sssteve

Hello to everybody!

We just got back from a 13 day visit to Slovenia and Croatia which also included a visit to Trieste.

As always, my trip report will be posted on my web page in a few weeks, and here I'll just mention the highlights.
http://www.travel.stv77.com

We spent 5+ days in Slovenia (Bled, Skofia Loka, Ljubljana, Postoyna, Piran), 5+ days in northern Croatia (Istria, Plitvica, Zadar)and 2 days in the Trieste area. The weather was great and we enjoyed every minute, particularly the 3 days we spent in Zadar. Zadar is a delightful town, with the possibility of making interesting side trips to many national parks and islands.

One of the most interesting places we visited was Pag, a bridge-accessible island just north of Zadar. It's 2 main towns are Pag town, and Novalya. The island is very unusual with a landscape similar to the American west. Pag town has a real midievil center, and Novalya is a beautiful seaside resort town with a very active nightlife and many good restaurants.

Everything was just great!

I'll be happy to answer any specific questions about where we went, what we did, where we stayed or anything else.

sssteve

ttt

bobthenavigator

So Steve, what was your favorite place to eat in Ljubljana?

sssteve

And I thought you'd never ask...

On the last day of the trip (which we spent in Ljubljana), we ate at a restaurant called Gostilna AS which is on Copova 5, about a minute's walk from the triple bridge. After 2 week's of pretty ordinary restaurants, this one was surprisingly good. It's got a full menu, which includes fresh pastas, traditional slovenian specialties, as well as fish and seafood. It's like 2 different restaurants - outside it uses the menu with the emphasis on pasta dishes, but inside it's elegant with exceptional service and the waiter made reccomendations for us without using the menu. As we didn't want to drink a whole bottle of wine (we would be on our way to the airport after the meal) he even had a very very good slovenian cabernet open which we drank by the glass.

All in all, a wonderful way to end our trip.

bobthenavigator

Thanks, I like that town.
Where did you stay in Piran?

sssteve

We didn't stay in Piran, just visited fro a few hours on Sunday morning. We stayed 2 nights in Porec because it was central to where we wanted to visit. We visited Motovun, Rovinh, and had a great lunch in a beautiful setting on the Limski Fjord (between Porec and Rovinh). For future reference, Piran and Rovinh were both livelier than Porec.

Syl

We found Slovenia to be a gem of a country. It appears to be a hidden secret among North Americans.It's rare to have a beautiful & charming main city in such close proximity to fabulous lakes, mountains, UNESCO Heritage caves & the coast.Can't understand why it's not advertised in our media.
Bob-
We stayed at Hotel Piran with a balcony room over the water.Excellent location,room & amenities at a reasonable rate.We were able to get in the last concert in the cloister of the Tartini Summer Music Festival.Piran is wonderful.

Girlspytravel

SSSsteve-I liked the Trieste area so much, that I just didn't make it down to Slovenia like I planned, but I will go back. Trieste really impressed me, such an interesting cultural mix (but make no mistake, it's 100 per cent Italian) and so much to do there and to see. I really enjoyed Trieste's late 19th century coffee houses, with their Viennese ambience and decor. Anyone visiting Trieste should make sure and visit Antica Caffe San Marco and Caffe Tommaso-the latter of which is right by the lovely Piazza d'Unita-which fronts the sea.

I liked everything about Trieste, my hotel, the breathtaking ocean views at the lovely Habsburg built Villa Miramare, the Castello di San Giusto, (16th cent. Venetian built-with its superb vantage point overlooking the sea) the way Trieste reminds me of San Francisco, with all the villas dotting the hillside, running down to the sea, and last but not least, the noteworthy friendliness of the Triestinos-everything was easy there, and of course, Trieste is an ideal jumping off point to other interesting towns and sights in Northern Italy (like the stunning Roman site of Aquileia and its frescos) and to Slovenia/Croatia-very comfortable air-conditioned buses within their regional transport system. Yes, I will definitely go back here, and then use it as a base for Slovenia/Croatia.

Btw, I LOVED Muggia and Grado-did you go there SSSteve? Both fishing villages with picturesque historical centers-but both at one time under the rule of La Serenissima, so the lion of San Marco was seen by me on several buildings in Muggia.

Grado, which is a seaside resort town about a 25 minute boat ride from Trieste, appears to have been taken over completely by the Germans-but it is a GREAT little beach resort-the beaches are lovely, with plenty of little bars/pizzerias right on the sand, along with plenty of wine bars, upscale resort shops and restaurants in the town center-Grado is definitely a place I'll go back to.

sssteve

Girlspytravel -

Actually, we stayed 2 nights in Muggia, - at the Al Lido. The hotel is the best in Muggia, and still isn't much to write home about, but the restaurant at the hotel is one of the best in the entire Trieste area. Because of the regatta, most of the hotels in Trieste and environs were full up !!

We also enjoyed our visit to trieste very much.

TXgalinGA

Just wanted to thank you for your trip report! I'm in the beginning stages of planning and I found it to be very helpful.

sssteve

TX:

In 3-4 weeks I'll publish my page on the trip we just got back from and then you'll have even more to work with.

zwho

sssteve, I just finished looking and reading your web site. It was wonderful. I'm just curious, where do you get your ideas of where you want to go next? You're from my favorite place- Israel. We've been 2X and I don't think I'll ever like a city more then Jerusalem. But we'll keep looking!

sssteve

ZWHO:

We put all the places in the world into a hat and pick one out every 3 or 4 months.

Actually, we do have "short list" of destinations we want to visit. When the time we have and the season is right for a particular destination, we go !!

All kidding aside, we know where we have been and where we want to go (we want to go everywhere.) and we pick the next trip accordingly. I usually plan 2 trips ahead. We're going to Thailand in January, and northern Italy (the Palio d'Asti) in September. Haven't decided regarding April (Passover vacation here in Israel)!

I picked Italy in September, and Alisa wants to go to China, so I'm brushing up on my Chinese.

Regarding Israel, we live in Haifa and we think it's one of the most beautiful cities on the meditteranean, and one day I will do a page on it !!!

geg5150

SSSteve,

We're currently planning a trip to Europe for early May 2006. Slovenia is on the potential list.

Here's the catch, I've earned enough points with Hilton for 7 nights in one hotel in Europe. So, we can't move around much. I'd like to have a base and then maybe take 2 day trip and maybe one overnight trip.

The Hilton is in Ljubljana, of course. Would you say that seven nights would be too much there? I'd love to do an overnight to Venice.

I'd love your suggestions. Thanks so much in advance!!

sssteve

geg:

7 days in ANY Hilton hotel in Europe???

Ljubljana is nice but I wouldn't stay there for 7 days. How about Paris ??? London?? Rome ?? Venice would be nice too...
I think I'd pick Paris, because there's so much to do and if you get tired of Paris, there are plenty of day trips in the area to fill the time.

geg5150

Hey Steve,

Yep, any Hilton in Europe. Paris is on the list, but I've been there. I was hoping to try a new place. The boyfriend is interested in Prague and Amsterdam -- again, both places that I've been.

Paris is in the running with day trips to Beaune, Reims, etc. Or Munich, I've never been there. Thanks for the advice on Slovenia.