Traveling – Piran, Slovenia

As part of our fall 2007 Europe trip, we drove from Lake Bled Slovenia to the Postojna region of central Slovenia where we stayed several nights on a working farm.  This region of Slovenia is best known for it’s caves, the white Lipizanner stallions, and castles.  We partook in all these experiences and along the way met some wonderful people.

At our Tourist Farm Hudicevce, we met some fellow travels Jan and Ted (from Monterey, California) and invited them to take a drive with us to the town of Piran which is located on the seacoast.  Piran is a beautiful little town situated on the Adriatic Sea and is the Western most point of Slovenia.  Looking across the Adriatic Sea, in the distance it is possible to see the coast of Italy.

We parked the car and walked past the small harbor containing brightly painted fishing boats to the center of town.  It was getting close to lunchtime, so we found a small patisserie on a side street and purchase several pieces of quiche to take with us.  We walked a block to the seawall where we could look out over the sea and had a very nice lunch in the sun.

After lunch we walked the along the seawall around the town enjoying our views of the buildings aw well as the people.  On our way back through the town, we happened on a street market with fruits and vegetables that were very fresh and colorful.  We saw a fruit that none of us had ever seen before called Zizola.



Zizola are a small fruit about the size of a large olive and have a soft brown coating (shell?) that you peel off with your thumbnail to eat.  The fruit is slightly bitter but refreshing.  We purchase a bag of the fruit to take with us.  As we walked through the town we snacked on the Zizola, but I was a little concerned about eating too much of the fruit and the unknown effects it could have on a digestive system (I’m happy to report no negative effects).

When we left the town of Piran, we decided to drive a few miles to where we could cross the border into the country of Croatia.  We stopped at a tourist site which is a salt making facility that has been used for hundreds of years.  It is located next to the sea in a low flat marsh area between Slovenia and Croatia.  We were fascinated by the methods and tools used in the production of sea salt from the region.  This salt facility was also quite picturesque with white buildings framed against the blue sky.  Our driving tour of Croatia lasted about thirty minutes as we drove through a few towns, and then back to Slovenia.

When we returned to our tourist farm, we were treated to a beautiful red and pink sunset.  I walked all over the farm taking pictures as the sun set between the hills.

We had a nice dinner that we finished with caraway seed liqueur the hostess offered us.  Earlier in the evening, I talked with the hostess as she poured drinks in preparation of a party being held on the farm.  She had four rows of glasses lined up and the first held a yellow liquid (the caraway seed liqueur), next row contained a green liqueur (mint), then a row containing white liqueur (anise), and the last row was filled with a brownish (molasses liqueur).  All these liqueurs they made on-site.  She let me sniff the contents of one of the large liqueur bottles and it was so potent, I was sure it would strip paint off a wall.  The caraway seed liqueur was tasty but very strong (like fire).  After some very nice conversation with our friends, we had a very nice rest.

When we travel, we try to stay in smaller bed and breakfasts, hotels, or in this case, a tourist farm that only has about eight rooms.  The remote and intimate setting allows meeting other guests from a variety of locations and being able to talk and compare experiences.  We continue to communications with some of the people we have met and we always exchange address information with people we meet.  The family that runs the tourist farm was very friendly with many children that helped with meals.  We got to know their names, ages and interests which really enhanced the experience of our visit with them for all us.

We had a few more days of sight seeing in the area, and then it was on to Milan Italy.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell

Traveling – Radovljica – Slovenia

On a day trip out from take Bled Slovenia (during the fall 2007 Europe trip), we drove to the small town of Radovljica. We were attracted to this town by Rick Steves travel video on Slovenia where he visited the local Bee Museum.

It took us about an hour to get from our hotel in Lake Bled to the town of Radovljica. We quickly found a place to park and walked the pedestrian only street to the Bee museum. This museum is quite fascinating because Slovenia has domesticated and exported bees around the world for hundreds of years.

Displays in the museum showed the local uses of honey, bees wax, and the bee boxes (hives) that have uniquely painted fronts. The painted fronts are so the bees can find their way to their unique home, and some of the paintings are quite entertaining such as a devil sharpening a woman’s tongue on a grinding wheel.

After the Bee museum, we visited the nearby House Lectar that includes a hotel, restaurant, and in the cellar a ginger cookie company. Many of the ginger cookies were heart shaped with message written in frosting like those we saw in Munich. They also make custom shapes for companies to use in advertising; cars, horseshoes, etc. This was a very interesting place to visit and chat with the people.

Our next stop was at a small restaurant to get some fortification in the form of a pastry. We chose a dessert called sachre torte. It is a chocolate cake with whipped cream, but we were very disappointed that it was very dry and without much in the way of flavor. We are always disappointed when the tastes or textures of a dessert do not live up to our expectations based on how the dessert looks!

The town was definitely off the beaten tourist path, yet it was beautiful to tour and made for a very nice walk. When traveling, we always try to find a small unique item from the areas we visit to use on our Christmas tree to allow us to remember the places we have visited. In this town, we picked up some intricately shaped bee wax Christmas ornaments and a small heart shaped ginger cookie. Whenever we see these ornaments, we instantly remember the wonderful time we had in the town of Radovljica.

Adventure In Food: Author: Kerry Howell

Traveling – Lake Bled, Slovenia

We arrived late in the afternoon in Lake Bled, Slovenia, and we were very tired from a full day of driving and sightseeing.  We are nine days into our Fall 2007 Europe trip and we have been on active and on the move everyday.  We were instantly revived when we saw the lake and the beauty of the surrounding area.

Our first task was to find a place to stay.  We were using travel materials from Rick Steves that included a listing of budget accommodations.  The first Bed and Breakfast we checked out was about 10 miles from the lake and no one was home.  We couldn’t find the second place, so we chose a wonderful hotel: Villa Anna that is situated at the top of the hill on the main road leading to the lake.  It was a great spot as we had a suite complete with kitchen, sitting room, and a sun room where we had our breakfasts and dried our cloths after washing.  The native language in Slovenia is English, so it is very easy to communicate with people when looking for lodging and restaurants.

It’s a five-minute walk from our hotel to the lake.  We walked down and looked out over the pristine lake and noted the church situated on top of a small island in the lake.  We found a small restaurant right on the lake and had a nice dinner.  We both had a pork chop cooked with mushroom sauce, salad, vegetables, and the famous Lake Bled Cream Cake!

We enjoyed the Bled Cream Cake after every dinner while we stayed at the lake.  It has a crunchy top and bottom, and two layers in the middle; yellow vanilla custard and whipped cream.  It ranks as one of our top desserts of all time!

The day after arriving, we went for a drive over the Julian Alps.  The road makes 50 switchbacks during the mountain crossing and was quite a beautiful drive.  Once we reached the other side, there are three options to get back to the hotel; drive back over the mountain (4 hours), drive around the mountains (5 hours), or take the train back through the mountains.  We chose the third options of taking the train.

We thought that we would load our car on the train and get in a passenger rail car for the ride.  We were in a passenger car all right – our car!  I drove our car onto the flatbed train car and remained in our car for the hour long ride through the mountains.  We got out some cheese, crackers and fruit and ate a snack while watching the scenery go by.

When we returned to Lake Bled, we visited our favorite restaurant on the lake, but it was too late for patio service so we dined inside.  I had deer medallions and my wife had marinated chicken kabobs, and yes, we finished with Bled Cream Cake.

We really enjoyed our visit to the church on the island.  We had a gondolier that rowed us to the island where we had 30 minutes to look around.  We climbed the stairs from the lake to the church courtyard and then we flew through the church and small museum as the clock was ticking.  The best part about the visit to the island was the slow boat ride where we could lazily watch the scenery.

On the same day we visited the island, we visited the castle on the hill that overlooks the town and lake.

Our favorite memories (other than dessert), was from our visit to the Vintgar George.  This is a small canyon with a beautiful turquoise river that runs down between the narrow canyon walls.  There are walkways built out over the river so you can walk the length of the valley (about 2 miles down and back).  We were visiting in October, so the colors of the trees were very vibrant and contrasted wonderfully with the color of the river.

Lake Bled is a warm friendly place to relax or enjoy the outdoors.  We relaxed, explored, and really enjoyed our adventures experiencing the local foods.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell