Green, greener, Slovenia
Written by am on 15.05.2018 at 19:57.
Having finally set off to our big trip, we were looking forward to the first country on our route. Slovenia surprised on the one hand with an idyllic Alpine landscape, on the other hand with a Mediterranean flair.
Somewhere at the back of my memory I had saved the information that Austria's southern neighbor with its deep forests and wild rivers is worth a trip. Nevertheless, we had neglected Slovenia so far as country to be visited. Luckily, we now had the opportunity to get to know it.
Out of the tunnel, into the adventure
The end of the Karawanken tunnel marked the beginning of our journey. "When are we there?" I wondered impatiently, while the G was rolling as its usual moderate pace through the darkness of the tunnel. At its proverbial end, the light of the sun was awaiting us on the Slovenian side.
The entry into the first country on our route around the world was done. Probably, most people do not give a thought on such a border crossing, even more since it was just from one EU member state to another. But for us, these were the first meters of our great freedom.
From the Slovenian-Austrian border, it was less than a stone's throw to the Triglav National Park, especially measured by the kilometers that lay ahead to us. It was not just the first day of our adventure, but also Christian's birthday and for its proper celebration, we desired nothing more than finding an adequate campspot.
The first camp spot we found was a bingo.Passing Lake Bled, we ended up at the beginning of a promising forest path. "Gozdna Cesta" was written on a sign. We wondered if this might be a warning not to use it. "Cesta may mean street“, I presumed despite my rudimentary knowledge of the Slovene language. Due to the lack of reception, Google Translate could not be interviewed. Hence, we decided to dare to just drive it.
At last, the G was in its terrain, the road uneven and muddy. Past a waterfall, we conquered the way on and on, accompanied by a small stream that rushed beside the path. And then, all of a sudden we had arrived – a glade with a bridge over the creek was a strike.
We lit a bonfire, duly inaugurated the cast-iron pan and toasted on Christian’s birthday. We did not ask for more. Indeed, our first evening of the big trip was exactly as we had imagined. Exhausted and with a peaceful mind, we fell asleep.
Over meadows and vineyards
Along the Soca - whose unreal turquoise color elicited an "Oh" every time we caught sight of it through bushes - the G brought us farther and farther south. And suddenly the green of the woods gave way to a Mediterranean mood. Low stone houses, narrow streets through villages, vineyards as far as the eye could see, and gnarled olive trees made us feel like being somewhere in the Tuscany.
Slovenia offered several opportunities to light a bonfire and test our new Robens pan.The famous bay of Piran was our destination. But not only we wanted to see the picturesque town - due to the full visitor parking outside the village, we could not access it. Somehow, we were not so unhappy about it. In fact, we were anyway not in the mood for masses of tourists.
In the following days, Slovenia spoiled us with two more wonderful spots - both on a hidden meadow, surrounded by colorful butterflies, hard-working bees and busy spiders, who had spun their nets around the G in a breath. At least, no mosquitos – that was what really mattered.
The seclusion of our wild campspots in Slovenia was just right for calming down after the stressful times of preparing the trip in the past weeks and for recharging our batteries for the upcoming trip.
