Slow-venia 1

 We chose to visit, and spend so much time in, Slovenia because we didn't know much about the place and it looked beautiful with a wide variety of activities and locations in a small area. It's described as a "hidden gem" by a lot of travel websites, but I don't think there are really any of those left, especially by the time someone calls them a hidden gem online. There are tons of tourists here, but it is indeed a gem.

Our first stop was Piran, a lovely little seaside village on the tip of Slovenia that touches the Gulf of Trieste, where we marveled at the views of Croatia and Italy from our various cafe tables. We had a cute little apartment with a view onto a cute little square, ate at a cute little fish restaurant among other places, and tried some deep dark chocolate gelato. We spent most of our days here at the "beach", which is what they call a concrete slab where you can set up some chairs and an umbrella. The water was COLD and full of jellyfish, but I had daily morning swims and it's HOT, so we enjoyed it!

Next, we took a small bus/train/taxi journey to Lasko, a small village out in the middle of nowhere that happens to be the center of beer production in this country. We made this journey to witness Pivo in Cvetje (Beer and Flowers) festival. There were lots of beautiful flowers around, but let's be honest, this was mostly about the beer. For two nights, around 6 or 7 pm, marching bands would start roaming the streets setting up for bigger concerts on multiple stages throughout the town. It was cool to see live music again, and be around large groups of people. It was also nice that our hotel was a 20 minute walk away (past the campground full of revelers) so we could get away from the madness.

On to Ljubljana (pronounced loob-lee-ah-nah), the well-manicured little capitol city of Slovenia. Lots of hot city walks visiting the castle on the hill and a variety of cafes and other sites. The statue bottom left is Ivan Hribar, a famous mayor of the city who, near this site, wrapped himself in the Yugoslavian flag and jumped to his death in the Ljubljanica River to protest the fascist Italian annexation of Ljubljana. His suicide note included this quote from a Slovene poet:

Less fearful the long night of life’s denial
Than living ‘neath the sun in subjugation!

Pretty metal, Ivan!

We also visited the House of Illusions.

And the Union brewery.

A note on bees.

I think I've figured out the bee shortage. They're all here, and they like booze.

They prefer white wine.

And they love beer. I poured a delicious beer from a bottle into my glass, and these TWO bees came out! They needed about 10 minutes to sober up and dry off before flying away.

This lightweight bee was SO cliche!

We are now in Bled drinking in some of the most ridiculously beautiful views around. More to come soon!