Slovenia

juli 2024
  • Tim's Travels
Vineyards, viticulture, vittles. Meer informatie
  • Tim's Travels

Lijst met landen

  • Slovenië Slovenië
Categorieën
Geen
  • 293afgelegde kilometers
Transportmiddelen
  • Vlucht-kilometer
  • Lopen-kilometer
  • Wandelen-kilometer
  • Fiets-kilometer
  • Motorfiets-kilometer
  • Tuktuk-kilometer
  • Auto-kilometer
  • Trein-kilometer
  • Bus-kilometer
  • Camper-kilometer
  • Caravan-kilometer
  • 4x4-kilometer
  • Zwemmen-kilometer
  • Peddelen/Roeien-kilometer
  • Motorboot-kilometer
  • Zeilen-kilometer
  • Woonboot-kilometer
  • Veerpont-kilometer
  • Cruiseschip-kilometer
  • Paard-kilometer
  • Skiën-kilometer
  • Liften-kilometer
  • Cable car-kilometer
  • Helikopter-kilometer
  • Blootvoets-kilometer
  • 9Footprints
  • 10dagen
  • 62foto’s
  • 1Likes
  • Day 1 - I've been here before.

    22 juli 2024, Slovenië ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    15:30
    I spend a lazy morning getting packed, finishing a couple of errands, and reading a little about Slovenia. A new country for me, I know little about it, other than its part in the former Yugoslavia, and the resulting ethnic conflicts in the 1990s. Home for the next week will be a cottage in one of Slovenia’s wine regions, and my companion will be my school friend Kirsten, who I quickly realise has known me for pretty much bang on 30 years. That’s a sobering thought. We’ve not much planned for the week. The climate looks beautiful - our nearest weather station will be Maribor, which promises temperatures in the high 20s, light breezes, wall-to-wall sunshine. I imagine we’ll do some hiking, quite a lot of wine tasting/drinking, maybe some lake swimming if we find something suitable nearby. We’ll see what cool food we can find to cook. I’ve no idea about Slovenian cuisine, but given it neighbours Italy to the West, and Croatia to the South, I’m expecting good things. Kirsten’s driven her camper van up from Madrid, so we’ve got some transport sorted, should we need it much. From the sounds of it, our cottage is at the top of a hill, downwards from which finds you in one of 4 or 5 vineyards that surround the property.

    I leave the house a little before 14:00, and jump on a train for the short ride up to Gatwick. Despite the Monday, early afternoon timing, the train is busy, having been delayed on its way to me. It sounds like I’ve enjoyed the best of the Summer weather while I’ve been in the UK these past 10 days. Today is grey and mizzling - a more popular 2024 combination. I’m not sad to be leaving it behind. I AM sad to be leaving behind my darling Vicki. I’ve loved being at home with her since got back from SE Asia, and I’m uber-excited for our next trip(s) away together in September.

    Gatwick North is comfortably the busiest I’ve seen it this year. This is the first ‘full’ week of school summer holidays in the UK, and it shows. Children EVERYWHERE. I’ve paid to use the fast-track security service at the terminal. I’m not checking a bag, so have got a couple of heavy-ish cabin bags. Arriving at the fast track queue, I spot that they’re using one of the new CT scanners, which is great - except that it’s broken. Chatting to one of the security staff, they’ve been using it for a week now, and there have been some, well - let’s say ‘teething problems.’ The issue is quickly resolved by someone who doesn’t look like they work at the airport. I’m a little disgruntled when one of my bags gets pulled for further inspection. I always travel with a medikit, which contains a pair of blunt scissors, whose blades are less than 6cm long (as required by the Civil Aviation Authority). It’s these that have caused a red flag. Now, my bag is packed pretty fucking brilliantly. Everything I need, nothing I don’t. The medikit is right at the bottom of the bag - obviously. I locate it for the guy, whose beard is simply spectacular, and he measures the blade. Sure enough - 5.5cm. I huff, grab my belongings, and repair to one of the little desk things to repack my bag, quietly seething.

    Still, I make it from the train to Brewdog in around 45 minutes, which is a none too bad result for this time of year. I’m thinking about buying a debenture seat at Brewdog in the North terminal of Gatwick Airport. I’m sat at the same table seat as I have on several occasions already so far this year. I’m pretty sure the bar staff recognise me. Looking back through my scribblings from earlier in the year, I can see that I’ve been here on several occasions when I was all but the only customer. Today, they’re pretty much at max capacity. There are even (whisper it) some kids in here. Not many, but some…

    I’m conscious that at various times in this journal, and particularly at airports, I’ve written stuff that indicates I have some sort of preternatural hatred of kids. I don’t. I love (some of) them. I do, however, find that my enjoyment of travelling can be impaired by their loud, shouty, uncontrolled presence. I guess it’s not the kids I have an issue with, but rather the parents of those kids who choose not to assert any kind of control or discipline over their offspring. Besides - why would you bring them to a craft beer pub, when there’s a perfectly serviceable <insert fast food outlet name> just down the stairs?

    So anyway - Slovenia. The sum total of my knowledge and experience boils down to a few games of football England have played against them, a couple of wines (one of which I adore) that I’ve tried in the UK, and that aforementioned war in the early 1990s. When I travel long-haul, I invariably end buying a Lonely Planet / Rough Guide type book, a growing library of which I keep in my office at home. I haven’t for this trip, and am unsure if:

    1) This is because I’m only going to be away for 10 days, or
    2) I’m largely sticking to one part of the country, or
    3) It’s Europe, and I figure that’s unlikely to need me to spend a ton of time learning about local practices, a sharply different culture, a different currency.

    I find myself feeling guilty that I’ve essentially snubbed the entire Slovenian nation, and wondering whether the WHSmiths downstairs have got a travel section…

    23:50
    The flight itself is a breeze. A shade under two hours. We leave close enough to on time that we land a few minutes ahead of schedule. The airport is all but empty, and I’m the first person to the immigration queue. I’ve no baggage to collect, so am actually outside waiting for my taxi a minute or two ahead of our scheduled arrival time. My driver is parked up the road a little, presumably to avoid paying a parking fee. He turns up pretty quickly, and seems like a jaunty sort of chap.

    We set off - at quite a lick. I’ve no idea what the speed limit is in these parts, but I suspect it’s not 150kph. My driver is quite animated. He gets quite involved when I mention that I worked in business psychology for 15 years. Hands leave the steering wheel, he turns round to talk to me face to face a couple of times, even though we’re travelling at upwards of 80mph. As we arrive into the city centre of Ljubljana, we very, VERY nearly have a crash. A car pulls out in front of him, and we do the whole skidding / brakes screeching thing, before pulling to a stop less than half a metre from the offending vehicle. I’m unsure whether the fault lies with my driver or the other car, but it unnerves me somewhat. Happily, we’re not far from the guesthouse, so there are few opportunities for further nerve jangling.

    Kirsten and Max have gone out to grab some food. Oh, I realise we need to do a bit of explanation, don’t we? I consider myself very lucky to have had 4 ‘best’ friends throughout my life, and even luckier that 3 of them are still with me. Kirsten is one of them. We met at school when we were both 16, and just clicked. We share a similarly dark sense of humour, we have in common the same philosophies of life, and even when we’ve not seen each other in a long time, we slip into a very easy style of conversation.

    Max is Kirsten’s mum. She lost her husband, John, a few years back, and asked Kirsten if she could join some of this trip. Kirsten’s driven up from Spain in a camper van with Max in tow (as well as Juancho and Milla - but we’ll deal with them tomorrow). I’ve met Max a handful of times over the years, and have always adored her company. She’s a wine hound, so we have much in common.

    I catch up with them at a cool restaurant down by the riverside. I can’t see much of Ljubljana in the dark, but it seems like a lovely town - very quiet, lots of bars and restaurants, easily walkable. We natter over a couple of bottles of wine, and head back to the guesthouse around 23:00. It feels like I’ve had a long day…
    Meer informatie

  • Day 2 - The back of the back of beyond

    23 juli 2024, Slovenië ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    12:00
    I sleep less than brilliantly. My room has no cooling features of any kind. It’s in the basement of an old stone building, so isn’t disastrously hot, but I could have done with a fan or some AC to keep me cool. Kirsten’s on some work calls this morning, so I head out around 10:00 for a wander around Ljubljana. It’s a stunningly pretty little city, very quiet, very clean. 100m from our guesthouse is the Republic Square, which celebrates Slovenian independence. It’s all but empty. I head on down towards the river, taking a scenic route - i.e. I set off in what I think is the general direction of the river, and it turns out I’m walking away from it. I dawdle along for maybe 30 minutes, stopping to look at occasional bits of architecture. Finally, I reach the river, and sit down at one of the many waterside cafés that line its banks. I deserve and have a strong black coffee. I’m conscious I haven’t eaten since lunchtime yesterday, so grab a piece of cheese pie. It’s delicious. Lots in common with the Greek Spanakopita I love so much.

    Arriving back at our guesthouse, Kirsten is just about finished with her work calls, and I decide it’s probably beer o’clock. The local brew is called Lasko, and is a fairly generic Mediterranean lager. Inoffensive, easy drinking. Max joins us and insists I have another. She’s a good woman.

    18:00
    Kirsten and I head off from Ljubljana around 12:30, heading East towards the borders with Croatia and Hungary. I’m on map duty, and successfully navigate us out of the city centre without too many difficulties. We join the eastbound highway, and settle into a fast cruise. The roads are fairly empty, and we make good progress. The views of the scenery are stunning. Only a few kilometres out of Ljubljana, we’re surrounded by sweeping hills blanketed in thick forest.

    We leave the highway, and join a 2 lane road. We leave the two lane road, and join a single carriageway road. We leave the single carriageway road, onto a single track. We are definitely headed for the middle of nowhere. The map is fairly easy to follow though, which is something. We start to climb a not insignificant hill. Reaching the summit a few minutes later, we realise we’re very nearly at our AirBnB.

    It’s idyllic. We’re surrounded on all sides by vines and fruit trees. It’s silent. Not quiet - SILENT. We’re shown around the property and grounds by our hosts, Simone and Franz. They introduce us to their dogs - Mufi and Arya. We introduce Mufi and Arya to Mila and Juancho. Much dogging occurs. Our AirBnB has a wine bar in it. I’m not kidding - a full on bar with a wine fridge, and wine racks. Now, we’re not stupid enough to think that the wine is free, but it’s a lovely touch, and we crack open a bottle of Slovenian Sauvignon Blanc, which is better than we thought it’d be. We briefly consider taking our wine to the hot tub, but Kirsten has another work call to join.

    Instead, I head down to our nearest town, Ormoz - which is about 10km away. We need food and wine supplies. Before shopping, I take a bit of a swing through the town. It feels, I don’t know - almost empty. There are a handful of cars on the road, but very few. Quite a lot of businesses look to be closed - whether for the end of the day (it’s a little past 16:00) or more permanently, I’m not sure. I find a wine tasting room of the famous Puklavec family, but alas - it closed at 16:00. I’ll be back in the next couple of days…

    My first shopping stop is at the Lidl supermarket on the outskirts of town. They have very little of what I need. More successful is a stop at the Spar supermarket nearby. Spar in this part of Europe is a more mainstream supermarket than the corner shop brand we’re used to seeing in the UK. They have most of what I need - including some cool looking local beers and wines. They don’t have BBQ fuel though, so I make a 3rd stop at a Slovenian supermarket chain called Mercator, who happily fulfil my fuel fantasies.

    23:50
    We have a lovely dinner, sitting outside under the vines. I knock up a simple, Greek marinade for some chicken thighs, and Kirsten pairs it with a Sicilian pasta dish that shows more than a passing resemblance to Puttanesca. Delish. The BBQ is a small version of the big Landmann I use at home, which makes cooking the bone-in chicken thighs a breeze. They’re crispy where they should be, juicy and unctuous in all the right places, and - crucially - cooked all the way through.

    After dinner, Kirsten insists on some red wine, and grabs a bottle that she and Max bought in Italy, on their road-trip through to Slovenia. It’s wonderful. I’m a relative newbie with Italian wine, and struggle to know which are worth a punt, and which not. This one’s a banger. Bright acidity, full bodied and zippy fruit. I’d make a note of the winemaker’s / vineyard’s name, but there’s zero chance of me finding the same wine in the UK. Around 22:30, I suggest bed, but Kirsten’s thinking is slightly more diagonal than mine, and she proposes a final bottle of wine. It’s been ages since we sat up (fairly) late with too much wine, and set the world to rights - so I greedily acquiesce.

    I stumble to bed a little before midnight, and Kirsten attempts to climb the narrow staircase to her room. This doesn’t go entirely to plan, and she falls down them. Thankfully uninjured.
    Meer informatie

  • Day 3 - Quite a lot of nothing at all...

    24 juli 2024, Slovenië ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    16:00
    It takes dedication to do this little. I sleep the sleep of the boozed, and only wake up around 08:30. At 04:30, I padded out of my bedroom to use the bathroom, to find Kirsten sleeping on the daybed in the kitchen, and covered in dogs. I wondered if she might decide against more stairs action.

    My head’s a little fuzzy from the wine last night. so I make a strong coffee, and see what the day’s about. We discover a dishwasher, which is excellent news. We have trouble accessing WiFi, which is less cool. I get very spotty cell service up here, so was relying on the WiFi to post these blogs and the like. Kirsten sends a message to Simone to ask if there’s anything we can do to boost the signal. She’s got work calls most days we’re here, so needs to have a half decent connection. Kirsten joins one of these calls at 10:00, and I decide to make myself useful. I tidy up the kitchen, load the dishwasher, and head down to Ormoz to reload on some critical supplies.

    I’ve been surprised at the lack of lamb in the supermarkets. Beef, pork and chicken are widely available, but I’ve not seen any lamb yet, despite trying 4 different supermarkets. I’d assumed, incorrectly it would seem, that the Slovenian cuisine would have a lot in common with Greek and Macedonian food, and feature lamb prominently. Captain Google reckons that lamb is a much less frequent treat in this part of the world - likely only eaten a handful of times per year. As a result, my shopping basket fills with other options. I also grab a few Radlers, basically a lager shandy made with a variety of fruit flavoured sodas, but most commonly lemon or grapefruit. Grapefruit doesn’t agree with my anti-anxiety medication, so it’s lemon for me. They’re low in alcohol, massively refreshing in the heat, and for me are a favoured alternative to a straight up local lager.

    Suitably shopped, I head back to the Puklavec wine cellar on the outskirts of town, and happily find it open this time. There are perhaps 30 different wines on offer - some made ultra locally, others from as far away as Macedonia; there are whites, reds, sparklers and stickies; there are a bunch at around the €5 mark, and others that get up above €30. There are grapes with which I’m very familiar - Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Merlot, and others of which I’ve never heard - Vranec, Shipon. I chat with the shop dude, who is insistent that I try some of his wines. Who am I to disagree. He gives me a white blend, which is staggeringly good. Wants to be at €25 a bottle, but I grab one anyway. He gives me a Traminec varietal which is closely related to Gewürztraminer, one of my favourite grapes. Sensational. I grab one. He pours me a couple of others, and, well - I’m lucky to get out with only half a case. Max is arriving in a few days, and Kirsten has tasked me with finding an inexpensive red wine that Max will enjoy. I bravely take up the challenge.

    Deciding that there’s really not that much to Ormoz beyond grocery and wine stores, I take a little drive into the countryside. It is STUNNING. On one side of the roads are countless fields of sunflowers. As I drive through a small village, there are rocky escarpments, and views of lush, verdant valleys. I spot a bunch more wineries than I’ve even listed for us to visit - many of them so small that they don’t warrant an entry on Google Maps. In a show of ultimate bravery, I drive past a little bar attached to a farm. Back at the cottage, Kirsten is finishing up another call. I grab some bread, cheese, salami and a beer, and join her at the picnic table for a light lunch. It leaves me a feeling a touch tired, so I repair to my room to see if a nap is forthcoming.

    23:45
    Wow. What a sleep. I manage a full 2 hours, and wake up feeling refreshed. Kirsten’s got some work calls this evening, so I busy myself making dinner - some beef kofta kebabs, a bulgar wheat salad, and a cucumber/tomato yoghurt concoction. My cheffing is accompanied by one of the white wines I bought earlier - a blend of Traminec and Muscat, which is a knockout.

    I light the BBQ around 19:00, and spend a blissful 45 minutes lazing in one of the lawn chairs, reading my book. I’m occasionally interrupted by one of the many dogs, but I’m at peace with it. The sun is warm, but not hot.

    Dinner is delicious, and accompanied by a range of red wines, some cool music, and even cooler conversation. The dogs finally chill out around 22:00. We’ll take them for a day out tomorrow to burn off some of their excess energy. There’s apparently a swimmable lake around 20km North of us which sounds ideal…

    We call it quits around 23:30. Kirsten has to be up for a call at 09:00, and I’m already considering how long I can sleep in for tomorrow morning.
    Meer informatie

  • Day 4 - Lake, and a broken Kirsten

    25 juli 2024, Slovenië ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    22:45
    I once again wake with a fuzzy wine head. It’s about 08:00. I pad out to the bathroom, and find Kirsten in a state of disrepair. She’s due on a work call in an hour, but looks like this might be a significant uphill struggle. I return to bed, and whilst I don’t sleep, the following couple of hours helps me feel a lot better. I shower while Kirsten finishes up her call. She quickly declares overhung. I ask if she’s fit enough for a trip to the lake as we’d discussed, and she claims yes. We head out around 11:00, after we’ve given the handful of ibuprofen she’s taken time to work.

    The drive over to the lake is stunning. We head over a couple of valleys from our guesthouse, and pass countless signs to wineries. Kirsten groans at most of them. We pass through Ljutomer, a similar size to Ormoz, and about 7km North of our cottage. There are a couple of new supermarket chains here - Jager and Tus. Jager particularly interests me, for obvious reasons.

    We arrive at the lake, and find fishermen parked up. The combination of dogs and fishing is not a happy one, so we quietly reverse out, and head further round. Our second stop is more successful, and we let the dogs out to run. We pass a very lovely German family, who inexplicably have no teeth. The dogs are loving the extra space. We find a quiet little cove to occupy, and let the dogs swim. Juancho is a confident swimmer, and furiously doggy paddles in circles while yapping away. Mila is a little more cautious. According to Kirsten, she’d never been away from home until a few months ago, so traveling is unfamiliar. She’d also not swum until recently, so she’s understandably a little nervous. She does really well though, building in confidence as she swims out to collect the tennis ball time after time.

    Kirsten is beginning to sound more human. We briefly discuss why she’s so broken. We come up with a range of pretty specious suggestions - that we drank Slovenian wine last night, and it doesn’t *agree* with her as much as Spanish wine, that the bee sting on her arm has poisoned her, and made her incapable of ingesting wine efficiently… She’s putting a broadly brave face on it. After an hour of knackering out the dogs, we head back to the car.

    We’re still in search of lamb, and stop at what claims to be a butcher in Ljutomer, but which simply does not exist. We stop at Jäger, and find no lamb. We do pick up some groceries we need, and head back to the cottage. The sky is brooding, and we suspect rain. Kirsten showers, and has a nap. I have a light lunch of leftover bulgar wheat salad and a couple of Radlers. Sitting under the vine covering, I can hear the patter of gentle rain, and elect to shelter indoors, on my bed, in the hope that nap may come. It does - only for an hour, but it’s a super luxurious way to pass the time.

    When I wake, Kirsten is finishing up her last work call of the day. I comment that she seems to be doing a lot more work on this part time contract than she’s actually contracted for, and she doesn’t disagree. I think she has an exit plan on the horizon. Honestly, it just seems to be getting in the way of having a good time. The clouds have passed, and the evening sunshine is glorious. I recline in one of the garden sun loungers and read my book. Kirsten suggests a glass of wine. I’m surprised - I thought she’d be rabidly anti booze today, but she feels she’s reached a stage where a glass might help. We share a bottle of a fab white blend I bought yesterday. Kirsten’s cooking dinner, so I’m on lazy patrol. The sun poking through the vineyard next door as it sets is a pretty breathtaking moment.

    Dinner is fab - some stuffed marrow that our hosts have grown, and a simple tomato and cucumber salad. Kirsten has proposed (and I have agreed to) a bottle of Italian red to accompany our food. Once again, it’s a great slurp - around €10 in Italy, and never found outside of the country.

    Around 21:30, Kirsten announces she’s off to bed. I don’t blame her - she’s had a very tough day…
    Meer informatie

  • Day 6 - We must find wine.

    27 juli 2024, Slovenië ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    16:00
    Max arrives tomorrow, and the need to replenish red wine stocks has hit critical levels. We’ve what counts for a busy day planned. I’ve been sleeping pretty well the past few days. My room is warm, but my small electric hand fan has been doing wonderful things to keep me just the right side of cool enough. We’re both awake with an up and at ‘em attitude in decent time, and heading off to the beautiful lake at Kamenšnica Babinci just before 11:00. The forecast is hot, unbroken sunshine all day.

    The small beach by the lake is fairly quiet - a combination of cyclists, fisherpeople, and swimmers. The quiet is very much broken by Juancho, who’s favourite water-based activity is swimming in circles, and barking incessantly. Juancho is very much a traditional, small yapper type dog. Mila is much more withdrawn, and likes less the sound of her own bark. They both have a great time splashing around, chasing their ball. About 45 minutes after our arrival, and family turns up with about 7 young kids. They plonk themselves down next to us. The kids are, well - let’s face it, noisy. They (the kids) also start casting nervous glances at the dogs, who are in full-on play mode, and yapping away. We elect to pack up and move on.

    I’ve been in the sun for nearly an hour, so decide to take the car to do some grocery shopping, while Kirsten has some more play time with the dogs. It later transpires she is a little sunburnt, so strong are the sun’s rays today. We meander back through Ljutomer, before turning off onto a stunning country back road that takes us into the heart of wine country. We stop at a winery just outside Jeruzalem. We’re largely on the hunt for red wines for Max’s arrival. I taste 4, and buy one of each. They’re all great, but the standout is a grape with which I’m barely familiar - Vranec. Medium bodied, bright acidity, black fruit flavours. Yum. We reward ourselves with a glass each of white wine - a brilliant Pinot Gris / Sauvignon blend for Kirsten, and a Traminec varietal for me. The views across the valley are sensational, and wine’s pretty awesome as well.

    Our next stop is about 3 minutes walk up the hill so a taverna with a wine shop attached to it. We get slightly distracted by the view, and end up having a glass of their flagship white wine, and blend of Chardonnay, Rhine Riesling and Pinot Gris. We’re both a touch peckish, so share a plate of locally made paté and bread. The dogs are both a bit jaded, so decide to try one more winery on our way back to the cottage. Our route takes us further and further towards the middle of nowhere - it’s s stunning drive through forests, valleys, vineyards. Sadly, on arrival it appears the winery is no more. I suspect a fair few of the smaller producers suffered at the hands of COVID. If they are even still growing grapes, I find myself wondering if their crop is given over to co-operative winemaking, rather than the personal financial burden of making their own wines.

    We’re back at the cottage a little after 15:30. It’s properly hot, so I treat myself to a dip in the hot-tub. I decide against the jacuzzi bubbles, and there’s no way I’m heating the water up. It’s initially a bit of a system shock, but the cold quickly becomes a wonderfully refreshing cool. I air dry with a glass of wine and my book, and then consider I’ve earnt a nap.

    23:00
    I wake at 18:00, after a smashing 90 minute sleep. I’m on dinner duties this evening, so gradually mobilise myself to do some prep work. We’re having local sausages braised in red wine, and served with a warm lentil dish featuring flavours of bacon, roasted pepper and sun-dried tomato. I usually use Puy lentils, but only had green available in the supermarket. There’s a small snafu when it transpires I haven’t turned the oven on, but it my oversight corrected, it heats up quickly enough. As a light starter, we have some Gazpacho that Kirsten made earlier. The tomatoes are from the veg patch at the cottage, and are some of the best I’ve ever eaten. SO ripe, SO juicy, SO full of flavour. They are also, of course, all kinds of weird knobbly shapes and sizes. I don’t know that this actually mades a difference to their flavour, but it reminds me how sad it is to see utterly uniform fruit and veg in the supermarkets back home.

    Kirsten declares my sausage and lentil dish a triumph. It’s really tasty - something I’ve cooked a bunch of times before, but very rarely as lentils don’t agree with my beloved wife. After we’ve eaten, we settle into an easy post-prandial patter of conversation. I think one of the reasons Kirsten and my friendship has endured so easily over the years is that we never run out of things to talk about, but are equally happy sitting in silence, without the need to fill the void. It makes for easy-going days. Around 22;00, we’re both starting to flag. I declare I’m not long for this day, and head to bed.
    Meer informatie

  • Day 7 - Max arrives. As do the rains.

    28 juli 2024, Slovenië ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    23:30
    We both sleep well, and wake in good time. Max is arriving today, and we spend a fairly frantic hour or so tidying and cleaning up around the cottage. Not that it’s a tip or anything, but, you know - parents. We’re unclear from which station Max is departing Bled, and to which station she will arrive. We’re unsure whether she’ll change stations, or whether it’s a direct train. We have worked through this line of questioning via WhatsApp, and are still clueless. Max sends us an update. “On the train. Destination vague.”

    Further updates happen. Max has been advised to head for Mursk Sobota, about 30km to the North of us. It transpires her train passes through Ormoz and Ljutomer on its way to Mursk Sobota though, so we arrange to pick up her at Ivankopji at 12:15. The train’s a touch late getting in, but she emerges, triumphantly, onto the platform. As a reward, we take her to meet our new friends at Puklavec Malek. We have a glass of wine each, sitting under the vines, looking over the stunning Jeruzalem valley. I take Max inside for a tasting. She’s bowled over by a couple of the reds they offer. We start writing down an order for some bottles, which rapidly turns into 3 cases. Max and Kirsten are heading from here up to Poland, where apparently buying anything except syrupy, sweet wine is a trial.

    Back at the cottage, there are several afternoon naps. The heat is pretty stifling today - 34C and steamy. When we wake, the sky has clouded over. Petr, at Puklavec, warned us that storms were due in tonight. As I sit under the shade of the vines, the breeze noticeably stiffens. I hear the first hint of rumbling thunder a couple of valleys over from us, and the sky darkens. When the rains come, they are heavy, fat rains. Beautiful, big raindrops. There are relatively few lightning strikes, but the thunder continues for hours. The vines serve as a decent umbrella when the rain is light, but this heavy rain is flooding through the leaves. We shelter inside, and spend a delightful evening nattering away, drinking some of the wine Max bought earlier. Kirsten knocks up a quick salad from the veg garden, and I cooked a steak, and some local bratwurst type sausages. So simple, but so tasty. The rain continues, unabated. Around 22:30, Max declares she’s ready for bed. Kirsten and I do not disagree…
    Meer informatie

  • Day 9 - Westward, HO!

    30 juli 2024, Slovenië ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    22:30
    I have a beautifully long and deep sleep. I’ve not slept badly here, but neither has my sleep been brilliant. The cottage is quite warm at night, and I’ve only had my little hand fan to cool me down as I slumber. Reports from back home that it’s going to be 32C when I get home tomorrow, so no abatement.

    Today is moving day. I get myself packed up, which takes all of 10 minutes. I play with the dogs in the garden for a while, then sink into one of the ultra comfy sun loungers, and read my book. Simone and Franz have very kindly offered to drive me up to my next stop, a small village close to Ljubljana Airport. They haven’t mentioned payment, but I can’t believe they’d offer entirely for free. It’s a good 2 hours each way. Any discussions have been between Simone and Kirsten, and Kirsten is not necessarily the best when it comes to detail.

    Lunch is a simple plate of bread, cheese and salami, accompanied by a glass of a banging gazpacho, that Max made yesterday. My ride isn’t until 15:00, so I have a couple of hours to laze.

    As the appointed hour approaches, I say goodbye to Kirsten and Max. It’s been amazing to hang out with them both, up here in the Slovenian winelands. Kirsten I just never feel like I see enough of, and Max I’ve got to know a whole lot better than I did before this trip.

    We’re on the road in Franz’s big Ford pickup. Simone and Franz’s English is stilting (better than my Slovenian etc etc), so our conversation is a little challenging. Honestly - I’d be just as happy to watch the stunning scenery go by. We take a slightly different route up towards Ljubljana, which takes us through some beautiful forests and valleys. Truly breathtaking. The airport is about 30 clicks North of Ljubljana, and my room for the night is in a tiny village called Cerklje.

    We make good time, and arrive into Cerklje. The sun’s still hot, but I head out for a walk in this stunning countryside. There are mountains not far to the North of us, empty fields as far as the eye can see, and a small, mountain river running straight through the village. This is apparently a popular base for skiers in Winter, and I can see why. My walk leaves me peckish. Next door to my accommodation is an Italian restaurant, that apparently does good pizzas. I’m taken by their offering of a ‘Ljubljana Steak’ though - pork fillet, battered out, then stuffed with local ham and cheese, breadcrumbed and fried. Perhaps not the healthiest thing I’ve eaten on this trip, but definitely one of the tastiest. I’m quite surprised to realise that this is the first meal out I’ve eaten during the trip. I’ve WAY underspent on what I had budgeted. Kirsten and I are both keen cooks, and actually coexist in the kitchen pretty well. As a result, we’ve shared the culinary workload quite happily, and - as it transpires, economically.

    Back at my apartment, I catch up on some Olympic coverage. It’s one of the incredibly few times I get to see widespread coverage of world class hockey, and the advent of digital transmission means I can typically watch as much of it as I want. Earlier today, the GB team were involved in a nail-biter against the no 1 ranked Netherlands side. 2-0 down with 10 mins to go, the GB team scrape a draw, with a last minute short corner strike. Watching the whole game, it’s actually a fair result. GB had more of the possession and chances, but they’re gonna need a better goal conversion rate if they’re to go deep into the competition. The other game I watch is Belgium vs Australia. The Belgian team is ranked 3 in the world, and they dismantle Australia, and that’s something I can always enjoy…

    Time’s cracking on. I’ve an early (ish) start tomorrow, to head home to see my amazing wife, and my beautiful boys. Think I surprised Vicki a little earlier, as she seemed to think I was heading back on Thursday. Momentarily, I panicked, and had to check it wasn’t ME that had got the dates mixed up…
    Meer informatie