Category: in slovenia

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in slovenia

one year in slovenia!


a few days ago we celebrated another year of this cultural immersion adventure, the fourth so far (1 in netherlands, 2 in china and now 1 in slovenia) and i don’t think we’ll stop our mission around the world any time soon… although slovenia has managed to charm us thoroughly! in fact, i can picture us settling down here, on a big house (all houses are gigantic around here) by the mountains, spending our days hiking, eating sausages and mushrooms and breathing in the fresh air with a mug of planinski tea or bela kava on our hands.

i’m almost wary of singing slovenia’s praises for fear that the country will be invaded by tourists, spoiling its magic. i’m not the only one thinking so – we’re like a league of secret slovenian admirers, speaking of the country as if it’s mythical (a bit like bielefeld conspiracy, I’ve heard…). seriously, when was the last time you heard of slovenia in the news? never? i rest my case. :P

right now, the first snows have fallen, and we’re eager to start enjoying the winter before packing the tent again and moving somewhere… north. after shanghai we craved quietness, pure air, nature. after slovenia, we’re craving a bustling city, events, cafés with internet. we’ll see. :)

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foooood in slovenia

‘shrooms!

autumn is my favourite season. it’s cold, but not freezing, the leaves turn to gorgeous colors… but the best part is the food! there’s persimmons, roasted chestnuts, apples, hot chocolate, gluhwein here and there… and mushrooms!

portugal isn’t a very “mushroomy” country, and it was only when i left home that i started to realise there was more to mushrooms than the yellow-mushy-canned variety. since then we’ve been in a path to enlightenment, slowly discovering different varieties and flavours.

and then we came to slovenia and we were blown away. due to a perfect combination of forests, humidity and sun, this country is mushroom paradise! mushroom picking is something everybody seems to know about: which ones to pick, how to pick them, how to cook… it’s a national hobbie! it’s so popular that there’s a law forbidding any person to pick more than 2kg in a day!

on a recent hike with the ics club, we’ve learnt a couple of things about this art. first, everything red is a big no-no, potentially deadly, and there are a few deaths per year caused by ingestion of poisoning mushrooms. and when picking mushrooms you should never pull them up from the roots, instead cutting with a blade to preserve the crop.

here’s a sample of what we saw on that hike:


+10 points for slovenia! :D

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in slovenia photography

a girl and her holga

i’ve recently passed the 100 photos on a girl and her holga – which for someone as disorganised as me, it’s a true feat :)
here are some of my recent favourites, a bit from all over slovenia:



(while posting, i’ve noticed the last 3 photos were taken in borders with other countries. in a country this small, you meet these invisible lines quite often :) )

i love the holga. it’s ultra-light, therefore perfect to carry everywhere on my bag. it doesn’t need batteries, which means less things to remember. it looks old at first glance, but once people touch it and realise it’s made of plastic, nobody takes it seriously. there are only 12 or 16 photos per roll, making you focus on what you want on each single picture. and it’s so simple and stripped of “options” that not much can go wrong.

adjust focus, shoot, advance film.

perfect.

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in slovenia

mangart

mangart, at 2679 meters is the 4th highest peak in slovenia – and our first attempt at some serious hiking with our friends sara & gandalf. mangart has the highest road in slovenia, just over 2000 meters, so you get to drive almost to the top, and hike the rest of the way. we didn’t hike it all the way to the top though, but instead took it easy and enjoyed every minute of it… until the wind became too strong and cold and we had to come back in a run. can you believe there was still a patch of snow up there!?
i’ll let the pictures do the talking, because words don’t do justice to this place. meet mangart:

from up there, you can pretty much see the whole world:


or at least a good portion of slovenia, italy and austria. you can sit and relax while below you the world goes on and fluffly little clouds pass by, floating over the top of the mountain to the other side. it’s really precious – and probably our new favourite place. :)



we’ll definitely go back again – preferably on time to see the autumn foliage, which i am currently obsessing over! if it wasn’t for all the rain currently falling on slovenia… the country has been hit with heavy floods in the last few days. we’re safe & sound, but worried with the local tv reports showing serious damage in places we’ve recently been to. they say the worst is yet to come, so we’re crossing our fingers and staying indoors for now. stay safe.

Categories
in slovenia

tromeja = 3 borders

yesterday we joined the ics club on a hike to tromeja, which is a special hill on top of which the borders of slovenia, austria and italy meet. it was in this hill that in may 2004, officers from the 3 countries shook hands to welcome slovenia into the european union.

sunday was the perfect day for hiking, with blue skies and gentle breeze – a day just begging to be spent outdoors, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. the hike started in rateče, which is a small lovely town in itself. we’d been in the area a few times to see the ski jumping competitions, but never thought of turning right instead of left! the town is so picturesque, it’s almost postcard perfect. like my dad would say, “sometimes i feel like i’m inside ‘the sound of music'”. :)

there are two ways to the top of tromeja: quick & steep, or slow & easy. we picked the latter for the ascent, and took our time in the two-hour climb, stopping now and then to enjoy the view of the meadows and the alps.
the summit was crowded with people, since it was the day to celebrate the friendship between the three countries. the views were breathtaking and stretched as far as villach and klagenfurt on the austrian side, and planica valley on the slovenian side. there was live music, people in costumes, donkeys (!) and plenty of local delicacies from all the countries.


on the way down, we took the steeper slope, and shaved off a bit of time… though not so much, as we stopped frequently for pictures and stretched on the grass at the lower hut to recharge energies…
all in all, pretty much a perfect day :)