I ♡ Slovenia

A narrow alleyway in Piran where one can climb stairs from the sea to the hill.

Piran is the prettiest city on Slovenia's coast. Located just south of the northeastern border of Italy, near Trieste, where the top of the boot curves around,  it retains that very Mediterranean flavor. It was once an important harbor of the Roman Empire and the Venetians influenced it's architectural development.

We didn't have time to spend more than part of a day on the coast, but I really wanted to have a view of the Adriatic, which I had never visited. From Ljubljana, nothing is more than a two hour drive, so we took Quinn and headed to the sea. We were not disappointed.

The Adriatic Sea separates the Italian peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, it runs up the back of the boot. The color of the water is clear blue. All the roofs of Piran are red tile and the buildings are white stucco, making the views over the town spectacular.

We parked at the top of the hill behind old town Piran and had our picnic lunch. We then discovered a labyrinth of small alleyways, schoolyards, backyards and restaurants that led steeply downwards toward the harbor. Stone steps were often cracked and broken away, no doubt having been laid hundreds of years before. All along the descent, we caught glimpses of this idyllic city nestled in its little half moon of land.

The harbor itself was filled with beautiful sailing vessels. The sea was calm and inviting.
Rick and Quinn stuck a toe in the water before we ascended our secret stairway and headed out for our next adventure.

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When I was young, I had a horse and belonged to the Pony Club, where I learned to ride in the English style, jump steeples and the whole nine yards. I wore the jodhpurs, boots, coat and velvet hard hat. I carried a little leather crop. Every one of my riding buddies wanted nothing more than to visit Vienna and see a show of the Lipizzaner horses. These incredible animals are able to perform choreographed movements which seem beyond the physical capability of the animal.

I had no idea, however, that these lovely horses, which almost always turn pure white, no matter what their birth color, were originally from Slovenia. When I learned that the Lipizzaner came from the village of Lipica, and that they gave demonstrations there on a few days a week during the summer, I made sure we could arrive at the appointed hour and in so doing, fulfill a very long-held dream.

Nowadays, there are many places in the world that raise the Lippizzaner, but Lipica is reputed to be their birthplace. The purpose of the stables is to breed and train the horses for the Spanish and Viennese exhibition centers, where they do their performances. In Lipica, the performances are only occasional and the horses are not yet graduates of the program. Still they were very skilled.

There are various shows all performed to classical music. It's entirely enchanting to watch them go through their paces.

 

After the show we were able to tour the stables, meet some of the beasts and hear a lively story about their history. For all of us, including Quinn, who is already a horse lover, it was a wonderful afternoon. If you want to see them in action, you can view some of their amazing and distinctive movements here and here:

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By the end of our week in Slovenia, we had experienced some of its many charms. We fully intend to make it a habit to go there. It is less than a two hour plane ride from Paris to Ljubljana. It seems such a relaxed, beautiful and undiscovered playground.

Emily and Jos were happy with the results of their week with Lois, putting wooden objects together in interesting ways. They had a paper river, instruments which were played in mechanical ways, a set of closet doors, suspended from the ceiling which could be made to flap like a butterfly, by means of turning a wooden sifter which animated a row of wooden spoons which somehow got the doors to flying. It was wonderfully clever as an installation, lit to form intriguing shadows. But they also had a musical and theatrical component which brought their theme Holz, alive: wooden objects, all longing to reunite with the forest.

It has now been several weeks since coming back to France and normal daily life continues to provide lots of interesting tales, but I'm not quite finished recounting our vacation. Next week I'll share some photos and stories of Austria. After that, I'll bring it all back home.

Quinn discovered a bunny suit at the house we were staying in.

Discovering Ljubljana

Emily enjoys the Baroque facades in old town

After almost two weeks of vacation in places we'd never been, with weather worthy of California, we are feeling massively restored. What wonderful adventures we had, meeting fabulous people, staying in incredible places and viewing extraordinary landscapes. I took almost 600 photographs, as everywhere I looked there was something to seduce the eye. I will have several weeks worth of post material from on our short escape into southeastern Europe.

We begin in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Emily and Jos have a residency at the summer festival organized and run for twenty years by an old friend, Nevinka. This summer they began a first exploration of a project which will continue to develop as the months and years go on. It's called Holz, the German word for wood. They are working with an Austrian friend Lois (pronounced not in the American way but more like Loyce.) He is a master carpenter and set designer. He has worked with some very well known artists and theater companies. The three of them spent all day for a week in a room together creating an installation. It was something completely new for all of them. I will post photos and details later. In the meantime, they required some assistance in entertaining Quinn, and this was the job that fell to us. It's nice work if you can get it. And it provided a very good excuse to join them on vacation even if it is high season in our business! We rarely get away in the balmy months of the year.

Slovenia has many charms, and its capital city is one of them. Ljubljana is among the smallest European capitals, with about 280,000 residents. It is attractive and walkable, with a beautiful river running right through the middle. On the street English is not the language one hears. We always feel like we're on a real vacation when we don't often hear our own language or meet our fellow countryman around every corner. Tourists in this city are more often Italian, Austrian or German, Yet, in general, most Slovenians speak some English. At least the young, and since Ljubljana is a city of young, dynamic individuals, we had quite an easy time of it, despite not having a word of Slovenian to offer up. One would have to describe the average Slovenian you meet on the street as friendly. It's such a warm and happy place.

And it was warm, literally between 35-39ª C (95-102ª F) every day we were there.

The city is surrounded by forested mountains, the historic buildings are from the Baroque period and everywhere the roofs are red tile. A thousand year old castle looks down upon the old town. All this makes Ljubljana an extremely attractive city.

Saint Nicolas Cathedral is at the center of the old town. The first church to be built in this spot was in the 13th century. The current structure was built in the 17th.

The bronze door is impressive. The handle is kept polished by the many hands which touch it every day.

The interior is sumptuous with paintings by Italian masters depicting miracles of Nicolas, the patron saint of fishermen.

It's pleasant to walk around the city, as the center is a pedestrian-only zone. There are expansive squares,

and everywhere you are close to the river.

The architecture is glorious and the colors bright.

The streets tend to be wide and so even if there are other people, one never feels crowded. Unlike Prague, Ljubljana has not yet been overrun by tourists.

There are lots of bikes, bikers. They have a rental system like Paris.

Some of the buildings are kept in pristine condition while some others have been allowed to fade a bit. These were among the most charming.

The palette used on the buildings is unexpected.

A network of bridges crosses the river from one bank to the other, and the quays are verdant.

The water changed colors through out the day.

The most famous of the bridges is the Dragon Bridge, which was two blocks from the gallery where Jos, Emily and Lois made their installation. Quinn became excited each time we crossed it, which was always at least twice in a day. He called it the "Dragonah-bridge" pronouncing the words with something of an Italian accent. The dragon is the symbol of Ljubljana. There were four such bronze dragon statues, one at each corner.

The Tromostovje (Three Bridges) is at the heart of the city. It seems quite Venetian to me.

All along the river you find cafes and restaurants. Eating and drinking are favorite pastimes. The restaurants are inspired. We had some remarkable meals here.

There is also a lot of commerce throughout the city, with open air crafts markets everywhere. The produce market is open most mornings and has stands of the freshest and best produce available anywhere, as every single stand offers only small local farmers produce. This is not always the case in the markets we have here in France, where many vendors are resellers and not necessarily producers.

Here is the only place where we found that no one spoke English at all. These are the traditional Slovenians who spend their time in the garden, not on the internet. We particularly liked this woman who specialized in beans. She had several varieties, but nothing else.

Once a week there is an antique/flea market where Jos, Emily and Lois found many of the things they used for their project. We really enjoyed browsing this seemingly endless row of stands. There were some unique pieces with reasonable prices.

One evening we came into town just as the sun was setting. All the buildings were bathed in pink light. As we were in the car, it was only my eyes, and not my camera, that could take in the sight. This was the best I could do after we had parked. It was a memorable vision.

Night life in Ljubljana is swinging, though not loud or obnoxious. Lots of restaurants on the streets were open to welcome people for a leisurely meal after a long hot day.

Week 15: Quinn on Vacation and Other Adventures

One thing summer does not offer, is much opportunity to visit Quinn, especially since he's been traveling around Europe with his parents over the last three weeks. We are lucky enough to get some virtual views and lots of photographs of his ongoing adventures. Phone conversations go something like this:

Quinn! How are you?

Nana? Bobo?

Yes Quinn, it's Nana and Bobo! We miss you.

Doggie!

Did you see a doggie today? What does a dog say Quinn?

Woof woof!

What does a rooster say?

Cockadoodle-do!

This same conversation can be repeated over and over and none of us ever seems to get bored. Such is the goofiness of grandparenthood. Here are a few images from Quinn's summer vacation which ends next week.

The first week of vacation was spent on a working farm in Austria which caters to children. There are lots of animals (thus the animal sounds). Quinn, who lives in Paris, hasn't met many animals before and apparently he is quite enthralled with furry and feathered creatures of every sort. He even dreams about them and repeats animal noises in his sleep.

Farmer Quinn

Mighty Quinn, the swimmer

Quinn helps plan the itinerary

The second week brought him to the beautiful city of Ljubljana (Slovenia), where the setting is urban. When Quinn got to the hotel he pointed out the window and said "Moo?" in other words, "Can we go see the cows now." There aren't too many barnyard animals in the city, so Emily and Jos took him to the zoo. His favorite creature was an owl in a big cage.

Here he's pointing and saying "gar!" which he says frequently. Quinn is 19 months and beginning to talk three languages at once. He understands what his father says to him in Flemish, he understands English which Emily speaks with him and he also can respond to French, as this is the language of his neighbors and nanny in Paris. "Gar" is one of the first things he learned to say and it is meant to be "Regard!" French for "Look!"

'Look at the owl!"

 

Peek-a-boo

Playing around

His last vacation week was spent on the Island of Cres in Croatia enjoying the sea, the sun and the wonderful sea food. There is a donkey next to their bungalow and Quinn visits him every day.

Mediterranean Idyll

Sardines. Yum!

Quinn meets Mr. Donkey

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We visited another Loire Valley garden this week. In contrast to the whimsicality of the gardens of Chaumont-sur-Loire, Villandry is formal to a fault. The gardens are historically accurate representations of royal French gardens of the Renaissance, which clearly are meant to be observed from above.  I prefer wild garden excess myself, but certainly one can appreciate the discipline required to maintain these precise gardens whose shapes and colors represent specific ideas and feelings. For instance, one garden represents different experiences of love, the four quadrants speak of tender love, passionate love, fickle love and tragic love.

Surrounding the castle and gardens of Villandry are woods with pleasant paths for strolling. The views through the trees are lovely.

My favorite garden was called the water garden. I have a recurring dream about a place like this. To me it's like looking into another world.

What a wonderful way to grow vegetables, although how could you ever pick any of the produce?

I love the purple basil. It would take quite a few people to consume this much. We did lunch at the Villandry restaurant where they specialize in salads and greens fresh from the gardens.

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September brings visits from journalists. This week we had Laura and Gilles from the Derby Telegraph in the Midlands, England. Our regional tourist office hosts British journalists quite often who write articles about our area of France, which is very convenient to England. Generally the itinerary includes a stay at Maison Conti as we are one of only two four-star establishments in the region. This is the first time, however, that a journalist has requested an etching course as well as a night's stay and dinner. They were enthusiastic students.

Laura's print. This is the symbol of Liverpool, where Laura was born

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This week the moon is waning and rising quite late at night which allows for some spectacular star gazing on crystal clear evenings. Night falls much earlier these days, and by 9:30 it's already dark. Last night Rick and I sat at the window with the telescope, looking southeast at Jupiter. We could see four of it's moons clearly lined up, one on the left three on the right of the bright planet. We could even see some of the striping as we looked with our highest magnification lens. Out the back windows the dipper blazes above the castle; there is little light pollution in Montmirail, so we can enjoy the entire canopy of the sky and bright stars on a clear night.

If you're lucky enough to live somewhere that allows you to enjoy the night sky, there are good opportunities to view Jupiter this month. It's at it's closest now. A good calendar of celestial events can be helpful in knowing where to look and what to look for.

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Late summer picnic