I always think to myself — I just wrote a blog post, but then look back and realize my most recent post was more than a month ago. Where does the time go?

I wish I could write about all of the lovely things that have happened in the past several weeks, but I do not have enough time to document it all. I think I will narrow it down to our recent trip to Slovenia.

My dream to travel to Slovenia formed after I saw photos from my friend Emily Krall’s trip she took with her family when we were in college.

The best way to describe Slovenia is surreal: it is a hidden gem. The scenery is stunningly beautiful, the people wonderfully generous, and the culture amazingly intriguing. Above all, it is completely unassuming. The people are living their lives in a beautiful and content way. Tourism is not huge, so everywhere we went felt authentic in a way I had never experienced on a trip thus far.

Side note: The week before we left for the trip, I started a new position at Staples Europe! I am an Account Specialist in their creative studio. My trip unfortunately fell the week after I needed to start, so I ended up going a day later than planned to save vacation days. It worked out perfectly because Bryan decided to play golf. Ask him about his new Slovenian friend he played with that day. ;0

When I arrived, Bryan picked me up from the airport and we drove an hour to Lake Bled. Lake Bled is one of the most famous parts of Slovenia. It was incredible! Bryan and I stayed in this “eco resort” and went “glamping.” Glamorous Camping, you should try it–it is the best.

Garden Village Bled was about a ten minute walk to the center of Bled town, so it was easy to get everywhere. The first day we rode bikes around the lake and took a hike. The next morning, we woke up and rented a boat to go to the center island of the lake. It was probably the most touristy activity of our entire vacation, but we had the best time.

Next, through a friend’s helpful recommendation, we drove about 45 minutes south to the most beautiful and untouched lake I have ever seen, Lake Bohinj. Even more stunning than lake bled, lake Bohinj is supposedly where the locals go to relax, hike and enjoy creation. Bryan and I only stopped for a couple of hours because we were on our way to our next stop, but we were so thankful we did.

 

 

I felt like I was in a completely different country when we got to Piran. Slovenia only has 27 miles of coastline, so Piran is their main coastal city.

Piran has a lovely vibe to it, because it is both quant and relaxed. Bryan and I loved wandering the crooked streets, grabbing a gelato (or 3!), and sitting in the square. While Lake Bled felt like Austria, Piran felt like Greece. Our hotel sat right on the ocean and we loved sitting in and breathing in the salty air!

The second night we watched the sunset from the highest castle overlooking Piran. I am not sure if it bothered the other folks watched the sunset, but we played some worship songs as the sun was going down. It was a holy moment. ❤

We woke up at the crack of dawn the next day to drive 3 hours to our final stop: Jeruzalem. Jeruzalem is located in the wine region of Slovenia in the Northeast of the country. The wine tour day warrants its own post or conversation at some point because it was so packed and we saw so much. Tine, our wine tour guide met us for our own personal tour at 11:am and we explored all day!

 

Here is a snapshot of our itinerary plus comments. I thought it would be easier to organize in a list. :):

•  We cruised downhill with bikes crossing little lakes before we reached a town called Ljutomer (Lotmerk)
• Visited a local pottery store in Ljutomer and met this amazing family who made pottery for 5 generations
• Next, we visited an old farm museum in Pristava. This family was so excited to share their family history (the family has lived on the land since the 1600’s!! ) They served us their own wine and we learned a ton about the history of Slovenia and their regional dialect. Did you know there are over 25 dialects in Slovenia?
• We cycled through Jeruzalem wine hills and visited Hlebec (Kog, Lačaves) wine cellar
• Lunch and wine tasting at village Zasavci at wine farm Puklavec
• At the end of the tour, Tine took us to his girlfriend’s family’s harvest. As the sun was going down, they showed us the grapes they picked, and took us down to the cellar to check it all out. At one point, we started all dancing in a circle as the uncle was playing the accordion. It was wild!

On Sunday, we spent the day in the capital city, Ljubljana. I think not spending a night there is my only regret of the trip! It is beautiful as well.

All in all, our trip was sensational. We will recommend Slovenia to anyone who will listen.

Until next time,

Hila