'Europe's Smallest and Safest City'
Interesting way for a tourism board to promote a city but after my 3 day visit over Easter to explore Slovenia and it's capital city, its tourist promotion slogan had a bit more of a ring to it. Although this tiny country of 2 million people and 300,000 in the capital city (half that of Pristina) deserves at least a week for a proper holiday, the fact that I decided to meet a friend from Serbia there on Thursday and flew out on Friday didn't allow for much premeditation. Other than finding a nice hotel/backer packer in the center of the city I was relying on my friends in-country contacts with whom he was staying and who was going to show us the local sites; on day in the city, another on the coast and a third in the famous Lake Bled area up north.
What I didn't really count on was the fact that since my joining the trip was pretty much a last minute arrangement, that my schedule would never completely match with my other companions allowing for me to explore and arrange for my own activities in the city. But when we were in sync, it was quite nice and allowed me to explore some unbelievable areas that I would not otherwise have had visited such as Piran (coastal city) and Lake Bled. Overall this country has to be one of the cleanest, quietest, most organized place I have every visited. I was even afraid to cross the street other than in the crosswalk with the little green guy and clicking nose approving my risky move. Almost an impossibility to realize that Slovenia and Kosovar were technically both part of the former Yugoslavia. These two places are worlds, cultures and years apart.
As you can see from the photos there existed a wonderful street culture of cafes, rivers, plazas, city mountain castle, winding canaled rivers and churches. I must say that it was very nice to be able to duck into an Easter service to hear the chanting of the Priests, the beautiful gospel and the ringing of the bells. I even caught an amazing farmer and handicrafts market that happens most everyday except on holidays. Everything is within walking distance and although the Western European prices doubled the cost of things back in Kosovo, the quality and ambiance were well worth it.
On the first day we drove down to Slovenia's tiny portion of the coast to wander around the picture perfect town of Piran with the cobblestone streets, ancient fortress walls, cathedrals, perfectly blue green water and spectacular weather. Moving from ice cream to lattes to seafood meals it was certainly a full day of luxury. Since the 2 hour drive put us back in the city for evening we rewarded ourselves with a couple mean games of bowling and general unbridled fun.
Day two had us heading out in a light rain and fog which thankfully burned off to reveal the spectacular views of Lake Bled. The irony of me visiting this magical place was that when flipping my office calendar it showed an areal photo of the lake and island and I said I must go there. Little did I know it would come true in less than 3 weeks:-) We walked the lake, boated to the island (row boats only) and went to the castle atop the surrounding cliffs to get one last spectacular view.
