The Last Lasko

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” – Mark Twain

I saw this quote the other day and it’s made me think a lot about our three stints in Ljubljana.  We arrived here in January of 2011 with strollers, diapers, and the simple hope of surviving five months here, and we leave tomorrow with three kids who will be in school full-time come September and the realization of how blessed we have been with the opportunity to spend eight of the past thirty months here.

As we walk around Ljubljana now, it doesn’t take much to spark the memories.  Usually, they’re goofy little things from our early days, like walking forty-five minutes to get a tax ID number only to find the office closed and then Celia wetting her pants on the way home.  But, whether big or small, all of the experiences that have created vivid, lasting memories have been the new ones.  And we can’t go back and experience them again…we’ve tried on occasion (not the wetting pants, of course) with mostly disappointing results.

So, as tempting as it sometimes is to try to “recreate the nostalgia”, we've found that it’s better to experience life here as it is today, as we are today.  Because it’s not the same…Don and Cindy are no longer here, Mijo is no longer here, we weren’t able to see Mirko this time, Rok and Petra are experiencing life with a newborn, and many of the places we used to frequent have changed hands.  And, of course, we’re not the same…we're a completely different family than we were two years ago.

Three things have remained consistent, however (in addition to the daily ice cream cones, that is).  One is that we were able to once again have some of those unique experiences that we’ll always remember like yesterday, like staying in a tree house and being served a four-course dinner by a Slovenian family at their country cottage.  The second is that our friend Marinka bid us farewell today with big hugs and very thoughtful, personalized gifts.  And the third is that I will enjoy one last Lasko this evening to celebrate another successful trip.  To new experiences, to new (and old) friends, and to Lasko… er, growing as a family.  Na Zdravje.

Rabac

We continued our tradition of ending our stay here with a trip to the sea, spending the past three days in Rabac.  Rabac is a small village on the eastern side of Istria, the Croatian peninsula that is very popular among Slovenes.

We thought we were going to have prime real estate with the apartment we rented there, as Google Maps showed it to be on the third street in from the shore.  What Google Maps didn't show was that the hillside in Rabac rises almost straight up, so the third street in was high above the bay (see below) with a demanding walk down to the water (and an even more demanding walk back up!).  But, we had a great view and got plenty of exercise hoofing it up and down to the beach.

There was plenty of sun, plenty of swimming, and, of course, plenty of ice cream cones.  But, the highlight of our trip was the last evening, when a student of mine from last year invited us to have dinner at her family's cottage in nearby Labin.  Her parents put out quite the spread for us and we sat outside eating dinner until nearly midnight, in typical Slovene fashion.  We prepared the kiddos by napping before we went and they had a blast - they got all the attention/juice/desserts they could handle and ran endless circles around the field behind the cottage.  Everything about the evening was charming, and it is just one more example of the incredible hospitality people have shown us here.