The excitement of our Serbia to Croatia border crossing pales in comparison to that of Croatia to Slovenia. We thought that the quiet road and warm smiles would see us through but were sadly mistaken. The guards took one look at my list of visited nations and needed ten minutes discussion to decide what to do with us. We were told to park off to the left and then stood as all border guards huddled together and spoke in hushed tones. Eventually two chaps came over to calmly inform us that everything had to come out. A big table was rolled over to the back of the car and the latex gloves were fitted. Emptying the front of the car to the table posed few problems. The guards took a look through our suitcases and seemed to give the nod that each was well packed. There was a delay then which neither myself or Andy understood until a scrawny and mangy dog emerged. I had not previously seen a drug sniffer that had such an appearance of malnourishment but was hardly going to complain. The dog was shown a nice toy and then allowed to jump around inside the car. It sniffed, it bounded, it tried briefly to chew on the seats but apparently found nothing. It was then led around to the table of baggage and allowed to jump around on top. A bottle of wine was knocked over and came open and a clothes bag was bitten repeatedly but again apparently nothing found of interest.

I hoped that to be the end of it but sadly no. We had yet to empty out the trunk and it was obvious that the guards would not be satisfied without that. It should be noted that that trunk has not been emptied in 7 months and was no small task to accomplish. My mini library, my collection of foreign wines, foods from at least seven nations, and car care devices all ended up on the table of goodies. I was sure that even without the presence of drugs that the dog wouldn't be able to keep his paws off the food stock. Especially the homemade items that I had received from my Polish friends after the Greece venture. When the dog returned and gave all a once over with the nose he was completely disinterested however. Seems that none of the foods I've got suited him. At this point the border guards seemed confident that we were indeed clear. I began then the long process of putting everything back into the trunk of the car. I was glad of this actually as I really needed to reorganize the lot and had not had an opporutunity previously. Another border guard came to us and presented us with a form stating that we were drug free after thorough search. He said that we could use this in the future to prove that we were cleared though I'm not sure that a form written entirely in Slovenian would be of much use elsewhere. Nevertheless we accepted the form with a smile.

We then asked our new chums if they knew the way to the university in Ljubliana where we were set to meet Ana that afternoon. The border guard immediately smiled and said that that was his university and ended up giving Andy the full speel about where the university was and showed the way on the map. There were smiles and handshakes all round when we finally were packed up and heading off. As always outwardly difficult situations can turn out to be marvelous adventures. In this case we left the border with a newly organized car and complete directions to our destination.

Take a look at the two new galleries on Lovable Quirks from our day today in Austria and more of Slovenia. The first in the Slovenia album pictures me with Ana and a good friend of hers, Sneska. Somewhere in the middle is a picture of Ana and her family who were our hosts for three days. Right after the family shots is a picture of another friend from Ana's village named Mijha (I hope I spelled that right). Tomorrow we head to Germany with plans to be in Koln with my adopted family by Wednesday. They are already making preparations and excited for our arrival. I cannot express how overwhelmed I am to know that my visit is awaited with such excitement. I'm still convinced that I am the luckiest chap to have such people in my life. The gifts from God never cease, I only need to be able to see them. I will try to share about the marvelous experience of Slovenia in the next day or two at the latest. There too we were greeted with such warmth and hospitality that I long for the day that I can return to those that I met there.