Maubee

I only spent one night here, but loved loved loved it. The rooms we stayed at were lovely as was our landlady. We felt like locals walking around during shoulder season. Everyone here knows everyone else and it’s so relaxed and fun. We enjoyed the touristy bar on the turret (with outrageous prices but a beautiful sunset view). The old town has so many interesting doors and windows and around every corner is another delightful picture waiting to be captured. Getting here and leaving by ferry is part of the fun.

Next time I’m spending more time on the islands in Croatia and less time (or no time) in Dubrovnik.

Well I went through town twice and I’ve been to the train and bus stations and the airports. Those were all fine, but I wouldn’t exactly check this off as if I’d BEEN there. It looked very big and most of it looked pretty urban. There’s lots of graffiti and eastern bloc looking apartments. The downtown looked interesting but we didn’t have time to explore.

It’s a little touristy, but very pretty and all the restaurants and banks and amenities are handily nearby. We stayed in Alp pension, a short walk from town and nice. The weather was cold and rainy, but we managed to fit in the gondola ride on the one nice evening when we arrived. It’s like an old world tourist area, sort of elegant, without the masses of tourist crap shops. The creme cake is delicious and I haven’t found a recipe online so indulge while you are there.

The palace is so accessible and compact, but there are so many interesting nooks and corners to explore. Interesting people to watch, good food, and the history of this ‘site’ is unfolding and continuing to this day. Transportation is easy to and from here.

I liked it better than Dubrovnik.

We had bad luck with our rooms, were lied to and treated like we were bothering them…

Then there were the roaming tour groups engulfing restaurants and streets and sights. (And this was only shoulder season!)

And every evening the restaurant and trinket hawkers (sharks) roamed the Stradun asking every time you go by if you are hungry, would you like blah blah blah, etc.

Then there was the ‘TI’ center I went into to ask a simple question and they would only help me if I wanted to pay for a tour or buy a map or something. Blech.

It was beautiful, but too sterile with all the locals having moved out and renting to tourists.

The highlight was walking the walls, and I’m glad I went, but if I go back to Croatia I’d much rather do more island hopping than go to Dubrovnik again.

One time I found it to feel more real was in the morning (7 AM – 10AM or so, before the cruise ships belch their hordes) when some locals were out shopping and restocking and getting shaves in the barber shop.

Plitvice is gorgeous – I had a moment of grace here

Gracac/Knin – the area we passed through driving from Plitvice to Split. This is where the war is most visible and things haven’t been repaired much. It was sad but very real. It’s much different here than on the coast, much less italian, more obvious the economic struggles that continue after the war.

Split: the palace is surprisingly unspoilt and real and current unlike ‘dead’ sites. Stayed inside the palace walls. Came on the annual Saints day so it was crazy busy, but way fun.

Korcula: I wish I’d had more time here. Relaxing and easy to love. Go to an island, any island for a while if you get a chance. The ferries are easy and cheap.

Dubrovnik: I didn’t love this as much as most people. Too much tourist hawking going on (no I do NOT want to eat at your restaurant for the THIRD time) and a bit too sterile/all about tourists for me. I did love walking around the walls, and exploring the back streets/stairs, but even in shoulder season I didn’t much appreciate the Disneyesque feeling of everything being totally geared towards tourists.

Zagreb: We just passed through a couple of times. It looked interesting but we didn’t have time to look around.

We explored the western half for about a week. It’s all charming. Ljubljana has all these wonderful little touches of art everywhere…stair treads, railings, storm grates, and other everyday things are whimsically designed but not in a loud ‘look at me’ way. It’s subtle and fun. Even the graffiti adds to the effect.

We stayed on a tourist farm in the country SW of Ljubljana and I loved that. People still have one family small farms. Many of them have working horses. The countryside is lovely and the sights amazing (Postojna and Predjama this trip).

We stayed in Bled and the alps are beautiful. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t as good there. It’s more touristy than the other parts of Slovenia we saw, but in an old fashioned way for the most part. (We were visiting in ‘shoulder season’ so the touristy-ness might be more oppressive in the summer.)

If you go I’d recommend that you try and learn a few phrases in Slovenian (Good day, thank you, please/your welcome, and how to ask whether they speak english). We traveled with a couple that didn’t learn any and although it wasn’t necessary to survive, it did really impress the Slovenians and they tended to be even more kind and friendly with us. (They were definitely not unkind otherwise, but there was a kind of dealing with tourists wall up with those who only spoke English, that dropped with only a few Slovenian phrases.)

I can’t wait! My parents just agreed that we’d go to Turkey together in 2007 (for this trip I get to choose a destination, but they of course must agree—they are paying after all). I am so excited. The videos I’ve seen make Turkey look so interesting and inviting.

The views are amazing, our photos all looked like postcards. There isn’t a lot of normal stuff (convenience stores or gas stations or tourist traps) but that’s a plus as long as you plan ahead and are willing to spend a premium for what you do get.

It’s a lovely place to be.

I keep coming close to seeing this, but haven’t gotten there yet. I’d love to raft through it someday.