Predjama party in Slovenia! (with an encore in Paris)

I still love Slovenia.  This is not my first visit to this teeny tiny country - you may remember that I came here last year for my birthday on a forest foraging trip, run by Atlas Obscura.   And - if you made it over to my other Blog site - that I wrote about the 10 days I spent here in a couple of blogs.  The first blog covered some of the sights I saw before my official foraging trip started - here it is: Slovenia 1.0  

Random dramatic doorway in Ljubliana

My second blog covered the foraging part of the trip - if you want to check that one out, here you go Foraging Trip (yes - you are basically getting three blogs for the price of one today!)

This was the first time I'd been here with ManpanionTM, though, so I was keen to share with him a few of the highlights I'd enjoyed in my time here.  The reason we were here was for ManpanionTM's work and to visit potential new business partners.  Their premises were located in a town called Murska Sobata, about 2hrs east of the capital Ljubliana, only about 12km from Austria!  We had arranged to meet them for dinner on the Monday night, before a tour of their factory on Tuesday morning, so we had tonight and tomorrow during the day to explore and sightsee.

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Krusty on the Lock Bridge

Our flight from Paris on Air France was great - we'd been offered an upgrade for only 60 euros each, so we had access to the lounge and Priority boarding, which was nice.  We left from Terminal 2G in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and it was a strange terminal as it was pretty much all on its own in the middle of nowhere!  Our (very bumpy and uncomfortable) Uber dropped us right off at the entrance and we then were directed to the self-service check-in where we tagged, weighed and loaded our bags onto the carousel.  Air France clearly has a lot more confidence than I would in the ability of the Average Traveler to not fuck it up and send their bags off into the unknown by mistake!  We only had 23kg weight allowance and we just squeaked in under it (phew) so all was well, and we went and sat in the lounge until it was time to board our flight.  

Many of the streets are pedestrianized, 
which contributes to its zen vibe and 
overall chill factor

As we were bizmouse class, we got fed (yey) and Air France in-flight catering was very tasty - particularly the cheese.  Terribly civilized.  And accompanied by champagne, of course, dahlink.  The flight was short, less than 2hrs, and we flew over some spectacular mountain ranges and scenery below.  The weather was absolutely glorious, with barely a cloud in the sky, so it was a lovely start to our time in Slovenia.   The terminal was clean, large and uncrowded and before long, we were reunited with our bags so we trundled off to go find the car rental desk.  IT WAS MARKED WITH A SIGN (thank you, Slovenia) so we found it no problem and were soon in possession of a surprisingly nice shiny black Skoda Octavia (automatic).   The last I remember Skodas back in the UK, they were still the butt of many a joke - but this was niiiiice.  They have come a long way in the last 20 years, clearly.  

ManpanionTM protecting me from
the dragons

I remembered from my last trip that the roads in Slovenia were terrific (though I wasn't doing any driving myself) - and this was the case.  They are in perfect condition (we didn't see a SINGLE pot hole the entire time we were there), nice and wide and with easy to understand road markings, with each sign also including an English translation.  Slovenia drives on the left hand side, like the US, so I had to remember to now drive on that side, vs the right as I had been the previous week in the UK!  But it was super easy and it only took us about 20 mins to drive in to the center of Ljubliana from the airport, to our digs for the night, the hotel Cubo.  We found a parking spot right outside (yey!) and were soon all checked in.  

We had a bit of a rest before heading out to explore (this was the only time we would have in Ljubliana) - again, marveling at the gloriously sunny weather (in contrast to when I was here last in which it didn't stop raining for 3 days!).  Our hotel was a short walk down to the main pedestrian area and historic center - and because its such a small city, it doesn't take long to see everything and to get your bearings!  We decided first to go and get some supper, as it was a Sunday evening and we weren't sure how late restaurants would stay open til.  We shouldn't have worried as pretty much every restaurant along the river was open and doing a brisk trade, with people out enjoying the sunshine.  We went a little off the beaten track and decided to check out Ljubliana's first ever taco place (we assumed we'd be fed traditional Slovenian cuisine the next evening) and it was excellent!  The flavors were really good - only slight grumble was that they were overstuffed!  You could have easily cut the filling in half and it would have been perfectly sufficient!!  Washed down with a ice cold margarita, it did the job, though, and we then strolled happily through the town, checking out the famous Dragon bridge and Lock bridge on the way back to our hotel.

Its so picturesque, its almost too much.

The next morning, we were up reasonably early for breakfast which, according to ManpanionTM, was the best breakfast he'd had so far on the whole trip! (he did apologize to the UK as he said so).  But his eggs were indeed delicious and I had a very tasty yogurt & granola parfait which was also excellent.  I did ask for some toast (for the purposes of research and comparison, of course) - and I was presented with a little cheese and ham toastie!  Duly noted.  Not what I was expecting - but it was also very tasty so ate it anyway!  

Lunch on Air France

I think this is the Academy of Music in
Ljubliana - reminds me of a chateau in 
the Loire Valley

Tasty tasty tacos!

Breakfast toast, Slovenian styel

As we only had a limited amount of time for sightseeing before having to drive over to Murska Sobata, I decided to take ManpanionTM to two places I'd been to previously -  Predjama Castle and the Postojna Caves.  (I described these both in detail in my first blog).  It was only about a 50min drive from Ljubliana to the Castle and we got there around 11am.  Obviously it hadn't changed from my last trip - what was different is that I didn't get drenched by a huge thunderstorm walking up the road towards the castle!  Instead, the birds were singing, the sun was shining and the smell of freshly mown grass was sweet.  It really was idyllic.  Again, we did the self-guided tour with the little phones pressed up to our ears, listening to the description of this room or that relic.  Most people had an air of concentration on their face as they listened, so at times it looked like we were all on a work conference call!  

Predjama castle

Spot the clown! (and Krusty)

The cave that the castle is built into - 
this used to form an escape route when
the castle was under siege

I think we must have missed a bit (for example, where the bell was) because we were done super fast and out in half an hour.  But ManpanionTM enjoyed the visit and had seen what he wanted to see, so we trolled back down the hill to the car park for the short 20 min drive over to the Postojna Caves.  I had pre-booked us tickets for the 1pm tour, as we didn't want to risk getting there and then it being sold out, like what had happened the day before in Paris.   Although we arrived at 11.50am, we'd decided (OK OK I'D decided) that the 12pm would have been just a bit too tight for comfort, so were able to take our time and enjoy lunch at the restaurant before our tour (a very serviceable Weiner schnitzel and fries).  As I may have mentioned last time, the tour is split into two parts - the first bit is by electric train, which takes you deep underground into the cave network.  The second part is then a walking tour, and you proceed through the various caves and caverns, ooh'ing and ah'ing over the incredible underground formations.  

It was just as impressive as I remember.  And ManpanionTM was pretty blown away too.  I did take some pictures but - as with many Wonders of the Natural World - they just don't do it justice.  Some things have to be experienced.  Its still incredible when you look at these huge stalactites and stalagmites to know that they grow at a rate of only 1cm every 100 years!  Again, you had to wonder what the first person who stumbled into the cave made of the whole thing - just awe-inspiring.  And I know I should have been as impressed or whatever by the little weird "dragon" thing that lives in the caves that everyone goes nuts for - but it is just meh to me.  Sorry, ohm creature.  While it is vaguely impressive you can get away with eating just once every 7-10 years, you look too much like a hairless tiny pink penis with unnecessarily creepy blind eye bulges to engender any sense of wonder or fondness from me.  

That's a nah from me, brah.

All aboard!

In the spaghetti cavern - thus named for the thin
white stalactites that hang from the ceiling

There were, of course, quite a few penis-themed
jokes and comments as we walked around....

The whole tour took about 1h 40mins, and after we were done, it was time to hit the road and drive over to Murska Sobata.  It took a while to get out of the car park as they very helpfully did not put any car parking ticket payment machines IN THE ACTUAL CAR PARK but instead had them a way back up the hill (which annoyingly I'd noticed when we'd walked past them, but hadn't stopped as I'd assumed there would be a machine in the car park!).  Mildly annoyed, I grabbed my credit card to trek back to the machine to pay - only to then find out that the machine did not accept credit cards and was cash only!  FFS!!  Fortunately, I had some euros back in my bag in the car so I had to trudge all the way back down and then back again to FINALLY pay for the ticket!  It was a surprisingly lapse in an otherwise extremely thoughtful and well-planned out destination.

The drive was super easy - the roads were again beautifully kept, wide and with a decent speed limit, so you could crack on and get to were you were going.  The one slightly odd thing that we'd noticed the day before was that we'd gotten stuck in a bit of traffic due to roadworks - but we we eventually got to where the hold-up was, there was nothing on the road had been dug up and no lanes were closed off - the slowdown was quite literally so that people could look at the diggers that were moving earth on the verges, completely separate from the road!  I guess Slovenian people must dig their diggers.  

We got to the Hotel Belmur just after 5pm, so had a few minutes to rest and relax in our room before we were to meet our hosts for the evening.  We were taken to a local restaurant/delicatessen where the local specialty was meat!  Lots of it - with a focus on artisanal, produced on-site smoked hams.  After dinner we were taken on a tour of the ham vaults where we were shown first the chamber where the legs of pork were smoked and then the various different "caves" where they were hung to age.  The process takes over a year and it actually looks pretty gross, as the legs of ham are covered in various types and thicknesses of mold!  Apparently, when the mold starts to fall off the ham, that's when it means its actually ready - ie there is nothing more for the mold to eat (I suppose) and it dies and drops off.  There were hundreds and hundreds of hams hanging and curing - they process about 4500 hams a year!  (we worked out - assuming a retail cost of $550 per ham - that they would make about $1.5m a year!  Pretty profitable business - especially given its effectively zero labor intensive!  The caves maintain their own consistent temperature and humidity, so they don't even have to worry about that!  Just sit back, watch the mold grow and feel your pocket get fatter!  (It was probably a good thing we had this little tour after dinner though as it really didn't look all that appetizing!).  

Don't look at this picture too closely
if you ever want to eat prosciutto again... 

So dinner was great and everyone got on well, so the main objective to meet and greet and make nice with prospective business partners was achieved.  The next morning, we enjoyed another spectacular Slovenian breakfast (seriously - the food here is outstanding) before making our way over to their factory, to meet some additional people and for a factory tour.  Again, it was a very good natured visit, and certainly laid a solid foundation for future discussions.  

We headed out around 11.30am, for the 2hr drive back to the airport, which was smooth and easy (no phantom roadworks this time).  Check-in was again easy thanks to another last minute douche pass upgrade and we hung out in the lounge until it was time to board (we were the only people in business class!).  We got fed again on the plane and landed back in Paris at around 5.30pm.  As our flight was in the morning the next day, we'd decided to spend the night at the Sheraton CDG, located slap bang in the middle of the airport. One oddity coming off the plane from Slovenia - there was no passport control!  We arrived in the terminal, picked up our bags and that was it!  Of course, its because we are traveling within the Schengen zone - but I'd totally forgotten about that!  So that was a nice little bonus, to not have to queue and get our passports checked.  We'd landed in the 2G terminal again, but it was easy enough to locate the shuttle bus that took us to 2F, then a different shuttle bus that would take us to 2D.  Our hotel was located in 2C - but the road was closed getting to that one, so we had a short walk via connecting walkways to get to the hotel.  All in all, it took about an hour to get to the hotel - which was still a better option than slogging our way into town via taxi, then slogging back out at the arse crack of dawn the next day.  

There were just the "extras" the waitress brought for
the table at the Hotel Belmur!  Burrata for breakfast?
Hell, yeahs!!!

Last Toastwatch of the trip.  A stripey variant
which adds another dimension (literally) to
the optimal butter spreading strategy

Bizmouse class all to ourselves!

View of the stunning Alps and Triglav mountain from
 the plane.  This is the view I had to wait 4 days
to see on my last visit!!

Beautiful rolling hills and farmland below as we 
flew out of Ljubliana

We had one last fun thing planned before our flight back to Chicago the next morning - we were going to meet up with a dear friend and former colleague of mine, who lives in Paris.  She was an absolute trooper and had been happy to come out to the airport to meet us for drinks - and it was so great to see her and catch up.  The last time we'd seen each other had been at our wedding in Edinburgh almost 2 yrs ago - and that had been the first time we'd ever actually met in person (we used to meet on Teams on an almost daily basis - but always remotely!).  So it was a real treat to see her again and shoot the breeze about life, the universe and everything.  She was describing to us a bit more about all the preparations the city is doing to get ready for the Olympics - it seriously sounds like an absolute nightmare if you are just a Regular Person, trying to go about your business.   Apparently, you will need a QR code and permission to just be out on the street during the games themselves, in an attempt to manage the congestion.  It reminded me of when the Masters Golf Championships came to Sandwich Bay, the Links golf course 1 mile from where I lived in Kent - I wanted none of the craziness so rented my place out to the Australian golfer (I think he was called Stuart Appleby??) and yeeted out of there on vacation for 2 weeks.  I'm encouraging my friend to do the same and come stay with us in Chicago for the month of July!

And this I think sums us up perfectly - 
it was taken as we entered Postojna caves. 
Me = idiot goofball. 
 ManpanionTM = effortlessly cool.

And, with that last burst of fun and friendship, our trip has now come to an end.  Its been a really fun couple of weeks and its really reminded me of the value in renewing old connections and friendships.  There were so many people I didn't get the chance to visit during our time in the UK, so another trip is definitely going to be in the works - maybe even this year.  First, though, its time to get home, do my laundry, say hello to Mum - and then repack and head to the airport tomorrow for my next trip - this time, I'm heading off to Poland for a week's culinary, culture and hiking trip to Krakow and the surrounding area.  And don't worry - there is PLENTY of food in the freezer for ManpanionTM, so he's not going to starve while I'm away (even though he keeps giving me Sad Face for leaving him!).  So I hope you will join me on the next leg of my adventure!!  See you in Poland!!!