This is Our Old Apartment

We got through moving on Sunday in one piece, or at least fairly close.  We’re now pretty much settled in for our last two weeks in Ljubljana, staying in the same apartment we lived in last year for five months (see Eighty-Five Steps and Tea Parties).  We played baseball down in our courtyard this morning, roamed around Old Town this afternoon, stopped in for a cheese toast with ketchup and mayo and some Olympics, and had a tea party on the patio before dinner.  Some of the contributions we made last year are even still here: cow placemats, wine glasses, and herbs that Chantelle planted on the patio.  The only thing that’s missing is Morris the cat.  Otherwise, it’s great to be back…feels like home.

Last Year:

This Year:

Moving Day

One of the issues with moving to Ljubljana with three kids is that there aren’t many apartments designed for five people here.  And in the summer, those that are get rented quickly.  So, we had to split our stay in two apartments and today is the day we move.

We’re moving to the same apartment where we stayed last year, a beautiful apartment right below the castle in old town.  Living in the old part of town is wonderful, but the only way to get there is on foot (there is one taxi that has access to the pedestrian zone, but the driver is on holiday right now).  So, moving for us means several trips of hauling all of our luggage down the 103 steps of this apartment, towing it a half-mile to our next apartment, and then hauling it up the 70 steps or so there.  And, it means the general chaos involved with endless reminders to make sure no babies, bears, or other important toys are left behind.

We are looking forward to back in our old apartment, but there are certainly things we’ll miss about this one.  One of the biggest will be our terrace, which really makes this apartment great.  It has enough room for the kiddos to get out their scooters and roam around a bit, it’s a great place to have breakfast in the morning, and it offers fantastic sunset views over Tivoli Park and the mountains to the north.

Velika Planina and Predjama Castle

Wednesday and Thursday of this week, we rented a car and took a couple of day trips.  The first was to Velika Planina (“Big Mountain”), which is a series of herdsmen villages on the Austrian border at the top of, well, a big mountain.  To get there, you need to take a cable car about half way up and then an archaic ski lift the rest of the way.  When we got off the cable car and saw the ski lift, our initial reaction was, “No way.”  But the lift operator said, “No problem,” so against our better judgment we decided we’d try it.  Chantelle and Rosetta hopped on a chair and the other three of us got ready for the next one.  With two kids and a backpack, getting on was as difficult as I anticipated, and we had to bail on the first attempt because Sy wasn’t going to make it on board.  But the second try was the charm, and with Celia on my lap white-knuckling it and Sy next to me thinking he was pretty cool we finished the trip up.

Velika Planina is quite a unique place because it’s not a tourist trap.  It is literally just small villages dispersed around the top of the mountain.  Huts, people, and cows.  No electricity, no SuperTarget, no Apple Store.  There aren't even any signs anywhere, so it’s not obvious what you’re supposed to do once you get to the top, other than walk around avoiding both the cows and their pies.  In fact, it took us a good hour of walking to find a place to get a bite to eat.  Living there would be an isolated existence to say the least, but the people there looked very content.  The cows did as well…it was sort of amusing that the fences were around the outside of the huts to keep the cows out, rather than around the cows to keep them in.  So, many of the cows just hung out more or less right next to the huts, while others roamed around the mountainside.

On Thursday, we visited Predjama, one of Slovenia’s more well-known castles.  It is built into a cliff and many of the rooms and passageways are actually caves.  The castle is about 800 years old and is complete with a huge cave at the top, where we speculate the dragon and/or giant live (we were careful not to wake them), and a dungeon at the bottom.  There was also a medieval version of an Exersaucer (see below).

The most famous occupant of Predjama was Erazem, who made his living in the 15^th century robbing Habsburg estates and killing Austrian nobles.  When the Austrian emperor put the castle under siege, Erazem held out more than a year by getting supplies via a secret passage (legend has it that he would use the passage to buy cherries from a village nearby and pelt the Austrian soldiers with them).  Legend also has it that eventually he was betrayed and killed by a cannonball while using the castle toilet.

The kiddos had a lot of fun on the trips, mostly riding up and down the mountain (other than Celia, that is), and going on our dragon hunt.  Of course, no trip to a herdsman village or a robber-baron’s castle would be complete without ice cream, so that was a highlight as well.

Boris Kidrič

There aren’t too many tributes to Yugoslavia or communism left here in Ljubljana, but across the street from our apartment a prominent statue of Boris Kidrič remains.  Kidrič was a leader in the Communist Party of Slovenia and in the Partisan resistance against German occupation during World War II.  We have read and heard that because the Partisans were communist, there was a somewhat ironic support of the Nazis by many business and religious groups here (I was actually fortunate enough to have had dinner with a member of the Partisans last year).  As a result, Kidrič is labeled a hero by some for his efforts during the war and a villain by others for his role in establishing the Yugoslav government.  We have also heard that leaders here would prefer to have the statue removed and that the only reason it is still standing is that it is on private property (but don’t quote us on that).  In any event, we think Mr. Kidrič might be amused that, seventy years after his death and twenty years after the end of communism here, kids (and adults) are still emulating his likeness.

Skerlje and Lipica

We left Mijo late in the afternoon on Thursday and drove to the Skerlje tourist farm to spend the night.  Skerlje is in a tiny village right near the Italian border and about a fifteen-minute drive from Lipica.  We had visited Skerlje last year and decided it was worth a second trip.  The family who runs it is truly amazing:  they keep pigs, chickens, rabbits, bees, a vineyard, an orchard, and a field of vegetables.  Plus, they run an inn and restaurant and they make everything they serve there from scratch (meats, cheeses, bread, honey, jams, butters, wine, juice…everything).  The place is amazingly beautiful and the food is amazingly awesome.

But, the real selling point for going back was that they have a pool.  Last time, we were there too early in the year to swim, but this time we took full advantage.  After loading up on crepes and eggs and apple muffins for breakfast, we donned our new swimsuits from Mijo and headed poolside.  Fortunately, we had the pool to ourselves, as we are likely among the loudest guests Skerlje has had.  If you want the full effect, click on this video and turn the volume all the way up: https://vimeo.com/46174215.  In fact, Mr. Skerlje kept walking by the pool chuckling at the mayhem.  It was so nice that Chantelle got in all the way up to her neck (we’re not making this up…the evidence is below).

When we were all swam out, we headed south to the LipicaStud Farm to catch the 3:00 show.  Lipica is the main breeding ground for Lipizzaner horses and is a main attraction in Slovenia.  The kiddos’ attention spans were a little short at this point (as opposed to the long attention spans they usually have), but Rosetta was alert enough to see the carriage draw a Figure 8 with its tracks:  “Daddy, that’s an 8!”  And they were all very excited when the jumping portion of the show got started.  After the show, we went out to the field and watched the ponies chase each other around, and then returned home to Ljubljana.

After returning our high-octane Opel Corsa, it dawned on us that some of the adventure of driving here is gone, now that we have some idea where we’re going and how to drive a stick.  That’s a good thing.

Adijo, Mijo!

Thursday and Friday, we decided to drive to Piran to visit our friend, Mijo, and then to Lipica to see the Lipica Horses (more on Lipica in the next post).  So, we rented an Opel Corsa, which is slightly larger yet less powerful than your average go-cart.  With the kiddos packed like lemmings in the back and Chantelle and I knees-to-nose in the front, we putt-putted across the mountains to the southeast corner of Slovenia.

Piran is on a small Adriatic peninsula on the small piece of coastline owned by Slovenia (Slovenia got a bit hosed on territory after World War II).  It is a classic former fishing village, with the charm of old stone buildings, town squares, and streets that are far too narrow for cars. We had actually tried to visit Piran last year, but took a wrong turn somewhere along the line and ended up in Potoroz, which looks more like Jersey Shore.

This time we got it right, left the car at the top of the hill (they don’t let visitors drive into the village), and hiked down to see Mijo.  Mijo was one of the most difficult people for us to say goodbye to last time because he was such a presence in our daily routine.   He was a waiter at a café down the street and we made it a point to go there or walk by to see him pretty much every day.  The kiddos adored him (and vice-versa), as he would always lift them high in the air and give them cookies and gum, and they loved to say, “Adijo, Mijo!”  Unfortunately for us, Mijo moved to Piran three months ago and is no longer here, so we made it a priority to get down there to see him.

Mijo had a couple of hours off in the afternoon and showed us around, bought the kids ice cream, and then suggested we take the kids swimming.  We told him we left the swimsuits in the car, so Mijo, being Mijo, disappeared for five minutes and came back with brand new suits for them.  The kids were so excited they just about exploded.  Sy’s suit was a new venture in fashion for him (it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…Euro-Sy) and he and his dad nearly blinded other beachgoers with their farmer’s tans (for the record, Dad swam in his shorts, not a Speedo).

It was only an afternoon, but it was one well-spent.  It will certainly be a highlight of our trip.

Seriously? Bo Ryan?

On Monday, our class site visit was to Ljubljana Technology Park, which houses about 300 companies.  To kick off our visit, the director gave us the standard “Introduction to Technology Park” presentation.  He came to a slide with their motto, which is “Shut the #@&! Up and Get Back to Work” (apparently, using that word in formal situations is a little more acceptable here…he actually used it more than once).  On the slide, the motto was accompanied by the picture below.

My first reaction was, “Hey, Bo Ryan!”  My second was, “What are the odds of that?”  Of all the sports figures from all over the world they could have put in their presentation, they had a Badger.  And a low-profile one at that.  I think I read a Time-Life book about this a while back.

Who woulda thunk?  One thing I’m certain of is I’m the only person who has ever seen that presentation and recognized the picture.

Visitors from the White City

This weekend, our good friend Mirko and his daughter, Jovana, are visiting from Belgrade.  We were introduced to Mirko last year through a mutual friend and he invited us to visit him in Belgrade, which was one of our favorite experiences last time around.  He was very excited to see the kids so he volunteered to drive to Ljubljana the second he knew we were coming.  In true Mirko fashion, he arrived with watches for the whole family, perfume for the misses, and a ridiculously difficult puzzle that took us four hours to finish (if you ask Rosetta about it, she’ll be quick to tell you that she got the most pieces).

Neither Mirko nor Jovana have spent much time in Ljubljana, so ironically we have turned into tour guides.  Thursday, we hit Preseren Square, the open-air market, and the castle.  Yesterday, we walked mile after mile…er, kilometer after kilometer around the city and ended up at Neboticnik (the skyscraper).  Today, we have a park day planned and our favorite pizza restaurant for dinner.  Of course, we’ve hit all of the best ice cream places as well.  Funny how we suddenly feel like experts on Ljubljana…

It’s been a bit crowded in our apartment with seven people and one toilet, but it’s been a great weekend.  Spending just a few days last year in Belgrade with Mirko had a tremendous impact on us (he is truly that type of a person), and we couldn’t be sure we would ever see him again.  Meeting Jovana has been fantastic as well….Celia and Rosetta have made a new best friend!