Slovenia’s Mini-Riviera

by Iva Skoch on

With all the publicity the coast of Croatia has been getting lately, it makes you wonder why not many people talk about the coast of Slovenia. Perhaps because it is only 46km (not quite 30 miles) long? Croatia, on the other hand, has over 200 miles of coastline. Somebody got ripped off after the split of Yugoslavia!

I happen to be a fan of Slovenia. I have even heard people compare the Slovenian coast to the French riviera, just not as crowded and pretentious. A few budget airlines fly from a bunch of European cities to the capital, Ljubljana, which is only an hour away from the beach.

(Don’t get the country mixed up with Slovakia, as G.W.Bush once did. Slovakia is land-locked.)

Detour Worth Making: Predjama Castle

by Willy Volk on

Predjama Castle, known locally as Predjama Grad, sits an hour southwest of Slovenia’s capital, (the impossible-to-pronounce) Ljubljana. Originally built in the 12th Century on top of a cave, the Castle was expanded and added onto during the 16th Century, and the efforts of those labors are largely what we see today.

Appearing to hang in the middle of a 403-foot-tall limestone cliff, Predjama Castle was carved into the side of the rock and has no man-made rear walls: the vertical face of the cliff serves as those walls. Today, visitors to the Castle can tour the grounds and the inside of the building — as well as explore the caves and underground river below the architectural marvel. To get a sense of the unique “fit” the castle has with the cliff, check out Slovenia Landmarks, which has an excellent VR tour of the Castle and in its interior.

If you go to Predjama, aim for August, when locals stage the Erasmus Knights’ Tournament. During the event, men and women in period constume engage in medieval games played during the 16th Century — complete with archery, swordplay, jousting, and eating and drinking contests.

Whogoslavia Means Traveling with Kids

by Grant Martin on

How many folks have heard, “Travel now before you have kids?” When I didn’t have kids and I was traveling it was, “It is good you’re traveling now before you have kids” as if once I had kids, I’d park myself in a chair somewhere to do what, I don’t know. I always figured as soon as a kid is born one should hit the road to get him or her used to hitting the road. When we adopted our daughter from Vietnam when she was 3 1/2 years old we were living in Singapore. Two weeks later we moved back to the U.S. and a two-month-long journey that brought us from Hawaii to Ohio through California, New Mexico and New York, some of which was done in a U-Haul.

Writer Ayun Halliday has really hit the road with her husband and kids. They’re on a journey this month to various spots in the Balkans and she’s chronicling the trip on one of her websites, Whogoslavia. Halliday is one of those writers’ writers who discover a never-ending source of fodder in daily life because she gets out there and lives. For those of you who’ve thought about setting up your own travel website, hers is a clever example. For those of you who fancy traveling with kids, this might entice you to jump on in. I know it makes me think that we need to cash in our frequent flier miles soon and go somewhere further than where our car can take us.

[from ParentDish.com]

Slovenia Sea Salt

by Neil Woodburn on

The genetic difference between ordinary table salt and very expensive, gourmet sea salt is apparently .01%. And yet, the cost is 100 times more expensive and the taste 1000 times more sublime.

Much of the world’s best sea salt comes from the Brittany area of France. There are some exceptions, however, but none as surprising to me as Slovenia.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, the Secovlje Salina Nature Park on the Adriatic coast is home to 700 years of salt making heritage and produces some of Europe’s finest salts.

One needn’t travel all the way to the park to harvest the salt, however. Simply stop by Piranske Soline in central Ljubljana. The store specializes in salt and salt related products and nothing else. Just imagine how good it must be to have an entire store dedicated to just one product. And, I simply love their little slogan; “Salt is the sea that could not return to the sky.” Yum!

Photo of the Day (2/9/07)

by Neil Woodburn on

A light frosting of snow, a haze of steam rising off the water near the shoreline, and a beautiful reflection really come together to pack a wallop in this wonderful composition of Lake Bohinj, Slovenia by photographer Pirano. Congrats on being chosen for our Photo of the Day.