It's time to wonder the world with Sharon. Enjoy this big blend radio podcast featuring award-winning travel writer and photographer Sharon Kay Kurtz. Hey everybody, welcome. It is the first Wednesday of the month. So we are going somewhere around the world with Sharon. So Sharon, where are we going? We are going to Slovenia. And this is some place you just came back from and I think you've got a great article about it. So I did know everyone. But it's a great article. It's up on blendradio and tv.com. Now the link is in the show notes. You can also link over to Sharon's website, which is Sharon Kay Kurtz.com. That's Kurtz with a K. But give us kind of, it seems like you had a link, a well-rounded experience in this small country though, right? Small and a lot of history, a lot of natural beauty, sustainability. But yeah, where exactly is it? It is called East, South East Europe. And it was a part of Yugoslavia. So now they gained their independence in 1991. They're free and they're part of NATO. And it's a small country, it's not landlocked. They do have a piece on the Adriatic coast. But it's about the size of Massachusetts. Oh, okay. Only have 2 million people in the country. Wow. But what makes it so special is it is green and beautiful. 60% of the country is forested. And it was the European green capital in 2016. So the whole population, they're bikers, they're hikers, they're runners, they're kayakers. They love to get out in nature. That's awesome because the lakes, the lake bled that you went to, is that the lake bled is the iconic lake that you see in pictures. It is surrounded by the Julian Alps. It's a beautiful glacier lake. And it's got a little island in the middle with a church on it. So that is like bled. But what you're looking at behind you is like bone heany. What happened was I had been to Slovenia about two years ago on a group tour, but only about three days in Slovenia. We visited Ljubljana, the capital, and Lake Bled because those are the two famous areas that most people know, but wanted to go back. And I met someone at a tourism event in Dallas later, and he is blaz. Ken check, you know, Slovenian words are really hard to pronounce. Yes. The tour company called activity breaks. And he takes this is what people, if they want to go, but they don't quite want to join a group tour or know how to do it. Blush will call them. They'll set up a zoom and he will bring a meet them at the airport and take them all around Slovenia, whatever they want to do. So blush leads tours like hiking groups come and maybe swimming groups or just families. And that's what he did for my husband and I, he met us at the airport. And he took us to some fabulous places that people don't know about and they don't go because they somehow, Slovenia has this reputation of being a part of Yugoslavia. That's Eastern Europe. Oh, they're backward. And they got their independence in 1991. It is a progressive, exciting country that is worth exploring. Wow. So progressive too. That's interesting. I think when they become independent, it's like starting over. Yes. Who are we? What, what are our ideals? I mean, when you split from a country like Yugoslavia, something went down. You know what I mean? And so they had some unrest somewhere and said, no, this is not how we want to live. They, they know that they want to promote ecotourism. They don't want to, you know, Croatia is their next door neighbor and is a very popular tourist destination. They don't want to be Croatia. They don't want to have cruise ships coming in and people overwhelming them. They, they want. Travelers that are interested in a authentic natural experience and to enjoy their natural wonders. I love that because it's, I think it's all countries need to really embrace this. You know, we hear all these conversations and big meetings, everybody flying in for a big meeting, right? And then what's like what? Now what? You know, so when you see someone actually, like a country actually taking on these initiatives, and I think it's easier when it is a smaller country to make these initiatives happen. But I mean, it is gorgeous. I mean, look at that. And they understand glaciers, right? That, that glacier in that lake is going to be so important for them. That kind of, that kind of. Their waters is key. Water is life, right? So they seem to understand it and the canal behind you. Don't you love canals? That's isn't that beautiful. That is the Lumblian. Kina river that flows through Lumblianna, the capital of the country. It is such a beautiful waterway. And Lumblianna. When I went for just those few days, it is so charming. People are just, you just walk around in awe of this. It looks like a fairy tale. So there's the river that runs through the town. You can take boat tours on the river and you go under all the bridges. They have a central square that's charming. And I have a tip about Lumblianna. If you go and you're not on a group tour, they have a free walking tour from the city center from the pre Sharon. It's, I remember it because it's like my name pre Sharon Square. And you meet. And it's free. They have the best guides. And then at the end, you give what you think it was worth what it was worth to you. But she tells you the history and everything about the city and even the country. And that's cool. I love those kind of walking tours because I always want to do that as the first thing. You know, let me get somewhere, like just to go through the historic downtown because then you get this lay of the land and understand what happened. And you have more respect to even because of the understanding you get from that, you know. So that's cool that you did that tour. So there's a lot of history, a lot of nature, you went to national parks, even, yes, the photo behind you is like bohemie. And that is in tree. Glove tree glove national park. It is their only national car. But it's 324 miles square miles big. And it's not a famous waterfall kind of right behind your head. There's a waterfall. And so way back there. So people come to Slovenia. And like Europeans, they travel and travel. They camp. They take their travel trailers. And so, like blood that I told you about with the beautiful surrounded by the Julian Alps, that is very touristy. And for a reason, it is so beautiful. But like bohemie here is only 16 miles away. And it's 324 miles in area. And you can camp there. There's even small ends. And that's where you hike and you bike and you kayak and just get out in nature. That's awesome. That's awesome. I love that they have national parks. Now, you've got to see the Lippa's honor stallions. Now, this is like, I mean, I remember as a little girl just fawning over these just magnificent beings. And they are, I mean, just even the whole massage kind of those, those performances are incredible, but those are beautiful horses and I can imagine you went to the stud farm that they're, they're well taken care of it looks like. Yes, this is an amazing story that I did not know when we went with blush for three days. He took us all around Slovenia to show us everything he thought we should see. Two nights at the Lippica stud farm. They have a hotel there. And this stud farm is historic. It was founded in 1580 by Habsburg Archduke Charles II. He came from Spain and he brought his horses, which were very important to him in the 1580s but they traveled over land and most of them didn't make it so he had to re. Imagine a new breed of horse. So this is where they started in Lippica. And so they're, they're a blend of the local horses, Arabians. They just took a few horses and they started this breed Lippizainer. So when they're born, the coals are dark black for almost the first seven years until they gradually turn white, and they can be a little bit spotted. They're actually the color that they are is called gray, but they bleach that they go, many of them are white. So, we got to stay for two days here and at nine in the morning, we went to the stables, and we watched them be released to go out into the pastures for the day. And it was, I was like for me to you. I couldn't have touched them. They're just magnificent. And then after the stallions left, then the mares and their baby cults came out. And that was, there's no charming. So, very important, a horse breed that has never been interrupted. And they show these Lippizainer horses in Austria. It's called the Spanish writing school, but the beginnings of this breed comes right here from the pick up. Wow, wow, that's amazing. That's amazing. I didn't know you're going to see these horses and I, the kid like just, I love them. I love horses. So, at the stud farm, they have, they have shows, they have the dressage that you can watch. You can even sign up and ride the horses and they have carried rides with the horses as well. Wow. Wow. So, beautiful horses people. I mean, really beautiful, beautiful. Now, what about medieval villages? That's the other thing we were talking about history earlier, but you've got medieval villages and then you've got like vineyards and orchards and so this is just so idyllic. It's like charm. I mean, this, this sounds like a little place of paradise. It is so beautiful. Slovenia has all these regions because they're boarded on the north by Austria. So that's very like, you know, Alpine. And then they're bordered on the south by Croatia and Italy. So we went to this area called Goriska Burda. It is borders Italy and it looks like Tuscany. It's called the Tuscany of Slovenia. Oh, rolling hills. It's a terrorist vines and we went on an e-bike ride all over this area. It was so beautiful and you just can't imagine that in this inland country is an area that looks just like Italy. But of course, it's next to Italy. As a matter of fact, if you were in Italy and in your in Venice, it is only two hours from Venice. There's no way area. Yes. It's a day trip. If you want it to be. Wow. Wow. And is it easy to cross borders? Yes. Nowadays, it is. In fact, we did cross into Italy and we did not even have to show our passport. They just waved us through. Did you get gelato when you were there? No, I didn't go that far. We just went in when we went to the Adriatic Sea in this little place called Peron. And Slovenia only has 26 miles of Adriatic coast because most of it is Croatia there. And then Italy to the north. So we did go to the seaside and we went into Italy to go somewhere from the seaside. So no gelato for me. Oh, well, you know, gelato is always good though, if you can get it. But the coast, I mean, what's the coast like for, you know, when you compare it to, is it got the cliffs because I've seen some of the, you know, the coastline from Croatia from, you know, travelers and everything. But so it looks like it's just absolutely gorgeous, but it's also got rocks and cliffs and things. So what was it like for this? Peron doesn't have, they do have cliffs up behind the city. It goes from high areas down to the seaside. And it's called Peron is one of the oldest cities in Slovenia. And it looks just like a little Venice, because it was part of the Venetian Empire back in the day. So it's got beautiful architecture and little cobbled streets and a beautiful seashore. Awesome. So it's got a very famous church. You have to climb climb climb up, and then you have a view of like red tiled roofs looking out over the beautiful water. Oh, so that's like the Riviera into those, you know, that's what the like Santa Barbara with all the red tile roofs, you know. So this is, how long were you there? Didn't you want to stay longer. We were there. It was part of a three week journey that my husband and I make the first part of it was Slovenia. We stayed for eight days. Three days was with my friend blush who hosted us and took us all around these fabulous areas. And then the rest of the time were in Ljubljana, the capital, and then down on the seaside. Wow. Wow. What about the food. How was the food? The food is, it's very good. It depends on your region. For instance, in the middle of the country near the horse farm, Lipica horse farm. We went to a little cafe and it was like hearty like sausages and beans stews, that kind of food. But then when you go down to the seaside, you have a lot of seafood. Yeah, that makes sense. And when you go up to toward Austria, it's more alpine and you have like more, you know, alpine kind of foods. It is all very good. But lots of fresh markets. Oh, I like that. When we went to Gordeska Burda, where you have the grapevines that looks like a little Tuscany, they're known for their cherries and it was cherry season. Oh, we, there were cherry stands everywhere and they have a cherry festival and a different, I think a little later in the season. Oh, they're stone fruits, cherries and apricots and peaches and. Oh, yeah, this sounds good. And so did, did you taste any of their wines since they have all these vineyards. Oh, yeah, all over the country. The country is known for their, it's wine. They, they import the export to our country, different countries, some of it, but a lot of it they consume right in the country. So that's why we don't hear about Slovenian wines. But there's many different types of grapes that grow well. And they have vineyards and wineries everywhere. Oh, cool. Sounds like fun. I want to go. I want to go. You should go. Okay. Let me tell you about the medieval village we want to. Yeah, that's one thing I really wanted to hear about because that's something, you know, when you go to Europe, if you've got to see a medieval village, because it's just so like, wow, to me. You know, well, just like I said, that Slovenia is not that big. So when we were staying at the Lippica stud farm, we just took a day trip to this little village way up on a hill called Stan yell. It's hard to pronounce these words, but it was from medieval times and it was beautiful up on and at the top of the village is a Roman encampment. That's why they started this village from the Roman origins. So there was, there are only 19 people who live in this village today. Wow. 19 people in a village. But there's beautiful stone. Everything is stone and with red tiled roofs. They give like little local tours there and they have a community center. It was badly damaged in World War II, but it has been revived and brought back. And so there's like an event, a beautiful, one of the ancient palaces, I think, that they renovated and that's where they have art shows and music festivals. And so even though only 19 people live there, lots of people like to visit. The other thing too, with you doing this, I mean, you're staying in hotels and things like that. So it's kind of, it seems like you're getting all these different experiences where the hotels more like what were they like. I mean, did were there historic ends, you know, what was the lodgings like? Well, we went down to the, we in Luleana, it was a modern city hotel because also in Luleana, there was a lot of, you can imagine in World War II, there was a lot of damage. So the building that we stayed in probably was recreated since World War II. So it was a modern, beautiful hotel. But we stayed in particular down on the sea coast. When we went to the Adriatic Sea, we stayed and it's called Hornovic. It was a palace. We stayed in a palace. It was the Kapinsky Palace and the Archduke of Austria. That was their winter palace because Slovenia was part of Austria. Yeah. So like recent times, you know, World War II, and then, and then of course Yugoslavia, but before that. So this was their palace. And for a long time, it was like turned into a school and, and then in Yugoslavia times, they didn't have a whole lot of money. So it was like vacant and sad for like 20 years, but it has been renovated. And it is the most gorgeous place. So, yeah, it's small places and then in palaces as well. And then on a horse farm. Yeah, I mean, that's wild. That's wild. And the hotel in the horse farm, it's called Hotel Maestro. And what's interesting about it is, it has been renovated and all of the rooms look just like you're in a tax stall. It is made with the kind of floor that have in the stalls. And there's like hooks and tack up on the walls. And you're going to be feeling that you're in a horse farm in this. That's awesome. That's awesome. I like that. Man, this sounds awesome. And then you went to Vienna. Yeah, that's going to be next month everyone Vienna's next month. But the trips just kind of flowed together but Vienna is only four hours from Louisiana. And everything is close. So, yes, the trip went on and we have more to talk about, but everyone needs to visit Slovenia. In the show notes, I'll give you blazas activity break website. If you want to go and you don't want to go in a group tour, call him. Oh, you got to send that. Send that to us so we can put that up for everyone to do the tours. It sounds fabulous. I want to go. I want to go. It just sounds like I could live there. It's got parks. It's got water. It's got nature. You know, that's the thing. You know, when you go to those areas, the natural areas, do they have like deer and that kind of like animals, birds and yes, deer in the in the parks. We took a couple hikes and other than little chipmunks, I didn't see it like they had bear, but no, we did not see any bear out there. No bear, but they have bear. All right, that I could move for that. Well, what else is interesting about Slovenia is they have their independence now, but when they were part of Yugoslavia, it was with Tito was there. The head of the general Tito, he was a man that was their premier of Yugoslavia, and he took care of his people and he believed in free education. So all the way back, they've always had free education and you'll go Slavia. Then when they got their independence, the people were not willing to give up all these things that they had under Yugoslavia. So to this day, they still have free education for all of their, their residents. I love that. The education part is huge, I think, you know, it is a good country to live in. That is, I, you know, don't know if they let people live there, but you know, but it is, but it is quality of life to me. That's, you know, and you pick that up when you travel and I think then, you know, travelers have better experiences in countries that have their rules, right. They're not going to be over fled our country with the tourism kind of, you know, be sustainable. So they have their rules, but it seems like quality of life and that the local sound healthy and happy, and that makes for a great experience too. You know, so that's cool. Very cool. Well, we can't wait to talk about Vienna next. So everyone stay tuned every first Wednesday. Well, where are you going today? What's I know you're getting on a plane. Okay, tomorrow. What? No, soon. I'll be going to Oakland and that's right. Lake Tahoe are my next trips. Sad life. Yeah. Gotta do it. Take care. Thanks for joining us here on Big Blend Radio's Wonder the World with Sharon podcast. You can keep up with Sharon's adventures at SharonKhertz.com. Follow Big Blend Radio at bigglandradio.com. Happy travels. (upbeat music)
