Why Slovenia? This was the first question from family and friends when we announced our trip planned for late September. Curiously, the Slovenians we met asked the same question. How did you decide to come here?
Slovenia appeared on our radar when a tour guide in Venice suggested it in a very vague way. Then, a PG exchange student from Slovenia extolled its virtues so regularly that I began to explore. Might there be a tour which would include the sights we wanted to see and which would focus exclusively on Slovenia? Turns out NOT. One tour guide remarked that our nine-day stay would up the average of the length of stay for tourists to their country which was about 2 ¼ days at the max. We found that nine days was, actually, not quite long enough.
So, the last week in September of this year, John and I returned from a nine day trip to the small, very beautiful country of Slovenia. Bordered by northern Italy to the west (just across the Adriatic from Venice), Croatia to the South, Austria to the north, and Hungary to the east, Slovenia is home to about 2 million people. By way of size comparison (this will probably only make sense to South Carolinians) – it would be similar in land mass to the irregular swath of land stretching in length from Surfside Beach, SC to Savannah, GA, and , in width as far inland as Bamberg. The almost all English-speaking Slovenians we met kept referring to the small size of their country. One guide joked that the reason Slovenian accordion players play their instruments up and down (rather than from side to side) is that they’d be outside the country if they went from side to side.
Slovenia is a gem. Long on natural beauty (try the Julian Alps to the north), rich in culture and history (although reinventing itself somewhat since independence in 1991), well educated, and welcoming to English speaking tourists. In shops, restaurants, hotels, and, generally speaking, we heard people switching back and forth effortlessly between English, Italian, German, French and Slovenian (to say nothing of Croatian and other dialects of nearby countries such as Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro). It truly stands at the crossroads of Central Europe.
We visited in September having been advised that was a good month to do so since -“children are back in school and the weather is still nice.” After a torturous Air France flight, difficult connections, and long layovers (not doing that again..there is definitely a better way!), we arrived in beautiful Ljubljana. The airport is about forty minutes from the historic center, and we were thankful for a car and driver hire.
Our first hotel was Slamic B & B which was a good value hotel within walking distance of the business and historic areas. After a nap, we took a stroll into the business areas, picked up Ljubljana Passes and headed for our restaurant JB.
This was a splurge and a birthday celebration night, so had taken care to find a special place. And special it was! Wow! The food and the chef were amazing. Someone at the tourist information spot said that he, Janez Bratovz, was the most well-known chef in Slovenia. Here is a short YouTube giving a glimpse of Chef Janez and Ana Roš (considered one of top female chefs in the world – her restaurant is in Western Slovenia). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvQl9TZ30pA Have you gathered that Slovenia has a strong culinary movement? I suspect, it’s because Slovenia is also at a culinary crossroads with all kinds of influences. That first night we went back to our hotel full and happy.
The next day we took part in a day long tour to the east of the country to the medieval city of Ptuj and the second largest city in Slovenia – Maribor. The road system is in great shape which was good to know since we planned to rent a car and drive later in the trip. On the way, our guide pointed out fields in which we saw trellises used for growing hops. Definitely a beer region!
We stopped first in Ptju. There are indications of settlements dating from the Stone Age as well as the Celts in 1 BCE. There was a Roman settlement in 69 CE and the Slavs settled there in the 6thcentury – it has thrived all the way to the present. A gem of a town, its layers of history are intact.
Beautiful Ptuj - Note: Click on photos to enlarge
The castle, more like a very large house around a courtyard, was a fairly stiff climb but well worth the view. The historic buildings all had red tile roofs which, apparently, had been a mandate from Hapsburg Empress Maria Theresa. Thank you, Empress!
View from the castle at Ptuj
Pt. II ...
After visiting castle hill, we stopped by the gift shop which also had a one-large-room museum of the carnivale costumes. Lonely Planet singled this event as one of the ten most interesting festivals in the world. Here is a short squib from Lonely Planet
“Lonely Planet singled out Kurentovanje as one of the ten best carnivals in the world, on par with those in Venice, Rio de Janeiro, and New Orleans. Kurentovanje features a number of folk and carnival parades, the carnival promenade, presentations of traditional costumes, concerts, masquerade balls, exhibitions, and so much more, divided into ArtFest, EtnoFest, and KarnevalFest.”
Here’s a tiny glimpse of 2018 – the festival comes at the same time as Mardi Gras and has incorporated all kinds of elements over the years… pagan, Christian, and more… participants want to chase winter away and mark the beginning of Lent.
The costumes are fascinating and I would love to visit there one year for this festival – along with 100,000 others. Imagine a whole street full of these folks.. preceded by men cracking whips…
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| The Devil |
Kurent
Traditional Men's costume
Kurents - notice the bells
Very big and feathery
From there we visited Maribor which is the center of the wine growing region in the east of the country (Styria) Also famed for its spas, it still does a strong business in health retreats -although, sadly we didn’t get to experience that first hand! Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia and is trying hard to position itself as the city of festivals. Home to a university, it lies along the River Drava. What we did see and marvel at is the reputed oldest still productive wine vine in the world – clocking in at approx. 440 years old. Known as the Old Vine”, it’s featured in an annual wine festival.
The Old Vine
The Old Vine- still producing
After being in the city of Maribor, we went to an outlying area and visited a local vineyard for a wine tasting… the Ramsak vineyard. There we met the winemaker, Andrej, the great grandson of the original owner, and heard about his family’s experience which seems to be the experience of much of Slovenia. The vineyard had been in his family for many years but was nationalized during the Post-WW II period. Families were only allowed to retain up to 20 acres of property for their own use – in many cases, less. In the mid 1990’s after independence, the current winemaker’s father was able to regain a significant portion of the property (but, it was no longer a vineyard). They re-planted and cultivated. By 1998, the vineyard was once again productive. Today, they have prize winning white wines. We bought a bottle and enjoyed it later. The process of fermentation had just begun and we glanced into that area with its gleaming stainless steel vats (stainless steel being required by the European Union of which Slovenia is a part). The wines were delicious. They have, too, what must the largest winepress in the world. Recently they allowed some friends to open a “glamping” site at the vineyard. I think it still must be a hard way to make a living. Andrej noted that most of the winemakers he knew also had other jobs.
John in the Vineyard
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| Beautiful Land...so glad they got it back. |
Back to Ljubljana, by then 8 in the evening and we were able to catch a quick bite at a nearby pizza spot ( Pizzeria Osmica ). We were tired and they were too - also very close to closing time. But, they, the restaurant folks, were merciful and fed us anyway. Guess what store we saw on the way to the pizza place? We were amazed as there are not very many (hardly any) USA chain stores there.
Pizza was terrific and especially as it was accompanied by Union beer (a prominent national beer brand founded in 1864 and now a part of Heinekens). Notice the dragon? I’ll come back to that.
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Pt. III - to come
