Poet Preseren has quite the presence and adored throughout Slovenia

After dropping George and Gerry off at the airport we travelled on for about an hour to Kamniska Bistrica as Jim had read about the great hiking in the area. Time was a bit of an issue as we had other places to visit and fit in that day, so we decided to do a 90 minute morning hike to a woodland hunting lodge that was built in 1932 for the Yugoslav King Aleksander 1 ………later it was used by Tito and his crew and today it seems can be rented out for events. Quite a stunning location that the pictures below will not do justice.

From there we travelled on to Velika Plenina, one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen.   We travelled up the hill by cable car, which is the world’s fourth-longest unsupported cable car(Whistler has the longest), that provides access to the 1,666 m high Velika Planina.  From there we went onto a double chairlift which carried us further up the mountain.  What an amazing place that was not only peaceful but took your breath away – a piece of heaven on earth for sure!  The view of the Kamnisko-Savinjske Alps is second to none and the area is popular for skiing in winter and walking in summer and fall.  During the summer local herdsmen migrate here to graze cattle on the meadows and the unique shingle-roofed wooden huts were rebuilt after they were destroyed during the Second World War.  A few days after our visit we met a young physician who said that she and her young family, along with her brother’s family, went there for Christmas/New years a couple of years ago.  You have to hike the last 45 minutes carrying everything you need for the week and just hope for good winter weather, which they had but unfortunately her husband broke his ankle while in there and is not keen to return.  She, however, highly recommended it but not this trip!

Following a full day of spectacular beauty we headed north to our next air bnb in a little village called Visole and fortunately arrived before dark as we would never have found it if we had been later.   It was a tiny house that the owners used to live in before they had two little boys and built a larger one on the same property.  We read on Alenka’s site that she would cook a meal for tenants if they wished, so we thought “here’s our chance to get that traditional Slovenian meal we had all been craving!”  so we asked her if she could cook us dinner, something traditionally Slovenian, the next day and she agreed.  We spent the morning hiking a trail Alenka had recommended, which was fabulous, and in the afternoon visited Maribor, Slovenia’s second largest city.  Here we had a long walk along the river followed by a glass of wine in the sunshine  and were so glad we had ordered supper and didn’t have to cook or go out that evening.  At 6:30 Alenka arrived with the four pots, explained what it all was, and left us to devour it.  Unfortunately, however, that’s not how it went down!   Suffice it to say that part of it was inedible, at least for us.  We each ate a sausage, boiled potatoes and some of the hot pickled turnip which was OK but not great.  The rest of the meal was basically a blood pudding which, when I tasted it, I immediately had to take it out of my mouth and thank God she wasn’t there as Marilyn and Jim had the same reaction……..so there was all kinds of leftovers.  Dessert was a not too sweet cake with ground nuts that was tasty and was eaten over the next couple of days.  Anyway we thanked her a great deal and told her we just weren’t that hungry…..no doubt she realized we were lying but she gave me a big hug and just smiled.  The next day she said “sorry you didn’t like that part” and I just said we were too full and she informed she hated it as well but it was a “traditional Slovenian dish” and that her husband loved it.   Glad he did because he was going to be eating it for a while and of course the moral of the story is “be careful what you wish for!”

View from our little house

Hike through the forest to ‘black lake’

From Visole we went to Ptuj, founded in AD 69 and known as the oldest town in Slovenia, and then moved on south through rolling hills and white wine country and finally ended up in a small town call Dom. Toplice – and guess what?   We finally got that great Slovenian meal and it was by pure accident.   There weren’t too many choices for dinner in this little town so we picked what looked like the best…..and it was!   No sausages for us although Jim did have pork done in a gravy with traditional mashed potatoes with bacon, I believe, and other vegetables that were cooked to perfection.  Marilyn and I both had trout, which is an unusual choice for me, but so glad I chose it as it was served on a Purée that was a potato/carrot mixture, plus a side dish of veggies that were second to none.   The wine was also great, as was the dessert, and we left feeling satisfied and fulfilled as food up until now had not been fulfilling.

The next day the weather changed and it became a little cooler so we had a few small stops before heading back to Ljubljana to spend our last couple of days in Slovenia.   One day of sunshine and one day of rain and as Slovenian people kept saying “it’s November, it’s what we expect”…………and so did we!   For dinner on our last night we ate at a wonderful Bosnian restaurant close to our apartment and all were thrilled it was excellent – first time we ate Bosnian!

What a great country with such wonderful people -always helpful, always interested in where you’re from and when you say Canada they just smile!   Also there’s an excitement that the next First Lady of the US might be Slovenian……..mainly we see this on some of the tabloids and I choose to downplay hoping this is not possible.   We have met very few Americans on this Journey but the few we did meet were definitely leaving before Nov. 6 in order to be home for the election………..so are we!   Looking forward to seeing, or touching base with you all soon and thanks for following………..put  Slovenia on your short list!

Ptuj castle

Marilyn and Jim at Ptuj castle………Jim and Donna checking out the wine country and

as always, looking forward to returning home!