#I went to Slovenia once and stayed the night in a mountain hotel they told us that if we ran into a bear we should sing really loud and tha

[roadjanus]

Onward to Slovenia. Hold on to your Wallet!

When we left the park we found ourselves on a tiny little road, with hairpin turns. The mapping program we’re using (maps.me) always chooses the closest way...not the fastest way or the easiest way. It is not easy to redirect. So we often find ourselves on tiny little mountain roads, cruising through tiny little villages, thinly populated land. We drove through land that is reminiscent of Switzerland. Tiny little villages, white houses, red roofs. Green fields. Tucked into mountainous terrain. We hadn’t booked a hotel and we popped out on the main road not far from Zagreb. Toll road! On we go. First of all Bestie’s man asked the man working at the toll booth where he would like to eat. So he writes down a name of a restaurant. We map it and it’s not far so away we go. Do not ask me what town we are in because I do not know. We pull up at a restaurant that we never would have found on our own because it was way off the main road. We tell the restauranteur that the toll booth man sent us. He was happy to see us and we sat down and looked at the menu. He explained it to us as it was a wholly written menu, with no pictures. (I really like the ones with pictures). But it turned out that he was offering wild boar. So all along we’ve seen signs along the highways to watch for wild boar. So we knew they were there. We must try this. Wild boar with mushroom gravy and roasted potatoes. Very tasty I must say. The rest of the crew found the meat to be strong tasting. I think I liked it cause I paired it with wine. They should try that! Anyway, once fed we asked about a room for the night. They sent us to a hotel and we found out that this town was hosting a football tournament. All the rooms were booked except at the very expensive hotels. On we go.

We ended up at a Bestwestern by Zagreb airport. We had decided to skip Zagreb because we are short of time. I know that you laugh at that...short of time, you have 9 weeks, how can you be short of time? Let me tell you, there is a lot to see. And we know that certain places must be seen. Zagreb fell off the list, but I regret not seeing the Museum of Broken Relationships. We are heading to Slovenia.

Onward. Slovenia is next. The home of Melania Trump. We leave Croatia and get our passport stamped. We cross the border into Slovenia and the police pull us over. They are waiting for hapless tourists at the border. We think we have all the right paperwork for taking the rental car across borders. This is the EU isn’t it? NOPE. We have failed to get a vignette, which is a sticker that you purchase to affix to your car windshield. It costs about 15 Euros. BUT THEY ARE GOING TO FINE US. FIRST IT IS 300 EUROS. THEN THEY SAY THEY’LL CUT US A DEAL...150 EUROS. THis is extortion of the highest degree. They’ll also sell us the vignette. We can’t turn around and go back to Croatia and buy the vignette. They don’t have a place for us to buy one. Only with the police. There are very good roads in Slovenia. Infrastructure is good. That’s cause they are extorting the tourists at the border. Also in the towns where they charge 3.3 Euros per person per night just to stay in the town. HOLY SMOKES! DON’T GO TO SLOVENIA! SKIP IT! The vignette is easy to find...and easy to know you need it if you speak Slovenian or Croatian. But no English signs. I have to tell you that we have had to buy vignettes as we crossed into Austria, Czech Republic but there, as you cross into the country there are English signs and lots of indicators that you need this pass. In Poland you pay the tax as you cross the border. No sweat. Only in Slovenia are they trapping the unwary.

Ljublijana, capital city of the tax grabbers. The old town is beautifully preserved and quite large as these things go. (You know why as the tourist tax dollars fund this). Great for strolling. We strolled on a Sunday. Many stores were not open, but there was a hamburger festival going on. A competition. Did that ever look good. The square was packed with people all munching on the charcoal brazed burgers. People sat on the wide steps, eating those delicious burgers.

We did not eat as Bestie and her man were not with us. We went back to the apartment to pick them up and headed out for dinner. Didn’t make it back to the burger festival but stopped at a cute as a button bar to have the local sausage (Carniolan sausage), and sauerkraut and pickled turnip. I had another schnitzel. Very excellent. I shared the Man’s sauerkraut. All through the Balkans you order the meat and then you order sides to go with it. For dessert I tried a typical Slovenian dessert...Prekmurska gibanica. How’s that for a good name! This dish originally comes from the eastern part of Slovenia, more specifically Prekmurje, but today, it is one of the most known and popular traditional desserts spread all over Slovenia. It is a type of layered pastry, containing walnuts, poppy seeds, apples and raising. It also has a unique name, as the word "gibanica" would translate to “something that is folded”, which describes this tasty dessert and its many layers well. It was delicious. When dinner was over, off to the Ljublijana Castle. Hard to get to. We drove in circles for awhile, then up the big hill and we were there. A defensive castle, as most are. Saw a pretty good film that told us about the history of the country. Haha. The Romans were here of course. LOL.

#slovenia #second childhood #secondchildhood #Ljublijana #dessert #carniolan