Guesthouse Koprivec in Ljubjana is a gem. But what makes it special is the genuine hospitality and character of the owners, Carlos and his wife "the boss". We have enjoyed staying here for 2 nights and are sorry to leave. Now that we have been in Ljubjana, we finally know how to pronouce it! You say: Leeu-bee-awnaw. Once you get the hang of it, it has a very musical sound. Just remember that the "j" sounds like a long "e" and you'll be close. We know that our ride today will be challenging as there will be a lot of climbing, and the weather may not help as rain is predicted. As usual, as we prepared to depart, the rain began. No worries, we put on our rain gear and said our farewells.
Our hosts, the owners of the guesthouse, Carlos and his wife (sorry, don't know her name). But we know her as "the boss" from Carlos.
Click here for a larger version of the picture They felt badly for us that the weather was so bad this morning. We were offered some of this local liquer, Brinjevec made from ground and fermented juniper berries to fortify us for the ride. It is considered medicinal, so we accepted. It was very good.
Carlos is a man of boundless energy and enthusiasm. We had much fun conversing with him. We never understood each other's language, but the message got through. Great memories for us to enjoy from this place.
What luck to find the Saturday market in full swing when we rode in to the centre of Ljubjana. Wonderful produce, food stalls, and many people enjoying the morning.
Free bus rides are provided in these small e-buses. You can flag one down or phone for a pick up. Ljubjana is recognized as one of the "greenest" cities in Europe. E-cars have priority parking with places to plug in your car. Recycling is widely embraced by all businesses and locals.
We are not sure about this fellow,but we saw him riding around with his tin foil covered pail on the back of his bike. He appears to be a human game accessory
Barry had a traditional Slovenian layer cake from Prekmurje made with apples, walnuts, poppy seeds, curd cheese. It is one of the European Union protected foodstuffs. Therefore it can only be made under its name, if the original protected recipe is respected in full.
We saw this church perched up on a tall hill when we were riding in the valley and we thought there was no way we would be riding up to the church, As it turned out we were way higher than the church
Each time we think that we are near the top, we round a corner and see more hill to climb. Even though it has been tough, like so much of our time in Slovenia, it is always worth it.
At 3000+ feet elevation there was a town with large cattle farms. The cows were very curious about the creature on two wheels that emerged out of the fog
Tim, John and Freddie from England. As we were having a hot coffee at a hotel at what we thought was the summit, these fellows arrived. They were colder than us as none of them brought long cycling pants on the trip. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and said goodbye, never thinking that we would see them again. But as fate would have it......
There was a Slovenian "hen party" taking place in the guesthouse restaurant while we were eating. The bride to be and her friends came over to us and asked us to give the bride a few tips and advice before she gets married. In return we were given shots of a Slovenian blueberry liquor that contained actual blueberries.
Just as we arrived at the guesthouse a ferocious thunderstorm erupted. We were very lucky that we weren't coming down from the climb when the storm hit as it would have been extremely dangerous. The rain was so heavy that the parking area and yard around the hotel filled with water. Mary Ellen had a schnitzel stuffed with cheese and ham. The potatoes were roasted with onion and garlic
