Monday, September 26, 2011

Down and Back.

With the exception of checking on emails I haven’t really had the time or ambition to fire up the computer all that much.

We’ve been busy.

As I (think I) alluded to on Friday,  I was off to Slovenia on Saturday morning to fetch my two sisters-in-law from the Slovenian cousin’s place in Sava.  There was some talk of the two of them taking the train back here,  but I just had visions of the one sister-in-law fighting with her suitcase getting on the train and such,  and there was no way that that was going to happen.  See,  she was born….well,  I have to be careful here,  some time before the second world war,  yet sometimes thinks she’s in her forties?   Revealing women’s ages on the blog is probably not a good idea for Bob.  Just thought I’d mention that.

Besides,  she had very kindly paid for a ONE MONTH Vignette for Slovenia when we went down a couple weeks ago,  and dammit! I was gonna get the use out of that thing!

 

I had sent along my estimated departure time at some point in an email,  stating that I was going to be leaving Vienna “before sun-up”,   which these days means around six a.m.   So when I showed up at the door at around 9:30,  they were a little surprised to see me.   I did say before sun-up,  and in spite of that,  the cousin somehow thought we’d be hanging around there until something like 2:00 p.m.  

Oh,  I don’t think so.   I wanted to get back here before the stores closed in case I had left anything off the shopping list (and I had)  so that was also not going to happen.

I’m not feeling overly effusive in the blogging department,  so what will follow will be a host of pictures I took on the way.

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The little beemer likes to go.  Just the same,  the Slovenians were still passing me.   Note the various temperatures in relation to the time?   It just depends on the elevation.

 

This is the only reason that I engage the GPS,  since I don’t want to miss the cut-off that takes me over the mountains to Sava.

the cutoff

Lousy picture though, but I was kinda busy.

 

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Now we’re off the highway.

 

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That one kind of sums it up.  Can you see the licence plate?

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Once you get into the mountains,  the weather can do some whacky things.

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Driving by oneself in a three series BMW in the mountains of Slovenia can be a lot of fun.  It’s always best to stay on the road though, and I’m certainly not a rally driver.  There was no skidding or going sideways,  although I noticed that motorcycle riders do have cornering issues when it’s really dicey.  Can’t keep up.  Naturally he passed me like I was parked once we hit a bit of a straightaway.   If you think there was any notion of picture taking,  you need to give yourself a shake. 

Too busy.

 

As I mentioned,  Slovenian cousin didn’t seem to get a good grasp on the notion that I was going to arrive early and then leave right away,  so she had put a pork roast in the oven.   Huh?

 

Not sure what to say except that,  letting others decide my travel times and such isn’t really something I’ve been willing to do since,  oh I don’t know?  about 1975?   Sorry about that.   There wasn’t going to be a “Happy Hour”  or anything. 

I mean,  I hung around long enough to have a cup of Turkish coffee,  and for the two ladies to get their bags packed, but that was it.

 

However,  we cut off a slab of the roast and took it with us!  

 

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I’ve had a couple slices as cold cuts.  I don’t know what she did to it,  but MAN,  she makes a great roast pork!  I think that’s all I’ll be having for supper tonight….

By the way,  that’s one of the sisters-in-law,  not the cousin.   The cousin,  among many other things,  is a volunteer firefighter,  and was at a competition that day.  So it’s just as well that Travelling Companion wasn’t able to come along,  since they wouldn’t have been able to see each other anyway. 

 

Cleaning the bugs off the windshield was the only other thing I took the time to do.

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So,  the hidden agenda for getting back to Vienna in a timely fashion?   Well,  there had been an offer to sort out the cooking details for the evening meal as well,  and I really didn’t want to screw up that opportunity.

I’m happily standing back at a safe distance from the kitchen.  Nice to get the day off.   (well,  except for that seven hours of driving)

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Dinner was a chicken risotto recipe that we got from another sister-in-law that is to die for,  but is very nearly at the outer limits of my culinary skill level.

That’s my story anyway.

 

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5 comments:

  1. I have another question - what is a vignette? I think I spelled that right. You guys do move right along over there. Guess I'd better not let my hubby anywhere near there. Dinner sounds wonderful.

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  2. A "vignette" is one of the terms to mean a sticker you place on your wind shield to show you've paid your road tax. It's the literal meaning of "road tax", unlike what some people seem to think they pay when they pay their income taxes, municipal taxes or whatever. There's a wiki article here

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  3. And yes, dinner was awesome, but then so was Sunday night's. But that's for tomorrow's snippet.

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  4. Hey Bob - thanks for the info. Just want to let you know I am really enjoying reading your blog.

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  5. Well thanks. Some times I go back and read some of my "drivel" and I just shake my head.
    Your kind words are appreciated.

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Well, I've been getting too many spam comments showing up. Just a drag, so we'll go another route and hope that helps. So, we won't be hearing anything more from Mr. Nony Moose.
I guess I'll just have to do without that Gucci purse.