Categories
in slovenia

a day in notranjska

notranjska region is most famous for the postojna caves, which are some of best known caves in the karst region… but if the underground isn’t exactly your thing (like it isn’t mine), don’t worry, there’s plenty more to see!

start at the lovely snežnik castle, for instance, the best preserved in the region.
once every hour, someone will come and guide you through the stories of this residential castle. it’s in impeccable state of conservation, and best of all, it has all the 19th century furniture from its latest owners in display. walking those rooms will take you straight back into one of jane austen’s books :)
dinning room in snežnik castle room in snežnik castle room in snežnik castlehunting trophies

nearby you’ll find one of the most intriguing places in slovenia: the cerknica lake, which is an intermittent lake. when at full capacity in rainy periods, this is the biggest lake in slovenia. but in dry periods, the water goes away, and the lake can disappear completely!

the magic? it’s all in the ground. the karst landscape topography is shaped by the dissolution of limestone, often with sinkholes and underground systems of caves which can fill up with water, or drain it. wikipedia explains it better:

It lies in a depression of the limestone plateau known as the Karst, and exhibits some of the most remarkable features of Karst phenomena. The lake, which under ordinary conditions has an area of about 10 square miles (26 km2) and a mean depth of 20 feet (6.1 m), communicates through a number of openings with a series of subterranean reservoirs or caverns, some of which are above the lake level in the surrounding hills. In the autumn, when the rainfall is slight, the lake is completely drained into the reservoirs lying below its level, and its bed is speedily covered with rich vegetation. With the returning heavy rains, the surrounding higher reservoirs are filled and discharge suddenly through the subterranean passages into the lake, so that the latter very rapidly regains its ordinary volume and may even inundate the surrounding country. The changes in level are, however, very irregular. Sometimes the lake does not disappear for several years, and it can remain dry for over a year, as it did in 1834-35. It is rich in fish, which disappear and return with the water.

walking on cerknica lakecerknica lake

very near to the lake, there’s the perfect place to eat: a tourist farm called levar which we discovered on slovenia.info. tourist farms and mountain huts are some of the best things in slovenia: wherever you go, there’s one waiting to win you over with delicious traditional food.
and charmed we were! from bread with pancetta to homemade liquor and apple juice, chicken soup, pljescavica with all the sides, donuts… it was a banquet!

bread w/pancetta
soup
pljeskavica
donuts

last recommendation for a day in the region goes to rakov škocjan, a park famous for its natural stone bridges. sadly, we didn’t have a lot of time to explore it, but from what we saw, it must be a spectacular place to walk and enjoy nature. next time, we’ll save a bigger part of the day to explore this park!
rakov skocjan


and there you go! notranjska might be an often understated region, being a bit tucked away from the bigger cities or other well-known tourist destinations, but it packs a lot of interesting sights! :)

Categories
in slovenia

welcoming spring

today we passed the gradascica canal and there was music and a crowd of people gathering around with their kids, many of which had handmade floats! we had only caught the end of this event last year, so this time we sticked around to see what it was all about.

from what i could gather on the internet, on 11th march, the eve of st. gregory’s day, children make floating boats and houses with little candles in them, and put them on the canal to welcome spring. it was beautiful – they were all excited and followed their boats till the finish line, where they were scooped up before entering the ljubljanica.
a bit of sweet innocence to an otherwise very tragic day.

Categories
in slovenia photography

foto format

when you settle in a new city, there are some things that take a bit to discover. like where to do your waxing, which café makes the best pancakes, or where to develop your film rolls. for the film issue, sometimes you can find tips on flickr groups or old photography forums but more often than not, the information there is outdated. so, a period of trial and error ensues.

the first shops we found in ljubljana that developed medium format rolls weren’t very promising – it always took a while for them to return the negatives, and sometimes they came with marks…

but after inquiring here and there, someone pointed out foto format, in the tunnel on the skyscraper building. and lo and behold, in that small and inconspicuous shop we found the answer to our analog prayers. efficient service with a smile, always plenty of film in stock on the fridge, quick delivery and spotless negatives. we love it and remain faithful customers since day one. really, what else could you ask for? :)

their contact info is
PASAŽA NEBOTIČNIK, Štefanova 5
tel.: 01 422 30 10
ljubljana@fotoformat.si

Categories
foooood in slovenia

cockta!

cockta is one of those things that you have to try in slovenia. for a while we were curious about it… it looked a bit like a fake cola – would it taste the same?

so one day we brought some home from the supermarket to try. and whoa! i actually like it a lot! reminds me of the kind of syrups parents give to children when they’re sick: sweet and herbal, evocative of medicine but with bubbles! very nice. paulo disagrees and prefers to drink multisola :)

from wikipedia, i learnt it was invented in the 50s by emerik zelinka of slovenijavino, in his research for an original slovenian beverage. it’s made of rosehip, lemon, orange and lots of different local herbs. the design of the logo and unique bottle was made by architecture students.

all in all, a genuine slovenian drink!

Categories
foooood in slovenia

an ode to the slovenian krofi

some months ago, the company i work for got mentioned on the newest tim ferriss book, the 4 hour body. i’ve gotta say, i’m not mr. ferriss biggest fan, so i looked it up, confirmed the quote, and forgot about it.

but then some weeks later, someone else mentioned it and i actually started to read it. the first few chapters are about nutrition and weight management, which peaked my interest a bit – especially after the semi-disastrous results on our xmas blood tests… definitely not a bright idea, going for blood tests on the end of the xmas holidays, after feasting on portuguese delights for weeks. *sigh*

anyway, mr. ferriss’s approach to weight loss is rather simple: avoid food that will produce sugar peaks and trigger fat storing mechanisms in your body. he doesn’t say “count all the calories and eat less” – he says “eat as much as you want, from the right stuff”. that’s it. basically, lots of protein, veggies, fat from the right things, and specific carbs that are digested slowly (hence the name, the “slow carb diet”).

he doesn’t explain things very thoroughly though, which irritates me quite a bit, so i started researching all about glucose levels, insulin responses, ketosis… things started to slowly make sense, so we decided to give it a go. fast forward 4 weeks, and i’m quite a bit lighter than i’ve been in years, so something must be working! :)

the best part of it all is the fact that you are encouraged to cheat on the diet once a week, so that your body doesn’t go into ‘saving energy’ mode. this, to me, is what makes this diet stick. i eat within rules during the week and then, on our cheat day (we affectionally call it DoD, the ‘day of disaster’), we go crazy… very literally! i get vivid sugar rushes from all the sweet stuff we eat! :D

which is where the mighty krofi comes in: it’s our favourite breakfast food on cheat days! :D why eat bread or cereal when we could eat berliners with chocolate or jam for breakfast?



they’re delicious, especially on the chocolate version and remind us of the portuguese bolas de berlim, without the egg filling. krofis are especially popular around carnival – last year on carnival we went to a printer shop to print some flight tickets and the owner wanted to give us a few krofi for the road! :D

they’re unmissable year-round, proudly displayed in bakeries all around the country. definitely a must try!