Ljubljana is a cosmopolitan city, about the size of Tacoma, in a small, often overlooked, country. The rest of the country---at least what Carol and Roger saw of it---was just plain small.
Our purpose for coming to Slovenia was to do a seven-day, self-guided bike tour.
To put the size of Slovenia in perspective, from the southwest corner of the country to the northeast is barely 300 km, smaller than the state of New Jersey. From Ljubljana, you can get anywhere in little more than an hour.
The northern part of the country contains the Julian Alps....
...so, we chose to ride in the south.
How could we find 500 km of roads to ride inside the red box on the map, when the whole country is only 300 km across?
Here's how...
Day 1: Crnomelj to Dragatus: 75 km and 800 m of elevation gain.
We got a ride from Ljubljana to our starting point, Crnomelj. It was a straight 9 km shot from there to our destination in Dragatus. But as you can see from the map to the left, we didn't take the direct route; our tour itinerary took us on what Carol calls "the scenic route."
If you look carefully near the green dot on the map (our start point), you'll see a bunch of squiggles. That's because we immediately got lost. We discovered following directions in Slovenia was not as easy as we'd thought it would be.
First, many of the roads are not marked in any way we were used to (when they were marked at all).
Secondly, when we couldn't pronounce the names of any of the towns on the map, it was hard to remember where we were supposed to go.
Eventually...and it was many days until eventually...we got the hang of it, and ended up limiting our wrong turns to two or three per day.
The countryside we rode through was beautiful rolling hills, dotted with small villages. Two-thirds of Slovenes (about the same population as New Mexico) live in villages of less than 10,000 population.
Most villages were so small the addresses weren't based upon the street where the house was located, just a number and the village name.
Each village had a very prominent church, a few homes, and...often...not much else.
All along the road, we saw small chapels, usually very pretty, but always very neat and carefully tended to.
We were later reminded by one of our hosts, Slovenia has been many things over the years...Roman, Austrian, Slavic, Communist...but for more than the last millennium it has always been very Catholic.
Day 2: Dragatus to Oselinca: 78 km and 960 m of elevation gain.
As we headed out on Day 2, we realized we were skirting the Croatian border. Roger's cell phone got a text message saying coverage was now provided by Croatia Mobile...at least that's what we think it said.
We were riding along the Kolpa River, which divides Croatia from Slovenia. The farm you see across the river in this picture is in Croatia.
Everywhere we rode, we saw small sawmills, dozens and dozens of them.
It would be several days before we realized what all this wood was used for.
The further we went on this day's ride, the more remote the country became. We went from pretty valleys and rolling hills dotted with small villages to stunning mountainous country with hardly any villages at all.
The "town" we stayed in this night had a hotel and three other buildings. That was it.
Day 3: Osilenca to Markovek: 42 km and 900 m of elevation gain.
Carol and Roger were both pretty worn down from two hilly days in the saddle, so we decided to ride the "short option" on our third day.
Little did we know what was in store for us.
First we had to cross the Kolpa River and enter Croatia.
Since Slovenia is in the Eurpoean Union and Croatia is not, we had to pass through a formal border crossing to enter Croatia...and then another less than ten km later to return to Slovenia.
Our passports now have yet another stamp from a country we know nothing about.
We had a real surprise right after crossing back into Slovenia.
Not 100 meters after the border crossing, the road took a sharp U-turn and went straight up... stretches of 15% and 17% grade within the first kilometer, and then another 5 km of uphill after that.
A few kilometers later we had to do it all again.
Go back and look at this day's map.
See the squiggles about one-third of the way up. Those were two back-to-back Category 3 climbs. They were beasts!
And remember, Carol was in a wheel chair six months ago!
By the way, the formal border crossings with the armed guards and document checks were silly and unnecessary...
...since at several spots along the road there were bridges across the Croatia/Slovenia border with nothing more than an unmanned (and unlocked) aluminum bar separating the two countries.
After the two big climbs, we had a short reprieve cycling through a pretty valley. Then, yet another Cat 3 climb before reaching the B&B where we would spend our night.
So much for choosing the short route!
Day 4: Markovec to Ratecevo Brdo: 69 Km and 675 m of elevation gain.
This day was relatively benign...until the end.
More travel through very rural farmland. The picture at the right shows one of the haystacks unique to this part of Slovenia.
The villages we rode through were widely-spaced and very small.
At lunch-time, the only place that was open was a small bar (which every village had, regardless of its size), and it had only beer...no food.
We passed and rode on.
The B&B we stayed at was lovely but very remote...and of course at the top of another huge hill.
Day 5: Ratecevo Brdo to Komen: 64 km and 560 m of elevation gain.
Finally, a day with no monster climbs.
About half way through the ride, we came to the town of Lipica.
Remember the Lipizzaner Stallions, the famous show horses?
Well, this is their mother.
Lipica, Slovenia...right on the border with Italy...is the home of the Lipizzan Stallions.
The horses were bred and trained here back when this was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
And today, they are still bred and trained on the same farm. This was part of a herd of perhaps 50 mares.
An equal number of colts and stallions were in a separate pasture across the road.
If you go back and lookout the map for this day's ride, you'll see a small spur headed west out of Lipica.
That was the wrong turn we took out of the horse farm.
Without knowing it, we crossed the border back into Italy.
We were a kilometer down the road before we realized we weren't in Slovenia any more.
So, we turned around and went back, and at the border we came across this...
...a large parking lot?
It is now. It used to be the border crossing between Italy and Slovenia.
When Slovenia joined the EU, the border crossing went away.
Compare that with our experience crossing into Croatia!
Day 6: Komen to Postjana: 48 km and 790 m of elevation gain.
We were in the home stretch now, headed back toward Ljubljana.
But first one huge climb, a Cat 2, one so big we considered trying to find a bus we could put us and our bikes on.
That morning, the weather was threatening. The rain, however, held off until we began the big climb.
Then, the skies opened up. Lightning and thunder. Torrential rain.
Fortunately, about half way up the 15 km climb, we found a bus shelter to wait out the storm.
The picture at the left gives no indication of how wet Carol actually was by the time we reached the bus shelter.
When the rain finally let up, we trudged our way to the top of the climb and started down the other side.
Suddenly, we found ourselves in Slovenian wine country.
Remember all those sawmills we saw back near the beginning of the tour?
Now we realized what all that wood was used for: wine barrels.
Slovenian oak is the gold standard for wine casks nowadays. It produces a mellow wine with the right amount of tannins...just what premium vintners are looking for.
If only Slovenian wine were as good as the barrels!
Most of the reds tasted like slightly sour Welch's Grape Juice. The white wine were a bit better.
Carol and Roger both believe the Slovenes should stick to brewing beer, which they do really well. Beer is so popular here, almost every morning we saw men drinking it at breakfast.
Day 7: Postojna to Ljubljana: 67 km and 779 m of elevation gain.
Our last day.
We were confident enough that we decided to design our own route for the day.
Slightly shorter distance at the expense of a bit more climbing, but we would be off the main roads and away from the heavy traffic.
The scenery was still pretty, and after only one wrong turn...
...we made it back to or hotel in Ljubljana!
One postscript:
Everywhere we went in Slovenia, the food was
wonderful!
In the really small villages, it wasn't fancy, but it was wholesome and tasted great.
Slovene cuisine is a blend of Italian, Austrian, and Slavic cooking. It's heavy on meats (not a great destination for vegetarians), especially wild game. Along with the beer, it's a great reason to visit.
And the desserts...
