The final day

 12/26: We packed up and left our lovely Bled home by 10:30, which was a bit of a push. None of us wanted to leave!

We drove about 30 minutes to check out Lake Bohinj. It was a lovely day and we took a walk around part of the lake.

It was so picturesque we did our last photo shoot

On the way to our hotel, we drove to the airport to check out the rental car return so we wouldn’t have confusion tomorrow morning. We’re glad we did as the signage wasn’t too clear.

Our hotel was near the airport and would be a comfortable last stop for us. It was also only 3 miles from my favorite pizza place 😬 Could we go one more time?! Quinn was especially encouraging, saying, "anytime we're within 3 miles of someones favorite restaurant, we gotta go!"

The hotel gym was great, so Bob and I did some exercise while the kids played pool and ping pong in the game room. They had hoped to get in the pool, but it was packed with families. My idea: let’s go to Pop’s for an early dinner and try the pool later 😀

Little did we know how busy downtown would be - in our 5 nights in Ljubljana we had never seen the streets this packed! After struggling to find a parking spot and *me* fearing I might not get my final Matera, we finally found a spot and walked to Pop’s. The line was out the door, but Bob predicted we’d be sitting down within 20 minutes, and we were! We had another fabulous waiter who was so friendly and constantly smiling. The kids commented on how his happiness was infectious and just made them happier :-).

My pizza was amazing once again, and the kids loved the chicken Parmesan. We commented to our waiter, Dom, that the family of 4 that had just left next to us left their two tiramisus on their table! He told us they didn’t even touch one of them - seriously we asked?! Yes! He said. He promptly grabbed it and delivered it to us - as we were all laughing. Then he said he was also bringing a piece of cheesecake - and we tried to protest, but he insisted, saying how he loved that we were giving him positive energy. The kids parroted back a phrase that Bob and I have talked with them about: “it always pays to be nice to people!”

We walked back to our car, pausing to take one last selfie with the castle behind us - we won’t see one of these for awhile!

Sad to leave,

but love our life at home!

Christmas in Lake Bled

 12/21: After a quick 30 minute drive we arrived to our last new home for our final 5 nights. What a phenomenal accommodation for Christmas - our own two bedroom home that was recently remodeled. It was absolutely beautiful and the kitchen will be a great place to make our Christmas meals. The home had Christmas decorations that we loved.

Simone got busy taping up her artwork to make our scene even more festive ❤️

We were in a phenomenal location - right near the lakefront. We took advantage of the sunny, calm afternoon and walked along the lakefront and took an oared boat ride to Bled island.

After the sunset Bob and I did our final big grocery run to the local Spar. It required a bit more mental planning as it would be closed tomorrow (Sunday) as well as at 5pm on 12/24 through Christmas Day AND 12/26 (I guess they celebrate Boxing Day here?!)

Spaghetti for our first two nights - and the Avjar for Bob and me. We’re gonna miss this stuff!

A walk to the lake after dinner, then we watched The Santa Claus

Bob took an early morning walk to catch the colors

On 12/22 the Advent calendar said to spend the day in pjs. Bob and I had a few areas we wanted to explore, so we gave the kids the option to come with us or stay at home, and they chose to obey the Advent calendar :-). We all loved our respective days.

Pastries and cards to start 

First we went to Kronska Gora, which is on a short list of ‘hidden ski town gems.’ It also has Planica Nordic training center which has the world’s largest ski jump. We got to see a few people jump! That was so cool - we’d never seen that live!

These racks for drying hay are everywhere. We are mountain people for sure!

We hiked to the Pericnic waterfall. The river was the most beautiful aqua blue. There was packed snow/ice - my new waterproof hikers have been perfect!

The icicles hanging from the rock wall were incredible

Looks like a scary fish

Amazing water color!

After dinner we walked to a nearby hotel to hear a pianist - and we tried the traditional Bled cream cake.

Yum!

On 12/23 we went on a hike and discovered another beautiful waterfall. For dinner we went to a local restaurant that was recommended by our boat driver from the lake. It was delicious! We had local sausage, beef cheeks, and pork knuckle - Simone has been wanting this since the delicious one we had in Garmisch.

Cozy start

We came home to do Simone’s treasure hunt ❤️

The final prize in the forks!

Simone helping to warm my feet while we watched Elf

Christmas Eve! We had a lazy start, then Bob and I took a walk to the ‘Bled Lookout spot.’ What we thought would be an easy hike turned out to be much more challenging than we thought!

Extremely steep, thick leaves, and slippery at times.

We made it! Not easy. Love my shoes!

Super windy - glad I’m not rowing that boat!

Down we go on the more official trail

A bit treacherous 

We got home and started the Packer game

With the coveted cheerios and yogurt

Chicken, potatoes, veggies and gravy - a Thanksgiving redo!

Simone made Oreo shakes for dessert 

We’ve loved her Advent calendar!

Our tradition: watching The Polar Express and Christmas Chronicles

Christmas Day!

Gifts: new bikes, concert choice, packer gear, and tickets to Cirque next year

Morning walk with Simone and Bob

Post walk reward of traditional Slovenian cream cake

Watching the Legend of the Sunken Bell at Lake Bled

Bob and I went to a nearby hotel and listened to an acapella group. They were great, and they sang in English, but in between songs you could tell English was not their first language. The funniest part was when they said they were going ‘south of the border’ for their next song. It was about a Mexican woman - Bob and I looked at each other and giggled - we’re in Slovenia! South of the border is Croatia 😂

Our final night in our place - one more round of Oreo shakes