Now we're getting somewhere!

Slovenia is amazing - love everything about it!

Slovenia has been ruled by Celts, Romans, Venetians, Hapsburgs and they were part of the former Yugoslavia, gaining independence in 1991, so it's this great melange of Mediterranean, Austrian and Eastern European cultures. Menus are a good example of this blend as most menus contain goulash, pizza, fried chops (similar to schnitzel) and lots of polenta and prosciutto (a favorite). All of this is servied with wine from indigenous grapes - the few that I tried were all light bodied with high acidity. They were ok.

Red wine and pizza stop

Evening concert in a square

The capital Ljubljana is a small city full of Baroque and Art Deco architecture. It's center runs along a river and there are cafes and restaurants all along the river banks. Ljubljana means "beloved" which is also what Aimee means so obviously kismet that I made it here at some point.

Metelkova street is an area of abandoned army buildings that have been taken over by street artists and students. It's full of amazing street art, sculptures and mosaic murals. The shoes thrown over the wires is seen all over Ljubljana. Apparently if you spend any time in the city, especially as a student, it's a tradition to throw a pair of shoes over one of the wires before you leave. Given that my sandals blew out in Munich and I'm living with one pair of shoes, I wasn't about to give them up.

At Ljubljana castle

About an hour and a half drive from Ljubljana is the small town of Pirol on the Adriatic coast (drove through a bit of Italy to get there). It's a cute Mediterranean town that reminded me a lot of Genoa. From the top of the city wall, you could see Croatia to the left and Italy to the right. Amazing view!

 

 

I was told Pirol had a great public beach. "Beach" is a bit of a misnomer as it was a concrete boardwalk with multiple wharfs that you could jump off of into the ocean. Not an individual grain of sand to be seen. Jumped in for a bit anyway though, hung out on the concrete for a while and then strolled around town for a bit.

 

 

 

 

I had wanted to go on a white water kayak excursion, but not enough people had signed up (read: no one else signed up) so instead I joined a tour of the Škocjanske caves which are in an UNESCO protected park, which in the end was a worthy alternative. The caves go down 140m to an underground river and are indescribably beautiful. I couldn't take pictures inside, though, so just go see them sometime. Absolutely incredible!

 

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