TWO MONTHS IN SLOVENIA - WRITING THE BOOK
SLOVENIA A LA CARTE - All You Ever Wanted to
Know About Slovenia
AND DISCOVERING THE COUNTRY!
The book
is available on Amazon
and
Kindle EBook.
ABOUT US
TESSA
I am British/Canadian and am an author, journalist and teacher. I
have a Canadian university degree in journalism and European history, a
Bachelor of Education teaching English as a Second Language and a Cambridge
University certificate teaching English as a Foreign Language. I taught English
in Prague, Czech Republic in 1990 after that country’s Velvet Revolution. I
started 50 Plus Travel Club for seniors and organized group tours to unusual
destinations.
In “Slovenia a la Carte – All You Ever Wanted to Know About
Slovenia” which I co-authored with Joze Borstnar, I wrote a chapter on several
communist countries I have visited comparing the different brands of
communism-socialism in those countries to the former Yugoslavia.
JOZE
I am Slovene and live in Ljubljana, the capital
of Slovenia. I lived through Slovenia’s turbulent post World War 2 history. I
studied economics at the University of Ljubljana and was a tour manager on
coach tours for American tourists visiting Balkan countries: Yugoslavia,
Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. After 27 years of professional
experience in the tourist industry, I created "Visit Slovenia à la
carte" which offers interesting half-day and full-day trips from Ljubljana
as well as other tourist services. My many clients urged me to write a
book about the interesting stories I told them so our book “Slovenia a la Carte
– All You Ever Wanted to Know about Slovenia” was born!
DAY TRIPS FROM LJUBLJANA
WITH JOZE
www.visit-slovenia.eu
FACEBOOK:
joze borstnar -
Slovenia a la Carte - Photos – Albums - See All (3 Albums / 210 photos)
DISCOVER SLOVENIA – EUROPE’S SECRET GEM!
GORENJSKA REGION – The ALPS
TRIP 4
Ljubelj Pass border crossing with Austria –
Brdo Park – A Popular Inn
LJUBELJ PASS
63 Ljubelj Pass - Border in middle of
tunnel. Slovenia demolished police and customs building.
64 Austrian border building was abandoned but
controls returned because of refugee crisis.
65 Slovene memorial to Nazi victims
66 Austrian memorial
Our next trip was on Sunday - to the Austrian Slovenian border over the
Ljubelj Pass - 30 miles North of Ljubljana. There are about 19 border crossings to Austria from
Slovenia! At this border with Austria you enter a mile long tunnel and at the
exit Austrians only check passports and see if you are hiding a refugee! We
turned around to go back into Slovenia where there was no checking at all!
Migrants did not cross the border here but in eastern Slovenia where land is
flat. Slovenes had to build a fence to stop the flow of refugees passing
through on their way through Austria to Germany.
TUNNEL’S
INTERESTING HISTORY
We discovered
the tunnel’s interesting history. I did not know the Nazis had concentration
camps in Slovenia! The tunnel was built by political prisoners from all over
Europe who were held in Nazi hard labour work camps. The camps were supervised
by the Mauthausen concentration camp in Germany. Fit, strong male inmates were
literally worked to death under harsh conditions. The camp actually had a
crematorium to dispose of inmates. There was a camp on both sides of the
border. Slovenia was occupied by Hitler’s Army and Mussolini’s Italian Fascists
during World War 2.
BRDO PARK
On the way back we decided to visit Brdo Park near Kranj. The fence
around the estate is 9.6 km (6 miles) long so you can imagine how huge the
estate really is.
67 Brook,
dozens of trails, all kinds of trees and flowers
68 Non
threatening animals and birds found in Slovene forests, rivers and lakes are here
69 The castle has changed many owners
since it was built in the 15th century. The last owner before WW2 was the Yugoslav Royal
Karadjordevic family from Belgrade
70 After WW2 the
castle was nationalized and served as one of Marshal’s Tito residences until he
died in 1980. Today it is Slovene’s government main building for diplomatic
meetings
From Wikipedia a free encyclopedia
The Brdo Park is an estate and a mansion 20 miles
northwest of Ljubljana. It is the
Slovenian Government’s main venue for diplomatic
meetings and other Government-sponsored events.
On a tour through the park you can meet many animals and
plant species and admire outstanding architecture. The Brdo renaissance castle
and thatched hayracks are only a part of the rich heritage that here laid the
foundations already more than 500 years ago.
The Brdo Estate near Kranj today represents a
unique study of history, culture, architecture and nature, thanks to 500 years
of uninterrupted development. Many of the
park,s trails lead visitors past buildings from various historical
times.
On June 16, 2001 the first meeting of the U.S.
President George W. Bush with the Russian President Vladimir Putin was held in
the estate.
The
Brdo Park is open daily from sunrise till dusk.
A POPULAR INN (GOSTILNA) – “GOSTILNA NAROBE” (family name)
We got hungry so we decided to go to a very
popular “Gostilna Narobe” inn. It is situated in the village of Trzin – 10 km
East from Ljubljana.
71 A
150 year old family owned “Gostilna” run by Maja, a former high school teacher
who left her job after her father died to continue the tradition. Her
personal attention to all her visitors is a welcoming touch.
72 Sundays Slovenes like to visit Gostilnas with
their families to enjoy good traditional food and especially the inn’s
old world atmosphere.
73 Besides central heating, every room has a
ceramic tile “offen” which provides extra heat and a cosy atmosphere in the
winter. Everybody likes to seat on the bench that surrounds the “offen”!
PRIMORSKA REGION – KARST (and Coast)
TRIP 5
Postojna
Cave and Lipizzaner Stud Farm
By now you know that Joze guides and drives Ljubljana tourists to
well-known and less-known destinations within Slovenia. The trip to Postojna
Cave and Lipizzaner Stud farm is the second most popular trip after Lake Bled. Joze’s
guests start the cave tour at 11a.m., the Lipizzaner Stud Farm tour at 2 p.m.
and the show at 3 p.m.
POSTOJNA CAVE
Thirty minutes
south-west of Ljubljana you first come to Karst where there is no agriculture
because of the limestone terrain. It is the home of the world famous Postojna
Cave and Skocjan Caves.
The
Postojna Cave is world famous. The tour starts with a 12-minute ride on a small
train inside the cave. When you leave the train you start a one-hour circular guided
walking tour back to the train. The train and cave journey are fabulous. Tours
start every hour on the hour.
Tessa
is claustrophobic so we skipped the cave tour!!
LIPIZZANER HORSES at LIPICA STUD FARM
Twenty-five
minutes from Postojna Cave or ten minutes from the Skocjan Caves is the famous
Lipica stud farm – the cradle of all Lipizzaner horses in the world! 
79 Most
of the time the horses are outside.
80 Did
you know they are born black?! Spot the black foals in this photo.
81 Lipica, Shows three times a week
82 One
of the highlights
Time
table
The
Lipizzaner Stud Farm Tour (50 minutes)
Guided
tours are available throughout the year - from April till the end of October, every
hour on the hour - from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m.
Show -
Presentation of the Lipica Classical Riding School (45 minutes)
April
and October; every Sunday at 3.00 p.m.
May-September:
every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday at 3.00 p.m.
N.B.: Lipica Stud Farm
is closed on Mondays!!
From Wikipedia a free encyclopedia
Lipica (pronounced [ˈliːpitsa] is a village near the town of Sezana in the
Littoral region of Slovenia,close to the border with Italy. Lipica is one of the main
tourist centers of Slovenia's Karst region
and it is known for the Lipica Stud Farm, the origin of the Lipizzaner horse.
The Lipica stud farm was established in 1580 and the first
horses were bought from Spain in 1581 (24 broodmares and six stallions) The farmers living in the area at the
time were evicted and resettled.
From the 14th century until 1947, Lipica was part of the
municipality of Trieste. When Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria (son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor) decided to establish
a new stud farm in the 16th
century, the Spanish horse was considered the ideal horse breed. Because the
soil and climate in the Karst region is similar to that of Spain, Lipica was chosen as the
perfect spot for the new farm.
TRIP 6
THE COAST - PART OF PRIMORSKA
REGION
My last trip
in Slovenia was to the Primorska Region which is greatly influenced by Italy
and is only one hour from Ljubljana. There
had been border problems with Italy starting after World War 1. It took 7 years
and 4 treaties after World War 2 to finally decide whether the North and South
Coastal Regions should belong to Italy or Slovenia. Signs are in Slovenian and
Italian and Italian is also spoken
Arriving at the coast, the picturesque
countryside changes again and is dotted with vineyards and olive groves
stretching down to the Adriatic Sea.
There are many small resorts - hotels on the
beaches such as Ankaran, Zusterna, Simonovov Zaliv, Strunjan, Fiesa, etc., but
the largest and most popular resorts are Portoroz and Bernardin. The Venetian
town Piran is only 3 kilometres from Portoroz.
69 Olive trees and vineyards
70 Town of Izola. Trieste, left, in the distance
71 Marina in town of Izola
72 Crystal clear Adriatic Sea
73 Portoroz – resort
74 Fish cantina in centre of Portoroz
75 Grand
Hotel Bernardin 5*- right on the beach
76 Hotel Lobby
76 Hotel Lobby
77 Soline Salt Flats National Park
RICH CULTURAL LIFE
In case you
think Slovenia is only about nature and sports, it also has a rich cultural
life featuring festivals and events of all kinds, theatre, puppet theatre,
concerts, art galleries, museums etc. What I like most is that it does not feel
“touristy” like other popular destinations although there are many tour buses
from all over Europe. Summer 2016 saw a big increase in the number of visitors
to Slovenia.
I returned to
Canada at the end of June after two wonderful months exploring this delightful
European secret everybody should discover!
VIEW OUR OTHER BLOGS!
Two Months in Slovenia – Writing the Book
AROUND AND ABOUT LJUBLJANA – SLOVENIA
VINERYARDS OF DOLENJSKA REGION – ALPS – GORISKA
BRDA / SLOVENE TUSCANY
Text: Tessa
Borner All Photos: Joze Borstnar
FOR MUCH MORE
INFORMATION READ OUR BOOK!
“Slovenia a la Carte – All You Ever Wanted to
Know about Slovenia”
Available on Amazon and Kindle E-Book
Author: Joze
Borstnar
CoAuthor: Tessa Borner
INFORMATION:
Canada contact – tessaborner@gmail.com
Piran - Venetian town Island - Lake Bled
OTHER BOOKS BY
TESSA BORNER:
“Potholes to
Paradise – Living in Costa Rica”
“English Girl,
German Boy – World War 2 from Both Sides
Available on Amazon, Author
