The destination for 2010 has been decided. We will be going to Croatia and Slovenia for next year's vacation. I know it is nearly a year away, but I am already trying to figure out what to see with limited time and money. It is impossible to cover two whole countries in two weeks, so we will only get a taste of each. Hopefully the taste will be so delightful that we will return.

After several months of planning and making reservations, the trip is virtually all in place. Here is how it has all been mapped out. As usual, my plan is to list things we hope to do and come back and update this page after the trip to review each.

Our flight (via Munich) will arrive in Zagreb around 10am on Wednesday morning and we will stay for 3 days with my cousin ZiZi and her family and we will let her be our guide.

She has mentioned the possibility of a day trip one day to a coastal town on the Adriatic sea called Opajia.

In Zagreb we will see family and any sights ZiZi plans for us.

Saturday morning we will take the train from Zagreb to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Originally we were going to rent a car from Zagreb airport, but I soon learned that it would more than double the price to take the car in one country and return it in another. The solution was to take the train and rent the car in Slovenia.

The additional problem was that we since we will be coming back to Ljubljana we wanted to rent the car in the city instead of the airport, but because we will be picking up and dropping off the car on a Saturday and Sunday, the in-town locations were not open. So now when we arrive by train, we have to catch a 45 minute bus to the airport to pick up the car. This should be the only tiresome part of the trip.

Slovenia - Lake Bled - 4 days : Saturday to Wednesday Morning

Once we pick up the car at Ljubljana airport, it is only a 30 to 40 minute drive on highways to Lake Bled.

When we arrive in the town we will first stop and have lunch and visit tourist information for maps and brochures before contining a mile or so further to the village where our Farm-Hotel is located. This farm stay should be very interesting. The building is very new and breakfast and dinner are included and we can borrow bikes for free.

We will stay at Lake Bled for 4 nights and hope to see the and do the things listed below while there.

Lake Bled Activities

• Bike around the lake
• Visit Bled Castle
• Swim in the Lake
• Take the bus to Vintgar gorge, visit the gorge and walk back to Bled.
• Try the famous Bled Cake
• Take a Vaperetto boat to the island in the middle of the lake.
• Go rowing on the lake

Farm website: Mulej Bled

Slovenia - on the way to Izola : Wednesday

When we depart from Lake Bled on Wednesday morning, the drive to Izola is less than two hours, but we will turn it into an all day event.

First we will drive to a village along the way called Brezje , Creknici. This is the village where my grandmother lived. Her relatives still live in the house but have not responded to my letter. If I can't meet them, at least I can take pictures and visit the churchyard for some family research.

From here we will visit some nearby tourist caves - the biggest in Slovenia. There are some meadow walks on the grounds of the caves so we can do a bit of walking as well.

We hope to arrive in time for dinner in Izola.

Slovenia - Izola - 4 days : Wednesday evening - Sunday morning

In Izola we have booked a nice hotel in the heart of the old town, right by the sea. We have a room with a balcony and a sea view and the only worry is the lack of parking. However, I have written back and forth with someone at the hotel who has promised to help us find safe parking if there is not a spot free when we arrive.

There is an old railway line along the coast that is now a bike trail so we hope to go biking, exploring the town, swimming in the sea and we will have a day trip on Saturday pre-booked to go to Venice.

The Venice trip is only available on Saturday while we are there, so we want to prebook to ensure we get to do it. It is 2 hours by catamaran to Venice, a guided tour in English of the main sights and then the afternoon to do what we want before catching the return boat at 5pm. Of course we hope to do a gondola ride even though they are frightfully expensive.

We also plan to book a picnic cruise from Izola. This 3 hour cruise includes a picnic lunch of grilled sardines and swimming.

We also hope to bike along the coast one day to the next town and back.

Slovenia - Ljubljana - 2 days : Sunday - Tuesday evening

On Sunday we will check out of the hotel and drive to Ljubljana airport. This trip should be about 2 hours.

We will return the car at the airport and take the hotel shuttle into the city.

There are several walking tours of the town and we will do one of them, and check out the castle and explore everywhere on foot and take a river cruise.

We will also rent bikes (we hope) to explore a park not too far from where were are staying.

On our last day, we have to wait for a 6pm flight so after checking out of the hotel (but leaving our bags with the hotel) we will walk to a recommended suburb that is full of canals.

Eventually we will take the shuttle back to the airport and fly to Gatwick in England, arriving around 7:30pm.

England - Devon - 5 days : Tuesday (late) - Sunday afternoon

Graham's sister will be meeting us at the airport and driving us down to Ottery St Mary in Devon where she lives.

While in Devon I expect we will do some lovely walks, but in addition to whatever Sally plans for us, we think there will be a big family reunion on the Saturday and we hope to visit the Exeter Go Ape park for some adventures in the tree tops with Graham's brother and his kids.

I hope to have time to visit my pen friend Anne in Glasonbury as well, most likely while Graham plays golf.

Finally, on the Sunday afternoon around 4pm we will catch a coach to Heathrow where we will stay at an airport hotel and catch our flight home the next morning.