It's only about an hour and a half drive from Padova, Italy to Slovenia. In fact the western part of Slovenia was part of Italy from the 1300s to 1947. Then, Slovenia was part of communist Yugoslavia until 1991 -- when it became independent and democratic. We were a little apprehensive as to what the current atmosphere would be, but were pleasantly surprised to find out that it is very much like the rural parts of Germany and Austria.
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| Not only the atmosphere, but also the countryside looks very much like rural Germany or Austria. |
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| Our first stop was the Lipizzaner Stud Farm in Lipica -- where the Lipazzaner breed was first begun in 1581. The name "Lipizzaner" is the German-ized form of "Lipizza" -- which is the Italian version of "Lipica" (since Lipica was part of Italy at the time). But, fascinating history aside, Alice just likes to pet the horses. |
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| Our next stop was about 30 minutes away at Predjama Castle. The original castle was built into this cave in 1274 A.D., but was destroyed by seige and rebuilt in 1511. The second castle was destroyed by an earthquake, so this is the "modern" castle -- built in 1570. |
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| We walked through the castle and were even able to climb above the castle -- inside the cave. The inset (besides obscuring a man who wouldn't get out of my picture) shows the view looking outward. |
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| As if the "castle in a cave" concept weren't fascinating enough, the castle/cave has a river running under it. |
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| We spent the night in Ljubljana (Lə-yoob-lə-yahna) which is the capital and largest city in Slovenia. It only has a population of 272,000 and has a "small-town" feel. The view from our hotel window included the top of the Franciscan Church (partially obscured on the left) and the castle. |
Ljubljana's town square is beautiful at night -- especially when viewed from this bridge (just southwest of the town square).
