K-town and Beyond

I spent two wonderfully uneventful days in Karlovac. It was wonderful to see the great members there and see how the branch is doing. Unfortunately, the branch is exactly the same as when I left it almost 2 years ago. There are even fewer members coming regularly, actually. I tried to do my part and talk to some of the less active members I was friends with while I served there. I actually stayed with Marinka Kos, who doesn't come regularly to meetings anymore. I gave her a hard time about it, and hopefully the Karlovac branch will be graced by her presence again soon. I had lunch with the missionaries in K-town and probably "strolled" around the whole city 5 times (which isn't really saying much, honestly). It was a nice relaxing few days, and I think I'm finally catching up with the jet lag. Tuesday morning, Marinka took me up to Zagreb since she works there, and dropped me off at a train stop to ride into center to catch a train to Ljubljana. On the border, they gave me quite a hassle since I had so many stamps in my passport from that particular border crossing. Being a Zone Leader for 1/2 your mission makes for a very full passport, what with all the Mission Councils and AP exchanges in Slovenia. The guy on the Slovene side even radioed in my info and finally gave my passport back and went on his way. The rest of the ride was uneventful. I actually fell asleep for most of it. Then, before you knew it, I was in Ljubljana

Ljubljana is a beautiful city. Small, for sure, but beautiful. It was foggy and rainy, but that didn't stop me from seeing what there was to see. I walked around the old town for about 5 hours, seeing what there is to see (the Ljubljana Castle, the Three Bridges, the Dragon Bridge, etc.). I also made my way out of the city center to a small neighborhood nearby to check out the Archeology Museum. It was really a museum to a guy named Jože Plečnik, one of the most influential architects of his day and certainly the most influential in Ljubljana. Almost every single monument I had aadmired that day was his work. I got a guided tour (it ended up being a private tour, since no one else was there. It only cost 2 euro, too!) of his house and got to see more about how he worked. He loved juxtaposing two ideas or motifs to enhance both of them. It was a nice way to spend an hour outside of the rain. I went back into centar and found a nice restaurant to have lunch at, and did a little window shopping. When I was thoroughly soaked and starting to get shin splints from all the walking, I gave Pres. Hill a call (my mission president) and he came and picked me up. We had a good chat, and went back to the mission home. I am now preparing a talk to give in Zone Conference. Weird. I'm excited though. I'll let you know how it goes. Until then, Adio!