Piran

This past weekend I was able to see a lot of Slovenia. On Saturday, Zvonko, Nada, Neza, and I went to the second oldest city in Slovenia, Piran. Piran is located on the coast of Slovenia, on the Adriatic Sea. It was a little over an hour drive, and it was pretty windy, but warmer and sunnier than Ljubljana. This is a picture of Tartini Square, which is named after the composer and violinist, Giuseppe Tartini, who was born here.

We climbed up the town wall which was built to protect the city of Piran.

Tall man, tiny doorway.

A view of the city of Piran from the top of the wall.

Zvonko and his daughter, Neza.

Having Zvonko around is like having your own personal tour guide.

He knows everything about Slovenia.

Nada, Zvonko, and Neza.

The town wall is in the distance, behind me.

As Zvonko said, here you have the "Most efficient clothes dryer."

All the houses are built very close together to be protected from the strong winds, as well as offering shade for each other in the summer.

This is Tartini Square in the background behind me.

Of course we had to stop at a Slascincarna, or a shop that sells sweets.

Another thing Slovenians love, their cappuccino.

One evening, I had one and didn't sleep the entire night.

And again, they love eating outside. Although, it wasn't too bad with the warm sun.

Nada and Neza....

beautiful day...

Vending Mleko Machine

Zivjo! I haven't written for several days! My classes officially began on Tuesday this week (ok, I accidentially slept through the first one...), but I really love it. The class meets Monday through Friday from 9-12:30 and there are eight people in my class. There is one other girl from America, one from Japan, Ireland, Brazil, Mexico, and two from Argentina. None of them have any Slovenian in their blood, expect for the two from Argentina. Most of them had never heard of potica!?! Since I had been studying up on my Slovene before I came here, I feel like I'm ahead of everyone a bit. I have two teachers that switch on and off, and they are very very good.

So on hmmm...Wednesday? Yes Wednesday, Polona and Neza took me to BTC, which is a HUGE shopping mall. The biggest in this whole middle area of Europe. Stuff does seem very expensive here, I paid 2.55 eu ($3.75) for a tube of toothpaste probably about half the size of our toothpaste. And they don't eat peanut butter here, which is an issue. But I was able to find a jar and paid 3 eu ($4.50) for a tiny little jar. Then we went to a little restaurant where we had this amazing pizza. Now that was only 1.90 eu for a huge slice.



mmmm hmmm. Then we headed back to the Perovsek household, where the girls entertained me with popular Slovene music and Polona and Zvonko polka danced in their tiny kitchen. Good times.


Yesterday I took a hike up to the Ljubljana castle which is located on Castle Hill overlooking the city. You can barely see it in this picture hiding behind the trees.

Hisa is "house" in Slovene.

My hike up to the castle was pretty steep, and right on the edge of a cliff.

The castle was built in the 1100's but was almost completely

demolished in the 15th century and rebuilt.

My view of the city from the castle. Pretttttty amazing.

Walking near the river.

One thing I will never understand about Slovenians is that even when it is only 0 degrees C (32 fahrenheit), they love to sit outside to drink and smoke. Terraces are packed.

Check out what this woman is purchasing at a vending machine.

That's right. Milk. Buy an empty glass bottle and have it filled. I think there is probably a cow inside all hooked up to be milked when you make your purchase....

adieu......

The city

Hey friends,

Here are some pictures that I took today as I walked around Ljubljana. The first picture is of where our apartment is. We are in the top of the building, where those five windows are. My bedroom window is on the far right.

This is a picture of the triple bridge.

And Zvonko rescued my suitcase today!

Ljubljana at Last

Well, I finally made it Ljubljana after a delayed flight and nearly missing another. I ended up flying through Frankfurt instead of Munich and then barely made it to my next flight to Lju. But I did, and Zvonko and Neza (my mom's 2nd cousin and daughter) were there to meet me at the airport, although my luggage was not... But Zvonko and Neza took me to there house for lunch with Nada and Polona. They were my saviors today, showing me where I need to go for my first day of class tomorrow, getting me hooked up with a cell phone, and feeding me. I spent all afternoon at their house and met Anton, my grandma's cousin. I took a walk to the center of Lju with one of my roommates tonight. It was very beautiful. I forgot to take my camera today, but will post some pictures tomorrow. Today I learned that the normal speed limit is around 80 mph, and everyone drives very fast with their little cars. That explains why all those European foreigners in America drive so fast.....eh hemmm...

....And my apartment...... is old.

To Europe I Go

So friends,

I will be leaving tomorrow (Sat, Feb 19th) for Slovenia, and will be spending the next 3 months and 4 days in Ljubljana studying the Slovenian language at the Centre for Slovene at the University of Ljubljana. Hopefully, I'll get to meet some of my relatives and do a lot of traveling and eating :)