Slovenia--a day in the Alps!

*Just because this is the day I left my camera in a coffee shop bathroom, don't expect fewer pictures. Thank you, facebook!*
J.P. picked us up and drove us to Kranjska Gora, a small town in the Alps. When we first got there, I went into the Spar, a small grocery store by myself and bought some chocolate covered nuts for a snack. I know it's silly, but it made me feel good. :)
We split into 2 groups to put literature in mailboxes--Gospel of John, Trubar brochure, and gotquestions cards (the Trubar link is to info. about him, not to the actual brochure we uesd). I was with Josh, Bethany, and Lauren. I let them put the things in while I prayed for the households. When we saw someone outside, we'd offer it to them. Everyone said no except an 83-year-old woman named Ana, who took it and spoke English with us awhile--even introduced us to her dog, Kara, who shook hands with us! She was very sweet, talked to us about what it was like going to school before World War II and how she learned German, French, and Serbian in school, but after the war the schools taught Russian and English. I am amazed when I think of the changes she has seen. Lauren asked if we could pray for her, so we did, and she thanked us, then said, "I am satisfied with my life. This (indicating the beauty around her) is my heaven." And I couldn't think of anything to say until it was too late. I pray she reads the materials and sees how Jesus yearns for her to follow Him.

We used this table to get our materials ready.

This is a river, not a road! We couldn't believe how clear the water was.

Notice the watering trough.

Coming up to Ana's house

Lauren, Ana, Josh, Bethany

Can you see the spikes on the roof, to hold the snow?

 When we met back up again, we had finished the town the group before us had started! We ate lunch at a traditional restaurant--I had delicious schnitzel with noodles french fries and crisp apple strudel. After that we drove up the mountain! We stopped on our way at an Orthodox chapel that had been built by Russian POWs in World War I, to honor those killed in an avalanche there. It was beautiful.

Josh said the symbol on this bottle was Yugoslav.

We all drank from the stream.

Believe it or not, this day wasn't over yet! To be continued...

Slovenia--the day we visited a castle!

*Disclaimer/warning/explanation: Lots of pictures in this post! I was so fascinated by everything I couldn't stop taking pictures, and I loved it so much I want to remember it and this is my closest thing to a journal.*
When we went to the breakfast room this day, our eyes were awakened by the sight of a man in a hot pink full body biking suit. Wow. J.P. and Josh met us at our hotel and walked us (past the fire trucks that put out a fire on our street!) to the market to buy food for lunch. We bought prosciutto (wind cured there in Slovenia) and regular ham, 2 kinds of bread (plus one she threw in free!), more kajmak, Slovenian acacia honey, cherries, strawberries, olives, Za Life (apple water) and Za Harmony (peach water).

Notice the fire truck is a Mercedes!

3-D map of Ljubljana! We saw one of these in another town, too.

If you were sitting here by me, I would show you exactly where our hotel was. See the three bridges!

Gotta imitate the exit dude.

Market

Hare Krishnas parading through the market.

I laughed when I saw the flag of Nepal on this booth--we have a large Nepali population on our campus, and one of our students has a huge heart for them. So of course we had to go meet him! She enjoyed talking to him and even saw him again in his hometown!

This cheese guy gave us a sample. (I didn't care for it much.)

Honey!

The man in the center was being VERY "friendly" to one of our girls.

After loading food into everyone's backpacks, we started hiking to the castle! It was an uphill climb--I started off in long pants and ended up in shorts! (Please excuse my big white legs.) We all looked longingly at the funicular below, but saw more walking, anyway. :)

We went through a bunch of tunnels in Slovenia, some of them miles long, and all of them very nice. I got over my phobia!

 Ljubljana from above

Talk about your hairpin turn!

 Monument for a peasant rebellion

 J.P.'s wife Angie and daughter Bethany met us at the castle, and we sat on the grass to enjoy lunch, Bible study, and prayer.

My girls: Amy, Ashley, Amber, Lauren

 The Manleys: Josh, Angie, Bethany, and J.P. Their other daughter was away at boarding school.

The castle is popular with brides.

After our prayer time we toured the castle and walked back down on the other side of the hill. Of course then we needed more ice cream! I got Turkish honey this time.  :)

When I saw frescoes like this, from almost 1000 years ago, it just thrilled me.

Can you see the shape of the kneeling benches? They were quite beautiful.

Notice the dragon!

 Even the manhole covers have castles and dragons on them!

When we got back to the hotel, we gathered in our room to label and pass out literature. We split into teams--I was with the two MKs, Joshua and Bethany. We ran into lots of locked doors, but we did give away all the books of John we had. At one door a waiter asked what we were doing, and Josh told him we were putting things in mailboxes. He asked what things, so Josh offered him a gospel of John and he threw his hands up saying, "No, no, I believe in myself." So we said okay and walked on. But when we reached the end of the street with one John left, Joshua felt like he should go back and try again. Then agian, he thought he shouldn't because the guy was working. 12-year-old Bethany said she would do it, so I went with her, and he said, "I told you, I don't need it. I believe in me." And his brother said, "And communism." I asked, "Don't you ever let yourself down?" He said, "No, why would I?" I talked to him a teensy bit more, asked his name (Rok), told him I'd pray for him, and we left with him and his brother yelling "Merry Christmas!" and laughing.

We had an hour and a half for rest and showers, then went to a pizzeria for supper. I ate the kind with bacon, spicy salami, and garlic, NOT the kind with brocolli, carrots, corn, and cauliflower. After that we split up, and Joshua, Lauren, Ashley, and I went to a coffee shop to try to meet people. We played Uno for an hour, but didn't meet anyone, so we took our leftover pizza (and some gospels of John) to some homeless guys and called it a night.

My drink at the coffee shop--Ladena Kava--mmmmm!