Our Tourist Guide in Slovenia

I had written a review last year about the Slovenia Explorer Travel firm. They provide a splendid private tour. I would give them 5/5. They really deliver more than what they promise.

This time, we as a family of eight booked them again for a successive vacation year. Again, we were so pleased with their service. I would thank Mr. Gregor Fodransperg for planning and conducting yet another splendid vacation. He is very resourceful and knowledgeable of the needs and wants of his clients as well as of his country. Not only can this firm plan your visit in Slovenia but also they can extend your trip to nearby countries. Just ask them. Here is their site:

http://www.slovenia-explorer.com/

I would also like to thank his tourist guides: Urska, Ivana, Tine, and Tina. They were very sincere and proud of delivering rich information about their country. As a result, we have acquired lots of information and knowledge about Slovenia. One final comment:

When we finally left Slovenia, Mr. Gregor himself drove us to Munich from Kranjska Gora (our hub this year). Everyone was quiet, feeling sad and gloomy driving away from serenity, beauty and pleasure. 

Dr. Rashid Al Saadi

Slovenia: Day 15

We visited Minimundus in Klagenfurt, Austria. It hosted miniatures of the world's famous buildings. The scale down measure is 1:25 and the place is full of rich historical and geographical information for both the young and the elderly. Then we walked in the old city of Klagenfurt, after which we had a good lunch in a Greek restaurant. We enjoyed vine leaves, tapas, seafood, and meat.

After lunch, we visited Wörthersee and PyramidenKogel. They say that that the latter is the highest wooden tower in the world. Its height from the sea level is 850 meters, but its actual height is around 100 meters. It has a lift that takes visitors to the top of the tower in order to enjoy a panoramic view of the Alps. It also has a slide; two of us used it to slide to the bottom in a few seconds.

Addresses

Minimundus

Villacher strasse 241. A-9020 Klagenfurt

www.mimimundus.at

Greek restaurant

Ouzeri - Ilios

Karfreitstrasse 8, 9020 Flagenfurt

PyramidenKogel

Linden 62

9074, Keutschach am see

Slovenia: Day 14

We went to see the waterfall of Martuljśki, a 10-minute drive from Kranjska Gora. We leisurely hiked for two hours. Then we were back for lunch at Gostilna pri Južice in the village of Gozd Martuljik. It was a marathon day. We hiked for 11 kilometers and climbed around 30 floors as per our pedometer. 

Video:

https://youtu.be/5Z4P5BSeBKI

Addresses

Martuljśki waterfall

Gozd Martuljek, Gorenjska

Gostilna pri Južice

Zgornje Rute 51
4282 Gozd Martuljek
Slovenia

Slovenia: Day 13

Our lunch today was in Gostilna Kirn in Jezero village. We had different and delicious appetizers with water directly from the nearby mountain. Then we followed them with different soups – bumpkin, mushroom, beef, and cucumber. We then had five different types of pasta and finished it with sweets. The restaurant was expensive and did not accept credit card. After these meals, all of us ended up with upset stomachs. Luckily, it was not serious and we did not know why it had happened. For this reason, we would not recommend having more than two types of food at the same time. 

After lunch, and after having visited the washroom many times, we went to Slovenia Technical Museum. We saw different exhibits depicting forests, wood workshops and machinery, hunting of wild animals, fishing, along with an electrical engineering section, and a textile section. Tito's cars were the important displays in the museum.

The last photo represents beetle traps that can be used for red weevil or rhynchophorus ferrugineus infestations in our local palm trees.

Addresses

Gostilna Kirn:

Jezero 19, Ljubljana Slovenia

Technical Museum of Slovenia

Bistra 6, 1353 Bronovica http://www.tms.si 

Slovenia: Day 12

We visited a nice town called Kropa. It is famous for the iron rails around its houses and streams. It has a museum that specializes in ironmaking. The forest around it has many trails. Water flows in the middle of the city and in between houses and streets.

Dražgoše was next on our agenda. During the Second World War, the Germans killed 23 villagers and destroyed the town, avenging the partisan skirmishes in Slovenia. Now, there stands a memorial in remembrance of this catastrophe. 

In Cerkno, we visited the museum exhibiting the annual carnival where the locals express their desire to drive away the harsh winter. Through wooden carved masks and special costumes depicting 25 characters, the locals try to capture and kill "Pust", an imaginary devil. Once killed, it will drive away bad omens and the people can celebrate the new season.

Then we visited the Franja hospital that had been set up during the Second World War. It was located near Cerkno. The hospital is concealed in the gorges. Through it passes a water stream. The trees above the mountain conceal the hospital underneath from aerial photography. So far, the hospital has treated over 550 cases, out of which only around 70 have died.

Addresses

Towns visited:

Kropa

Dražgoše

Cerkno

The Cerkno Museum

 Bevkova 12, 5282 Cerkno, http://www.muzej-idrija-cerkno.si

Franja Partisan Hospital: same website above

Slovenia: Day 11

Today was an open day in Kranjska Gora. Three of my kids went for mountain biking. Mountain biking is not easy. It requires supervised training. My three boys had to descend from the mountain through curves, jumps and steep slopes with gravel. The rest would go on the chair lift up the mountain and slide down on a toboggan. Then they would ascend again on the chair lift but this time they would hike down.

One of our mountain bikers could not make it. He fell at the start and opted to leave because it was too dangerous for him. The others completed their training but at the final leg, one of them toppled over a descending curve and was hurt. When we reached him, he was in pain and requested me to check if he had any broken bones. We took him to the emergency in Jesenice, a 20-minute drive, where a couple of X-rays showed that he had suffered no broken bones, although he was in pain for the next five days. They put his right arm in a sling.

A video clip showing their mountain biking:

https://youtu.be/caUjnIBLY-c

Once we came back from the hospital, the rest of the family were waiting for us – eager to have a delicious lunch prepared by our host Mr. Gregor, the owner of the Slovenia Explorers Travel firm. He prepared a roasted lamb in a unique way. The whole lamb was cleaned and put between two steel meshes. Then it was put inside a wooden box with a tin-covered interior. The box with the lamb was covered with a steel tray with charcoal on top for one and a half hours. It was then removed and inverted so the other side could roast for another half an hour. They said that they had imitated this process from an American family in the US. The lamb was very tasty according to the testimony of everyone present. We had it with Slovenian bread, tomatoes, hot pepper, cucumbers with yogurt, and scallions.

Slovenia: Day 10

This day, we visited the Dovžan gorge Geological Museum, which exhibited fossils that had been found in the rocks. The gorge’s natural sights were amazing.

Then we walked in Tržič and visited the skiing museum that had an exhibit explaining how leather is made as well as shoes.

We then drove to Selo pri Bledu to see actual hives and Carniolan bees in action. These bees are the least aggressive compared to other bees.

Here is a video on bees:

https://youtu.be/3a4WVW4z4Dg

We then had lunch at Bled Lake.

Addresses

Tržiški muzej

Muzejska 11, 4290 Tržič, Slovania

www.trziski-muzej.si

Kralov med

Čeblarstvo Ambrožitč Blaž

Selo pri Bledu, 26