Labor Day weekend is a 5 day break from school for us. The original plan was to head to Paris (Tom had a meeting to attend there on Monday), but due to a bit of miscommunication between the two of us, and a lack of advanced planning, the destination became Prague. I waited about 7 hours to book the hotel...and everything was sold out! So we started looking for a new destination. Really just looking at a map and seeing where we could go without buying plane tickets and not driving too far since we only had 5 days. Slovenia, which was not even on my radar of places to visit, but is a neighbor of Hungary, fit the bill. As I started my pre-trip research, I realized how spectacular Slovenia is, and how it should be on EVERYONE's list of places to visit. It did not disappoint.
Our first stop in Slovenia was Maribor. Just a few hours from Budapest, and a cute little town. We were later than expected arriving to our hotel, and found this:
You may (or may not) know that in Europe, the beds are made with a bottom sheet and a duvet (and perhaps a light decorative fabric over that), but no top sheet. No big deal. Except when your duvet, in a bed for two, covers only 2/3 of the bed. See above. Not the decorative cover, but the puffy white duvet in the picture. Tom and I were forced to snuggle a little closer than usual. :)
In the morning we headed out to the center of Maribor to see its most famous attraction.
This grapevine has been producing fruit for over 400 years, and is certified by Guinness as being the oldest vine in the world. My photo here is lacking...the vine actually stretches fairly far on each side across the front of the building.
There weren't any other "must-see" attractions in Maribor, so we spent the rest of our time wandering the streets and just soaking in the town.
There's no shortage of Burger King's and McD's in this part of the world, but it took us a second to realize this was a fake!
Charlotte's watermelon gelato was the best ice cream/gelato/sorbet we've had in Europe...and that's saying something!
Maribor's "castle" is the turreted building in the center of this picture. It houses a museum, but was closed for the Labor Day holiday so we didn't see inside. The outside didn't impress my jaded castle-loving family.
Another fun sign. What exactly is this warning against?
Having explored Maribor for a bit and had some lunch, we set off for a nearby town, Ptuj. They have one of the largest castles in Slovenia there. After Maribor's tiny castle, we were looking forward to a big one!
Clearly the castle's residents were not as tall as Tom!
Just outside the castle's chapel was a portrait gallery. This was Charlotte's favorite. We think her hat looks like soft serve ice cream.
On one of the walkways overlooking the inner courtyard were a bunch of statues of dwarfs. If there was a great explanation for them...we couldn't find it.
The castle was built with heating from central fires on each level, creating hot air which is then sent via ducting to each room. The hot air warms the tiles in these tower-like pieces to maintain the heat in the room. Every room has one of these, differing in shape and color. We see these often in old castles.
There was a special exhibit about the history of a nearby chapel and monastery, but it wasn't in English, so I don't have any of the details. The face on this statue of Mary is heartbreaking.
Apparently this region had highly skilled instrument craftsman.
I thought the faces on the ends of the stringed instruments were very unique.
Not sure why they all wore blindfolds...
9 year old boys are endlessly fascinated with armor and weaponry in case you are not aware:
Just like in Hungary with the Busós, Slovenia has a creature that comes out in the Spring called a "kurent".
Although they weren't allowed to test out the headpieces, the gang tried on the (heavy!) coats.
Having explored Ptuj, it was off to our last destination for the day, Lake Bled.
We checked into a cute little inn, with a fabulous location, great views...
and terrible art!
We walked down to the water for dinner, but it was already a bit late to get the best view of the lake. But we were excited to see it the next morning!
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And now...the story of the tick.
The kids were in bed, Tom was getting ready to do the same when he felt something on the back of his calf. And there it was...a very attached tick. We have never even thought about ticks really. I certainly wasn't sure what to do about it. Thank heaven for the internet (and my much more informed-about-ticks sister-in-law from Boston, Erin). After debunking everything Tom suggested (burn it off etc.) I learned all about the special tick removal tools that everyone should own. Which we don't. And that Hungary/Slovenia and the whole region is a mecca for ticks. Swell.
Happily sucking away...
First step? Fashion some removal tweezers. The website I used as reference (and several others) warned against using regular tweezers, lest you squeeze the body too hard. To the rescue? Some Swiss Army tweezers. I bent a pair into the (apparently) appropriate inward shape. I was not a fan of the whole removal process. She did NOT want to be removed. But she finally relented.
And there she is.
After talking to the emergency medical company Emerson uses, we decided to go to the doctor the next morning for some preventative antibiotics. (Even though this is jumping ahead to tomorrow, I'll finish the story here on Day 1). Did I mention the fact that Emerson had switched all ex-pats over to a new international insurance starting May 1? The date of the tick incident? May 1. We had NOTHING set up with them yet, and no ID cards. But we dug around on the insurance website and found a clinic a few towns over from Bled. Tom called the clinic to try and get an appointment. Charlotte and Nico can do quite a reenactment of the phone call. We know Tom was trying to enunciate and explain the situation to someone not fluent in English, but watching him on the phone was quite a treat.
Imagine this with dramatic hand gestures:
"I have been bitten. By. A tick. I have removed. The. Tick."
He kept trying to explain what he needed, and they kept telling us to go to another office before coming there. So back on the phone with the insurance company. They decided to send us via email a letter authorizing payment and told us to head on over to the clinic. We took the very scenic drive about a half hour from Bled, only to arrive at a hospital. Not really clinic-like at all. Inside (boy, do I wish I had pictures, but it seemed inappropriate!), was the most communist-feeling hospital scene. We hadn't felt any of that in Slovenia until that moment. So here's Tom, at the window we assume is for check-in, with his ipad showing the letter of authorization (we didn't have access to a printer) and no ID cards. And people are just wandering around in hospital gowns with gurneys parked everywhere. It was truly odd! After a bit of time, and being cycled through a few employees, a doctor came over from another building (which made us think we were in the completely wrong place...but who knows). She pretty much laughed at the whole concept of preventative antibiotics and said that we would have to wait to see the Lyme disease bulls-eye before they would give any out, apparently not caring that not everyone gets the bulls-eye. Thankfully, the tick hadn't been in terribly long we don't think, so we had reason to expect everything would be fine. But so much, much time wasted. One other thing: we learned that this part of the world is rampant with Tick-Borne Encephalitis, which isn't helped by antibiotics anyway, but is prevented using a vaccine given three times over the course of a year. So once we're back in Budapest and have figured out the whole new insurance thing, we'll get on that!
So ends the tick saga. Luckily nothing came of it except this story. And a play which the kids wrote which mimics Tom on the phone with the clinic. It was a grand show despite its limited run.
Tomorrow...it's off to the castle!
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