As our final month approached we had some hard decisions to make about what to do with the little time (and money) we had left. We had visited all the nearby countries and seen a huge chunk of what we had hoped to achieve, so this left us with either places further afield, like Poland or Berlin, or to see some more of Slovenia. Since we had been busy travelling and some of the train trips had been a bit tortuous we decided to do some research and then plan some overnight trips to different bits of Slovenia. We realised with all the travelling that we hadn't fully explored the country we were based in.
First off was Bizeljsko. Slovenia is a perfect place for vines and produces a lot of wine. We had tried more than a few from the local supermarket but thought it would be fun to visit some vineyards and do some wine tasting. There are areas in Slovenia where they have "wine roads", where there are mile after mile of vineyards and you can stay on Tourist farms that produce their own wine. One such area is around a village called Bizeljsko. A lot of Slovenia is made of limestone - that's why there are so many caves, but this region is made of flint and sand. The locals have dug Repnica, which are small caves in the sand, held together because it is damp, and these produce perfect conditions for the storage of wine. We found a tourist farm to stay in from a local website www.turizemzidanicah.si, and organised a wine tasting with them and another local vineyard within walking distance. Unfortunately, the first date we booked we had a bad snow storm, and although all the snow ploughs were out and the roads just about passable, I decided I didn't fancy the two hour trip and we postponed until later in the week.
 |
| Vineyard at Pudvoi |
It was still a little snowy when we walked over the hill to Vina Graben, and the nice man who did the tour and tasting thought we were a little mad! He gave us an interesting talk about the history of wine making in the area and showed us his Repnica. Then, finally we were on to the tasting. The wine was excellent, and we must have tried about 10 different types (they produce over 200 different wines). He kept refilling our glasses, and we finished off with some cognac and a herbal spirit thing. Needless to say we were a bit more wobbly walking back over the hill!
After an hour's break we were on to the second wine tasting at the Tourist farm Pudvoi. We got to see their Repnica too, but got onto the wine a bit quicker. The wine wasn't as good quality as Vina Graben, but still very drinkable and we had an interesting chat with our host . The stay at Pudvoi included dinner and, of course, we had a bottle of their Laski Rizling with the meal. A very happy evening was had.
The next trip was to an ancient market town in the east of Slovenia, Ptuj. This is listed as one of the must see places in Slovenia. The snow had gone by now, but spring hadn't quite made an appearance. Ptuj is quaint old town with lots of medival townhouses and beautiful buildings and dominanted by it's castle. We went at the weekend, which turned out to be a bad idea as this part of Slovenia still has afternoon closing on Saturdays and nothing open on Sundays. Although the architecture was lovely, the place struck me as a bit sad as it no longer has the life and energy that it must have had in it's medival heyday.
 |
| Ptuj with castle |
We stayed in the very nice Silak B&B in a 300 year old house near to the river - just be careful avoiding the beams! Then we spent a wet afternoon exploring the town and trying the local restaurants and bars. The next morning we visited the castle which had an extensive collection of old stuff, and a quite interesting exhibition on the medival Lords of Ptuj. I think Ptuj would be better in the summer as there weren't many visitors when we went and there is a good thermal spa and swimming complex just over the river. It would be a good area for cycling too, as it was fairly flat, had good cycle paths and there are vineyards nearby for tastings!
The most recent of the trips took us to Rogaska Slatina for our anniversary. It is one of many Spa towns in Slovenia, the magnesium-rich spring was discovered in the sixteenth century and it is full of gorgeous looking hotels in the Austro-Hungarian empire style. The Grand Hotel Rogaska was particularly impressive. We didn't stay in any of the expensive-looking hotels but found a small apartment (Apartment Pak) to the south of town, only 10 mins walk away from the main square. We did try the "curative" waters, meant to be particularly good for gastrointestinal complaints! It tasted pretty horrid, and the magnesium content is so high it fizzes as it comes out the tap. We tried the local swimming complex rather than the medical centre herbal baths, though. Other highlights in the area include the crystal glass factory, where we picked up a souvenir, and the Rogatec Open Air Museum, where we got to see the inside of houses and other Slovenian buildings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
It has been interesting to visit other areas of Slovenia, but I still think Bled is the prettiest and the best.
 |
| Spring arriving in Bled |
No comments:
Post a Comment