Ričet, vegetarian barley soup/stew with bread – the soup was really deliciously full flavoured despite the lack of meat.
What do you know about the food in Slovenia? Exactly! Unlike Italian, French, Chinese or Thai food, we are just not familiar with anything to do with Slovenian food! I decided to try to rectify the situation by choosing more local food and doing a food tour.
Chicken Dumplings – These tasted like chicken sausage balls. Tasty but hardly gourmet!
The tour guide of the food tour is school teacher by profession and she talked to us non-stop, filling us up with facts about Slovenia, Slovenes and their food. It turns out, Slovenians love something “on the spoon” like soups and stews. They must always have bread in the house or there will be panic! In the past, they were quite isolated so their traditional food comes from creativity and ingenuity using locally available ingredients.
Sunday lunchtime is strictly reserved for family lunch. Traditionally, the menu for Sunday lunch will be a fixed menu, an “iron” menu which is the same every week. Amongst other set traditional dishes will be beef and noodle soup! Turns out beef and noodle soup is also on the “iron” menu for all birthdays, weddings and Christmas. Be prepared to be “tut-tutted” by your senior relatives if you deviate from the traditional menu items!
It is an offense to the host if you leave food behind. It somehow implies that the food that you have been provided is no good.
Slovenia produces some nice wine. The tour guide explained the various wine regions of Slovenia by comparing the shape of the country to a chicken. Then she could explain the various regions by talking about the chicken head or the chicken butt! Unfortunately as the country is quite small and hilly, there can only ever be low volumes of wine produced as farmers just cannot cultivate the large acreages possible in other countries.
Antipasto Platter – with pig fat, various cold meats, local pate, pumpkin seed oil and mayonnaise dip, gherkins and figs. Served with homemade bread and rose wine. The dark green, pumpkin seed oil is much treasured in Slovenia. The flesh of the pumpkin itself is just an unfortunate, almost unwanted, side product of the seeds required for the oil. Orecchiette with cherry tomatoes, polenta blocks to be eaten with a hearty and thick Istrian seafood Brodet stew/soup (yum!) and homemade Istrian Fuzi pasta with truffles (heavenly!). So nice to have fresh, homemade pasta with some bite to it!Dishes from Tabar – tomato/melon dish and a dish with Adriatic sardines and crispy cracker topping with lime and wild onion mayonnaise. These are examples of how cuisine in Slovenia can be adapted to fine dining style dishes.Carniolan Sausage, Horseradish and Mustard – salty and strong tasting
There was a dessert but unfortunately it was eaten too quickly to be photographed. Buckwheat and walnut štrukli (rolled dumplings) with a salty, butter breadcrumb (?) topping. Interesting slightly sweet and salty combination!
Venison goulash and beef with noodle soup – the “noodles” are really thin slices of eggy crepe pancake. The beef soup was really light and the idea of bulking it up with the pancake “noodles” is a great idea to make a soup stretch with relatively cheap ingredients!Bled Cream Cake (kremšnita) is a famous specialty of Bled. It is basically a slightly more upmarket Aussie vanilla slice.
Ljubljana was a wonderful, pleasant surprise. Perhaps it’s the absence of any pre-conceived notions of what a place might be like! Perhaps it’s the drop in temperature from unbearably hot to just perfect. Or maybe it’s the little things that make for a good trip like free tap water in restaurants and free public toilets. It felt very safe and was very clean. In contrast to France and Italy, there was no dog poo on the side walk and no smell of pee around every corner. I never saw ay homeless people and instead, there was lots of very eager, young backpackers with very large backpacks and lots of people eating and drinking by the riverside.
We visited the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana and also the picturesque Lake Bled. Ljubljana is delightful. It’s historical buildings are incredibly clean and well kept and the pretty Ljubljanica River flows down the centre of it. The Austrian influence on Slovenia from centuries of being under the Habsburg rule was very apparent.
The Slovenes are very proud of their country and this is lovely to see. They take recycling very seriously and there is not a speck of rubbish on their streets. I saw a rubbish collector clearing out the public bins. He took out the bin liner and emptied the contents into his rubbish truck and then carefully replaced the same bin liner into the bin to avoid unwarranted waste! How unexpected!
There was a few summer storms before and during our visit. The one that happened before we arrived littered the streets with small branches and leaves from overhead trees. One afternoon, the wind picked up and quite heavy rain started. This only lasted for about 30 minutes. Most unfortunately, as a result of the rain prediction on the Friday we were visiting, the famous Open Kitchen was cancelled. I was so looking forwards to this collection of street food stalls run by famous restaurants in and around the city.
Despite there being a lot of tourists in Ljubljana when we visited, it wasn’t too overwhelming and the city was not over-run and had not lost it’s charms. There were plenty of locals enjoying their beautiful city as well.
LjubljanaLjubljanaOne of the dragons on Dragon Bridge! The people of Ljubljana are crazy about dragons. It’s on their city flag! LjubljanaCity Hall, LjubljanaLjubljanica River runs right by the old town. Romantic, alfresco restaurants line the riverside filled with people drinking beer or aperol spritz. Boat tours go up and down this river. We even saw a stand-up paddle board tour group head slowly up the river. Daily central market in Ljubljana. Not the biggest market. To the side of the market square are a few vending machines. Most notable are the ones dispensing eggs and unpasteurized, fresh cows milk. University of LjubljanaMonument to Slovene national poet France Prešeren in Preseren Square, Ljubljana
Prešeren Square – the centre of Ljubjlana. In August, it is full of tourists enjoying the atmosphere. Tivoli Park, LjubljanaView from Nebotičnik skyscraper. You can go up to the top of this building for a 360 view of Ljubljana. Technically you have to be a customer of the cafe on the top floor but we had no issue popping up there, taking a few photos and then leaving.
Check out the hill with the Ljubljana Castle on the top.
If you are heading Slovenia, you would have surely seen the picturesque photos of Lake Bled. The town of Bled itself is reminiscent of Switzerland or alpine Austria. Lake Bled itself is the most gorgeous colour of blue-green. It makes for a beautiful vista set against a mountain backdrop. The 6km walk around the lake is mostly on a well paved path and is easy and stunningly beautiful. The lake from every angle looks like a postcard picture. Finish your exercise by eating some of the famous Bled Cream Cake (Kremsnita) and just take in the beauty of it all.
Mountains around BledBledBoats ready to row people across to the island in the middle of Lake Bled. These only leave when full so early patrons have to wait as the boatmen tout for more business from passerbys. Alternatives to being rowed across to the island is to hire a rowboat and row over yourself. The final option is to swim, which is possible as the distance is not that great! Lake Bled – you can do the 6km walk around it. It is picturesque from every angle Lake Bled peeking through the treesBled Cream Cake (kremšnita) is a famous specialty of Bled. It is basically a slightly more upmarket Aussie vanilla slice.
