Slovenia is this delightful little country just a few hours drive from home in Vicenza, and is bordered by Italy, Austria, Hungary, Croatia and the Adriatic Sea.

Each one of those neighbours has influenced Slovenia in some way as you will discover when you see what’s on the menu here.

At the same time, Slovenia has created itself a strong identity as a green country. A land of hills, mountains, green valleys; blue lakes and rivers, and many outdoor activities to keep you enjoying all that nature. The air is pure, the pace of life doesn’t feel rushed and the general vibe is good.

We loooove Ljubljana and have been there several times to visit and for Mr CA’s running competitions. So we know that it’s a cool city with fantastic bars and great restaurants, but this time round we really fancied heading out into another region of Slovenia to see what life is like away from the capital.

And as it was winter we decided to look for snow in the Julian Alps of the Upper Carniola region, north of Ljubljana and bordering with Austria, which includes the Triglav National Park.

We left Vicenza and travelled east across the Veneto and into our neighbouring region Friuli Venezia-Giulia and then up towards the mountains via Udine, through Austria and into Slovenia.

Slovenia has an aesthetic thats’s very calming and very fairytale–like.

We found beautiful landscapes of frosty meadows, and forested hills dotted with peaceful churches with onion-bulb steeples.

Here and there you can see traditional wooden racks for drying hay for the animals’ winter feed.

1) Sleep at Apartment Sivi Zako, Bohinj

Our base was in the village of Bohinj which has a pretty church with soft bells
that ring at 7am every morning.

There are two supermarkets, a couple of bars and some restaurants. And
especially for families after sunset there’s an outdoor ice skating rink with a
stall selling hot drinks and pancakes.

2) Go to the Aquapark

Warm up after a day outside in the cold. It’s a noisy place and full of kids plopping in and out of the water, but if you love warm water in the winter as much as I do, you will resist and make the most of it.

After two hours here, we were so physically relaxed that it was enough to drag ourselves back to the apartment and get ourselves into bed for a long, deep sleep.

3) Go Skiing

The boys hired equipment from ALPS-SKI HIRE AND SCHOOL in the village
of Bohinj and went skiing at KRANJSKA GORA which was a 50’ drive away
and at the time the only place guaranteed to have plenty of snow. They
skied all day and returned with big appetites and ready to eat the food I’d
prepared for dinner.

4) Walk around Lake Bled

I had high expectations for Lake Bled. It’s been looking at me for years now on the cover of my Lonely Planet guidebook. All saturated with bright blue water and a bold red and white church.

Either that or the official winter wonderland photo from the tourist website ifeelslovenia. where the trees around the lake are laden with mounds of fluffy silver white snow.

So, our experience of Lake Bled was neither of those things. And did it matter? Not a bit!
It was dull, moody and bitterly cold. The colours were washed out greys, brown, greens and blues.

We walked the 6km around the lake anticlockwise so popping the church of St and walking up to the castle perched on a rock above the lake and going back down to continue the loop around the lake.

As we went, we took in the ever-changing reflections mirrored on the water, were charmed by a robin flitting among the trees and took endless photos of the beautiful church perched on an island near the top of the lake.

In this area there is also the Olympic Rowing Club and panels outside showing the Slovenian medal winners in this sport over the years. From beautiful and peaceful Lake Bled to a medal in an international event is something!

Nearby is Restavracija Stratus with a small café- the only place open on this part of the lake to get a mug of creamy and thick hot chocolate to warm us up.

If you want to share a traditional dessert too, there is the local Bled Cake kremna rezina which is similar to a vanilla slice, so made up of layers of puff pastry, vanilla custard and cream. It was invented by the head pastry chef at the Park Hotel in 1953.

5) Have Lunch at Old Celler Bled

I’d highly recommend this restaurant for its cosy ambience created by low wooden ceilings and soft lighting and the shiny red and gold Christmas decorations.
The food was great of course, smallish portions by Slovenian standards but expertly prepared and full of rich flavours.

To start us off we were brought a cute cup of hummus with extra oil and breadsticks, followed by homemade bread with a plate and a bottle of Slovenian olive oil to make a generous swirl of oil for dipping. This local oil comes from olive trees growing in the Mediterranean and Karst region of Slovenia which borders with Italy and shares the same climate.

Mains were. pumpkin gnocchi with a porcini mushroom sauce; venison with roast cauliflower and carrots;

We all tried the luscious dessert of volcano cake with blackcurrant sorbet and a ricotta cream.

6) Drive around Lake Bohinj

We drove around this lake because we were short on time and preferred to
stop just for photos and to take in the feel of the place. Well, what to say,
another beautiful and atmospheric winter spot.

The highlight is the medieval Church of St John the Baptist, set above the
stone bridge with the mountains behind and famous for its colourful but gory
frescos inside.

7) Walk up to Savica Waterfall in Triglav National Park

Ever since we went to Iceland, Mr CA has been a little bit obsessed with waterfalls, so he couldn’t miss this one. You drive up to the parking spot by Savica Restaurant along a road winding through a forest of tall, skinny trees and huge rocky mounds covered in bright green moss. With no-one else around it was like entering the world of the Hobbit.

Once parked, you then walk up to the entrance of the national park where you have to pay a small fee to go in and then you can walk up to the waterfall. The day we went, the waterfall was small but powerful and fell into a pool of emerald water. Take your time here to catch your breath after the steep walk and enjoy the view of the mountains and the peacefulness of the location. Remember that waterfalls release negative ions into the air so spending some time near one should make you feel good.

8) Bring Home

Those days of buying fridge magnets have long gone. It was fun while it lasted but then we bought a new fridge and it was time to grow up and have a sleek-looking fridge instead.

No regrets, now I try to buy local products when I can to honour and recall the countries we visit. Fortunately Slovenia has some simple but tasty foodie items that I picked up from the local supermarket.

lime blossom honey: you can imagine that with all that countryside and all those plants in green Slovenia, the bees have plenty to feast on. And that they’re making great honey!

vegetables: parsnips, white peppers and yellow carrots. I asked my Romanian friend how to cook the white peppers and she suggested stuffing them with meat and rice- done.

I can’t find parsnips in Italy and during the winter months I get nostalgic for roasted English parsnips or parsnip soup so when I do find them, I buy them!

avjar: a thick sauce made of roasted red peppers an used as a condiment for grilled meat and cheese or just dipped into with bread. You can buy the spicy or mild. I bought both types, so as to please everyone.

Thoughts about the trip: we were reminded of our holiday in Iceland. The same big open spaces of countryside, pure and nourishing water straight from the tap, churches dotted everywhere. But with better food on offer and much closer to home!