A rude awakening!

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, adeleinslovenia, ifeelsLOVEnia, Radol'ca, Radovljica, Skofja Loka, Visit Radol'ca, Visit Skofja Loka by adeleinslovenia

I couldn’t believe my eyes this morning when I woke up and looked out the window to see a thick blanket of fresh snow, which is still falling heavily now as I write. It seems even the forecasters hadn’t seen it coming as rain was forecast rather than snow. Those that know me well, and any regular readers, will know that I am not a big fan of the white stuff and especially now when there has already been so much of it this winter. It’s a particular shame as Saturday was a beautiful sunny day and I was revelling in seeing the many spring flowers which had been rapidly appearing from the undergrowth during the past week – what a welcome sight- but now once again buried under heavy snow. I for one hope the rain will appear soon to wash it all away so spring can really get on with springing! For the skiers out there though, its going to be a very long ski season so they are certainly happy.

Despite the less than favourable weather, there has been quite a lot happening in the Radovljica area this past week. On Monday at dusk, the tradition of floating handmade models, made by local children and illuminated by candles, in the streams in the villages of Kropa and Kamna Gorica took place. This age-old iron-forging custom, takes place annually on the eve of St. Gregory’s Day. The models, which are a mixture of unique art creations made from paper, cardboard and wood with candles affixed either on the exterior or interior, create a colourful effect against the dusk setting. This custom dates back to the era of manual iron forging, before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, when the name day of St. Gregory was considered the first day of spring. What a shame that once again this year the spring gods didn’t appear to be listening or taking any notice but it is nonetheless a magical scene to watch the faces of the children as their colourful creations float off along the stream.

On Wednesday the new bookshop in Radovljica played host to the great Slovenian alpinist, author and expedition leader, Viki Grošelj, who came to give a short talk (and of course book promotion) and I was lucky enough to be able to go along and listen to him recounting some of his experiences and recalling anecdotes. Viki is one of the few alpinists in the world who has climbed the ten summits of over 8,000 metres in the Himalayas, including Everest and K2, and has written numerous books about his experiences. We in the audience only got to hear a fraction of his tales but undoubtedly he must have a lifetime of stories to tell, of jubilant triumphs, extreme conditions, harrowing successful and less successful expeditions – some of them tinged with sadness – as inevitably friends and colleagues have fallen victim to the might of the mountains and the elements along the way.

On Saturday, it was a crisp but beautifully sunny day and I decided to take a little trip out to the town of Škofja Loka. Škofja Loka boasts one of the three best preserved medieval town centres in Slovenia, the other two being Radovljica, where I live, and Ptuj, where I’m ashamed to say I still haven’t been, though it’s definitely firmly on the list of places to go! Škofja Loka was actually among one of the places I considered living when I moved to Slovenia. Like Radovljica, it has a lot of history and many places, buildings and natural features of note, is surrounded by pristine nature, offers a mulititude of walking and cycling paths and is also convenient for getting to Ljubljana. However, in the end I plumped for Radovljica, a decision I don’t regret.

Škofja Loka has several castles, two of which I visited. The newer of the two, the impressive and imposing Loka Castle (Loški grad), was originally built in the 13th century but was completely renovated following an earthquake in 1511. The castle stands on a small hill just above the town centre and also houses the Loka Museum. The remains of the Old Castle (Stari grad), shown in the picture below, stand a little further and higher away and can be reached on foot, approximately 30 minutes walk away from Loka Castle, by following the signs for the Loška Nature Trail.

Incidentally, Radovljica also briefly got its own castle this winter, albeit a snow castle!

© Adele in Slovenia

10Mar2013

The faintest hint of spring

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, adeleinslovenia, Hiking, ifeelsLOVEnia, Julian Alps by adeleinslovenia

It’s been a bit of a soggy week as the snow has begun to give way to the rain as the air temperature gradually warms up. I hope it’s a first sign of spring though I very much doubt that we’ve seen the end of the snow completely. Fortunately last weekend was sunny, or at least up above 1500 metres it was anyway. Having heard on the weather forecast that this was going to be the case, it was time to head for higher ground in search of the sun and once again I was rewarded for the effort. I was beginning to doubt it, leaving Radovljica and making the journey through Bled up to the Pokljuka plateau, it was damp and cloudy the whole way up. Even when parking the car and starting to walk higher it was still cloudy but then, as if in a wonderland, the sun appeared way up above the clouds – what a magical feeling.

Pokljuka is the largest forest plateau in the Julian Alps and spans almost 20km both in length and width. Being such a large area, its borders fall within the municipalities of both Bled and Bohinj whilst parts of it lie within Triglav National Park. Its height varies from 1000 – 1400ms in the flat plateau areas and with the surrounding mountains to over 2000ms. The highest point is the peak of Debela Peč.

There’s always something going on on Pokljuka, whether summer or winter, it’s a haven for outdoor lovers and fortunately for me, it’s easily accessible from Radovljica. Reaching Pokljuka by public transport is somewhat more difficult as buses do not run there during the winter months but during the summer there are buses from Bled.

In addition to skiing, downhill and cross-country, there are numerous walking routes of varying lengths and difficulties. As you can see from this photo, taken at Planina Lipanca, there is a very wide choice of directions to walk – and this is just one of the options, there are many, many more.

In a previous blog (A mixed bag – December 2012), I wrote about how I always have 2 pairs of crampons with me when walking in the winter, just in case one pair should break. How fortunate then that I was prepared when this happened last week. Here you see me preparing to take a seat in the snow to put them on ready to make my descent. They come in so useful not only when it’s icy but also in the morning, if the temperatures have been very low overnight, the snow can become very hard and slippery in places, especially where others have walked, and wearing these can facilitate the descent although they aren’t meant for serious alpinism. I mention this because I was pleasantly surprised by the customer service received when visiting the Veriga Factory in Lesce, near Radovljica, where they make these crampons as well as snow chains for cars. In addition to purchasing a new pair of crampons, to make up for the breakage, I was given me some spare links and replacement rubber, in order to be able to repair the broken pair, a snazzy bag to keep them in and even a hat too – not to be sniffed at! So should you find yourself walking in Slovenia in the winter, my advice would be to have a pair of these with you, just in case, they are light and easy to carry and you just never know when they might come in handy – http://en.veriga-lesce.si/crampons-for-shoes/

After the disappointment of not being able to go away with my parents during the school winter holidays – the snow hampered my travel plans – I managed to squeeze in a (very) flying visit back to the UK. I met up with my parents and a couple of friends and just about had time to fill up my suitcase with lots of shopping too! The support my parents have given me since my move here has been phenomenal and therefore the little time we get to spend together these days is precious – Happy Mother’s Day Mum!

I’ll be making my once a month visit to Ljubljana next week – I work there once a month – and I’ll be going with a renewed perspective having come across this new video. So for anyone else who might be thinking about visiting Slovenia – this might help to convince you – http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SBV3UJuJKao

© Adele in Slovenia

3Mar2013

An icy dip

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, adeleinslovenia, Begunje, Hiking, ifeelsLOVEnia, Karavanke, Radol'ca, Radovljica, Slovenia, Tourist farms in Slovenia, Visit Radol'ca by adeleinslovenia

Brrr… it makes me shiver just thinking and writing about it but some hardy folk braved the ice cold waters of Lake Bled last week for the Bled Winter Swimming Cup 2013, which since starting in 2010, has now become an annual event – ice permitting.

The water temperature on the day of the swim was a balmy 3 degrees and the air temperature 0 degrees. The event attracted 67 competitors from far and wide: Australia, Croatia, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Russia, UK, USA and of course Slovenia.

All the men’s events were won by Slovenes whilst the women’s events were won by a Slovene, a Germany and an Australian. The shortest event was 25 metres and the longest 50 metres. However, one brave chap, from England no less, where we’re not exactly famed for our tolerance to the extreme cold, then went on to swim the ice mile in 37.23 minutes, hats off all round to him I say!

This year, although there have been record levels of snowfall, the air temperature hasn’t actually been as low as last year and therefore, fortunately for the competitors, the lake hasn’t frozen over. This time last year it was completely frozen over with a very thick layer of ice and for the first time since moving here I was able to walk across the ice to the island and the church in the middle of the lake. What a strange and slightly unsettling experience (as you might gather from my facial expression in the photo below – that and the fact it was freeeeezing!). However, I certainly wasn’t alone, there were plenty of others walking and skating on the ice too so I decided to put my apprehensions aside and join them. And it was worth it for my first chance to reach and explore the tiny island and so I can finally say I’ve been there.

Fortunately, living in Radovljica, which is just 7km from Bled, I am able to walk and run frequently around Lake Bled – I couldn’t possibly count how many times I’ve done so in the past 6 years and it still hasn’t lost its appeal. Bled has been a popular tourist destination since the 19th century and is probably most known for its island in the middle of the lake, home to the Church of St. Mary which was originally built in the 8th century and renovated in the 15th and 18th centuries. The stairway which leads from the lake up to the island has 99 steps and dates from 1655. The island can only be reached by boat and visitors can either rent a boat and row themselves or use one of the traditional Bled ‘pletna’ boats whose oarsmen will do the hard work for you.

Alternatively, a walk, or even a run, around the lake as I do is a very popular activity year-round. It’s approximately 6km around but the time passes easily whilst admiring the beauty of the island, Bled Castle and the backdrop of the mountains of the Karavanke Alps.

Since I love being up in the mountains rather than just looking at them, and since Friday brought some much needed and long awaited warm sunshine, I went for a walk with a friend to the Roblek mountain hut (Roblekov dom) which at 1657m is the highest of the huts on Begunjščica, a part of the Karavanke Alps. It was so sunny and warm up there, we could have stayed all day, alas we had to get back so we’d didn’t have much time to linger but just long enough to feel some of the sun’s rays and take a few photos.

Roblekov dom is named after Hugon Roblek, who was born in Radovljica. He was a successful pharmacist and one of the fighters who defended the northern border in the Austrian Koroška region. In 1920, whilst staying in the National Home in Trieste, Italian fascists set fire to the home and Roblek fell to a sad death when trying to jump out of a window to save his life. In his will, Roblek left all his assets to the Radovljica branch of the Slovene Mountain Association who built Roblekov dom using his legacy.

23Feb2013

Cake and Confessions!

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, adeleinslovenia, Food, ifeelsLOVEnia, Okusi Radol'ce, Radol'ca, Radovljica, Restaurants, Slovenia, Taste Radol'ca, Visit Radol'ca by adeleinslovenia

First, the confession. I must have the world’s worst sweet tooth! Chocolate, cakes, biscuits, you name it – if it’s sweet it’s got my name written all over it. So, it was with delight that I read last week that Radovljica has now got its own cake and therefore I hastily arranged a tasting.

The idea for Linhart’s cake (Linhartov cukr), as it is known since Radovljica is the birthplace of the first Slovene dramatist and playwright Anton Tomaž Linhart, came about during conversations held in Lectar Inn between its proprietor, Jože, and locals who recalled how in days gone by in Linhart’s era, local school children used to come to Lectar for cake.

And so the idea to try to recreate and revive this tradition was born and Jože and his team at the Lectar Inn set about trialling and testing recipes, based upon traditional recipes, until they were satisfied with the result.

The cake was launched at a special event on St. Valentines Evening and from now on will be available daily, to eat in or take-away, at Lectar Inn.

The cake, which has become a talking point about town, uses only natural ingredients, comprises a light sponge base topped with a moist apple layer, using organic locally grown apples, and finished with a light cream icing. A silhouette of Linhart is then added to the top for decoration and to mark it out as Linhart’s cake. You can see me indulging, or about to indulge, below, with a little drop of (medicinal!) blueberry schnapps!

The family run Lectar Inn, which is in the centre of the historic old town of Radovljica, has been in operation for over 180 years and is a popular attraction for locals and visitors from all over Slovenia, as well as tourists from far and wide. The waiters and waitresses are dressed in traditional Slovene dress and food is prepared and cooked using traditional methods and recipes. In addition to the restaurant, Lectar also houses a working gingerbread museum and a penzion with 9 rooms. More information about Lectar can be found here – http://www.lectar.com/_en/index.html

It was yet another snowy night when I visited Lectar, so it felt great to be somewhere warm and hospitable, enjoying good food and company and momentarily forgetting about the blizzard outside. It has been another week dominated by snowfall, which I for one, really hope will end soon as it’s about time spring sprung! I’ve managed a couple of walks up to Talež (see my previous blog entitled ‘Sporting Slovenia’) which have involved wading through knee-deep snow – pretty to look at but exhausting – still, helps to burn off all that cake!

© Adele in Slovenia

18Feb2013

Winter sports and more….

Posted in Uncategorized by adeleinslovenia

Lovers of winter sports are in their element in Slovenia this year with plenty of snow at all the major ski resorts, numerous tracks for cross-country skiing and also several good mountain roads, which have been prepared into sledging tracks.

I, unfortunately, am not keen on any of these sports but I do enjoy winter hiking if the snow conditions are right and if it is a nice sunny day – as it was on Saturday. Well actually, here in Radovljica it was somewhat cloudy but that’s one advantage of living close to the mountains, if it’s cloudy down here in the valley, it’s more often than not sunny up above, so with a little effort you can soon be up enjoying the warmth of the sun, relishing the views and reaping the rewards of ones effort.

Having spent 20 minutes shovelling snow to clear a parking space (that’s winter in the Alps!), the walk towards Dovška Baba began. The peak of Dovška Baba (1891m) is part of the Karavanke Alps and is most directly reached from the village of Dovje. This is a walk I do a good few times a year and always usually go to the top, from where there are stunning views in all directions, towards Slovenia on one side, and Austria on the other. However, with the current amount of snow it took longer to get just half-way up than it would usually take to get to the top and back. But it was just so lovely to be outside and to feel the warmth of the sun and being there, up above the clouds it was almost like I had momentarily entered a different country, or at least a different season. Of course I wasn’t alone in seeking the sun and some snowy fun, there were quite a few people walking up with skis or snowboards on their backs, some snowshoeing and also quite a few others dragging their sledges up, in order to enjoy the rapid descent. This photo, taken on the way up, shows the views over the Julian Alps and to Triglav, Slovenia’s highest mountain (2864m).

Radovljica is sandwiched between the Karavanke and the Julian Alps, so there is a wide range of choice for all kinds of sporting activities, both summer and winter, for adrenalin seekers or for those wanting a more gentle experience or just to enjoy the views, and all within easy reach. Radovljica is in the region of Gorenjska, which is also home to Slovenia’s only national park, Triglav National Park.

Triglav National Park (TNP) is named after Triglav, the highest point in the park, whilst the lowest part is the Tolminka Gorge at 180m. TNP extends along the Italian border and close to the Austrian border in the north-west of Slovenia and covers 880 square kilometres, or more than 3% of Slovenia. Two-thirds of TNP is covered by forest, the predominant species on the south side being beech whilst on the north side spruce and larch trees dominate. In fact, wherever you go in Gorenjska you won’t be far from a forest since ¾ of the region is covered by it.

TNP is a paradise for hikers, although it must be noted that there are some strict rules in place to protect the flora and fauna within the park i.e. flowers may not be picked, fires may not be lit and camping is not permitted anywhere within the park. More information about TNP can be found here – http://www.tnp.si/national_park/

A fun, and different, experience for hikers wishing to stay overnight, is to stay in one of the mountain huts within the park. A stay is a good way to sample a bit of the real Slovenia – just don’t expect too many home comforts – but a bed and a home-cooked meal is often all you need after a long day of hiking. I’ve spent quite a few nights sleeping in various huts and its always an interesting experience!

11Feb2013

Six years and counting!

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, adeleinslovenia, Festivals in Slovenia, ifeelsLOVEnia, Radol'ca, Radovljica, Slovenia, Visit Radol'ca by adeleinslovenia

Wow, I can’t believe it. Today is the 6th anniversary of my move to Slovenia. The time really has flown by. I wonder how many hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of kilometres I’ve walked, cycled and run around Slovenia during that time! Slovenia is a fantastic place to visit on holiday, particularly for those, like myself, who love being outdoors. However, it certainly isn’t an easy place to live, or rather to try and make a living and it definitely hasn’t all been plain sailing. There have been a lot of highs and low and I’ve been trying to find a word, or words, to sum up the past 6 years but it’s proving harder than anticipated and therefore I think the following pairs of words are more apt:

• Happiness (the good times) and sadness (the bad times)
• Hope (the promise of new work) and despair (it never materialises)
• Elation (actually getting the work) and despondency (feeling like giving up the fight)
• Excitement (conquering a mountain or a tough bike climb) and frustration (finding it difficult to conquer my fears of going downhill, but what goes up must come down!)
• Freedom (being outdoors enjoying the beauty and sounds of nature) and frustration (bureaucracy, bureaucracy, bureaucracy)
• Joy (getting invited somewhere, a hope of meeting new people) and dejection (see despair).

Friday was a public holiday – Prešeren’s Day, which is celebrated in the memory of the death of the great Slovene poet, France Prešeren. I went to Kranj, the capital of the Gorenjska region and just a 20 minute drive from Radovljica, where every year on the 8th February the Prešeren Fair takes place. All around the old town there are links to him including: Prešeren Grove, the cemetery where he was laid to rest, Prešeren Theatre, Prešeren Monument, Prešeren Street, with its Gothic and Baroque townhouses and Prešeren House, now a museum, and where the poet spent the latter years of his life and died. The fair combines a street market with re-enactments of traditions from Prešeren’s times; clothing, music, dance etc. and its always really busy and buzzy. I have been for the last three years and it’s always a pleasant and different way to spend a couple of hours.

On Saturday it was carnival time in Radovljica! Well not just in Radovljica actually. The tradition of ‘Pust’ is a celebration of the harsh winter giving way to spring and a new cycle of farming and nature, though personally mid-February seems a bit optimistic to celebrate this when the snow covered land stills feels incredibly wintery to me! I can but hope that someone, somewhere up there is taking note and it might actually stop snowing soon!

A number of events take place across Slovenia for the Pust Festival. The largest Pust Carnival takes place annually in Ptuj from 3rd – 12th February where up to 150,000 people attend the 100 or so events taking place during the carnival period. The second largest carnival takes place in Cerkno. Pust is synonymous for its ornate costumes and masks (pictured below) with each region having its own variations, customs and habits. If you happen to be in Slovenia during this period, perhaps on a skiing holiday, you should take some time out and go and visit one of these carnivals, wherever you are, there is bound to be one happening near you.

Here in Radovljica, the Pust procession took place on Saturday. Children from the local area all get dressed up in costumes and parade through the town and the streets are lined with people cheering them on.

On Pust Tuesday, children get dressed up in costumes and masks in what resembles a curious mix of Halloween, complete with trick-or-treating, and Pancake Day, albeit with doughnuts being eaten rather than pancakes! Not wishing to be a party-pooper, and of course in keeping with tradition, I did my bit by munching through several doughnuts too!

I remember shortly after having moved here, seeing children dressed up and going from house to house however at that time I didn’t know what it was all about – I assumed they must celebrate Halloween in Slovenia in February!

© Adele in Slovenia

4Feb2013

Sporting Slovenia

Posted in Uncategorized by adeleinslovenia

I thought I would start this week’s blog by writing about some of the upcoming events happening in Radovljica and elsewhere in Slovenia in the coming months. Of course this is just a small selection of events and I will endeavour to keep blogging about more interesting events as and when I come across them and posting reports and photos of those which I attend. I’ll be noting them in my diary – I hope you will be too!

There was more sporting success for Slovenia last weekend when Tina Maze won the slalom at the Women’s Golden Fox (Zlata lisica) event and came second in the giant slalom – just missing out by 0.08 seconds. The Golden Fox event is held annually at the Maribor Pohorje ski resort and so her success was even sweeter in front of a very enthusiastic home crowd! Additionally, ski jumper Robert Kranjec won his first World Cup victory of the season in Norway.

Ski jumping has traditionally been considered a male sport but last year the first FIS Women’s Ski Jumping World Cup was held in Slovenia and it the event will be taking place again this month. The host town is Ljubno ob Savinji, a small town in the Upper Savinja Valley, which lies approximately halfway between the capital, Ljubljana, and the second city Maribor, and the town is synonymous with ski jumping.

Continuing on the ski jumping theme, another major skiing event which takes place here annually in March is the Planica FIS World Cup Ski Jumping Final which is a crazy weekend full of sport and partying with a great atmosphere (or so I’m told anyway!).

Although they didn’t win, the Slovene Handball team came in fourth place in the World Championships last week. It was disappointing to lose to Croatia but nevertheless it was the best ever result for the national team.

Slovenia will also host the European Basketball Championships this year from 4^th – 22^nd September with matches due to take place in Ljubljana, Jesenice, Koper and Celje.

Personally, being probably the world’s biggest chocoholic, I’m most looking forward to the Chocolate Festival to be held in April here in Radovljica. It was held for the first time last year and was so successful that this year it is going to be held over two days, rather than one – mmm, twice as much chocolate!

By the way, just in case it’s confusing Radol’ca is the name of the tourist region which includes the main town of Radovljica plus surrounding towns and villages including Begunje, Kropa and Lesce. More information about the area, events and other information can be found here – http://www.radolca.si/en/

There were a couple of days of beautiful winter sunshine this past week so I was, of course, out and about walking, with my crampons on of course as its rather icy in places now. At this time of year I often walk from home, either because I’m short of time or to save having to de-ice the car. An easy to reach destination, which offers great views for relatively little effort, is to Talež (725m). Talež is part of Jelovica, a vast plateau which dominates the view to the south side of Radovljica. The highest point of Jelovica is 1,411m and it is entirely covered by forest. There are numerous places to walk and it is also great for mountain biking BUT, a note of caution, it is huge and you could very easily get lost if you stray from the marked paths. The views from Talež across to Lake Bled and across the valley to the Karavanke Alps make it well worth the effort and there is a small hunter’s hut (pictured above) which offers drinks and home-made food (only open at weekends during the off-peak season). There are numerous routes up, none of which take longer than an hour, including those starting from the villages of Lancovo, Ribno, Selo, and Bodešče.

28Jan2013

Three Borders

Posted in Uncategorized by adeleinslovenia

Brrr….. its been a cold week, but at least sunny too, and I’ve promised myself I won’t make the weather the topic of every blog – well you know how us Brits like to talk about the weather! Instead my aim is to try to help potential visitors to Slovenia with ideas and tips for trips around Slovenia, and in particular in and around Radovljica, together with giving a little bit of insider information on life here too.

I had a nice day out in Ljubljana on Friday. I go there to work once a month, which makes a nice change for me as I work from home so don’t have much social contact with people, and although I’m not a city person, and wouldn’t want to live and work there, Ljubljana certainly doesn’t have that intimidating big city feel. In fact, many people say it’s more like a lot of little villages together and I’d agree with that. I love going for a walk in Tivoli Park, you can totally forget where you are, a definite oasis of calm and green in the centre of the city. I also love walking up to Ljubljana Castle for a great view over the city and from here you can get a perspective of the relatively small size of the place as the mountains beyond the city seem almost within spitting distance.

Actually that’s one of the advantages of Slovenia in general – its smallness, which means that nowhere is more than a few hours drive away and you can take your pick from a wide choice of activities and sights without long distances in between. For visitors to Slovenia this means they can pack a lot into a holiday without losing too much precious holiday time driving from A to B.

For me, another advantage is that Slovenia is also bordered by 4 other countries; Austria, Italy, Croatia and Hungary, so combining holidays or going on day trips to other countries is easy. I’ll never forget my initial excitement at being able to drive to Austria and Italy to go walking, exploring and shopping, and since there are no borders nowadays, with the exception of Croatia, it’s even easier.

From Radovljica there are a number of possibilities for making day trips to bordering countries, whether by car, train or sometimes I even go by bike. Not that I go that often, just a few times per year, as there’s still so much for me to see and do here, but it’s a definite bonus. There are a number of options for reaching Austria by car, the quickest and nearest to me being through the Karavanke Tunnel (payable) or via the Old Ljubelj Pass (free but very steep and windy) to reach Klagenfurt in Austria. To reach Italy I can just drive to Kranjska Gora, which is about 45 mins from Radovljica, then just keep going, past Rateče and straight into Italy, which is incidentally also the way I go by bike.

Of course in the winter it’s not always possible to drive over the mountain passes and it is wise to check the road conditions first but the Karavanke Tunnel is not affected by adverse weather. Here’s a useful website for up-to-date traffic information in Slovenia- http://www.promet.si/portal/en/1traffic-conditions.aspx

A place I like to go for a hike is up to Tromeja (1508m), which means Three Borders, as it is literally the meeting point of Slovenia, Austria and Italy and it was here that a ceremony took place when Slovenia officially entered the EU. Silly I know but I can remember being so excited when I first walked up there and just couldn’t decide which of the three countries to sit and eat my sandwich in! In the end I plumped for Slovenia since I thought the view was better. Tromeja is popular with hikers, bikers and skiers too. There is a choice of two routes up from the Slovene side, both starting from the village of Rateče. Both routes start ascending on forest roads – the easier routes continues following the road whilst the steeper route goes up through the forest.

I could write so much more about other trips in this area too but I’ll leave that until another time and instead offer this wintery photo of me descending from Tromeja and which shows the kind of views you can expect!

21Jan2013

A spot of snow tennis!

Posted in Uncategorized by adeleinslovenia

The past week has pretty much been dominated by the abundance of snow. Unfortunately there have yet to be any nice cold, crisp sunny days to be able to get out into the mountains walking in it, and of course at the moment the risk of avalanches is extremely high so common sense and caution are the order of the day.

Therefore, it was time for some low-level snowshoeing in the Vrata valley. If you’ve never tried snowshoeing, imagine having a tennis racket strapped to each foot and trying to walk in snow knee-deep. It can feel rather awkward and clumsy at first as one has to adopt a rather wider than usual stance but the snowshoes do at least allow you to walk in the snow without being completely waist deep in it. Well that’s the theory anyway but at the moment, with so much fresh snow, it still felt like wading through knee-deep mud wearing tennis rackets – I discovered muscles I didn’t know I had!

Vrata is one of three beautiful alpine valleys in the north-west of Slovenia. Of the three valleys, Vrata is the most impressive and is a popular start point for walks into the high mountains, particularly to Triglav, Slovenia’s highest mountain at 2864m.

The 12km long valley is also home to the Peričnik waterfalls which are a popular visitor attraction and are easily accessible from the village of Mojstrana. There are two waterfalls; the upper (16m) and the lower (52m) and a great feature is that it’s possible to walk under the lower fall making a great photo stop. In the summer you can walk or drive along the length of the entire valley. The 12km long Triglavska Bistrica path runs alongside the Bistrica stream. It crosses the river in places with short sections of road walking but makes a pleasant walk particularly in the summer being near the cool water and you get to see so much more than if visiting the valley by car. But it’s a long walk and there’s no public transport so bear that in mind.

At the foot of the Vrata valley the mountain hut Aljažev dom (1015m) is one of the most visited mountain huts in Slovenia. However, as you can see from the photo below, the valley isn’t accessible in the winter – this is the road which in places has a steep 25% incline. But those persistent enough (that’s me by the way!) can still visit with snowshoes or skis. Actually, this year the road was closed earlier than usual by landslides caused by flooding in the autumn but repairs were already underway before the snowfall so hopefully it will be all ok again by the tourist season.

When walking in the winter, whether in the mountains or even on low level walks, you really have to double, if not triple, the time it would usually take to get anywhere and of course you must certainly be well equipped and well prepared. I can’t stress that enough. Having previously lived with a member of the Slovene Mountain Rescue Team, I all too frequently heard reports about accidents in the mountains, both in winter and summer and these are often due to people being unprepared, ill-equipped and over-estimating their abilities.

Elsewhere in Slovenia, a public sector strike is scheduled for this Wednesday and the coalition is hanging by a thread with three parties threatening to leave if the PM doesn’t resign. Hmmm, no comment!

And here’s an interesting fact which I heard this morning on the radio and didn’t know. Ljubljana University is one of the biggest in Europe with over 64,000 students – three times as many as Oxford University. You live and learn!

15Jan2013

Shovels ahoy!

Posted in Uncategorized by adeleinslovenia

What a difference a week makes. Last week I was writing about record high temperatures, now we’re under (literally) mountains of snow – at least the skiers will be happy. Since I’m not a fan of snow and I don’t ski, I sometimes question my wisdom of moving to an alpine area but I’m have to learn to live with it and trying to embrace it in that stoic British way!

I was woken at 3.20am by the snow plough outside my window, later followed by the now non-stop noise of people shovelling snow though when there’s this much snow it becomes a problem where to shovel the snow to – the pavements are piled high with it and its still coming down. The shovel becomes the accessory of choice at this time of year (fashion editors take note!). However, at least it’s not like in the UK where the whole country tends to grind to a halt for a few cms of snow. Here, even when there is metres of it kids still go to school, trains and buses still run – life goes on!

Slovenia actually has 3 distinct climate zones, which for a tiny country is quite a lot. Here where I live, in the northwest the climate is alpine which means warm summers but very cold winters with (usually) lots of snow. The coastal area has a mediterranean climate with mild winters and hot summers – temperatures at the coast are frequently at least 10 degrees warmer than here (why didn’t I move there?!) and the east side of the country has a continental climate, which seems to be a mixture of the other two. However, with the climate change we are currently witnessing, it’s almost impossible to predict the weather patterns regardless of the climate zones. Last winter there was almost no snow at ground level here and the past few summers have been hot rather than just warm, but for now at least, winter is certainly back with a vengeance and it looks like it will be here for a long time yet.

I think/hope Slovenia is becoming gradually more known throughout the world. I hope that through this blog my bid to promote Radovljica will help a little too. Perhaps a lot of Slovenia’s recognition is due to some of the recent sporting success. Among them, the (relative) success of the national football team in the European Cup, the victory by the men’s ski jumping team, Tina Maze’s ongoing success in the Women’s Ski World Cup, Petra Majdič and her enormously brave and well deserved bronze medal in cross-country skiing after having broken a rib during a practice session, a gold in judo at the Olympics, a 3^rd Olympic medal, bronze this time, for rower Iztok Čop, to go with his gold and silver from previous Olympic games – just to mention a few.

But not only this, Slovenia also hosted the Presidency of the EU in 2011 and Maribor, the country’s second biggest city, has just ended its stint as the European Capital of Culture. I must admit I didn’t make it to any of the events in Maribor – in my defence it’s quite a long way (and what with the price of petrol these days…) but I’m fortunate that there are frequently events going on here on my doorstep so I don’t need to go far.

Here in Radovljica, the Manor House in the old town centre frequently holds concerts, choir services, and exhibitions and the town is also hosting several major festivals this year. Some of the concerts, such as the choir service I went to on Saturday evening, are free to attend. The choir, Carmen Manet, is formed of girls from the high school in Kranj. They’ve only been performing together for 2 years but in that short time have achieved amazing international success and I could see (or rather hear) why. In November 2012 they competed in China and came away with 2 platinum medals, the highest possible achievement. Here’s a link to one of their performances in China, singing a well-known and most definitely untypically Slovene song! – http://www.choir-tv.com/video/Carmen-manet-%2540-Xinghai-Prize-International-Choir-Championships/3ebe6999ec5da332a18dff38d9736eb4

Even if there isn’t a concert going it, the beautiful renaissance Mansion House building is worth a look. It forms the centre piece of the old town and houses the Music School, the Town Museum and the Museum of Apiculture (Beekeeping). The Town Museum houses collections displaying the history of Radovljica and its surrounding areas together with a collection of the work of one of Slovenia’s most celebrated 18^th century playwrights, Anton Tomaz Linhart, who was born in Radovljica – hence the name of the old town square Linhartov trg (Linhart Square).

The Museum of Apiculture displays the history of beekeeping in Slovenia throughout the centuries and houses over 200 hives, depicting Slovene folk arts and shown in a gallery style, the oldest dating from 1758. Slovenia has a long and rich tradition in beekeeping. Its trade in honey and beeswax has been documented since the 15^th century and Slovene beekeepers became famous for their queen bees in the 19^th century. In the 20^th century the Carniolan bee was exported all over the world and it became the leading bee in several countries

So if you are visiting, or planning to visit the area, it’s always worth enquiring at the Radovljica Tourist Information Centre (or click the link on my blogroll) to see what’s going on and who knows, I might see you there, or rather here!!!