So what do San Marino and Lichtenstein have in common? They are both “microstates” or principalities! My friend and I decide to visit them both in August this year. We meet in Bologna airport and catch a train to Rimini and then a bus to San Marino. For me this had been a sixteen -hour journey in total as I had caught a bus from Norwich in the early hours of the morning. It is hot!!! This beautiful city is built on the top of a mountain and the first thing you see as you approach is one of the three towers. Cute as it is with its cobbled streets and breathtaking sunsets, it is full of tourists, particularly in the daytime, when people arrive for day trips. There are some strange things for sale in the many tourist shops but worth a look. We visit the towers and have really done everything there is to do after a day but we are here for two days. I suggest the “cliff top walk, which is described on a map we have. We follow some signs and walk through some woods. We don’t see a single person which is a great contrast to the busy city. Unfortunately, when we reach the end of the route, we have to swing down on ropes which appear to be holding up the ‘cliffs’ and we land unceremoniously on a main road. Luckily there is a taverna close by to get a cold drink and we are directed into the city from there, which involves some traffic dodging.
The next day we retrace our steps to Bologna and fly to Zurich. From there we drive to our next destination… Lichtenstein. An easy drive with great views of the mountains. Our hotel is in a residential street and has a self- check in, which we experience some difficulties with as it doesn’t seem to list our nationality. We realise that the town of Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, is about eight miles away so that is all good. The town sits on the Rhine River near the Swiss border. Vaduz Castle sits on the hillside overlooking the town and dates back to the 12th century. It is a royal family residence so you can’t go inside it but you can walk or drive up to see it from the outside. What else to do in Vaduz? You can walk across the wooden bridge, which crosses the Rhine and put one foot in Switzerland and one in Lichtenstein. In the town there are numerous sculptures by world famous artists. And that is Lichtenstein done!
A drive back to Zurich in the morning gives us several hours to explore the city before boarding an overnight train to Slovenia and our final destination, the city of Ljubljana. Zurich is very hot and very expensive. It is a beautiful city with stunning architecture along the Limmat River with the snow-capped mountains in the distance, and of course, Lake Zurich. A highlight is the Chagall windows in the Fraumünster church and is a cool respite from the blistering heat outside.
Before we board our train, my friend opts for food from the supermarket and I go for the breathtakingly expensive pizza in the station. We look for the train with its final destination of Zadar in Croatia. My friend asks whose idea it had been to book an overnight train? Mine! Only £28 but I hadn’t booked a sleeper. We find our carriage which is a six -seater occupied by other people so I find another carriage which we claim as our own. The views are stunning as we leave Switzerland and the sunset over the mountains is worth the slightly uncomfortable night on the train and the unexpected visitor who comes into the carriage at 3am and touches my leg, making me bolt upright.
We arrive in the city of Ljubljana at 8am and it looks as if it is going to be a very hot day. I had previously visited this city twenty years ago and what I see before me now is a very different city. It is beautiful but now crowded with tourists and so many restaurants along the river and also a lot more expensive. The castle has to be visited but as it has all been renewed it is quite an odd experience. The virtual show is fun and the views of the city worth the climb. We are told that Italians take their holidays in the first two weeks of August and a lot of them come here. It certainly is crowded!
The next day we had booked a day trip to Lake Bled and Vintgar Gorge, first visiting the pretty town of Skofja loka and the lake of Bohinj. This is where the Crohn’s part of the story comes in. This is what happens out of the blue. I wake up with excruciating pains in my tummy with no idea why. I am doubled over. I try walking about, drinking a hot drink, trying to eat some breakfast. I know I will be in a small minibus with no toilet and a group of strangers. I am distressed because my friend has paid for this treat for my birthday. Time ticks on. We need to be there in ten minutes.
We walk to the meeting point and I feel really bad. After speaking to the driver of the bus and our guide for the day, he reassures me that he will stop if I need to stop as long as I give him a couple of minutes’ warning. After our first toilet stop the situation seems to resolve itself and the rest of the day is fine but it is a stark reminder that wherever I am in the world, Crohn’s can rear its head unexpectedly. It is a lovely day, however, and I walk around Lake Bled with the temperature hitting the mid -thirties. Again, the last time I was here it was almost deserted but is now full of paddle boarders and swimmers and so many people, but it is a Sunday in August after all and local families are here too enjoying this beautiful spot. The Vintgar Gorge with its tumbling waterfalls offers a little respite from the heat before we head back through the city with the expected traffic chaos. The next morning, I catch a plane in the early hours and fly home via Copenhagen where the flight home is delayed. Time to sit and write a blog! The joys of travel! As Ralph Waldo Emmerson would say: “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey”. Not sure I totally agree!
