Rogla: Year-round Recreation and Fun for All!

Posted in cycling, Food, Hiking, Hotels in Slovenia, ifeelsLOVEnia, lakes in Slovenia, Restaurants, skiing, Slovenia by adeleinslovenia

If you love the great outdoors, spending your free time being active, and breathing in fresh mountain air, then you will love Rogla! Located in the northeast of Slovenia on the Zreče side of the Pohorje massif at an altitude of 1517m, Rogla is a ski resort and year-round recreation destination.

Visit for a day, stay for a few days, or even longer, there’s no shortage of things to see and do! There is a choice of accommodation on Rogla – hotels, bungalows, apartments – but for the most modern and luxurious among them I’d certainly recommend the latest addition, the new Hotel Natura, which is really something a bit special!

I went to check it out during a recent visit to the Zreče thermal spa, read more here – http://wp.me/p7jQx9-7O and, well, me being me, decided to cycle up to Rogla! On reaching the hotel, after a 2 hour+ uphill ride (Zreče 360m – Rogla 1,517m) the giant wooden recliners on the hotel’s terrace were beckoning and thereafter it was hard to tear myself away!

If you’re a keen cyclist then, although long, the road to Rogla is good and it makes a great day out. You can choose to either go on the main road, or, as I did, ride up at first on minor roads – which I’d recommend for great views and less traffic – before joining the main road, or for those with mountain bikes you can take one of the forest roads. There are also numerous other marked cycle routes on the plateau itself.

Hotel Natura is the first hotel reached when arriving on Rogla and an excellent place to stay to explore the area, or just call in for a delicious meal made using local Pohorje ingredients as part of ‘Taste Rogla’. I headed straight for a glass of refreshing homemade iced herbal tea and elderflower cordial served in the hotel’s very welcoming and comfortable lounge area.

Next came a well-earned meal in Restaurant Brusnica which was beautifully and imaginatively presented as well as being scrumptious!

Hotel Natura offers excellent wellness facilities, massages, baths, and a sauna with a panoramic view – in winter overlooking a cross-country skiing poligon. I can image that the wellness facilities must particularly come into their own during winter after a long day’s skiing.

Of course, if you stay at Rogla itself then you don’t have to cycle all the way up there and can instead spend more time exploring the area – note to self, do that next time! If you prefer exploring on foot, then Rogla is great for leisurely strolls or longer hikes. Pick up a map of the Rogla hiking trails and you can choose from 9 marked trails, varying in length from 2.3km to 25.9km.

One of the most scenic is the path to the Lovrenc lakes, which is made up of 20 small lakes that formed during the Ice Age. The lakes, which do not have a surface water inflow and are supplied only by rainwater, are surrounded by dwarf pine and in places are bursting with water lilies. To get a better impression of the size and scope of the lakes, head for the best vantage point – the lake tower.

The Rogla Bike Park has 6 trails ranging in length and difficulty, including a beginners polygon and obstacle trails. Mountain bikes can be rented and instructors are also available. More information here – http://bit.ly/29IhQSh

Working began on building the rather unusual looking Church of Jesus Christ on Rogla in 2006 and it was blessed in 2010. The church has three bells, an impressive altar and notable church organ.

Before starting the long (though very quick!) descent back to Zreče, there was time to enjoy a bit more adrenalin with a 1,360 metre descent on the Zlodejevo toboggan run. The return is by drag lift I hasten to add!

Other outdoor facilities include a funpark, tennis courts. football field and running tracks. The Rogla Sports Centre is particularly popular with athletes seeking altitude training. There is a high altitude training room equipped with a multitude of fitness equipment where conditions up to 7,000 metres above sea-level can be simulated.

With an average of 100 days of snow cover per year, Rogla really is a year-round destination. In winter it offers downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, winter hikes and other fun snow-based activities.

This is but a snapshot of all there is to see and do on Rogla! Find out plenty more here – http://www.rogla.eu/en/

© Adele in Slovenia

2May2016

The Four Seasons of Spring!

Posted in Beekeeping, Beekeeping in Slovenia, Radovljica, skiing, Slovenia, Uncategorized by adeleinslovenia

Last week we really did have all the four seasons within the space of four days. It began with a few snowflakes on Wednesday morning, which later became heavy snowfall, and certainly made a bit of a mockery of last week’s blog entitled ‘Spring in the Karavanke’. It’s now anything but spring in the Karavanke!

Though it had been forecast that it could snow in places at around the 700 metre level, Radovljica, where I live, is at 496m, so no-one, forecasters included, was quite expecting the snow to reach the valley – and certainly not so much of it – considering the previous week we had had temperatures in the twenties.

So this is what spring in the Karavanke now looks like!

It wasn’t just in Gorenjska in the north-west of Slovenia either, it also snowed in other lower-lying regions of the country. I spent 2 days in Dolenjska, in the south-east, and it even snowed there too.

Hiking at the moment isn’t advisable as the late-spring snow is very wet and heavy, and has caused a lot of damage with branches and trees down, whilst the danger of avalanches is at level 4 – the highest level being 5. Instead however, those who are die-hard fans of winter and skiing once again took to the slopes as the Vogel ski resort re-opened for the extended holiday weekend.

On Saturday it was a return to temperatures of 18 degrees and the valley was bathed in sunshine and the Sava river at Radovljica was looking its sparkling best when I went for an early morning walk.

However, it was a different matter when I got into the forest as I tried, and in places failed, to pick my way under and over fallen trees on the path up to Talež. It’s amazing the devastation just 24 hours of snow caused – more than in the whole of last winter.

I was amazed and saddened at the number of fallen trees and branches, almost reminiscent of the damage caused by the glaze ice two winters ago, though, thankfully, nowhere near to that extent.

Some trees, such as this one below, had literally been torn apart under the weight of the heavy snow.

It’s been over 20 years since there has been such heavy snowfall this late in the year, so this prompted me to try and uncover some historical snowy spring facts:

In 1907 40cm of snow fell on 29th April in Bohinjska Bistrica
In 1974 in Nomenj it snowed on the 10th of June
In 1985 it snowed on 3rd May
In 1988 it snowed on 24th April
The earliest snowfall of the year was recorded in 1972 on 11th September in Kotlje

Unfortunately it has also caused a huge amount of damage to crops and vines – in places its reported that up to 90% have been destroyed. This year’s honey production is also expected to be severely affected. Over one-third of honey produced in Slovenia is acacia honey, and a large number of the blooms have been destroyed. It’s all such a shame and another reminder of the equal wonders and cruelty of nature.

Roll on summer!!!

© Adele in Slovenia

1Feb2016

Men all over the world are crying – or so says ELAN!

Posted in Begunje, Radol'ca, Radovljica, Slovenia, Uncategorized by adeleinslovenia

So, that’s a rather strange title for my blog this week, isn’t it? I bet you’re curious what on earth it means! Let me explain.

These days watching, and listening to, the news is usually pretty depressing, I’m sure you’ll agree. So, when last week I saw the headline for the launch of Elan’s new women’s skis, it made me chuckle and I decided to find out more. Well, a bit of humour never goes a miss!

The reason why men all over the world are crying, it seems, is because they would love to get their hands on Elan’s new Delight women’s ski – the lightest ever produced – using patented Slimshape technology that dramatically reduces the weight of the skis – but, alas, this time they can’t, since they’re just for the ladies!

As I wrote in a blog post just 2 weeks ago – http://wp.me/p3005k-1fl – the Elan factory, in Begunje na Gorenjskem, is just minutes from where I live and I often pop into the shop – not for skis I hasten to add! – to browse the range of outdoors clothing and equipment. I had hoped to also see the skis up close but they are so new that they are not yet even in the shop, but will be in a fortnight or so, so not long to wait! In the meantime do take a moment to watch the video and find out who else is crying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGPpOD1wMkY or you can read more on the website – http://www.elanskis.com/

The advert features some of the legends from the world of extreme skiing, including Davo Karničar – the first man to ski from Everest.

I had the pleasure of meeting Davo at his home, the Davo Karničar Mountain Lodge, in Jezersko. Read more here – http://wp.me/p3005k-5Q

Amongst others, the video also includes World Champion and World Cup Winner in Ski Cross Filip Flisar (SLO), Olympic and World Cup medallist alpine skiing Christian Mayer (AUT), and extreme skier Glen Plake (USA),

Talking of skiing, did you know we actually have a small ski slope here in Radol’ca? It’s in Kamna Gorica to be precise, and despite the wonderful spring-like winter that we have been experiencing of late, whereby there is barely a flake of snow lower than 1500m, the operators have been performing wonders to keep the slope open for local children to enjoy.

Apparently, though, some snow may be headed our way later this week, which will delight all the skiers out there!

1Jan2016

Ljubljana, once Emona, now the European Green Capital 2016

Posted in Ljubljana, Ljubljana Green Capital, Uncategorized by adeleinslovenia

2016 is going to be an exciting year for Slovenia, as it celebrates 25 years of independence, and also particularly for Ljubljana as it has been chosen as the 2016 European Green Capital.

Two thousand years ago a Roman city, named Emona, stood on the site of present day Ljubljana. During the past two years there have been many celebrations taking place to mark the anniversary, such as this parade in late autumn which began in Congress Square (Kongresni trg) and continued through the streets of the capital, crossing the Ljubljanica river. There were plenty of strapping men dressed in clothing from Roman times, parading their finest weapons and armoury and generally looking ‘mean and menacing’!

The Emona parade through the streets of Ljubljana (Oct 2015)

These days, there are still many different sights and places to visit around Ljubljana which bear witness to the city’s past. The best place to start is at the City Museum, where you can get a guide and take a self-guided tour (or upon prior arrangement a guided tour) of the Emona Roman Trail of Ljubljana. The circular trail takes you past finds from Roman Emona, which, in its entirety, measured a mere 524 x 435 metres and was believed to have had around 500 inhabitants. Amongst the sights are two archaeological parks, a Roman wall, the former town gate and one of the most beautiful finds from the antiquity, the statue of an Emonan.

Ljubljana was chosen as the European Green Capital 2016 by the European Commission for ‘its raising environmental awareness amongst its citizens, its sustainability strategy ‘Vision 2025’, its implementation of a range of urban green measures over the past decade and its impressive transportation network’. Amongst others, the city boasts 542 square metres of green space per resident, use of, and ease of access to, environmentally-friendly public transport, quality drinking water, participation in the ‘zerowaste’ programme, good air quality and sustainable tourism.

As an introduction to Green Ljubljana the Water Exhibition, at the aforementioned City Museum, is a good place to start. In fact, even better since the entrance ticket to the exhibition also entitles you to entrance to the Emona Roman Trail.

Part of the ‘Water’ exhibition at the Ljubljana City Museum

There will be various events and initiatives taking place throughout the year, too many to mention here individually, so the best thing is to keep an eye on the Green Ljubljana website for all the latest news and event information – http://www.greenljubljana.com/ and also the Visit Ljubljana website – https://www.visitljubljana.com/

The official opening event will take place in front of Ljubljana’s Town Hall on Monday 11th January at 5pm and is open to all.

Personally, I’m not much of a city-type, however, Ljubljana, fortunately, is not like other big sprawling cities and it’s easy to find peace and greenery. My favourite place in the capital is the expansive Tivoli Park, where you can easily lose yourself for hours among its forested paths. A particularly popular part of the park is the 391m-high Rožnik hill, accessible from numerous directions, where there is a church and where large crowds gather for Bonfire Night and New Year’s Eve celebrations. On the southern side of the hill is Ljubljana Zoo, whilst Ljubljana’s Botanic Gardens, though small, offer an oasis of calm.

When in Ljubljana I also enjoy a stroll along the banks of the Ljubljanica river, where there is almost always something going on, or a walk up to Ljubljana Castle. Staying with the green theme, the Bicike(LJ) fleet of bike sharing bikes can be used for getting around the city, which is very bike-friendly, and Ljubljana’s main thoroughfare – Slovenska cesta – has recently been pedestrianised.

Ljubljana_Castle_view_from_riverbanks_D.Wedam__2653_orig

A view of Ljubljana Castle from the riverbank (photo: D. Wedam)

Ljubljana’s other great asset is that just a few kilometres from the city you can be in the surrounding countryside and within less than half-an-hour can be hiking or skiing in the mountains, visiting caves in the Karst area or exploring the Ljubljana Marshes Nature Park.

The Polhov hills lie just beyond Ljubljana’s suburbs and offer many hiking paths. I sometime hike in this area in the late-autumn/winter, when there is snow in the higher mountains. Below you can see me on the peak of Grmada (898m), though not the highest – that is Tošč (1021m) – on a clear day it offers the most wonderful far-reaching views and is certainly more than worth the effort to get there. You can read more about my hikes there in previous blogs such as this one – http://wp.me/p3005k-93

On top of Grmada in the Polhov hills

There are also number trails in and around Ljubljana including the Ostroverhar Trail, which starts in the village of Podgrad near Ljubljana and leads over Kašelj hill up to the ruins of two medieval castles, previously part of the Osterberg property and home to the Ostrovrhar knights. You can read more about it in this previous post – https://wordpress.com/post/44329338/128/

So, why not make 2016 a year to discover Green Ljubljana! I’m looking forward to it too.

A very Happy New Year to one and all!

15Dec2014

Slovene Christmas Customs, Traditions and Gifts

Posted in Uncategorized by adeleinslovenia

One of the customs I love in Slovenia is that of always removing your shoes before entering anyone’s home and being given a pair of cosy slippers to wear; whatever the time of year. I found this a little odd at first as in the UK I’d never thought twice before about going into other people’s homes wearing shoes – the same shoes which I’d been walking around in outdoors – but it makes perfect sense really as who knows what could be lurking on the soles of your shoes. Now, I’m so accustomed to this, that even when I visit friends and family in the UK, I automatically remove my shoes at the front door even though it means getting cold feet since I’m not offered slippers! So I was particularly delighted this week when, on the occasion of a little pre-Christmas get-together with friends, I was given an early Christmas present; of a pair of beautiful hand-made, personalised slippers which I’m now wearing with pride – thanks Anja!

We had a lovely evening with an array of Christmas treats too – some healthy, some less so – including my homemade mini-Christmas cakes, which were the star of the show!

So, this got me thinking about other customs and traditions in Slovenia and, it being the festive season and all, I thought I would elaborate a little further this week, in particular about Christmas and New Year traditions.

I should probably begin by saying that Christmas is actually a relatively new tradition in Slovenia since during the times of Socialism, under Tito’s rule, Christmas per se i.e. 25th December, wasn’t celebrated. Instead, there were (still are) 2 festive celebrations; St. Nicholas (Miklavž), who secretively delivers small gifts to children on 6th December, and Grandfather Frost (Dedek Mraz), who delivers presents, usually in person (ahem!) on New Year’s Eve.

These days of course, Slovenia has rapidly caught up on celebrating Christmas and festive food and gifts starts to appear in shops late-autumn, though thankfully not in July, which I read wass when Harrods opened its Christmas Department this year!

As in many other countries in Europe, the evening of the 24^th is when most families celebrate and get together for a special meal – which is usually some kind of roast meat though not especially turkey – exchange gifts, and/or attend midnight mass. If you are visiting Slovenia at that time it is worth noting that many restaurants may be closed on this evening or close earlier than usual. Shops are usually open on the 24^th but close a little earlier than usual. All shops are closed on the 25^th and again this is a family day, often for some recreational activities perhaps skiing, hiking or visiting relatives. The 26^th is also a public holiday, ‘Independence and Unity Day’ and therefore again many shops and business will be closed although some of the larger ones may open for a few hours in the morning.

Talking of shopping, which many of you, myself included, have probably been doing frantically in the run up to Christmas, I don’t know about you but I find there’s always someone who is SO difficult to buy for; the person who has everything and is choosy to boot! So, this week when I discovered the new range of gifts from the Slovene Centre for Architecture, it was a revelation! Their range of gifts are made in Slovenia, unique, stylish and practical too. The gift range includes towels, notebooks and other stationery, jewellery, water bottles and even chocolates and feature motifs related to individual works of Slovenian architecture, both traditional and modern.

The products will be on sale at selected Tourist Information Centres, including in Radovljica, or can be ordered directly from the centre. More information can be found here – http://www.centerarhitekture.org/vurnikovidnevi/?page_id=131

The Christmas programme continues in Radovljica and on Saturday evening we were treated to an impressive display by the flaming circus act, Cupakabra. As you can see from the photos below, it was quite a spectacle and drew plenty of spectators to the old town centre.

The week ahead will see more concerts and entertainment, as well as the Christmas market which takes place each Friday evening and all day Saturday and Sunday throughout December. The full programme of events can be found here – http://www.radolca.si/en/what-to-do/events-1/festive-december-in-linhart-square/83/110/

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, last week we had a WHOLE WEEK without rain, fog or low cloud. Thanks Santa!

Adele in Slovenia

My life and adventures in Radovljica and throughout Slovenia

Tag Archives: skiing