The weather has been almost spring like this past week, which I for one am not complaining about. However, I seem to be alone in that sentiment as everyone else I meet seems desperate for more snow. In fact, I heard last night on the news that last Saturday a record 16 degrees was recorded in Ljubljana, which for January is nothing short of bizarre!

Wishing to take full advantage of the mild weather, I went for a walk around Bohinj lake on Saturday afternoon. It’s stunning there whatever the season and this was no exception. It was around 3.30pm so the sun was already starting to set behind the mountains which surround the lake but the colours and vistas were nonetheless beautiful.

The walk around the lake takes anything from 2-4 hours, depending on walking pace and how many photo stops are made. During the winter there’s nowhere open to get refreshments en-route so probably best to have something with you. A map isn’t needed as you can’t go wrong. The path is level throughout, but on one side is a little rocky in places with lots of tree roots to contend with so good walking shoes are required, whilst on the other side it’s a normal gravel path.

There are endless amazing walks to be done in the mountains in the Bohinj area and no doubt I’ll be writing a lot more about those in future blogs but here’s a photo to whet any interested appetites!

Even the drive to Bohinj from Bled is scenic. The road follows a gorge and crosses the Sava river several times. Although most people refer to the area as Bohinj, there isn’t actually a town or village called Bohinj. The nearest villages to the lake are Ribčev Laz and Stara Fužina, at the east end, and where there is plenty of tourist accommodation.

The word Bohinj translates as ‘Gods land’ and most people, on catching their first glimpse, soon understand why it is one of the most outstanding beauty spots in the country. The lake itself is the largest in Slovenia’s and it is fed by the river Savica whilst the river Sava Bohinjka flows out of it. It is 4100m long, 1200m wide and 527m above sea level and in summer temperatures reach a maximum of 20 degrees. It is very popular with bathers during the summer though I must admit I’ve never been brave enough to dip anything other than my feet in it!

Of course my life here doesn’t just involve walking and leisure as unfortunately that doesn’t pay the bills. Opportunities for foreigners here are really few and far between and its really tough trying to find regular work. Most of the expats I know (and there aren’t many of us) are in, or have been in, a similar situation – some of them tough it out whilst others have to conceed defeat. Not one to be defeated, my ongoing battle to get more work continues.

I’m constantly amazed by people who seem to have the idea that moving somewhere like this is a cheap and easy option, that you can buy a cheap house and grow your own vegetables. Well, vegetables don’t pay the bills and houses aren’t cheap! And it certainly isn’t a cheap place to live, the cost of living is high and ever rising along with a new 50% higher rate tax bracket which has just been introduced. The price of petrol for example has risen 50% since I moved here. However, fortunately for tourists, Slovenia still offers good value for money, particularly in comparison with neighbouring countries such as Austria and Italy. One thing that remains good value here is going out for a coffee or a meal. You can still get a coffee for a euro (not everywhere of course) and a three-course meal for under 10 euros. And going out for coffee is a serious business. Here in my small home town of Radovljica there are at least 15 coffee shops with not a chain in sight and let’s hope it stays that way.

First things first, Happy New Year or Srečno novo leto as we say here!

I’ve had quite a good start to the New Year so far, except for a little hiccup yesterday – more about that later.

Being able to speak Slovene came in very useful last past week when I had the pleasure of spending an hour in the company of two of Slovenia’s national treasures. Ivanka Kraševec Prešern has been one of Slovenia’s most known and successful singers of national folk music since her debut in 1962. She was part of the Alpski Kvintet, who travelled throughout Europe and has received numerous gold and diamond discs, in both Austria and Slovenia. Since retiring from singing, Ivanka turned her attention to painting which has proved another successful career for her and she has hosted several exhibitions.

Her husband, Ivan (Žan) Prešern, was a founding member of the Alpski kvintet in 1966, where he played trumpet for over 30 years. As a composer he has also arranged over 300 titles and was instrumental in the development of the jazz trumpet with the well-known trumpet manufacturer Martin Lechner. Today, as well as still playing, Ivan also devotes his time to painting. Just recently Ivan was on TV playing his trumpet to accompany a song specially composed about Radovljica (here’s a link if you want to listen to the song – http://yourlisten.com/channel/content/16938978/Radolca). And both of them live in Radovljica too which just goes to show what a great place it is to live!

The village of Begunje, just a few kilometres from Radovljca, is the birth place of the world renowned musician Slavko Avsenik. Avsenik’s music is hugely popular throughout Slovenia, Austria and Germany and tourists come by the coach load for evenings of music, food and entertainment by the Avsenik ensemble. There is an annual Avsenik festival held in August plus many other special events and evenings. So music fans might fancy a taste of authentic Slovene folk music and a fun night out whilst visiting Slovenia – http://www.avsenik.com/pcc.asp#xpath=/novice#xpathid=#lang=eng

This is a photo of the remains of Kamen Castle, also in the village of Begunje, with the beautiful Begunjščica mountain in the background.

New Year’s Eve was a good one. First out for dinner with some friends then met another friend later in the evening in Bled for a walk around the lake and to watch the fireworks. It was a perfect clear evening too. I was surprised at how quiet it was though. I think most people must have chosen to stay at home and celebrate this year – the recession is still biting very hard here.

So now the not so good. I was bitten by a dog yesterday. It was rather odd because I’ve seen this old guy and his dog out walking loads of times and usually the dog doesn’t take any notice but yesterday it came running straight up and bit me. Just a little yappy, snappy terrier type thing so nothing too serious but it drew blood so thought I had better go for a tetanus as I’ve no idea when I last had one, but certainly not since I’ve been here. The doctors said I must also report it which I wasn’t so keen on doing so I went and visited the owner this morning just to let him know and check if the dog had been vaccinated (it has) and to make sure I wouldn’t cause him any trouble.

The 2nd January used to be a public holiday in Slovenia however it was cancelled as part of the crisis cost-saving measures. So you can imagine the public outcry yesterday when TV reporters visited parliament only to find the place empty. Hmm, enough said. Politicians – the same the world over!

There’s no denying winter is here (can you tell from the picture! This one was taken on Pokljuka) though so far its been a bit of a mixed bag. This week saw temperatures of minus 15 degrees one day followed by +5 the next; that’s a whopping 20 degree increase overnight. From heavy snow 2 weekends ago to torrential rain last weekend. It’s all being thrown at us and more and it’s still only December.

This can of course somewhat curtail ones plans and activities but fortunately, being the festive season, there’s still plenty going on come rain, shine or snow.

Last weekend was the International Biathlon on Pokljuka and fortunately, whilst it was raining down here in the valley, snow was falling up on the plateau. The biathlon is always a popular spectator event and Pokljuka itself is a great destination year-round for hiking and biking in the summer and skiing, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. Being so close to Bled, and therefore close to Radovljica where I live, it is also very accessible. And to top it all, there was a home win for Jakov Fak, formerly from Croatia but now living in and competing for Slovenia.

For a tiny nation, Slovene skiers do the nation proud. Tina Maze is currently leading the Women’s FIS Alpine Ski World Cup too. Oh and whilst on the subject of skiing many of Slovenia’s ski resorts opened their doors (or rather their lifts) last weekend including the biggest ones at Vogel, Cerkno, Krvavec, Kranjska Gora and Pohorje. Wow, I also just read that Slovenia has 87 ski resorts – not bad for a country with just 2 million residents.

I’m not a skier myself. Tried it but just can’t get over the fear of going down. Come to think of it, I don’t really enjoy anything that involves going downhill at speed. I’d always rather go uphill than down whether by bike or on foot. Actually I’d rather ski up and take the lift down!

So my winter sport of choice is hiking in the mountains and, when snow conditions permit, snowshoeing. Just this morning, which was a beautiful sunny winter’s day, I headed up to the top of Dobrča (1634m) where I was rewarded with that smug feeling of being above the low lying cloud that was shrouding the valley. Dobrča forms part of the chain of mountains belonging to the Karavanke Alps. From half way upwards the path was really icy but with my crampons on it was fine. Talking of which, something I didn’t realise until I moved here was that I am utterly petrified of ice (and we’re not talking the type found in a G&T!). It would be preferable to have a phobia of almost anything but ice since it comes with the territory of living in an alpine region but alas, we are not able to choose our phobias so one just has to try and live with it and now I always have 2 pairs of crampons with me throughout the winter just in case one pair should break – a handy tip maybe.

So now the festive season is upon us and I’m looking forward to the Christmas market in Radovljica, my parents arriving for a visit, going to watch Mary Poppins on Ice and the Live Nativity on Christmas Day in the old town of Radovljica. So watch this space for more about all of these soon.

Having lived here in Radovljica, Slovenia (this photo shows Radovljica’s old town centre), for almost six years and with a change in my personal circumstances, I decided its time to start trying to recapture the passion and feelings I felt when first here and which initially attracted me to this country. Therefore, I decided to start this blog. Call it therapy if you like, I would prefer to see it as cathartic encouragement, providing me with an incentive to ‘get out there’ and see and do more rather than moping around feeling sorry for myself. However, in doing so I hope to inspire others, potential readers, of which I hope there will be a few, to come and visit this beautiful small but perfectly formed (do I sound like an estate agent?!) country that I now call home.

For the first couple of years after moving here, despite working, almost every day felt like a holiday. Where I live in Radovljica, near Bled, there is always somewhere new to explore, something unique to discover and experiences to be had. Be it from simply finding a new path to walk, a new dish to sample, meeting someone new, learning new words – every day did, and still does, present new challenges, some positive, some less so.

I won’t pretend it’s been easy. There are some huge obstacles to be overcome but steely determination means I’m still here. Would I recommend it to others? In truth probably not unless you have won the lottery, have a hefty pension pot or have a very secure job offer. Finding work and the bureaucracy may lead to temporary insanity. However, this blog isn’t meant as a forum to air these, though I can’t promise I won’t indulge in the occasional whinge from time to time!

However, I would encourage you to come and discover Slovenia on holiday and my aim is for this blog to be part-informative and part-inspirational. Whilst researching the writing of blogs, the key message appears to be having some different and unique to offer. Well of course I’m certainly not the only Brit living abroad though there aren’t that many of us here in Slovenia. I do believe I’m one of the rare few who actually speak the lingo fairly fluently, but that aside I also suspect I ‘get about’ (in the nicest sense!) more than many others since almost every day I can be found either hiking up a mountain, riding my bike or doing other equally active pursuits. Slovenia is certainly a great place for being active and especially so in the alpine part where I live.

So if you’re interested in finding out more about Slovenia, I hope you’ll join me on my journey and hope some of my photos might whet your appetite for more!