Final Day

Our final day in Slovenia started off with breakfast, as per usual. This was followed by an unsurprisingly hectic hour of packing. Once these were out the way, we walked to Ljubljana for one final visit whilst the sun was out. Helen then decided on a meeting point which was followed by us breaking down into smaller groups and exploring independently. Lots of girls came back with souvenirs and momentos to take back home with them. All the groups reunited and, after a brief break, the leaders distributed badges among us. We then locked a padlock on the butchers bridge. It had on it the words,"sisters in guiding". A representative from both senior section and guides (Rebecca and Olivia) threw the keys into the river below. The morning was concluded by grabbing lunch.

After this we walked back to the youth hostel and changed into our guide uniform. The shuttles then took us to the airport. We went through customs and duty free and are awaiting to board our flight that keeps getting delayed.
We are now on the flight but are yet to take off soon .

We are now on the plane but we have to wait for more than 2 hours to set off, but luckily we have Helen to keep us active. We played a 1 word story and we sang lots of songs yay! We were all having a good time, even though we are not in the air yet.

After a long time of waiting we are currently moving and about to set of ( but Sarah the flight attendant is checking our seatbelts) the plane is getting faster and faster and we're off. The view is amazing! We can see all the houses and the trees below us.
We are higher than the clouds and the sky is amazing there are lots of different colours. We're now mid air and either sleeping or chatting and eating . Very exciting! Food's here!!

The view is wonderful, it is like a perfectly white mountains in the Alps determined to be the proudest creatures on earth.

We've been in the air for a while now and most of us have got over the exhilaration of leaving. Now most of us are thinking of the familiar faces, sights, smells and sounds of Home Sweet Home. We've had such a fun time in Ljubljana: we've been on a number of tours, swam in two different lakes and the sea, collected souvenirs for friends and family, learnt a variation of foreign words, had a laugh with some of our closest mates and basked in the unfamiliar blare of the sun - so much has happened that we've hardly had time to think of anything else!

Leaving is half a burden and half a relief. We'll all miss Slovenia deeply and treasure the happy memories that we made there. Overall we've all had an amazing trip and can't wait for the next Guide holiday.

By Issy, Katherine, Vid, Lily S and Tessa                    
                               

Karst and Coast

I'm currently sitting outside the hostel and I'm peacefully reflecting on our day . At the beginning of the day we all woke up for an early start , well most of us did but some came down late in their pyjamas. Once everybody was suitably attired we headed off to the caves with our new friend Karla and our old long lost friend Marco (our coach driver from Tuesday).

A fun 10 minute train journey took us 100m below the ground weaving in and out of narrow caves and every turn brought us a lovely bit of air con in the form of a fresh blast of freezing air. It was a great temperature of 30 degrees outside but once we were underground it dropped to a cold 10 degrees, thanks to Helen for the advice to bring our jumpers so none of us guides froze! Unfortunately, my camera and Helen's lips didn't like the weather change.

Once in the cave we headed up the great mountain and admired the different shapes of stalagmites and stalactites. Can you explain the difference between the two? We attempted to take lots of photos of all the different open caves and the narrow crevices, some came out alright which wasn't great but bearing in mind we weren't allowed to use the flash it was actually a huge achievement.

After taking in all the amazing geographical features surrounding us we saw some pink, blind, skinless dragons and jumped backed onto the train to finish our journey back through the magical, mysterious caves and we returned back into the 30 degree heat.

We had our lunch on the coach today , it was an interesting combination of tomato puree, salad tomatoes, yellow peppers, plain flattened chicken and a huge thick piece of cheese. The castle we arrived at was interesting, it was half in a cave and half out. There was an array of rooms within the castle including a torture room and a balcony with an assortment of cannon balls.

We were all excited as we set off from the castle because we all knew our next stop was the beach , but before this we had to quickly visit Queen Lizzie's horse at a stud farm famous for breeding the gorgeous white horses.. Not being a huge fan of horses, I quickly hopped off the coach, ran to the bin to throw away my cottage cheese pastry and slyly got back on the coach (hopefully I was as sly as I thought!) Our final destination was the beach! Whoop Whoop!

As we got off the coach we saw the amazing views of the clear blue Adriatic sea directly in front of us. All of us immediately wanted to jump in , obviously after Helen had risk assessed it all. We walked beside the sea until we found our perfect place to lay down our towels and jump (carefully) into the sea. We saw many exciting things while floating in the salty sea water! Lots of us saw our first jelly fish and also a pirate ship.

We walked quickly to meet Karla on the square but in fact we were earlier than her although we had convinced ourselves we were late. We went for a quick hunt to find some toilets and instead we found restaurants without doors! This was not helpful at all.

We headed home with Marco but unfortunately we got stuck in one huge traffic jam which lead to plenty of singing on the coach before we finally arrived at the hostel for dinner.  Rebecca's mind was read by the chef as the dish she wished for, a steak and chips, magically appeared before our very eyes.

After dinner we all left for free time, packing and blogging ready for our return home tomorrow.  A great last full day in Slovenia.  Can't wait to see everyone!

Alice

Walking and water

Today, after having a cheeky lie in,we went on a tour of the beautiful city of Ljubljana with our new friend Linda who is a scout leader from Switzerland. We walked there singing rather loudly being navigated by Rebecca and Alice.

Once arriving at the check point for our free tour, we were rudely told by the "yellow shirts" we weren't allowed to participate. So we did our own tour. A much improved tour in matter of fact run by Edda and Linda. We saw sights which included the dragon bridge, the town hall, "the pink church", the robba fountain and the cobblers bridge. We also stopped off at a fresh fruit market and multiple tourist destinations. Ice creams of every flavour was also brought. During their tour, the sun shone miraculously. My mum will be glad to hear I haven't blewn all my euros...yet anyway... overall the first portion of the morning was phenomenal and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. (Written by Izzy B & Maddy B).

Meanwhile , today three of us stayed behind , Lily-Rose ,Lily-Rose and Chloe (the leader);we played card games : cheat , snap and go fish . We also went outside on the hammocks . Me and Lily scared Chloe whilst she was in the hammock resting her eyes . Then we came back in as the other hostel residents were coming out to eat lunch. We went to the relaxation room and chatted whilst playing go fish ( it was very fun ) Lily B told Chloe and I three stories about fairies . Then the other guides came back and then we went out . The three of us had lots of fun .

After all of the excitement in the morning we came back to pack our bags and refill our water. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to our new friend Linda and an unfinished game of chess. We then got five taxis to Atlantis water park . When Helen, Alice, Amy and I got into the taxi , after walking around looking for it to find it was just found the corner , Helen was making sure the the driver knew where we were going and he replied "Yeah, you're late". He didn't talk to us the rest of the journey.

When we finally reached the water park, we got changed and explored the vast water park . There were about five pools, a thermal temple, two water slides that Katherine and I found and scattered around their were water jets spraying up. They were very relaxing. After about an hour we had lunch. We found it hard to communicate with the cashier because she didn't speak English and she was confused at what we were pointing at on the menu. I had sausages and chips. After our meal,we went back into the luxurious water and some of us went into the thermal temple. Katherine,Lily-rose S ,Lily B, Lilly S, Chloe and I played Marco polo. Some of us went to the Jacuzzi , Lazy river or the water slides. As we only had two hours swim and have lunch, Helen kindly gave us an extra hour but some of us were already fully changed into our clothes. All good things have to come to an end and it was finally time to leave.

When we got to hostel, as we had a big lunch we decided to order a 'couple' of pizzas. We went to a near corner shop where Maddy found the love of her life.(Keira and Lilly S)

To Mum (Salli) x
Happy Birthday! I love you to the moon and back ! I hope you have a lovely day. Love you sooo much ! Lots of love, Keira xxx Miss you too Lexi xx

Alpine Fairytale Tour

Ciao from Slovenia!

Today we were lucky enough to go on a tour to and around one of Slovenia's most popular destinations, Bled. We toured the towering castle and travelled to the top, and we experienced one of the most breathtaking views that any of us have ever experienced in our entire lives. It expanded as far as we could see, the rolling green fields and hills, the alps, and the most stunning of all, lake Bled. The water was the most wonderful shade of turquoise, far from the murky water of the muddy Thames, in the middle of the Lake Bled there was the most quaint island with a historic church and ferrying boats.

At the top of the castle there was a small museum, fresco chapel and an iron forge, on the way down we walked around the top terrace of the castle, uncovering a new outlook of the scenery. On the lower terrace we were able to produce our own bookmarks using the printing press.

We then travelled down the hill to our next destination, Vintar Gorge. This long walk felt like we were on an adventure of our own as we were walking along bridges hung over rushing rivers of raging rapids. The water was serene with stunning colours ranging from aqua green to cool blue while the water was calm and roaring white when the water was fierce. The gorge is the only national park in Slovenia. As the gorge was formed from a glacier millennia ago the steep banks were carpeted with humongous green trees making the surroundings even more picturesque.

The white waters of the waterfall crashed down on the rocks below with a beautiful cobblestone bridge high above in the clouds. After walking back along the gorgeous gorge we then headed towards another lake even more picturesque.

Here we swam in the beautiful blue Lake Bohinj and bought ice creams, after our long swim we travels back to the hostel exhausted from our long day. Five Guides made their promise whilst floating in the lake.

Rebecca and Amy

Travelling

Hello, this is Vid and Faye speaking (or typing).

Well, we are finally here in Slovenia! We joined together at Christ Church so we could take the coach which was about 30 minutes long, we passed lots of farm animals to arrive at Gatwick Airport.  We met up with Faye before checking into our flight, depositing our suitcases and going through airport security, most of us beeped as we went through the scanners because of our badges. After checking in, we were allowed some time to do some shopping and eating before the 2 hour flight! We met at the information point ready to board our flight.  Sadly it ended up being g delayed so we sat on the plane without moving for 40 minutes, however before we knew it we were ready for take-off.  We flew over England, The Channel, France and Germany(according to the pilot anyway, we couldn't see through the clouds).  However, once the cloud cleared we could see snow-topped mountains, standing tall and proud, determined to be the most powerful.  After an interesting two hours we landed in the airport at quarter to eight in time for sunset.  It was a tiny airport and after disseminating we squeezed into a bus to passport control where we got our passports stamped.  We separated to take shuttles to our youth hostel, the drivers were kind enough to teach us the basics of their language, although I cannot pronounce or spell any of it.

The hostel we are staying I together is so pretty, each room has been designed in a unique way, which is very surprising for a former prison. Our rooms are cost yet warm, imagine hardened criminals slept here once, now it's been converted into a cute hostel for us to spend our holiday in.  Shortly after arriving we are dinner together: soup, salad, chicken and cake for dessert, then Helen shared our plans for tomorrow; a trip to Lake Bled !

Faye and Vid

Where?!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that ADVENTURE is a key component of the Girlguiding experience for our members of all ages.  So what are we doing... we're going to Slovenia!!

In Girlguiding, we strive to deliver exciting opportunities for all members.  Girlguiding gives girls and young women a safe space where they can be themselves, embrace who they are and be proud; a space where they can make new friends, challenge themselves, plan adventures, enjoy themselves, learn and grow.  Our vision is this - an equal world where all girls can make a positive difference, be happy, safe and fulfil their potential.  International opportunities epitomise this and statistics show that Girlguiding members who have an international experience are more likely to stay involved with Girlguiding for longer.  

The Slovenia trip grew out of a sense that the group wanted to go somewhere where they are unlikely to go with school, or with their families.  We had a few discussions around what they would like to do - somewhere new to explore, stay somewhere quirky, go on a plane, go somewhere beautiful.  We looked at a map, checked out a few options, then settled on Slovenia, 'an earthly paradise of snow-capped peaks, turquoise-green rivers and Venetian-style coastline, Slovenia enriches its natural treasures with harmonious architecture, charming rustic culture and sophisticated cuisine' (this is from Lonely Planet, so it must be true).

This is the third time that 1st Chislehurst Guides have been abroad - we went to Luxembourg and Germany in 2013, then Iceland in 2014.  International experiences are hugely enriching for all concerned, enabling friendships to evolve, cultural interaction, the opportunity to visit new places and work with others, as well as the time and space to embrace the values of Girlguiding.  

When we go abroad, we keep the costs as low as possible by channelling much energy into fundraising so that the trip is fully accessible.  The actual cost of the Slovenia trip is £546.  Each participant has paid £275 and we have fundraised the rest, which is around £5,500.  We were very grateful to receive grants from several grant-giving bodies.  We have also organised a number of fundraising events in the unit, including cake sales, a Film Night and a Variety Show.  

Going forward, you'll be pleased to hear that this blog will be written by various members of the group, so do keep reading as it will be in their voice rather than mine.

I'd write more, but I should probably pack.