Arriving in Slovenia, the Mark Brothers’ movie “Duck Soup” and its mythical kingdom of Freedonia come to mind. “Hail, Hail Freedonia etc”. Even though it’s part of the EU, it does have a old world, fairytale feel to it. Not many Americans could find it unaided on a map. Actually, it’s one of the Balkan states (re)created in the break up of Yugoslavia, just SW of Hungary, SE of Austria, NE of Italy and N of Croatia and a unique spot,being a hybrid of Balkan, Alpine and Italian influences.
Gaining its independence in 1991, while escaping most of the fighting of the Balkan conflict, Slovenia is a green, mostly rural, mountainous, yet quite sophisticated backwater who definitely want you to visit. We’re staying in the capital Ljubljana, a remarkably laid back place of less than 300,000 with an extensive car-free Renaissance and late 19th Century town center.
When you’re a small country that’s been invaded innumerable times from the Romans right up to the Nazi Axis and the Soviets, the latter albeit with a regional Tito flavor, what you need is a very large dragon. This Dragon, and many of his buddies, can now be found all over Ljubljana, most prominently at the four corners of the Dragon Bridge aka The Emperor Franz Josef Jubilee Bridge, which cross the Ljubljanica River in the town center. The legend itself is not so convincing but, briefly, there was a monstrous dragon that was terrorizing the locals back in the day and it took Jason, yes of Argonauts fame, to devise a cunning plan that involved lulling it with music, sending it to sleep with a spell, binding it physically and then stuffing its orifices with the bones of its human victims., as you do. When the enraged dragon awoke it couldn’t break free and ended up exploding, resulting in Slovenia’s first ever firework display. True. It’s unclear what the hell Jason was doing so far from Greece, but some of the Argonauts stayed behind, settled and helped form the first real town here. Also true.
Outside of the city, Slovenia is quite reminiscent of Western Oregon with coniferous forests, mountain lakes and narrow gorges. With no car and limited time we take a guided day trip up into the Alpine area visiting Lakes Bohinj and Bled, the first rustic and the latter with more tourist shenanigans. Both worth a visit with good hiking and boating opportunities.
The trip finishes off with a hike down the Vintgar Gorge which is spectacular, even for Oregonians who have seen all this before. It’s particularly distinguished by the vivid emerald water color, the wooden suspended walkways and, today, the mist rising off the water.
Slovenians are also champion beekeepers with a long and rich tradition in apiculture. Their local bee, the Carniolan, is fully protected and has become one of the top two species in the domesticated bee world. Bee product shops abound and we pick up some honey, which does a number on my sore throat, which was still giving me trouble after the antibiotics were finished. I have Slovenian bees to thank for the relative good health I’ve had going forward on this trip.
They’re also mad about dogs here – Yeah, so is all of Europe, but here dogs are welcome in many restaurants and there are Canine Bakeries. Pairs of designer dogs parade around the old town on masse and, basically, have the run of the place.
Slovenia remains one of the most social(istic) of the EU countries with free college education and high taxes, but their problem is lack of higher paying jobs in that young adults are wonderfully educated but can’t get a regular job. Tourism has become essential but, as we know, most of the jobs that are associated with that don’t pay enough. Our tour guide had 3 degrees but is scraping by working for herself with gigs in several different areas of expertise. Hmmm, sounds like the USA but with more degrees.
What else? Well, they have wine and it’s not bad, prices are low, city people speak English and tourism has not yet overwhelmed the place but the tide is rising, so come soon, you’ll be welcomed.
Venice next, but it’s not so easy to get there and we had to resort to a ride sharing van company GoOpti. Let’s see how that goes, hopefully, they’ll show up.
Alright, I finally realized I can attach the complete photo gallery for Slovenia here. Let’s see if this works well, or if it bogs down the system down too much.
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