Day 8 continued - Štanjel and Goče

After taking a break to do some laundry in the afternoon, we drove through several small towns in the Vipava valley, including Štanjel (population: about 300), an impossibly picturesque hill town from medieval times that doesn't seem to have changed in several hundred years. We wandered the cobbled streets, marveled at the juxtaposition of ancient stuccoed walls with beautiful new varnished doors. We strolled through an impeccably manicured garden commissioned by Enrico Ferrari and ended our visit with a trip to the castle where we were treated to an impromptu performance by a local concert band that was rehearsing in the courtyard of the castle. We ventured on to the even tinier town of Goče (population: about 200) which felt like an Italian village stuck in time 200 years ago. We ended the day with another amazing dinner courtesy of the matron of the Cigoj family, Silva.Read more