Up to God and Back: Croatia & Slovenia

I've been sorting through all the pictures we took on our trip and it is mind boggling!!! We took SO MANY pictures!!!! And we had such a great time, saw so many amazing things, and made many fantastic memories, that it is so hard to pick my favorites for this blog!!

Since the boys and Ken all have a week off in October for EID (a Muslim holiday), we made plans to head to Croatia and Slovenia. I've wanted to go to Croatia for years ... ever since I saw a show on the travel channel! :-) It did not disappoint!! And the best part was that my parents joined us for the trip.

We flew into Zagreb (the capital) and our first laugh was trying to fit 4 adults, 2 children (both still in car seats), and an insane amount of luggage into the European "mini van" we rented. It was not a mini van by American standards!! Clearly we had to upgrade ... to what would be a tour bus by European standards! :-)

We only spent one night in Zagreb and the apartment we rented was right smack in the heart of the old town. It was cool to see the city markets come to life on a Saturday morning ... one section for flowers, another for honey and a huge one for fruits and vegetables. It made me miss the farmer's markets in Wisconsin!

Our apartment was just off this main square in old town Zagreb

brotherly love

honey market

flower market ... Get ready for LOTS of silly faces from Nicholas!!!
He's in that phase where he prefers silly faces over anything.
Some of them are absolutely HILARIOUS!!!!

Fruits and vegetable market

Beautiful cathedral under some renovations

Then we took off for Lake Bled, Slovenia. We stopped in Ljubljana (Slovenia's capital) along the way. It would have been a great little town to explore, but we just grabbed a bite to eat and took the "funicular" up the hill to check out the castle. It was a beautiful view, even in the rain. And the boys LOVED getting to use their umbrellas for the day!

It was drizzling when we arrived in Ljubjlana.
Boys loved using umbrellas!
In the background you can see the "funicular" (cable car)
ride up to the castle on top of the hill.

On the funicular

Beautiful calligraphy in the chapel

Within the castle

Stair case up to the castle tower

Mom and dad on top of the tower

Ljubjlana Castle tower

Looking into the castle

Even in the drizzle, Ljubljana is a pretty little town

Colors are starting to look like fall

I think there was a view through the floor, but you can't see it. Still a cute picture! :-)

Dragon bridge

Lake Bled was like a fairy tale. The lake surrounded by golden fall colored hills with the snow capped Julean alps peaking up in the background. There's a cliff with an amazing castle perched on top and the cutest little island in the middle of the lake--just big enough for a little church. The only way to the island church is by row boat.