Day 6
We woke up around 8 this morning and had some breakfast
before hitting the road. We had a 2 hour
drive ahead of us since we were going to an area in Slovenia called
Stajerska. This is an area that I have
not gotten to explore, so I was very excited to go. We hit the road with my aunt, uncle and
cousin. My cousin’s wife was raised in
the area so we were meeting at her house.
Once we arrived, we enjoyed some potica that was different from what we
were use to, meats and cheeses, and medenovka, a honey liquor. After sitting down a bit with the family and
enjoyed their company before getting in the car again.
We headed to Logarka Dolina, which is known to be the most
beautiful valley in Slovenia in the summer.
It really is beautiful year around.
There aren’t too many houses because it has flooded in the past, so it
truly is one of nature’s most beautiful views.
The mountains are huge and are super steep with cliffs. The ground was covered in snow and
beautiful! We were hoping to get to see
the second biggest waterfall in Slovenia, but unfortunately, the roads were
closed due to the snow so the walk would have been too long since it starts
getting dark a little after 4. We walked
around a bit then sat down at a small cottage for tea. After that, we started making our way back
and stopped in Solcava, a small village in Slovenia. They had a wonderful museum that was written
in Slovenian and English so Joe enjoyed seeing what animals were native to the
land, how wool turns into clothing, and a bit of history from the village. We also learned a little about the church in
the village which was built in the Gothic age.
After that, we headed to another local village for
dinner. There, we enjoyed some Slovenian
wine, and ordered two platters of assorted food. On these, there was so much food! We enjoyed chicken, pork, fried pork,
veggies, French fries, and two different sauces. All of the food was amazing, and we were all
stuffed! After that, it was time to make
the two mile trek home. After watching
the sun set and learning about some of the villages that we passed, we both
drifted off to sleep, and woke up just as we got back to Davca! Once we got back we caught up on emails, got
our train ticket to Munich, and relaxed before heading to bed so that we are
ready to ski tomorrow!
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| Davca |
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| Logarska Dolina |
Day 7
Today we woke up to even more snow. They had an additional 20cm of snow, so since
the snow was still falling in the morning, we had to change our plans. Instead of going skiing today, we would go
the following morning. After we ate
breakfast, we decided to play a game with Peter. He got a game called Settlers of Cantan for
Christmas and had been wanting to play.
We played the game all morning, and around 11 the snow slowed down. We got all bundled up and headed on a
hike. We walked to Covk, which is the
highest point of my familys property.
The walk is normally a pretty short walk, but this time it took much
longer. The snow was up to our knees and
the paths were not cleared, so we had our work cut out for us! Peter worked the hardest since he went first,
but we had to take some rest stops along the way. We saw where my cousin had his deer stand set
up as well! The hike was definitely
hard, but we enjoyed it!
Since it was New Year’s Eve,
Tomaz and his family came over for lunch. We had a vegetable soup to start, followed by
walnut struklji. This is a traditional
Slovenian meal and it is a dough, walnut roll that is then boiled. We ate so much of it because it was so
good! For desert, we had a fruit
compote. After lunch, we relaxed for a
bit before getting dressed to go to Ljubljana.
It is about an hour drive, and we wanted to see it in the day as well as
the night time. We headed out at 3 so
that we would have about an hour or a bit less of day time. When we got there we walked to the main
center square, saw the bridges that are signature to Ljubljana, the dragons
which are the city’s symbol, and some of the streets of Ljubljana. After it started getting dark, we went to
Jana’s favorite tea shop which had more tea mixtures to choose from than you
could ever imagine! We enjoyed our tea
and then headed back out to see the lights.
It was about -11C so we got cold pretty quickly, and decided to skip the
walk to the castle and headed back to Davca.
When we got to Davca it was time for a very traditional
Slovenian New Year’s Eve meal. We had
beef tartar from a calf that was butchered in Davca, homemade prosciutto
wrapped around a breadstick, and French
salad (potatoes, pickles, peas, carrots) and some homemade bread. After dinner, it was time for Monopoly. I played banker and Jana, Peter, and Joe
played a fairly quick (only a couple hours) game of Monopoly. Although Peter got hotels up quick, Joe
bankrupted Jana, and with all of her properties, and an ideal landing on the
free parking to get a lot of money, he was able to pull out the win! We enjoyed a bottle of Champagne and taught
everyone what mimosa’s were which they enjoyed!
After Monopoly ended, it was about 30 minutes to New Year so we got all
bundled up, and headed one of the highest points in Davca where we got to see a
handful of fire work displays since it was a clear night. Peter let off some noisemakers, and we played
with some sparklers for about 30 minutes before we were sufficiently frozen and
headed back to the house. After that we
quickly headed to bed since we were tired and had an early morning of skiing.
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| Ljubljana |
Day 8
We woke up early and got ready for our ski trip! The ski slopes are about a 10 minute ride so
they are not far! We are very fortunate
that they have enough ski gear, skis, and clothing for both Joe and I! We got everything together and got dressed so
that we wouldn’t get cold, then headed to the ski center. We decided on a 3 hour card since we knew we
would be tired and aren’t in ski shape!
This was only my third time skiing and Joe’s second, so we figured we
would spend some time on the ground! We
were actually much better than we thought we would be! Joe’s skiing in North Carolina came in handy
and we started much better than we had last time! We did the easiest run twice before advancing
to the harder ones. All of the ski paths
were not open but my favorite one was so I was happy! We didn’t have any crazy falls, and ended the
day much more comfortable than we started, and loved the experience! We were
sufficiently tired and hungry by the time we got back, and luckily it was time
for lunch! Lunch was amazing! We started off with a traditional chicken
noodle soup, and then we had potatoes that were perfectly roasted in the brick
oven so they were all a bit crispy, ribs from the best part of the pig that
they had recently slaughtered, and pan seared filet mignon with gravy on
it. We also had the left over French
salad, and a lettuce cabbage mixed salad all made with vegetables from their
own garden. Dinner was perfect, and we
were all so full we delayed desert for a little bit. Joe and I went to pack up our things while
Jana took a nap. After we were packed,
it was time for desert. We had a fruit
salad with ice cream on top which was a perfect ending to our stay in
Davca. After packing up the car and
saying our goodbyes, it was time to head to Sencur.
We got to Sencur right at sun down, and my uncle came to
visit with us. After we spent some time
catching up with him, we went upstairs where we enjoyed some time with my other
uncle, aunt, and their three kids. We
were tired from an early morning and skiing, so we called it an early night,
promising the kids we would take them on a walk the following day. After spending some more time with my
grandmother, we headed to bed.
Day 9
We woke up after a very long night of sleep and enjoyed
breakfast. After breakfast, we relaxed
for a bit and then got bundled up for our walk.
All three of my cousins were coming, as well as my grandmother, so we
knew it would be an adventure. My oldest
cousin from that side is 8, and is very into books, reading, and learning. After we had left the night before and told
her that Joe did not speak any Slovenian, she asked her dad to help her learn
some things in English, so that on our walk she can tell Joe what he is seeing
in the town! We walked all the way to
their school; saw the post office, fire station, and so much more. We also went into the church where they had a
beautiful nativity scene set up that was the largest set up that we had seen,
as well as all of the churches of the Sencur city displayed in miniature
churches. On the walk back, my two
oldest cousins, 8 and 6, attacked Joe in a snow ball fight! Needless to say, he lost, but he said they
have way more practice! We enjoyed the
walk, and didn’t even realize we were gone for almost two hours!
After the walk we went to dinner that my aunt and uncle had
prepared which was amazing. She made a
cauliflower soup which was spectacular, and then spetzle, and pork and chicken
baked in a vegetable sauce, as well as some salad. The dinner was amazing, and before we knew
it, it was time for us to go visit another family that lived close by. My second cousin and her husband and baby
live in Kranj, so they picked us up and we went to their place for a couple
hours. We spent some time at their
apartment, and also enjoyed Mart giving us a bit of a tour around the old part
of Kranj. It is such a beautiful city,
with two rivers flowing through it, and it is one of the oldest cities in
Slovenia.
After we came back to Sencur, we had promised my cousin we
would play chess with her since she was in chess club. I played her once, and Joe played her another
time. In the meantime, my aunt and
cousin came with her family so that we could meet her baby girl! She was so full of life and a very happy
baby. It was great getting to see
them. After they left, Joe had to do
some work, so he finished that up while I spent some time with my grandmother,
and then we went upstairs so that Joe could play Legos with my cousin who had
wanted him to play all evening. Joe
helped build a police station although it seemed like he couldn’t do anything
to my little cousin’s standards! He
would show Joe how to build the station properly! I spent some time with my youngest cousin who
is two in my lap and the oldest cousin making me a rubber band bracelet so that
I could take it home with me! She said
if she didn’t finish it that night, she already set her alarm for 6 the next
morning to finish it before we left for the train station. She finished it just in time, and we headed
back downstairs at 8 so that they could get ready for bed. After spending a bit more time with my
grandma and packing everything up, we headed to bed early since we had an early
morning.
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| Kranj |
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| Sencur |
Next up...our Munich Trip!
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