This day saw
us departing on Qatar Airways to Venice, Italy. Although we were a family of
eight, the immigration screening at our arrival was smooth. After picking up
our luggage, we loaded them on a few free trolleys and pushed through the green
zone, after which we met our Slovenia Explorer guide. He was waiting for us
with a small board displaying our family surname.
We drove in a nine-seater van to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The
plan was to stop for lunch, then visit a military museum close to Lipica, a
stud farm.
We had our lunch at the Gostilna Mesnica in the village of Divača.
Gostilna is a word used in Slovenia. I haven't heard it anywhere else. It is a
special type of restaurant that runs in a family’s home and uses locally grown
produce.
This particular Gostilna we had lunch in specialized in meat. Their appetizer
was delicious raw processed beef. We are not used to eating raw meat but all of
us tried this dish. To some, it was delicious. To others, it was not that bad.
Our main dish was medium done steak. The sweet we had was Gibanica, consisting
of layers of nuts, poppy seeds and cream. It tasted like our sweet
"Um-Ali".
After lunch, we visited the Military History Museum in the village of
Pivka, which tells the story of Slovenia's independence in 1991 and its
separation from the former Yugoslavia. We saw some planes, tanks, war weapon
systems and a Russian submarine that had been manufactured by Yugoslavia. It is
worth mentioning here that Slovenia declared its independence within ten days
of the war after declaring its separation from Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav Army
tried to surround Slovenia and cut it off from Austria, Italy and Hungary,
thinking that the danger was coming from those areas but not expecting that the
Slovenian people would carry arms against them from the inside and would ultimately
cut off their supplies arriving from Croatia. As for Croatia, Bosnia and other
states of the former Yugoslavia, the crisis lingered for a long time because of
the multiplicity of races and religions.
After this tour, we reached the capital Ljubljana and our accommodation,
the "Antique" Hotel in the old city. It was an old-fashioned hotel. I
do not recommend this hotel due to its lack of an elevator. Instead, the Slon
Hotel, which has become part of the Best Western chain of hotels, is a better
option.
Addresses
Komanda Military Museum
http://parkvojaskezgodovine.si/en/exhibits-and-collections/
Gostilna Mesnica
Kraška cesta 30, 6215 Divača, Slovenia
Slon Hotel
http://www.hotelslon.com
Map of Ljubljana
http://www.ljubljana.info/map/
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