And then came Sam

 While Bill and Barb were with us, they were in touch with Sam, who wanted to join them.  Unfortunately, he couldn't join us while they were here, so he joined them while they were in Rome.  He asked us if he could visit after his grandparents had to go.  Of course we said yes.  Who wouldn't?

Meanwhile, life went on.  On September 14 we went to Celje to pick up the sisters, who had been doing a service project - gathering up potatoes from the field of an elderly member.  We love spending time with the young missionaries - they are just a supercharging station.  The sisters had gone to Celje by bus, but after working all day, they asked for a ride home so they could get home in time for missionary lights out.  We waited at the farm house, and looked at the out-buildings.

I love they way they use bricks to provide ventilation on their barns, and how decorative it is.

This is made of two hay-drying racks, with a roof over all, and a loft added.

September 18

Sam arrived at the Ljubljana airport, so we took him directly to Lake Bled.

Here we are on a Pletna again, with the castle and the big church in the background.  The island is at the other end of the lake.

I decided to go up the stairs on the island this time, because my knee has not been strained lately, and I haven't been up there in quite a while.  It was good.  I don't know why I didn't take more photos, but again, we were just here a week before.

I did take a photo of this doorway.  It goes into the base of the bell tower and you can look up through a steel grate to the bells at the top.  These are bigger, louder bells than the one you ring inside the chapel (for a price, of course.)  These are used to call people to mass on those occasions when they hold a mass out here.  Anyway, I loved this doorway for its deeply pointed arch, and the worn stones on the threshold.  Sam and I went in and looked up.  Sam was amazed at the small steps, consisting of wooden planks set into the masonry, and no guard rail.  He is such a nice young man - it has been a pleasure to have him.

After we got back to the car, we drove up to Lake Bohinj, which is a larger, and more unspoiled alpine scenic lake compared to Bled's commercial development.  When we arrived, we walked across the bridge, looking at the trout lined up at the edge of where the water flowing out of the lake speeds up as it enters the river that goes down the hill.

Sam decided to take a dip in the clear water flowing under the bridge.  I imagine it was a might chilly, but he said it was refreshing.  He swam out past the kayaking class on the water, to the other side of the lake, and back.  He had to ride home slightly wet, but never a complaint from him!

On the 21st, Liz and I had to drive to Ptui to get an estimate for repairing some damage from minor encounters with immovable objects.  The odd thing is that the repair shop is in such a small town.  We got our estimate, and made an appointment for Oct. 11 to get it repaired.  We also got a promise of a loaner car.

On the way back, we drove by this yard with sunflowers that have so many petals they obscure the dark center of the flower.  I didn't know such a thing exists, but Liz said she planted some, one time in our past.

On the 24th we had some slack time so we took Sam on a two-day visit to the Istrian Peninsula and Hreljin.  In Istria we visited  Rovinj and Pula.

Here we are with the town of Rovinj across the bay.  Sam went up to the church and climbed the church tower, from where he could see Venice, Italy across the Adriatic Sea.  

Rovinj is a city that was built by the Italians in the days when they had a vast shipping/trading fleet.  The tour book said that you can wander around the entire city in about 20 minutes, but Liz and I took a bit longer than that.

Here is Sam, looking at his phone instead of the scenery, with Rovinj in the background.  The church is at the top of a hill that has sheer cliffs on the far side, so you can see almost the entire city in this photo.  Liz and Sam both took photos of the little alleys stretching back from the main streets.  The streets are reasonably wide by European standards, but the alleys are often only 3-6 feet wide, with one building running into the next, and laundry lines stretching across from one side of the alley to the other.  

Next we visited Pula, specifically the Roman amphitheater, the best preserved amphitheater to be found.  We went inside and Sam was delighted by it.  It is sobering to think of what happened in this place.  Many people died here in contests to the death, fights with wild animals, and sheer slaughter of Christians and other people Rome thought were dangerous.

This is a Panorama photo where I rotated almost all the way around.  What looks like a bulge in the left third of it is actually the part of the wall closest to where I was standing.

Liz is resting in the ruins of one of the rooms where contestants and animals waited their turn  to enter the arena.

This is one of the four stairways going from the entrance to the top level and all points between.  The wooden stairs are long gone, but the supporting structure remains.  If you enter any of today's football, baseball, soccer, or entertainment stadiums, you will find the same thing.

From Pula, we drove over to where we had reserved a room at a little hotel  at the edge of Rijeka.  To get there, we had to drive through part of Opatija, and about 100 yards into Rijeka, but this place is right on the beach, which was nice.  So Sam got another nice place for a refreshing dip.

The next day, we went to Hreljin.  We visited the house where Liz's father was born, Sam's great-grandfather.  The couple who have the house attached to the old one where Liz's Dad was born have been visited by us so often that now they recognize us and welcome us.  Sam got a good visit.

Next we drove to the cemetery, where Liz and Sam walked among the gravestones looking for familiar names from their genealogy.  We hiked down to the Dravi Grad (old city) Hreljin with its castle ruins.  And then we had to go back home.

September 29.  Sam borrowed my Nikon camera and we spent a half hour going over how to operate it and take good photos   Then he and Liz drove up to the Heart Road.  It was a much more satisfying visit than when we tried to take Bill and Barbara there a couple weeks ago.  These are some of the photos Liz and Sam took.