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In September of 2000,with the help of the Tour and Travel experts, my brother John and I decided to travel to Slovenia, to do some genealogical research, and to see the country. The area is described by some as being on the sunny side of the Julian Alps. The weather we saw in late September was just that, sunny with just a day of scattered showers.

Slovenia is bordered by Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, and has a small Adriatic coast. It declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1990, and became fully independent soon after, as did its neighbor Croatia.

Its capital, Ljubjana, had a colorful past governed by its geographical position, as gateway from central Europe to the coast. Pile dwellers, Illryians, and Celts lived here more than 5,000 years ago. The Romans were here from the first to the sixth century, and a portion of their fortifying wall still exists in Ljubjana. The Romans called the town Emona, which was destroyed by the Huns under Attila in 452 A.D. The Slavs began to settle in the area in the sixth century.

Ljubjana can be reached by air from virtually any major European city by a multitude of airlines. We chose to rent a car and drive from Munich, through Austria, as we wanted to get the full impact of the Alps. The drive was magnificent as we went through tunnel after tunnel into beautiful valleys with homes, farms and a few castles standing on the mountainside rising to unlikely heights! The drive took six hours, over four lane divided highways, (A-9 & A-10, toll roads), except for the first few miles in Slovenia. (That portion is under construction also going to four lane divided highway.)

The Grand Union and Holiday Inn Hotels are adjacent to each other in the Old Town, and are business class hotels with all the amenities, only to blocks from the Square. A 20 minute hike takes you to the top of Castle Hill where Ljubjanski Grad (Castle) sits overlooking the city of less than 300,000 people. Churches and museums abound along with sidewalk caf�s, coffee shops serving the most delectable pastries, and pubs with excellent beers, including the locally brewed Grand Union label. Restaurant abound from the elegant and fully priced Maxim�s, to the Slovene cuisine Sokol�s, in the Old Town. Sokol�s is popularly priced, as Schnitzel, Ljubjana style, (generally veal or pork folded over ham and cheese, (cordon Blue) breaded and lightly fried with veggies and potato, and a drink costs less than $15.00 for two.). Add a salad and dessert and you are still under $20.00.

Another day trip took us to the Lake Bled area. We drove to Bled and parked along the lake, and proceeded to see the sights! We took a local bus up into the mountains to a park that had a trail through a gorge. We hiked through the gorge, mostly on a trail with wooden railings, with the sound of the rushing water coursing through the rocks, overpowering any other sound. The scenery was outstanding. After we reached the end of the gorge we continued up and down the trail through the pristine forest for over three hours to Blejski Grad, the castle overlooking Lake Bled. Fortunately for us the trail at one point led through a small village with a pub and we rested with a cool brew before continuing our hike. This ancient castle has a museum of sorts inside with a history of the area. As we were leaving a wedding party arrived and marched into the castle for a reception dinner. As they exited the cars and entered an accordionist played Slovenian polkas. Happy music for a happy couple! We then walked down the trail for another 30 minutes to the lake area. As we were passing St. Martins church, which was being renovated, as are many of the churches here since they became free. We went inside and saw and heard a small group of teenagers singing hymns. Their singing echoed through the whole church, making incredibly wonderful sounds. We sat and just listened for quite awhile. We then left and got on a Pletna, a ten-passenger rowboat, to journey out to the church on the island in Lake Bled. The 30-minute ride was very restful and scenic. Legend says that if you pull the rope to ring the church bell good luck will befall you. That bell sure rang a lot! The church also had artifacts and a history of it�s past.

We spent time in Old Town Ljubjana and other areas of Slovenia too numerous to mention here, but can say that Slovenia has many health spas, golf courses, casinos hiking trails, sky resorts and boating available in their respective seasons. Slovenians really like Americans and unlike other European countries have 4 or 5 TV stations broadcast in English with Slovenian subtitles, which help their students with the language. We had no problem communicating with people in the capital or in the resort areas. We wandered around the Old Town at night without any worry at all, looking in shops and listening to concerts in the square. Only in the little towns in the outlying areas did we have a little difficulty communicating but every one tried to help us! It truly was a great trip.

If you have any questions call the experts at Tour & Travel or e-mail me at rcimperman@aol.com.

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