Pula day II

Hi friends!

Today we've had a great day in Pula. It's a really charming little town. We started out heading for the grocery store and bakery for breakfast (yes, we dressed first and no, I'm not going to go through all the day like this.. ). It was really yummy, crusty white bread.. Vacation is good. ;)

Today we did most of the sight seeing stuff... The Arena (Amphi theatre), small Roman theatre, old town and so on...

I've already shown pix of the Arena, but this is one of the lion statues inside:

And - because I uploaded my pix in the wrong order - here are my yellow socks after walking in the rain in Ljubljana. I think we can all agree that the black part on my sandals like sharing... (Socks in sandals.. I know.. but I'm sticking with no shoes on this trip - so that's the price I pay for not freezing.)

When we went to the bus today we met this little guy - and several of his friends. There's also a mommy kittie and 4 kittens around. We saw them playing this morning when we didn't have any cameras handy.

Can you see the snails? They're hiding in there from the sun and heat I think. Looks like they've chalked it all up and are waiting for rain.

We found their army (or more likely navy) museum. Wasn't much there and we probably wouldn't have gone in anyway if it wasn't for the great view we'd get from their tower. Plus the entrance cost just over a dollar. We could cope.

View towards the train station and harbor from that tower.

This is "the golden gate" - obviously not golden, but looks rather unique being free standing on its own there in the square. It's from the late first century BC. Wow...

This is Forum. It was one of three temples and if I got it right two of the others are now incorporated into the town hall where there have been major dealings with the business of the people of Pula for over two centuries.

Tomorrow we will, if all goes well, head for the beach. Now doesn't that sound nice? ;)

Ane

Sunny Pula.

After a few hours sleep we got up, packed our bags and headed for the train station to take the train to Pula on the Croatian coast.


It was, as usual, fun to see how the senery changed. It went from all green, to a more mediterranean look with brownish fields.

I liked this shot of the fence and the railway tracks for some reason..

After crossing into Croatia from Slovenia the earth got that nice, reddish brown colour. Isn't it pretty against the green vines?

Pula station - just on time, too!

Pula have quite a few remains from Roman times, like this amphitheatre. It's just smack in the middle of town. We'll probably go in there tomorrow. :)

This is the twin gates - used to be on the road leading to the Amphitheatre, but now it just led into some property. :)

Now it's getting chilly outside - where I found this wireless network - so I'll head inside before the mosquitoes eat me alive. They think I'm YUMMY. Sigh..

A

Ljubljana day II

Yesterday we got on the train headed for Ljubljana. It was a really nice train ride high into the hills or perhaps you'd even say mountains. It kept raining, so no great pix, but here's one of a huge castle arrangment on top of a hill:
We found our hostel in Ljubljana and fell in love with this sign on the toilet in the common bathroom (we've got our own, but the door was open). Apparently todays theme is signs, by the way. (I'm fond of funny signs)

Our hostel is close by the Dragon Bridge (well, everything is close, really. Ljubljana is a small and handy city.)

A couple of signs from Ljubljana Castle:
This looks very extreme. You could think you'd die falling off there. It's about 1,5 meters of uneven rock. You'd be rather unlucky if you managed to get upside down in that time.

This was by the funicular(sp?) when we were going back down. Headless people not allowed? Will the Harry Potter ghost Nearly Headless Nick be allright?

The castle was an unusual mix of old and new. Per Arne did not like it. I did, but I get his point. You want old castles to be old. But they all ARE all fixed up in modern times, and usually much or most of it is reconstructions anyway. I felt this was a kind of honest way to do it. Having old and new in a sort of mix, that imo worked well. The castle itself is not very interesting anyway. It's got no pretty ornaments and stuff, so it makes it a bit more worthwile seeing.

Plus the view is great!
Triple bridge on the right and a pretty building in the background.

This is a statue in honor of a famous writer.

On the wall of a house maybe 100 meters away this clay lady is looking out of her clay window. Apparently he was an admirer of hers and now she spends eternety looking in his direction. We thought it should be the other way - or perhaps they thought it was her turn to court him? Dunno..

Tomorrow we continue to Pula in Croatia. The train leaves at 6.33.. That's AM for ya.. Sigh..

Ane

Gooseberries

Ruby asked about the berries from yesterdays post. They are Gooseberries. They are perhaps my very favourite berry.. Allthough the ones I bought yesterday were a bit less sweet than I'd like. But then again all berries are at their best being picked right off the bush and eaten warm from the sun. ;)

Vienna day III

Today has been a wet, wet day.. But we've been outside a bit nevertheless. We've been wearing our green rain ponchos, looking like two peas in a pod. Literally. No pix of that for now, though.

Since it was supposed to rain even more towards the evening, we started out towards Schloss Belvedere - the summer castle of some Habsburger prince.

Pretty flowers!
The castle is smaller, but also more delicate and pretty than Schönbrunn.

Detail from the front gate.

This is the parliament. Designed by a Danish architect inspired by ancient Greek buildings. And with the godess of truth (I believe) as the main front statue (with gold on top) to inspire the parliamentarians.
Volksgarten (peoples garden) is a pretty place where hundreds of different kinds of roses bloom in summer. Anna and I have had lunch here before, but today we merely walked through on our way elsewhere.. Not really park weather today.


Water lillies in Volksgarten - and duclings, too. Fuzzy.. but that's what you get taking pix in the rain and at a distance.

Some rations brought home to our room when we decided we were wet enough. I was so happy that I'd found my favourite caramel.. but I was wrong.. they were not chewy, but just regular soft toffee... Sigh.. The yellow can is a drink from the lokal brewery. Radler is a mix of beer and lemon soda. Sounds yucky, but it's actually quite good. So I had one of those instead of beer. Coke and berries.. all in all not a bad catch. ;)

Tomorrow we continue to Ljubljana. I've no idea what our Internet options will be, but hopfully I'll be able to post again before continuing to Croatia.

Ane

PS: Of course we returned to the ice cream restaurant today, PA had a banana split and I stuck with my Himbeer Waltzer (Raspberry Waltzer).