May 31, 2014

Wow.  Today was fantastic.  From waking up super early in the morining, to goofing off for hours at the end, it was truly a fantastic day.  And here's why......

It started with a 5:30 wake up call.  We all woke up and were headed to the bus stop at 6:20.  We made it and after buying our tickets, all got breakfast at where else...but McDonalds (although I got a pastry from a bake shop nearby, I still got coffee from there.)  But anyway, at 7:30 we were all loaded on the bus and were headed to the coast!

Our destination was a small town on the coast of the Adriatic Sea called Portorož. Even though this small town was absolutely gorgeous, this was not our final destination.  After walking about a mile up the coast we finally reached the town of Piran.  And wow.  Was it gorgeous.  I had been told that it is the Venice of Slovenia and I could see why it was called that (even though I don't really know what Venice look like.)  This small coastal town with its European style housing, cobblestone streets, narrow allies, and beautiful church (and castle of course) was so amazing.

But anyway.  Getting a little distracted.  So we arrived at the center of town and we all decided to find a place along the coast that we would all meet at once we were done exploring.  So, we started looking for a good place to chill.  A little note about their coast line, they don't technically have a beach.  There was no sand in sight.  They had concrete walkways and areas that were used for public enjoyment.  And where there wasn't concrete, there were the most beautifuly rounded rocks and pebbles.  It was quite different from any beach I had ever been to.  And don't even get me started on the water.  Even though it was still kind of chilly, the water was as clear as if it had come from a filter.  You could see straight to the bottom.  It was also the most beautiful blue green I had ever seen.  I was really upset I hadn't brought my swim suit with me on that day.  But anyways.  After we found our little spot on the concrete beach, we split into groups and started to explore the town.

I went exploring with a group that went around the coast of the town before exploring the inside.  Wow.  We ended up below what we soon found out was a castle.  It was so amazing just to look out and sea the sea and then see mountains in the background.  It was just absolutely beautiful!!  After we were finished looking around the coast, we headed into the town to walk through the streets and try to find the clock tower that was in the middle of town.  The narrow streets with their brick was just so cool to be able to walk through.  The buildings were so close together, you almost felt claustrophobic.  It was just so cool to be able to experience so much, all before noon!!

After we explored the town, we finally made our way up to the clock tower.  We went up and it was literally a clock tower staircase, all completely wooden, all 6-7 flights of it.  It was quite terrifying.  But after we got to the top.  Wow.  This is when we discovered that the town had a castle.  The view of the town was just incredible.  I can't even put it into words how amazing it was.  Just look at the pictures.

All of us having fun on the tower!!

But anyways.  After we finished up at the clock tower, we headed out to find food and to meet up with the others at our coastal spot.  We ended up spending the rest of the day frolicking in the sea and enjoying everyone's company.  It was sooo much fun to be able just to spend the day having so much fun with everyone.

At about 3, we decided we were going to split into two groups, one group was going to go ahead and come back to Ljubljana, and the other group was going to stay and explore more and take the later bus back.  I ended up coming home with the first group because it was going to rain later and I didn't want to accidentally ruin my camera.  Plus, I was already exhausted.  So, we grabbed a quick gelato (I got Mango!) and we hopped back on a bus back to the city.  Did I mention that Slovenia is absolutely gorgeous in every way.  Every part of it.  So beautiful.  Why don't we have a Slovenia back in the States!!

We got back into the city at about 6:30 and were back at the hostel by 7.  At that time we were kind of hungry, so we decided to cook dinner...or should I say Brinner!  A couple of us ran out to the store and grabbed a few supplies and we proceeded to fix French Toast and scrambled eggs with bacon (or a bacon substitute which was just pancetta we stuck on the stove for a couple of seconds to shrivel up and get slightly crispy), strawberries, bananas, nutella, and juice.  We didn't get to eat till about 9:45, but we had such a good time cooking, dancing, and having fun with each other!  And the French Toast was delicious if I do say so myself (since I cooked it...  :)  )  

All in all, it was such a good day.  It was so much fun with so many people.  It was just so amazing.