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!