After a hectic two weeks of city hopping and party hostels I was very ready to chill out for a bit. I needed to recharge. Especially as I had lost my voice and come down with a cough. I had organised (via workaway of course) to stay with a family in Slovenia for two weeks. And now I’m leaving I can see how much of a success it was - I feel completely refreshed and re-energised. I truly loved my time there. My work was more like chores than proper work, I would muck out the horses throughout the day and muck out their pasture in the evening. I would walk the dog twice a day. I would play with the youngest child while the older two were at school. The rest of my day would be filled with sunbathing, reading, blog writing and calling friends to catch up. It was the most wonderful way to recharge.
I felt so calm there, and really part of the family. Jolene, the youngest (she’s 4), was such a crazy kid and we had a lot of fun together. She didn’t speak any english, although I’m certain she understood a lot of what I said to her, so it was fun trying to communicate and play games with no verbal communication. We still managed to create huge playmobil worlds together, even if I was told off for doing stuff wrong a lot… I would use my phone to find pictures of animals for us to make with playdoh (please see my beautiful otter below). We were both very sad to say goodbye to each other.
The family are vegan, so the food was a welcomed change to the heavy meat diet of Czechoslovakia cuisine! Although it was a lot more bread heavy than I imagined. All very delicious though, and I feel full of vitamins once more.
One evening the family took me to a “village party”. I was imagining a small fete. It was more like a mini festival or even a rave. The music began with traditional Slovenian and Croatian songs, and ended with rave music, with the flashing lights to match. It was a fun evening, and reminded me of the weirfest back in Porlock.
On my day off I wanted to visit Velika Planina. It seemed tricky to do with just public transport and I saw that two girls I’d met in Bratislava were also in Slovenia so I asked them if they were planning on going, and if they’d worked out a way to do it. Turns out they were planning to visit the same day I was, and had a car with a spare seat which they kindly offered! So I ended up driving over and visiting with four dutch students which was lovely. Our trip had a rocky start however, when we went to their parked car in Ljubljana we discovered that someone had locked the parking space with a chain and padlock, meaning we couldn’t get the car out. They’d been told it was okay to park there by the guy whose space it apparently was, so we’re not sure why it was locked! We went to find help and a very helpful Slovenian guy came to our rescue. He found the number for owner of the neighbouring car and rang it. This guy was equally helpful and came straight away to move his car, allowing us to escape through his space. I’d heard that Slovenians were really lovely people, and this interaction confirms that (with the exception of whoever locked the space to begin with…). We finally headed off on the 1 hour drive to the cable car. After a short cable car ride we caught a chair lift up to the summit. This was really fun, great views and very relaxing. Once at the top we wandered through the herdsman huts and village. The cows were roaming around free, with the calfs looking extra cute. We stopped at one of the huts where the man sold cheese he’d made from fresh milk from his cows. I bought a rosemary one that had been made that morning. It was so creamy and soft and delicious. Once we’d explored the whole village we caught the chairlift and then the cable car back down. The whole place was really beautiful and strange. It wasn’t busy at all, but it’s somewhere I’d definitely recommend visiting. The mountain views were insane, the village was really cool, and the whole experience was something a bit different. The guys dropped me off in Kamnik on their way back to Budapest. I was going to catch the bus straight to Ljubljana but spotted a cool looking church on the hill and decided to climb that first. I’m glad I did - the actual building and the views were well worth it. I eventually caught the bus to Ljubljana and ambled my way to a pizza restaurant on the side of the river. I sat and ate dinner alone - the first time since Paris! I listened to music and just soaked up the city - the sun was setting and hitting the buildings on the other side of the river so perfectly. I felt very warm and happy and full. After I’d paid I walked along the river to the main square, sitting on the statue that was slightly off-centre and in the direct path of the setting sun. A man was playing an accordion. I once again soaked up this beautiful city, this time eating some of the very melted chocolate biscuits I’d bought earlier.
My time here was restful and everyday ended with a beautiful sunset. I left a few days early because of a change of plans, but will be returning to Slovenia for another week and a bit soon. So expect more Slovenia content!
