blauboy’s posthaven

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!

Not only that we had run out of our favourite wine (pinot gris, "Grauburgunder"). We also needed sun after a long dismal winter - needed it badly! So we followed the invitation of Sandra and Karl and drove back to Leutschach in Southern Austria for the Easter holidays to witness the Styrian style of celebrating Jesus' resurrection. But besides Easter bonfire, egg dyeing, consecreation of groceries ("Gott, segne die Kräuter und den Kren!" - not really translatable), lots of hiking, fantastic vistas and excellent wine tasting: above all we experienced the warmth and hospitality of our hosts, who let us forget our everyday solicitudes. Thank you so much, Sandra and Karl, Irene, Maria, Sophie, Hanna and Katja of the Pronegg-Kristeindl winery!

Our last city tour for this year led us - back to Chania on Crete again! We stayed in the heart of the city, met good old (and young) friends, enjoyed the new cosy restaurants in Chatzimichali Daliani Street, got sunburned in the warm November sun and collected shells and stones at the abandonded beaches of the "Gold Coast" between Chania's Nea Chora and Platanias.

Just to end the hexalogy of my trip to Iceland, here are some remnants of my short visit in Reykjavík: a collection of typical front doors of Icelandic houses. More or less beautiful wooden show pieces (my favourite pic is no. 7)!

What the Opera House is for Sydney and the Elbe Philharmonic Hall will be for Hamburg, is the Harpa in Reykjavík: A modern concert hall and conference centre. A visit there is mandatory. I had the chance to see the backstage areas of that stunning building and I found its architecture more than impressive! The main hall seats between 1600 and 1800 people and is fitted out like the dark red inward of a vulcano.