Posted on

Back to Italy

Yesterday we set off heading for Trieste but not before a final explore of Croatia. But not before we bolted back to our favourite coffee place for one last coffee. We had to wait for our landlord to come and get the key from us but of course we were up and packed and ready to go by 8. So we decided to go and get on a tram into the centre and have a coffee. Marko was late so it was 10.30 before we were able to set off.

We got onto the Autostrada and headed straight down to the Istrian Peninsula to Opatija, then on to the tiny, gorgeous seaside village of Volosko. We were expecting the hoards but were so pleasantly surprised. Apparently everyone goes to the Adriatic side of the Peninsula leaving the East side to lead an altogether quieter life. So we found Volosko to be beautiful. Sort of like Portofino without the tourists.

We had an Istrian Guide from last time we were here and so went to a lovely recommended restaurant overlooking the boat harbour. We had a great lunch over a couple of hours, wandered the town, back in the car and off to find our way to Trieste which wasn’t that easy!!

The traffic on the main roads was horrendous and we couldn’t find our way onto the road we wanted, at least not without joining a daunting queue. So we made a few wrong turns and had to find our way onto the right road…bit tense I must say!! However it was no big deal and before very long at all we were across the border, into Euro-land again, passing briefly through Slovenia and on into Trieste. Phew!!

There was a complicated business to get the key to the house which entailed going to the house of Chris’ friend Patrizia, to get the key in Trieste. She and her family, including grandchildren, were also coming down here to stay in the house we stayed in 2 years ago. We have the house of the owners (of the 2 houses) next door.

We got here needless to say and the saga of getting our cases and paraphernalia down the hill was the same, remembering that getting it all down is not half as bad as getting it up will be!! But it is a challenge!!

But here we are ensconced once again by the sea. The house is really quite eccentric. It is delightfully cluttered and full to the brim with Sicilian pottery from the handbasin to the stairs and everything in between. It has a few weird aspects such as the very stylised photos of the woman all over her bedroom walls. She looks at me from every angle!!

The bad thing is that there is no WiFi so I am off the air for 2 weeks which, of course, spooks me. Having said that, Chris and I are going in to town to find a WiFi cafe which we will try to do regularly. I’m writing this in Word and will cut and paste when I get to WiFi. But remember if anyone should really need to make contact (heaven forbid), I do have my Italian phone.

Bye for now, I get even more homesick when I’m not in touch.

Posted on

Slovenian wine and monasteries

Today we left our lovely little farmhouse accommodation and set off for the wine region of Slovenia. We headed off to Brezice and travelled through the the beautiful winding hills heading north. It was a beautiful drive heading for Bizeljsko which is the centre of the wine region. The hills are steep and the vines tumble down the slopes without any terracing. You just can’t imagine how they work up and down the rows particularly in the wet and the snow. Our first major stop was at a winery called Najger. This is unique as they store all their wines in Repnice. These are small sand caves hewn into the hills under the vineyards. They used to be used to store their vegetables (notably turnips) all year but the wine makers latched on to them and they are now used for wine barrels and bottles. The temperature is a constant 7-11 deg C and the humidity around 90%. This winery makes between 27 and 30,000 litres and they sell it all to tourists. Needless to say we bought some to add to our travelling wine bar. But not before we’d tasted them to make sure we liked them!!

The lady there put us on to a place for lunch again gorgeous but we’ve wised up a bit and we no longer take their lunch special which turns out to be 4 courses. They are a little surprised when we insist on just one course!! Then we headed off again this time to Olimje Monastery which is very beautiful. Behind the monastery is Syncerus Chocolaterie. Just full of beautiful chocolate which, of course, meant we had to buy supplies for our journey too. Then onward and upward to a most beautiful 2000 yr old town of Ptuj. It is a most beautiful town, second only I believe to Ljubljana. It is lovely and the Ptuj Festival is in full swing tonight. We are staying in a nice hotel and through the windows is the thump thump of the music blasting from several venues around the town. Its a lovely festive feeling. We realised later tonight that we’d left our beautiful chocolates in the car…they no longer look so beautiful but no doubt they taste as good!!

Its bed now and Zagreb tomorrow.

Posted on

More adventures as we roll on through Slovenia

I can’t remember where I got to last time but I think I was in Firenze waiting to have final drinks with the girls. That happened. Drinks in the roof top bar of this fabulous hotel with a view of the Duomo. Too hot to be outside but the view from the picture window inside was to die for. They went off and I wandered around the town at sunset. Still stinking hot but slightly more bearable. I wasn’t going to eat but I stumbled across a lovely little restaurant so in I went and had a risotto and a wine to finish me off for the night.

Next morning, which, bizarrely, was only yesterday, I had an amazing breakfast (included) and I set off walking to the station. 1.2km…nothing until you add the heat which turns you into a melted icy pole in a flash. Anyway no problem and by some strange miracle Chris and I managed to get ourselves onto the same train. We got off at Venezia Mestre and the hire car place was closed from 12.30 to 2.30 as is the Italian way. So, again in the Italian tradition, we had lunch! Picked up our little Citroen 3 and off we headed for Slovenia. It was a long haul and we finally made it to our ecotourism farm where we were staying for 2 nights at around 7.30. Phew. We have a great room which actually has 2 bedrooms (I keep thinking how relieved Rose would be). Included is the night meal and it is all produce from the farm and is totally delicious. They also make their own wine from their own grapes and again delicious. We sat around eating and drinking in a beautiful garden setting which restored us to normal pretty quickly. After dinner we sat out on our balcony and had another glass of wine we had smuggled in!! Then bed which would have been perfect had it not been for the fucking zanzari that chose to bite me and only me!!

This morning we had a delicious breakfast of all the farm produce including home made bread, apple juice, yoghurt etc etc. Then we set off for a day of exploring Southern Slovenia. Just like last time 2 years ago I just love this little country. So beautiful and so proud. First we went to Peterlji Monastery which is nestled in the hills surrounded by vineyards on steep steep slopes. They make their own wine and after we visited the church, had a look outside the monastery (you can’t get in), then of course we bought a bottle of their white and a bottle of red just to keep our supplies up. We also visited a lovely old house and farm buildings which was a treat. It had a traditional Black Kitchen which, Ang and Kirst makes the black kitchen an art form!! It was also full of animals that followed us around!!

By this time it was so hot and a man told us that this was Slovenia’s hottest day EVER i.e. EVER. The previous hottest had been 40.9 70 years ago. Today was 42!!! He said they are usually more used to having 60cm of snow.

So…what do you do? Chris had read about a restaurant (Gostilna Vovko) so we made a beeline for there. We had a massive meal with veal shank. The servings are huge. For more than you want really!! But it was delicious. After lunch we went off to a town called Kostanjevica na Krki. This small provincial town in Slovenia has the most amazing gallery, The Bozidar Jakac Gallery in a Cistercian Monastery. It has a vast collection of Slovenian art by Jakac and the Krajl brothers Tone and France that I loved. But it was SO hot I honestly wondered whether I could keep going or not with the sweat pouring down my back. After this we went and sat by the river of the town where the families were all swimming and had a beer and a wine to cool off a bit.

Then we drove back here via the Otocec Castle but there was no stopping at this point. But then Chris got a phone call from the ceramic shop saying that you horse woman was in H&A. Now, it wasn’t supposed to come back up to Rome and I was going to go and pick it up. But here it was in Rome with the one major problem that the shop was closing within an hour and they wouldn’t be back until 9th September!!! FUCK!! Chris nearly drove off the road at this point. We pulled over and she rang a friend of hers who, thank god was actually home. He ran off to the shop (poor guy had to pay as well)…anyway alls well that ends well and the Horse woman is now being baby sat in Rome!!!! Wow!!

Anyway we got back here, had another amazing home cooked meal and we are both now so pooped its time for bed. Tomorrow we head off to Ptuj where we will spend our last night in Slovenia before going to Zagreb.

Its a great adventure so far and the leg seems to be holding up so far….touch wood!!