blauboy’s posthaven

Maribor (pop. 112.000) is Slovenias second largest community and a cosy city along the Drava-river, about 20 kilometers away from the Astrian border. We were here before, but never in summer. So this year we took some time to explore downtown. Like the the vintage Vinagova vinska klet: Up to 18 meters below Maribor's central Freedom Square (Trg svobode) hides the city's old wine cellar. For small money you get a guided tour of 40 minutes down there plus a wine tasting afterwards. It's 7 Euros, including three wine samples. More than worth it!

Our last destination: Ljubljana. Immediately we fell in love with the vividness of Slovenia's capitol. Beautiful old houses, cosy streets, nice people, lots of pubs and cafeterias, great beer, a river that runs through the historic city, bright sunlight - all this creates an open, heartwarming atmosphere of the university town. We loved to just sit, sip and watch!

This Whitsun break we travelled to a European country, which hoisted four different banners within the last 100 years (Hungarian-Austrian, Italian, German, Yugoslawian) before it finally, just 25 years ago, became Slovenia. The "green heart of Europe" comes up with alpine mountains (Karavankas), sea (Adriatic Coast), downs, woodlands and karst.

Our fifth destination was Piran, the most beautiful village at the Slovenian Adriatic coast! Once part of the Venetian empire, the picture-perfect seaside settlement ist the most gorgious place for a day of recreation in one of its cafes at the central Tarini Square. Or you climb up those rotten stairs of the campanile (entrance: 1 Euro) - if you dare. The prospect up there is overwhelming! And dont't drop your mobile or your camera, when out of a sudden the giant bells right behind start to toll!

This Whitsun break we travelled to a European country, which hoisted four different banners within the last 100 years (Hungarian-Austrian, Italian, German, Yugoslawian) before it finally, just 25 years ago, became Slovenia. The "green heart of Europe" comes up with alpine mountains (Karavankas), sea (Adriatic Coast), downs, woodlands and karst.

Our next destination was supposed to be Bled, the "pearl of Slovenia". Unfortunately, we tried to get there on the weekend. Not a very good idea. So, after more than an hour stuck in traffic jam, we decided to skip the pittoresque sight of the ancient church on that island in the middle of the beautiful Bled lake - and visit the summer park Krvavec instead. We took the cable car up to Gospinca, 1480 meters high, enjoyed the hight, the fresh air and the gorgious view. And for the rest of the afternoon, we spent shouting with glee on the 100-metre tubing course (scroll down for a video of my ride!).

This Whitsun break we travelled to a European country, which hoisted four different banners within the last 100 years (Hungarian-Austrian, Italian, German, Yugoslawian) before it finally, just 25 years ago, became Slovenia. The "green heart of Europe" comes up with alpine mountains (Karavankas), sea (Adriatic Coast), downs, woodlands and karst.

Our third destination in Slowenia was the craddle of all Lipizzan horses in the world: Founded in 1580, the Stud Farm of Lipica is breeding and selecting pure horses for more than four centuries. Today, around 350 of those white beauties live in the shade of picturesque old linden trees and white fences and are visited by horse freaks (mainly very young females...) from all over the planet.

So this Whitsun break we travelled to a European country, which hoisted four different banners within the last 100 years (Hungarian-Austrian, Italian, German, Yugoslawian) before it finally, just 25 years ago, became Slovenia. The "green heart of Europe" comes up with alpine mountains (Karavankas), sea (Adriatic Coast), downs, woodlands and karst.

So this Whitsun break we travelled to a European country, which hoisted four different banners within the last 100 years (Hungarian-Austrian, Italian, German, Yugoslawian) before it finally, just 25 years ago, became Slovenia. The "green heart of Europe" comes up with alpine mountains (Karavankas), sea (Adriatic Coast), downs, woodlands and karst. All within just barely 7830 square miles!

Our second destination: the impressive mediaval Predjama Castle with its underground bat cave.

So this Whitsun break we travelled to a European country, which hoisted four different banners within the last 100 years (Hungarian-Austrian, Italian, German, Yugoslawian) before it finally, just 25 years ago, became Slovenia. The "green heart of Europe" comes up with alpine mountains (Karavankas), sea (Adriatic Coast), downs, woodlands and karst. All within just barely 7830 square miles!

Our first destination: the most impressive cave of Postojna - 9 miles (24 km) of underground passages, galleries and halls, a tourist attractions for more than 200 years now, seen by 36 million visitors and the only cave with an underground train. So exciting, so breathtaking!