Tuesday and Wednesday, August 27 and 28, 2013
Knoxville to Zagreb to Skofja Loka, Slovenia
At 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday, we left home for the Knoxville airport,
where we received boarding passes all the way to Zagreb. We'd
bought our tickets from Lufthansa, but it took three different
carriers to get us to Croatia. We flew on United Express,
Lufthansa, and Croatia Airlines, with stops at Washington Dulles
and Frankfurt on the way.
It was a typical day of air travel: Terribly uncomfortable seats on
Lufthansa, absurdly inefficient airports, and of course a screaming
baby on the longest flight leg. Only one incident to report: Just
before our final flight, the Croatia Airlines gate attendants in
Frankfurt made a long announcement in Croatian, ending in the words
“oopsie-daisy.” That was followed by a much shorter briefing in
English, with no translation of the “oopsie-daisy” portion of the
announcement. What weren't we being told?!?!?
At 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, we arrived in Zagreb, Croatia. Hooray!
We passed through a cursory passport check, then got some kuna from
an ATM and picked up our car from FLEET Rent a Car. I'd arranged
the car rental through AutoEurope, a consolidator. FLEET gave us
the requisite paperwork, and we went outside and collected a white,
four-door SEAT Toledo with a manual transmission. To get an
automatic would have been much more expensive. Luckily, Tom is
comfortable driving a stick. I, unfortunately, am not. SEAT is a
Spanish auto maker owned by Volkswagen.
Near the airport, we stopped at a supermarket and bought snacks and
beverages for later. For lunch we had mystery cheese, since we
couldn't decipher the language, and some pretzels. Better than
airline food for sure. We're off to Slovenia!
We crossed the border at Bregana, Croatia / Obrezje, Slovenia.
Croatia was officially admitted to the EU on July 1 of this year,
but we still had to get our passports stamped at the border. I'd
think that would change soon. Immediately past the border crossing,
we pulled over and bought a vinjeta (toll) sticker, required to use
the highways in Slovenia. It's 15 euro for a one-week vinjeta, or a
150 euro fine if you get caught without it.
The scenery we passed through in Slovenia was very Europe-y:
tree-covered, rolling hills, with a church or castle atop most
every one, and in every field a hay rack. The sky was very overcast
and it rained off and on, which just added to the Europeness. After
the long series of flights and the jet lag, we could barely keep
our eyes open on the three-hour drive from the airport, but somehow
we managed.
Turizem
Loka
At 3:30 p.m. local time, 22 hours after leaving our house in
Clinton, Tennessee, we finally arrived in Skofja Loka, Slovenia, a
town of 12,000 people less than an hour outside of Slovenia's
capital city of Ljubljana. We'll be staying three nights at
Turizem
Loka, a family-run guesthouse. The family collectively speaks
six languages, and as, I guess, a courtesy, since we made our
reservation under the name Goetz, they had a member of the family
available to check us in who, in addition to Slovenian, is fluent
in German. You can imagine how helpful that was! Ha, ha!
Nonetheless, we managed to secure our room, grateful to finally
stop moving.
They gave us a nice, large room, complete with minibar, and I
helped myself to a Lasko Zlatorog beer almost immediately. It was
nothing special, but at least it was beer. Tom took a nap, and I
went for a walk, forcing myself to stay awake so I could acclimate
more quickly to local time. By the time I got back from my stroll,
Tom was awake as well, and then the two of us explored Skofja
Loka's charming Old Town, located in walking distance of our
guesthouse.
Ah,
beer
Crossing into the Old Town, our view was of the 700-year-old
Capuchin Bridge a/k/a Stone Bridge. The fenceless, arched, stone
bridge was built in the 14th century by Bishop Leopold, who also
died here. He was riding his horse over the bridge when the horse
was startled and fell over the side into the river, killing the
good bishop. As you can see in our photo, the bridge now has a
fence.
Capuchin Bridge, Skofja
Loka
Across the bridge, the Old Town is small but lovely. Skofja Loka is
known as the most preserved medieval town in Slovenia. We walked
all around, admiring the old buildings and the apartments with
flowers in every window, then climbed uphill to Loka Castle. The
castle was closed for the night when we got there, but the views of
the town and surroundings were wonderful.
Flowers in every
window
From the
castle
By 7:00 p.m. when we'd finished our walk, we were famished, since
all we'd eaten today was a meager airplane breakfast, pretzels, and
a bit of cheese. There wasn't a single restaurant open in the Old
Town, only bars and coffee/pastry shops, so we got in the car and
drove and drove, ready to settle for practically anything we could
find, when we happened upon a small Chinese restaurant several
miles from town. We had no clue what to expect but were thrilled
just to find something open. Happily, the Slovenian descriptions of
the Chinese dishes were translated into English, so we were able to
each confidently order some kind of beef, plus a mixed salad. It
was some of the best Chinese food we've had anywhere! We had plenty
to eat plus a beer each for a reasonable 25 euro. At the end of the
meal, they offered us each a complimentary serving of delicious,
and strong, hot plum wine. I'd certainly recommend Kitajska Restavracija
Zlata Ribica if you're ever in the area.
Back in our room, we tried the Croatian spirits we bought earlier
in the day, called rakija, a popular local beverage produced by the
distillation of fermented fruit. I was expecting something like
grappa, but it turned out to be way more moonshiney. Maybe it would
be better if we'd bought a different brand. To purchase tomorrow:
some kind of mixer. Tom tried a different beer from the minibar,
Union, which was a little more flavorful than the Lasko.
View from our
room
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