- Slo-ing down in Slovenia

View of the Piran Peninsula from our deck

We left Liguria by car and drove 6.5 hours across northern Italy to Slovenia. We traversed a SW portion of the Piedmont district and skirted by Milan, Lake Garda and Venice. We didn't stop at these since all of them are anticipated stops later in our trip and will be in this blog later on.  We left the steep coastal hills of Liguria and ended on the sloping plains of Slovenia without so much as a single border stop.  They all seem
to be open borders. Maybe a result of the European union?  Don't really know
the reason for this. We still have only one stamp in our passport to date (from our brief layover in Frankfurt Germany).

Anyway, back to Slovenia....Our destination was Piran. An old seaport that lies on the peninsula of the same name and divides the Bays of Stunjan and Piran. It's a lovely little medieval town that has expanded from the hills toward the seashore over time. The town itself has about 17,500 people living in it, with no potential for growth due to the natural constraints created by the peninsula itself. At the same time the town is protected as a historic site and represents what some say is the best example of venetian architecture in all of Slovenia. The town reaches its highest point in the Savrini Hills at 90 meters. It has the classic narrow alleyways for foot and bike traffic only and a huge open square (Tartini Square). Through its history it has been under the rule of many including Romans, Huns, Venetians, as well as 600 years of Austro-German rule. Slovenia has a literacy rate of 99.6% for people 15 years and older. The capital of Slovenia is Ljubljana (j's pronounced like y), which includes the 56,000 student University with 20 campuses and three art colleges. We hope to get to Ljubljana during our visit.

Of all the former districts of Yugoslavia, Slovenia is the most European.  One thing we noticed right away is almost everyone here speaks some bit of English, making it easier to communicate than some places (think Liguria).

Sunset from our deck

Same sunset a little later

Thanks to the excellent and detailed information provided by our host Kathi, along with some friendly locals who nudged us in the right direction, we found our home without too much trouble on the evening of June 20. It is a fantastic, well kept house with a large living space customized with porthole windows from a ships deck and excellent views over the bay out across the Adriatic sea. We knew right away we would be VERY comfortable here. As hard as it was to leave Liguria, Piran was shaping up nicely! The first thing we did was get some food. We had Bosnian pie, beans, stuffed cabbage rolls, and a local beer.

Excellent food. Another bonus of spending time in Slovenia are the prices. More to come on this wonderful little town and the surrounding area.

In training everyday

Today we went to the Lipazzanner stud farm in Lipica. Even in the pouring rain the horses were beautiful. We took a tour through the farm visiting different important parts and learning interestingfacts about the horses. At the end we got to see a spectacular performance where different riders rode the horses in different styles. We saw dressage, sidesaddle, long reins, and a wonderful performance of these elegant horses doing tricks

The performance

Lipazzanners are probably by far the prettiest horses I have ever seen and I am grateful I got to see them perform and get a tour of the farm!  >A

Well, we are about halfway through our Slovenia stent. As Ali wrote, we had an interesting visit to the Lipizzaner Stud Farm today.  Cailin also enjoyed the trip.

There was all kinds of history along with the fun of experiencing these amazing horses. The farm itself has been in existence since 1580.  The buildings, although rebuilt since then, were interesting to see also.

The Stallion's stable

All of the horses currently at the stables are the offspring of 11 horses that survived the evacuation that was necessary in WWII during the German occupation. The farm ensures they broaden the genome by working with other breeding farms. These really are remarkable horses and we learned a lot about them in the three hours we were there. One interesting note is they are born darker colors (generally brown or black), but they turn white much like a human would turn prematurely grey.

Linden Tree in Lipica

The farm is located in the 'Slovenia Karst', an interesting area topographically. Rolling hills isn't the right word, but it's a close fit for a description. Imagine Mariposa, California with a much thicker trees and brush.  We learned today that the primary tree in the area is the Linden tree. These particular trees are important to Slovenian's and considered to be a sign of Love, Friendship and Loyalty. When traveling around the country you will often seen them planted in townships and properties.

The Karst is also covered with pine trees and today we experienced a significant rain storm in the area. Strong enough to nearly cause us to pull over and stop driving.  But...we made it back to Piran and spent the evening inside watching the lightning over the Adriatic.  The rest of the week is supposed to clear and turn warm again. > P