From Slovenia with Love

Dober dan from Slovenia! We have been here for almost a week already. And, although the country isn't very big (roughly 250km long and 150km wide, so 20,300 km2), it has a lot to offer and all we can say at this point is that we barely scratched the surface. 

Did you know that Slovenia is the only country with the word "love" in it's name? Now that sounds promissing...

So we started our exploration from the north-west, in order to enjoy the mountains before the temperatures got too cold. And we can confirm, this country really is blessed by nature because the beautiful landscapes and fall colors we saw this past week have been a true feast for our eyes 😍. 

Nature is generous here and protecting it is very important to Slovenians. Enjoying it as well! Slovenians are very active and athletic people. Does the name Tadej Pogacar ring a bell?? And that's just one name. Lakes, rivers, waterfalls, mountains, beautiful forests covered with beds of leaves and moss; it's all there! And we spent the last week strolling along the paths only discovering a tiny part of Slovenia's exceptional sites. But we are sold...

Sold on the color of the water, absolute pure clarity... 

Sold on the white limestone along the riverbanks and the contrasts it brings,

Sold on the river streams that dig their way through the rocks, sculpting the surrounding landscapes 

and sometimes cascading down into impressive waterfalls. 

Sold also on the mountains. We are after all still in the Alps and as he temperatures start to lower down, we are blessed with beautifully sugar coated mountain tops...magical! And although we are used to this type of scenery, it never gets old 😍

And we also had more wonderful encounters! Like Sam, a young Montrealer met on the climb to lake Bohijn viewpoint. He is doing a semester in Paris and as soon as he has an opportunity (like now during the autumn holidays), he goes out to explore some part of Europe.

On the same hike we also met a group of 6 young French students, also doing a student exchange but in Budapest and also on vacation in the area. An encounter maybe a bit more ordinary but still as sympathetic. We all had a picnic together, drank a coffee and played a friendly game of Uno at the mountain hut before going back down. A really nice moment😊.

But Slovenia is far from having revealed all of its treasures. Located at a big cultural crossroad between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, it was part of the Austrian Empire for 6 centuries, something that can be noticed in the architecture: 

The country's recent history is much more eventful. In the 20th century alone, the territory changed states 4 times!! Including the Yougoslavian period, as a satellite country of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the territory has kept its identity, language and culture. We will learn more about this as we head to the capital Ljubljana (the "j" in Slovenian is prononced like a "y" ), our next stopover.  

We will also go to some vineyards because yes, there is also wine here ... 😋. We're not lying when we say this country is worth the detour... All we can say is that for the moment, we are under the charm of the "love" country💓.

Adijo 👋.

To see all the photos and the map click here: Map and Photos