Day 5

We left Lake Bled and headed for Reutte, Austria.  We made a pit stop at Krimmler Waterfall.

That's not the waterfall.  That's just a little stream that sidetracked me on our hike.  This is the waterfall:

That's not me jumping across it.  I wish it were.

If you're ever on the road in Austria, I definitely recommend making this little pit stop.  It's quite a hike all the way to the top of the falls, but the view is spectacular.

Europe Day 4 - Ljubljana

Ljubljana.  Pronounced Lee-oo-blee-ahna.  Think of the Js as Is. Liubliana.

Anyway.  It's the capital and largest city in Slovenia.  We spent a day there during our stay at Lake Bled.

We spent the morning walking up to the castle and then enjoying the view from on top of the tower.  After a few days of rain it was nice to be able to soak up the sunshine.

We grabbed lunch at a sidewalk cafe downtown.  The sun played hide and seek for the rest of the afternoon but it came out while we were down by the river.  I could have stayed there forever.

Eventually we headed back to base camp at Lake Bled. We took a quick stroll by the lakeside and scoped out some photo opps.

We rented a little row boat and took a spin on the lake for an hour or so, and then we walked to town for ice cream while we watched the sun set over the mountains.

In the morning we headed back for Austria.

When you give a kid a camera

I got my first camera sometime around 2000 or 2001. It might have been for my birthday while we were living in London.  I was instantly obsessed with photography and can't even estimate how many rolls of film I went through.

I'm up at my mom's and was going through some things in my room (I call it my room but I never actually lived in this house) when I came across a drawer full of old pictures.  Most of them were just blurry snapshots from school or sleepovers with my friends.  I am the type of person who is easily lost in nostalgia, so it was nice to look through them.  I am also the type of person whose awkward phase lasted several years longer than is generally acceptable, so they were also somewhat cringe-inducing.

Anyway.

I found a few gems from some of my travels in Europe with the family.  I giggled at many of them - poorly composed, half of a stranger's body in the foreground, tops of buildings cut off, the usual mistakes people make.  Of course, I was 11 years old and didn't know what I was doing so I shouldn't be too hard on myself.  I also found a few kind of cool pictures.  I will call them happy accidents.

That is my mom sitting on the bench and my dad holding the sheep.

I've always felt more confident expressing my emotions through words.  I don't think that is any secret with people who know me best.  I'd rather think than talk, and I'd rather write than think or be alone with my thoughts.  I get out of bed a lot to quickly jot down lines that run through my head - to get them on paper before they float away.

I love photography because it's another way to feel connected to something without having to formulate a verbal emotion.  Sure, I'm taking pictures of buildings or flowers or inanimate objects that don't have any feelings to relate to, but it's still a type of expression and I find the process therapeutic.

I'm really glad I found these pictures.

Day 3

Even though it rained all day we still adventured around the town of Bled.  We went up to the castle (I say "went" but I mean ascended a very steep staircase and slippery rock driveway), walked around the lake, and managed to find time to eat.

I did not even remotely enjoy Slovenian food.  I ordered french fries twice in an effort to be a really insulting American stereotype, and one night Mike and I went to a pizzeria and that was probably the best meal I ate during the whole trip.  Pizza.

Day 2

The day we left Salzburg the sun finally came out.  Before heading to Slovenia we walked down by the river for a little while.  I wanted to make sure I had some pics of Salzburg with the sun.

We got into Bled, Slovenia in the early afternoon.

We saw a little bit of sun at Lake Bled, but then it clouded up and started raining.  It rained and rained.  Being a tourist is never as fun in lousy weather.