For those out of the loop, in March/April of 2020 I began to make some serious headway on my genealogy and collection of old photos I inherited, specifically regarding Slovenia. Through a combination of events mostly including Slovenian birth, marriage and death records being made public, a generous group of folks on some Slovenian Facebook groups and some ambitious lock-down ideas, I worked to make sense of my grandmother and great grandmother's collection of documents and in doing so, made a goal of taking my family to Slovenia to explore their heritage and history. So, here's a quick stab at all we did on this once in a lifetime adventure:
Our Slovenia trip started with an overnight flight through Paris then to Ljubljana. We arrived to pick up our van (a manual 9 passenger James lovingly drove) and headed to a lovely B&B in Tačen. Dvor Tačen was our home base for the first few days with lovely hosts, spacious rooms and a delicious cafe. First up was a food tour in downtown Ljubljana. We hit 6 restaurants, with plenty of stops along the way for art and architecture. First up was a restaurant with a turnip/barley stew and the infamous pumpkin seed oil. We then headed down the street to the for Carniolan Sausage. This was the kids’ favorite Slovenian food of the trip! Next was a more traditional meat/cheese board (with more wine of course!), strukelj and a creamy mushroom sauce and then a lovely seafood stop with fried anchovies and grilled sardines. We wrapped up the evening on top the Ljubljana skyscraper (all 7 floors!) With Gibanica layer cake and a pretty nice view of the Ljubljana Castle.
Ljubljana triple bridge with Ljubljana castle in the background.
Sculpture alley of bronze faces that are a water fountain in the summer.
Our first stop, soured turnip stew with pumpkin oil and wine.
Preseren statue. It wasn't until later in our trip that we learned our 4th great grandfather
scuplted one of the side panels.
Dragon bridge!
Charcuterie board stop!
Fried fish!
Last stop of the night with a view of the castle!
After a full night’s sleep, we then headed back into Ljubljana. We picked up Ljubljana cards at the airport that were bus passes and museum entry passes combined. First up was a fun stop with the kids at the Museum of Illusions as recommended by a friend whose husband was a professor and researcher regarding illusions! So much fun and silliness! A perfect rainy day stop.
However, our most exciting stop of the day was scheduled for the afternoon when we met with our cousins in the house where my great, great, great grandfather was born! The family were gracious hosts with the younger generation generously serving as interpreters for the older generations as we shared photos, stories, family trees and FOOD! The family had prepared a Slovenian feast for us complete with potica, cured meats, creme cake, and more! It's almost hard to explain how much joy this brought my heart to meet these relatives and learn more about them!
The next day was when we hit the big three tourist attractions of Slovenia. They are touristy and popular for a reason and we couldn’t imagine coming to Slovenia and not seeing them though you could visit Slovenia without them and have a perfectly lovely visit! A strange paradox for sure. First up was the Postonja Caves. After a 15 minute, fast and narrow train ride we then took about a 45 minute meander through a large, gorgeous cave system and then a return train ride. We even saw the infamous olms/human fish/cave salamanders.
Next up was Predjama Castle. This was a very fun castle to explore up and down through the castle and the cave it was built into. It was also the sight of a Jackie Chan movie from the 90s. Who knew?!? Definitely not us as we all made the same shocked face as the audio guide let us know that!
Finally we headed to Lake Bled. The weather wasn’t the greatest but we took the quintessentially rowed Plecnca boat to the island where we took a coffee and potica stop before heading back. The kids double checked the count of 99 steps to the church on the island.
Our last stop of the day was the Bled castle, another interesting castle to explore. Though castles can be overwhelming and confusing, it’s so good for the kids to see artifacts and change of places that have been inhabited since the Roman times.
The next day was our second day with a tour guide to explore some more rural areas of Slovenia where my dad’s paternal grandmother came from. Our first stop was at a Honey place and while it was the wrong time of year to see the bees or harvesting, they did an excellent job explaining the process of honey harvesting and shared tastes of their many delicious products and let us make beeswax candles.
Then our guide took us to a museum of telecommunications housed in (what else) the local castle/mansion. The kids connected calls on a switch board, sent messages by morse code and saw plenty of Nokia phones from their parents’ younger years on display.
Next up we headed to Nova Oselica/Savodenj. Our guide arranged a stop for us to visit the local church on the hill where our great, great, great, great grandfather carved the alters and where my dad’s grandmother was baptized. Afterward, she helped us translate with the family who owns the property where our family came from, including the carved cellar entry way. They graciously welcomed us in liquers, cookies and stories and research of our extended family. Their middle school son had recently done a report on our family members and they gave us a copy of it. It was a beautiful visit, and a beautiful property.
Next up we headed to Domzale, the area where my dad’s maternal grandfather came from. We stopped in at the Straw Hat Museum, Roman the guide was a fantastic host who walked us through the straw hat making process. We then found a park and mansion that at one point was owned by our family and a monument to one of them.
We wrapped up with a short visit to the Kamnik medieval town for Burek and coffee and a meat vending machine!
The next day we headed back into Ljubljana for some last minute snacks (hello ice cream with cracklins!) and delicacies and for the kids to do some shopping. We wrapped up with a gorgeous sunny day at the meat market where a series of school tour groups people watched Uncle Matt’s mohawk.
Our last days were in the rural village of Čanje. The house had a gorgeous view, made delicious wine and had plenty of neighborhood animals to come say hi. The next day we headed out exploring where we found the Kobal Winery with a patient, gracious wine maker and Thanks to some wonderful genealogy work by genealogy-slovenia and some assistance from our fabulous AirBNB host, we met up with more family on their farm who only vaguely new they had family in the US. Finding a rental a short walk from our family was a beautiful experience. They came up to the house and walked us down to their property where we met more cousins and explored my great grandfather’s homestead. They make their own wines, sausages and in general very delicious food that we enjoyed, along with lovely company!
Our last day left us only for a hard early wake up after a wonderful evening of food and company, followed by a drive to the airport and a looooooong flight back to DC, long wait at customs and a short overnight with Uncle Matt before we split ways and our family headed back to Montana.
