Slovenia is Beautiful

I know it’s been a while since I last posted to my blog, but it’s been for a good reason. We have been traveling all over the place. It’s safe to assume that I have been in every area of Slovenia. I will do my best to get you up to speed, but don’t expect to see perfect spelling and grammar. I have to go to some BBQ with Vesna’s family and we are in a hurry.

Last weekend Gregor, Vesna, and I drove to the northwest corner of Slovenia. This is known as the Vintgar area. Here they have some absolutely amazing sites. Lakes, rivers, and small little villages that will just blow your mind. One of my favorite spots was Bled. There is a lake with a small island in it. On the island is a church. Above the lake is another castle. To walk around in the castle grounds was pretty pricey, so we just looked at it and moved on. Most castles in Slovenia won’t allow visitors to walk around inside. This seems to be more reserved for the Ptujski Grad (Castle in Ptuj). After this area, we drove towards the coast. On the way, we stopped off at the most popular museum in Slovenia. This museum is dedicated to World War I/II. It was amazing!! After the museum, it was time to head towards the coast. Slovenia only has about 15 km of coast line, but the coast is beautiful!

While at the coast, in a town called Piran, we stayed in a youth hostel. The youth hostels are awesome! This one was clean and cheap. We met some guys from Norway and a few girls from Scotland, Canada, and Denmark. That night we all went out. The dudes from Norway and I each drank 3 liters of beer. Needless the say, those poor bastards were a little drunk.

During last week, we drove to the northeast corner of Slovenia. There we saw a totally different climate and environment. I also got to enjoy some delicious Slovenian dishes. The food was wonderful. After that, we drove to Hungary. The whole point of going to Hungary wasn’t to see anything, but just to get some stamps for my passport :lol:. We told the Slovenian guy at the border what we were going to do and he just smiled. On the way back, the Hungarian border officer gave me some more stamps for my passport. She seemed really cool and was enjoying us being there. I asked her if she spoke English, but she could only speak Hungarian and German. Luckily Gregor speaks German so I had him ask her a question: would you take a picture with my American friend? She looked shocked at first, but then smiled and said okay. So I have a picture with a Hungarian border officer :lol:.

Last Friday we drove to Italy and visited Venice. Oh my god, this city was awesome!! Besides being just packed with people from all over the world, the buildings and history of Venice will blow your mind. We took a gondola ride for about an hour that took us through some of the canals in Venice. After that, it was time to enjoy some traditional Italian food. One of the big highlights of the time in Venice was we met Ray Romano from the show “Everybody Loves Raymond”. I got to shake his hand and make some small talk for a little bit. Sergej, Simona, and I even got to take a picture with him. Ray is a very cool guy. He was more impressed that people from Slovenia knew who he was and knew about his show.

Besides the main traveling, we’ve also hung around Ptuj and visited Simona’s family summer home where they make their own wine. We also went to Gregor’s family summer home and made a nice dinner. Sergej and I went down these little cars on one of the ski resorts. They were a blast!!

I’ve basically been trying everything and taking in as much of the Slovenian culture as I can. Boža is such a good cook that it will be hard to leave. I am scheduled to go home next Friday. Simona asked me if I was excited to go home or home sick. Of course I miss my animals, but truthfully, I haven’t been home sick. Gregor’s family has done a wonderful job making me feel at home and part of the family. I truly feel at home here so it makes it so much easier to stay for a long period of time.