White Christmas

 Thursday, Liz had an appointment to see the orthopedic surgeon in Zagreb to get her stitches removed, etc.  Fortunately, it was for 4:00 pm, because we woke up to about 4" of snow on the ground and more falling.  At about 10:30, the sisters called to ask me if I could help them get to the train station with their luggage - one is going to Zagreb in preparation for her return home, and the other is going to Ljubljana to form a trio with a companionship of sisters there.  When I got back, I noticed that a significant part of the snow had already melted on the roads, while at the same time the snow level had increased to more like 6".  Not true on the sidewalks - they are a mass of slush and ice.  However, we decided to make the trip to Zagreb.  I was nervous about it, especially when it started to snow again.

The snow on the trees is very heavy.

As we climbed onto the small range of mountains betwwen Slovenia and Croatia, the snow increased, but the roads were little more than wet.  At the very peak, there was a short stretch where I felt the tires slip a couple of times, but we had no trouble with it, to speak of.  After clearing customs and heading back downhill, the roads got better and there was a lot less snow.  By the time we got to Zagreb, it was just a powdering.

  We stopped at the church and dropped off some Christmas things for various missionaries and to watch some of the lip synching performances - we had missed it during our conference the week before.

The surgeon took out the stitches and told us everything was fine, except that he wanted Liz to keep the brace on for 6 weeks, but after 3 we could increase the range of motion to 60 degrees, instead of the current 30 degrees of motion.

We went prepared to stay the night in Zagreb, if we needed to.  But everything looked OK outside, so we took off for home.  I have admit that I was very stressed about the slush on the roads, and the worry about the temperature dropping below freezing  - but it never did.  We drove home without incident.

Friday, I had to run some errands, and we had to get serious about packing up all our junk.

This is the bridge next to our apartment.  I was trying to get a photo through the windshield to show the snow after 24 hours.  This one also shows how much Slovenes love to walk.  The packed snow was slippery and the air was frigid - near zero, but look how many people are out there.  The bridge leaves one exposed to the full force of any winds and the chill factor is large.

I went into Center to pick up a special bakery order Liz made.  It wasn't ready, but I did take some shots of Center.

Looking East at the little shelters in the Christmas Market, and the big tree in the center of the roundabout.

This is the City building with the infamous balcony where Hitler spoke.

And this is looking West, towards the Maribor Hotel with stripes where their huge skylights let out the heat.

Today, we did more packing and moved the last of the stuff that is staying with the mission to the new apartment in Celje.  We are debating whether to call that apartment "The Vila", or "The Celje Mansion".  It is an older building, furnished with marvelous antiques.  Despite that, it is quite nice and has modern appliances and other touches, including the largest refrigerator in the mission.

This coffee table in the living room is worth a fortune!  It is incredibly difficult to find wood like this!  And it was masterfully incorporated into the table.

This is the bedroom.  It has an oversized King bed in the middle of a room that is about 40' long, by 15 feet wide.

On the way home tonight, we joined a Zoom call with all Liz's siblings.  We do this every week, but tonight's  was the last one while on our mission.   In a few minutes, there is another Zoom call with all the senior missionaries.  This one is strictly social, and we all love it.   It, too, will be our last.

Tomorrow we will give our fairwell talks to the Maribor Branch.  

We have two more days.