Adventure of the month

mention that while in Slovenia, we also visited the seaside town of Piran. From Ljubljana on, we got around via a red, beat-up Renault that made up for in character what it lacked in horsepower. The car was great since it allowed us to see places that would have been hard to get to via Slovenia's limited public transportation system, such as the small town of Radovljica (better known as the home of the beekeeping museum); a gingerbread factory; a Russian chapel commemorating the Russian POW's who perished during the construction of the Vrsic Pass, a mountain road with 50 numbered hairpin turns in a 12 mile stretch; Stanjel (a nearly abandoned hilltop village that has been adopted by artists); the cavernous Skocjanske Caves with their impressive stalactites and stalacmites and of course, the aforementioned Adriatic seaside town of Piran. Blah, blah, blah...and now the Netherlands.

Before I get back to Holland et. al., I really should post some photos of Lake Bled. This little jewel is located in the northwestern corner of the country, near the Austrian border, and is surrounded by the Julian Alps and Triglav National Park. It has a castle on a clifftop, a church sitting upon a wee, tiny island in the middle of the lake and a restaurant, Okarina , with the best vegetarian steak I've ever had. Not surprisingly, Bled is a big wedding destination, with brides and half-inebriated groomsmen filing in and out of the few pubs. If I wasn't so stubbornly clinging to my dream wedding in a Vegas chapel with a drunk Elvis officiating (he must be drunk), it would be easy to picture a very romantic wedding on Lake Bed. But for now, I must picture the continuation of the July and August adventures...

I know I am not even half-way through the Netherlands Chronicles, but I just returned from the awkwardly-named, yet grandly beautiful city of Ljubljana and felt the urgent need to share some photos. Of the multitude of "new Pragues" being touted about, this, to me, is the closest to the real thing. It is has got that awe-inspiring architecture combined with a vibrant, anything-can-happen energy that helped turn Prague into the Eastern European travel destination. The good news is that the mega-bus crowds and the British stag parties haven't figured it out yet. Lucky for us, because we were actually able to get three nights at the Celica Hostel , which is housed in a former military prison. Each cell has been "re-interpreted" by a different group of artists (you can see them all on the website...we had cells 113, 105 and m...

Everyone knows that few things are better than seeing a place with a local, so we were both extra thrilled when our friend Marc (aka "The Flying Dutchman") offered to show us around his hometown of Almere. Then he even sweetened the deal. After 3 weeks of eating out, his mom was going to cook for us. Almere is part of Flevoland, an 1400 sq. km area of reclaimed land and therefore the newest province in the Netherlands. Prior to the 1920's, there was no Flevoland, only ocean. This kind of outside-the-box thinking did not end with the reclamation of the land. The city of Almere sponsored a contest for architects to build "Fantasy houses" which would be exempt from all the usual building codes. The winners would be given financial assistance and a 5 year lease on the property (the intent being for the houses to be dismantled in five years time). The project was such a success that the houses are still standing, mak...

I am totally going to cheat on this one and copy the information directly from Aalsmeer's official website. Every day Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer sets the world price for flowers and plants. This happens by bringing supply and demand together by means of the auction clock- a fascinating process during which large and small batches of flowers are sold within fractions of seconds. Each day, 19 million flowers and two million plants are sold through 13 clocks at 'Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer'. It takes place within an area of almost one million m2. This means that Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer has the largest trade building in the entire world! As a visitor to Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer, you will walk over a specially designed gallery. You can take a look at the auction without being noticed. Enjoy the gorgeous flowers, experience the hustle and bustle of auction. Come and take a look at Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer! More information: http://www.vba-aalsmeer.n...