Blogs from Slovenia, Europe - page 5

This morning we decide to visit Tivoli Park which is only a few hundred metres across the river from our hotel. We walk through the very attractive Congress Square which is surrounded by classical architectural icons including the Slovenian Philharmonic Building and the University of Ljubljana. A few hundred metres further on is the eye wateringly ugly and completely contrasting Trg Republike. The ever reliable Google Maps describes this as a “plaza to showcase socialist modernist architecture in 1960, fringed by landmark towers”. Hmmm. The two “landmark towers” are on one side opposite the National Assembly Building of Slovenia. The architects who designed this lot clearly did their training at a kindergarten where all they were given to play with were a bunch of dark grey Lego bricks. There’s not a curve or any shred of ... read more

We’re up at the crack of dawn for our early morning flight to Trieste. The lady at the check in desk tells us that downtown Trieste is famous for its coffee. This is nice to know, but if we find ourselves in downtown Trieste later in the morning it will only be famous in the Sheehan household as the place we ended up in when we missed the turnoff to Slovenia. We can see Venice out the plane window just before we land, well we think it might be Venice. It’s ridiculously hazy. Our flight took off an hour and a half late because Rome Airport was closed earlier this morning, allegedly due to “fog”. I didn’t know you could get fog when it was nearly forty degrees. We check over our hire car carefully for ... read more

The Triglav National Park is the oldest, greatest and only national park in Slovenia. Bohinj is at the heart of it. The protected natural and cultural area surrounding the highest Slovenian mountain, Triglav. Due to the sensitive natural environment and its fragility, the park is also a part of Unesco’s Man and the Biosphere Programme Lake Bohinj is Slovenia's largest permanent lake - it is 4.2 km long (2.6mi) and 1km width max (0.62mi) - If you are wondering why 'permanent' it is because there is the Cerknica lake that almost disappears by cycle (when I went there was almost no water) It is located in the heart of the Julian Alps protected as the Triglav National Park - it is between the summits of Vogel (South) and Prsivec (North). Church of St. John the Baptist ... read more

Arboretum Volčji Potok - Two visits Arboretum Volčji Potok covers 80 hectares. The collection in the Arboretum boasts 1000 rose varieties. Even a rose named Beverly (Beverley). There are two rose gardens. The formal one is placed close to the administration building. The second one, dedicated to the shrub roses, has its place in the lower parterre. Matjaž gave many interesting stories about the roses that are grown in the Arboretum from around the world. Thankyou Tanja for talking the time so we could have wonderful close up views of these beautiful blooms, if only we had smellovision! Second visit. Today we were in for a treat when visiting the Arboretum to see an exhibition of floral displays to mark the 30th anniversary of Slovenia’s independence. There were ten different displays around the botanical gardens. The ... read more

Bled castle The castle's history dates back to 1004 when the German king Henry II conferred the estate of Bled on Bishop Albuin of Brixen. The first castle was built by the bishops around 1011 for defensive purposes. The bishops of Brixen never lived in the castle so there were no elaborately decorated rooms. In the Middle Ages additional towers were built and the fortification system with the wall and lifting tower above the ditch were upgraded. The ditch has now been covered. In 1511, the castle was strongly damaged by an earthquake, but it was rebuilt in the image as it is today. The castle buildings are decorated with the images of coats-of-arms, painted in fresco technique, some are engraved in stone. The castle was restored in the period from 1951 to 1961. The castle's ... read more