Tag: in slovenia

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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.

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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 :)

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foooood in slovenia

čajna hiša

čajna hiša is a tea house, like the name says… but there’s a lot more to it than just tea.

sure, the tea selection is endless and quite tempting. but there’s also muffins, for instance, lovely chocolate/banana muffins that look and taste like they’ve just been taken from the oven. or banana/walnuts/bran flakes/raisin yogurt cups drizzled with honey. or delicate apricot strudel. or huge cups of coffee with milk that we savour till the last drop.

you can probably tell how much we love the place. :) it’s got top marks across the board: it’s cozy, the food is delicious and served in cute looking cups/plates and the waiters are always nice – something that is getting hard to find in ljubljana these days. must be the summer season: dealing with tons of tourists is probably taking its toll on the service around here.

anyway, we highly recommend it. it’s in stari trg, 3 – right in the middle of the old town. enjoy! :)



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in slovenia

vintgar gorge

you know when you have so much to do that you don’t even know where to start? i’m so behind in my slovenia posts that i don’t know where to begin. by the last thing we did, i suppose – the memories are still fresh, and green. insanely green.

yesterday we grabbed our recently found portuguese friend (there’s now 3 of us in the country!) and ran for the water. more specifically, the lakes (bled and bohinj) and vintgar. we’ve had some trouble finding this secluded gorge the last times we tried (the path from bled to vintgar is a narrow winding road across small villages) but i suppose third time’s a charm.

we found vintgar at last, and slowly covered the 1.6km wooden path along the radovna river, just taking it all in: the soothing sounds of the forest, the waterfalls, the pools and the rapids and the quiet deeper stretches of green. at the end, the path crosses the river over the šum waterfall, giving us a really nice top view of it. :)

the entrance costs 4 euros and it’s definitely worth the detour if you’re in bled or bohinj. for those who’d rather not get lost, the gps coords are: N46.3907 E14.0835. :) enjoy!

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links and ideas rants

if it was my home (country)

ifitwasmyhome.com is a little google maps mashup that lets you visualize the bp oil spill by superimposing it on your current location.


these things are always tricky to visualise, for lack of reference points, but this map shows a very concrete term of comparison: slovenia. the whole of slovenia is engulfed in that stain (plus big chunks of italy, austria and croatia).

for us living here, and exploring this country, it surely puts things in perspective.