“I don’t want to die, and I am going to drink a liter of wine†were the words that poured out of my mouth during our eventful drive to Logarska Dolina from Lake Bled. What was supposed to be an easy drive per our Google Maps instructions snapshotted on the Ipad (we were too cheap to get a GPS, a working phone or a paper map) turned into an adventure on off-the-beaten-path mountain roads.
The first problem was a mythical turn that Google Maps made up which didn’t exist. The second problem was we were pooped as we had just hiked 10 miles on day 3 of our Triglav climb. We eventually made it to the top of a mountain pass and thankfully there was a comical tourist map which we used to navigate us to our farm stay.Â
The third problem was the road that we drove to drop us into the valley was steep, had many blind curves and was just wide enough for two Geo Metros. After a white-knuckle drive, we arrived at the serene farm just in time for dinner and a much-needed welcome drink of homemade blueberry schnapps! I didn’t quite drink a full liter of wine by myself, but I sure enjoyed Rebula wine with generous pours from Mike!
The farm that we stayed at is a working dairy farm in a tranquil mountain valley surrounded by craggy peaks and only a few miles from Austria. The family all works either on the farm or helping run the B&B. We enjoyed all of their fresh dairy products: yogurt, butter, cheeses, and even cottage cheese (it is good when fresh with honey from their bee hive!). We ate like kings and queens in their cozy dining room overlooking the farm. Their warm hospitality made it a great place to call home for two nights.
Besides the farm stay, the other the main highlight of visiting this region was to enjoy the scenic views by a drive on the panoramic road. The guidebook had warned us that this road could be scary to drive on, but after the prior evening’s adventure it felt like a piece of cake. Well until I met a logging truck head on and had to reverse down the hill to a turn off! We enjoyed the many scenic views, thankful for the bluebird day. We even scooted over the border into Austria!
As I was still recovering from Triglav and my scary drive, my favorite part of the day was drinking wine overlooking the waterfall!
The next day it was time to leave our peaceful valley and head to Slovenia’s capital: Ljubljana. We had only time for a quick stopover on the way to the coast. After a less eventful drive, due to our purchase of a paper map and Mike’s mad navigating, we easily found our way to city center. We enjoyed the day walking around the car-free old town opting out of true sightseeing. The area is very pretty with a river running through with nice bridges and plenty of narrow streets lined with Viennese style facades. I really enjoyed the window shopping, gelato, and wine shop. Mike liked the beer shop and lunch.
Piran and the Karst region were the last stops on the Raffs’ itinerary for Slovenia. Piran is a tiny seaside village squished between Croatia and Italy. Slovenia only has 29 km of shoreline on the Adriatic Sea. We enjoyed a much-needed beach day. I love to read in the sun and every hour or so cool off in the water. Back and forth until the day is over. It is one of the few times that I feel carefree in life. So, we found a great beach, lucked into some warm weather and relaxed. The sea is super clear and very salty, so swimming and floating was very easy!
The Karst area is known for its limestone, caves, wine and Lipizzaner stud farm. We skipped the caves as we have seen a few in our travels, and they are not really our thing. We did go to the Lipizzaner stud farm in Lipca. This is the original farm were the Lipizzaner breed was created way back in the 1700’s by the Habsburgs. I very much enjoyed our tour of the farm including the fancy stud stalls with their lineage proudly displayed.
I even got to pet a few mares – I was a little nervous at first…
The highlight was watching a training session. Lipizzaners are famous for their color (white), their intelligence and their ability to master dressage moves. We watched several horses with their trainers work on their dressage steps. We luckily had a guide who told us what they were doing as neither Mike nor I had a clue. Once we got the hang of it, we were quite impressed with the horses’ balance, grace and strength. My favorite was the flying change of leg move. Basically, the horse has to change which leg is going first, and to do this they must quickly switch when all the legs are in the air. It was impressive, and I recommend watching a video of it on You-Tube😊
Slovenia was a great first stop on the Raffs’ European tour. It is small, easy to get around and one of the cleanest countries I have ever been to. No litter anywhere, and the public bathrooms are all clean! We also enjoyed their warm, welcoming hospitality and their extreme pride in their country. We would highly recommend a visit. Uncle Ricky was right – we wished we had more time here, but Croatia is calling, and we must go.
I can picture you driving on the edge. We experienced similar, but in mideval towns!
I remember it was quite spicy in Portugal too! After 5 weeks of driving here, I am feeling much more at ease!