Dober dan SLOVENIJA!

Hello again everyone! 

We left off last post in Bosnia spending the last of our Bosnian Marks and are now back in the EU and reflecting on the last 2 weeks in SLOVENIA ...


First of all, above is an overview of the places we have stayed, well over 40 different campsites! Click here for further details.

Camp Nadiza

I am writing this from the Julian Alps in the north west of Slovenia at Camp Nadiza - a wonderful leafy camping set on a white pebbly river of about 20 degrees with green mountains surrounding. With the river at our doorstep, perfect weather, a cafe, 3 trampolines and loads of kids around we have all been happily occupied for the last 5 days :) This is one of THE BEST campings we have been to, and we have seen a few!

Here we are at Camp Nadiza with the river just in front of our camper with a

dug out dammed section of the river making a fantastic natural pool for a dip.

taking a dip at Camp Nadiza in refreshing 20 degree water

Kai goes fishing and comes back with a snake

SLOVENIJA!

The Slovenian flag gets its colours from the Yugoslav flag before it broke up. On the emblem is the highest mountain in Slovenia, Triglav. The stars represent the 3 dukes of Celje and the wavy lines are the longest river, the Sava.

Slovenia is a country of just 2 million people whose language has, amazingly, survived over 2000 years. They may laugh at the sound of our 'double dutch' but equally we can't make heads or tails of Slovenian and our vocabulary pretty much stops at the greeting 'dober dan'. This may be no surprise however as they are the only language using different phrases when addressing 1 person, 2 people or 3 or more people (!). Luckily the youth speak English and for the older generation some German is suffice.

A small country and one of the greenest in Europe with 2/3rds being covered in woodland. Pine forests galore! They seem to be an active bunch and for a small country seem to do amazingly well at outdoor pursuits and sports.

                   Camp Danica, north west Slovenia

2 weeks ago we left Bosnia making a beeline for Slovenia to meet up with some Dutch friends (our old flat mates from Tilburg Bart and Jetty) at Camp Danica in Bohinjska Bistrica in the west of Slovenia. A ridiculously busy campsite on the river Sava where we only just managed to find space for our 2 families. In hindsight a great spot adjacent to the basketball/tennis court where we lost the kids frequently :)



And here is the innocent looking Sava river where we literally almost lost the van Overveld boys in their tubes ... saved by a bystander!

Finally when the kids got to use the tent for the first time, we of course had a deluge of rain that night, but survived.

We spent a glorious few days chatting, swimming in the river and lake and exploring the cycle paths.

The Sava River at Camp Danica

Fynn and Bowe, thick as thieves 

PANCAKES!!

Lake Bohinj 

Bart off to sea with the boys

The Tribe! - (L to R) Hidde, Kai, Yvonne, Bowe, Fynn and Liewe

Yvonne and Hidde  

Camp Danica 

The weight of these panniers = the depth of this young man's scowl ;)

Arno and Bart

Lake Bohinj 

All good things must come to an end .. ciao!

Camp Menina, north east Slovenia

When we arrived at this camping we took literally THE LAST SPOT at the camping which covers 8 hectares. The next day we counted our blessings that we were on the edge of the camping where it was relatively quiet. It was a crazy and chaotic but as you can see from the photos the kids were in heaven. Loads of kids to play with either in the lake or the river, activities and music were constant. Communication was not a problem for the kids as 99% of the campers were dutch! 

Rinka Waterfall, 105m high

Tomo & Katja

Our Slovenian hosts, thank you for the hospitality! These guys found us on their doorstep in Celje shortly after coincidentally running into each other again at a second camping. First in the mountains of Montenegro and then on the coast of Croatia soon after. Their advice and travel tips for Slovenia (over a taste of their local Blueberry liquor) were indispensible. 

Slovenian treat!

The sun shining at no. 12 Jenkova

THE POOL! at Tomo and Katja's house

We had a wonderful 5 days with them cooling off from the heat in their pool, celebrating their Fin's 5th birthday, cycling around Celje and meeting their friends and family.

                                   CELJE, (east Slovenia)

Flag atop the castle overlooking Celje, the stars representing the 3 princes of Celje

View over Celje from the castle

Back to medieval times at the castle ...

                 Rogla Mountain Ski Resort

clearing the way before the toboggans can get up and running ...

Tomo and Fin ready for the ride

Kai, Fin, Yvonne, Liam and Fynn at the top of the tower at Rogla overlooking pine forests as far as the eye can see ...

Friends of Tomo and Katja treated us to a magnificent meal at their 'farm stay' in the hills, Ancka.

A hearty meal of chicken, goat, beans, potato and mushrooms, spinach, courgette, salads, beetroot etc

Strukli, sweet Slovenian treat

Slovenian Blueberry liquor and locally made sausage

park cafe in Celje 

Fynn preferred manner of transport

Postojna Caves

Here we are on the train (yes, train! inside the cave and a double track at that). 20,500km long with 5km accessible to the public and opened for tourism since 1819. Was impressive!

This cave also houses Cave Salamander, or 'human fish' as the locals call them due to their skin colour and the fact that they live for 80-100 years. It is blind, has no skin pigment. This picture is taken off the internet as photos were not allowed. They are so sensitive to light that the flash can kill them.

And now it's time for a nap. Until next time ...