggestion for what he should order.....

"Don't forget the pita!"

Victor was proud of his accomplishment. 

 

Me and the other Vic.

 

Zvonko mentioned that in every picture I posted of him on my blog, he is either eating a lot of food, or drinking cappuccino.  So of course I had to get one last picture....

 

Me and my surrogate Slovenian family.

So this is a Thank you and an I'll miss you to all of my Slovenian relatives, my friends, teachers, classmates, and volunteering buddies that I met in Slovenia.  You made my trip an unbelievable and unforgettable one, and I hope we will always remain close.  Thank you also to my friends and relatives here in Cleveland who sent me letters, packages, and peanut butter!!  Thank you for being faithful blog readers, but don't forget about my blog yet.  There will still be more to come, even though my time in Slovenia has come to an end, for now.

I hope to be back soon....

Tolmin and Goriska Brda

Our next adventure took us to the Tolmin Gorges.  The chute on the Tolminska River is the lowest point of the Triglov National Park.  It was absolutely amazing. 

We were staying in the wine country called Goriska Brda, near Italy, where I was a few weeks ago.  Driving to Goriska Brda was an adventure all of it's own, especially when it was dark, and we basically had no idea where we were going.  But we made it to our hotel, and the next day we drove about an hour north to walk this path which I'd definately recommend to anyone visiting Slovenia.  It is supposed to take about an hour and a half to walk it, but it took us a little longer......  :)

People were sliding down ropes off of this bridge (abseiling, or rappelling?), called Hudičev most, or "Devil's Bridge."

This rock is called the "Bear's Head" (Medvedova glava) and is wedged in the narrowest part of the Zadlaščica chute.  It was quite a challenging hike to see this magnificent sight, and unfortunately mother wasn't able to make it...

But she did make it across the bridge. 

Here she is, the wilderness woman herself.  After we crossed the bridge, it was a pretty steep climb uphill over rocks and roots.  When my mom asked me how we were going to do back down this path, I told her that the hike was a circle and we wouldn't be going back down this way.  As the tour guide and keeper of the map, I realized that after hiking 20 minutes on the path, we were going in the wrong direction.  So yes, we did have to go back down... 

The color of the water really is this color.  Minerals from the stones keep the water this color.  Correct, Zvonko?

"Tour Guide"

Victor likes putting flowers in his hair.

For dinner, we went to a lovely little Italian Restaurant near our hotel in Goriska Brda.  The waitress tied bibs around our necks and insisted that we wear them since we were eating pasta.

"Hahaha, look at Victor!"

But Victor was embarassed to be wearing a bib.

I was just glad that I didn't have to worry about getting sauce on my clothes....

mmmmm......

Day 1, Piran...

So my mom and Victor arrived here in Slovenia for 11 whole days of Europeon goodness.  They have come to capture me and drag me home....

So we began our journeys in Piran, on the coast of Slovenia.  The weather was amazing.  I tried to be their tour guide, but couldn't compare to the wealth of information that Zvonko shared when he brought me here, 3 months ago.  Although it took us a while to find the town wall, at least we didn't get lost.....today, at least  :)

King of Piran

Family in Slovenia

Recently I was able to meet my Dad's second cousin, Dubravka.  She lives about 20 minutes outside of Ljubljana.  Her father and my Grandpa Perhay were cousins, although it was their wives who wrote back and forth.  Grandma Perhay wrote her mother to tell her I was in Slovenia, and Dubravka found me on facebook.  Interesting how family connections are still kept alive by writing letters, and yet it probably only took a few minutes for Dubravka to find me over the internet. We met for lunch, walked around the city, and had coffee at a cafe.  It was lovely, and I agree with what Dubravka said, I felt like we've known each other for longer than one afternoon.

That's right, it's a picture me and Joe Cimperman here in Ljubljana.  When he heard I was in Slovenia he was jealous so he decided to follow me here and bring along a whole slew of Americans. 

Rumena Rože