#61 Slovenia: From the Alps to the Mediterranean

Slovenia is a beautiful country. Here is a brief snapshot from the 200 photos we took.

Day One

Centromerkur (1903). Department store, Ljubljana.

In order to eliminate jet lag, we kept ourselves awake by taking a walking tour of the Secessionist (Art Nouveau) Buildings of Ljubljana (the capital).

Day Two

View from the grad (castle), Ljubljana.

More of Ljubljana. Today we visited the castle and the history museum in a beautiful park.

Day Three

Lake Bohinj, view of Ukanc.

We drove up to Lake Bohinj, in the Julian Alps. Hiked around the lake.

Day Four

Farmer scything grass, near Lake Bonhinj.

Hiked around Lake Bled, then took a boat tour of Lake Bohinj before riding a gondola to the top of Mt. Vogel.

Day Five

Boats in the Adriatic, the view from our hotel, Strunjan.

Started the day with a hike to Slap Savica (waterfall) before getting in the car and driving over crazy mountain passes so we could eat one of the particularly national foods, zlikrofi, in Idrija. Ended the day in Strunjan.

Day Six

Boats in Piran, view from the Maritime Museum.

Hiked from our hotel to Piran along a treacherous ocean-side path strewn with rocks and boulders. Basked in the Mediterranean glow of Piran.

Day Seven

Lipizzaner horses doing "light carriage work."

After a stop to see the Skocjan caves, we drove to Lipica to see the horses. Treated to a bunch of young women hoping to become Miss Hawaiian Tropics. They had to dress like that to show off their tans. Wondered that I was old enough to be their mother. Considered giving them a talking to about projecting the right kind of image.

Day Eight

Peppers for sale at the market in Vodnik Square, Ljubljana

Drove back to Ljubljana. Shopped. Had my 40th birthday dinner.

Why Slovenia?

Cheryl asked.

The long and weird answer is that when I was five, I told my parents I wanted to ride the bus for my birthday. I was fascinated by the city buses but had never ridden one. This was my big chance. My parents, completely perplexed by my desire to ride a bus, thought big. My dad took me on a Greyhound bus to Boston so I could see the Lipizzaner horses.

Well, the Lipizzaner horses are from Lipica, Slovenia. So, it's like going home again. Except I get to ride in a big plane.

Other reasons include: it is the size of New Jersey, so we can see most of it in the week we have to travel. It has beaches, mountains, and an incredible cave system (karst). And I know a woman who keeps going back to Ljubljana because she's so in love with the place. She has me swayed.

You gotta love a city whose every "L" has it's own "j." I'm a woman of simple pleasures.

Leavin' On a Jet Plane

We bought tickets! We are going to Slovenia for my 40th birthday (pause here so you can argue that I am not really 40. Go ahead, everyone else does.) We go October 6 and return October 15.

I'm too excited to sleep!