Story and photography by Bo Zaunders
Caves, Castles, & Casinos: Glimpses of Slovenia
Amazing!
A river that recedes into the underground, reappearing some ten miles away; a lake
that percolates through sinkholes and, for three months every year, also disappears.
We had arrived at one of the natural wonders of the world, the Skocjan caves in the southwestern part of Slovenia, in the region of Karst.
Now under the protection of UNESCO as a part of its collection of World Heritage Sites, these caves – nearly seven and a half miles long and reaching a depth of almost 700 feet – have attracted people for a long time, literally from cavemen on.
Not only have they served as a habitat throughout the ages, research shows them to once have been a site of underworld worship. Maybe it was here, in these dark, fascinating, seemingly endless caverns that the concept of Hades originated.
Even the entrance proved spectacular: a small bridge spanning an enormous gorge, with a waterfall beneath. In the caves, we followed a twisting trail, passing through one awe-inspiring, stalactite-covered chamber after 
the other. Looking up, as we descended deeper and deeper, the walls rose to unimaginable heights. Occasionally we glimpsed a bat, or heard the sound of running water, echoing eerily in what compared acoustically to some vast cathedral. No wonder this was once a place of worship.
It was a two-hour walk. At one point we were 350 feet below ground. Apart from a short elevator ride at the end, we climbed all the way back up. It may sound exhausting, but wasn’t.
I was with a small group of friends on a whirlwind tour of Slovenia, and already we had visited Lake Bled, and explored some of Triglav National Park in the north, near the Austrian border.
BLED, THE BEAUTIFUL
Lake Bled, a glacial lake with turquoise water and a small island in the middle, turned out to be not only picture perfect but admirable from an ecological standpoint. No motorboats are allowed; the only way to get to that lovely island is by rowboat, and if you are a tourist, you take a pletna, Bled’s answer to Venice’s gondolas. This is the only lake island in the country and special indeed, the most notable feature of which is the 15th century Church of the Assumption. Not
surprisingly, the church is a favorite place for weddings, and at the moment we arrived a photographer was on the dock, setting up a group shot of bride, groom, and what appeared to be one big happy family.
Bled was our first confrontation with a Slovenian castle, a 1000-year old edifice, perched atop a steep cliff, and overlooking the lake. Now a museum, it introduced us to some of the history of the country. Fascinating, but a little confusing. For some 850 years, Slovenia was part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1806, the Austrian Empire took over, after which it became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Then Tito made it part of Yugoslavia, and it was not until 1991 that Slovenia, a country the size of New Jersey, finally gained its independence.
HEMINGWAY AND THE WAR TO END ALL WARS
Some gorgeous scenery awaited us in Triglav National Park, the most prominent section of which is the Julian Alps. Now a mecca for anyone enjoying outdoor sports, from kayaking in the summer to skiing in the winter, this northwestern part of Slovenia was once one of the bloodiest battlegrounds the world has ever known. It was here, in the last agonizing gasps of World War l, that Italian and Austria-Hungarian soldiers fought and died by the hundreds of thousands. In Kobarid, made famous as the setting for Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms,” there’s now a museum that chronicles the events. Voted Best European Museum of the Year in 1993, it focuses not so much on victory and glory, conquering and revenge, as it does on the men who suffered through the madness of it all. In a diary, one man writes: “On the 29th I was in the trenches for twenty-four hours squatting among the bodies of our boys and the enemy. The stench was unbearable… There is little water, and it stinks. For two days I didn’t drink or eat…” I was especially moved by the reconstruction of a dark little cavern, in which you see (and hear through a recording) a young soldier writing his last letter to his father.
FROM TROT TO CANTER IN LIPICA
What St. Andrews is to a golfer, Lipica Stud Farm must be to an equestrian. Home
to the world’s most famous breed of horses, the Lipizzaner, the farm is located near the Italian border, and has been in business for over 400 years. Here you can check out immaculate stables, watch horses dance to music in classical dressage riding performances, or, if you make advance arrangements, mount one of these magnificent animals yourself - imagining that you are part of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.
BEDROOM EXTRAVGANZA
We have now reached the Adriatic coast, and are comfortably settled for two nights in the luxurious Kempinski Palace, a large sprawling establishment in the best tradition of century-old seaside spa hotels. My room is quite comfortable though less glamorous than some of the special suites that I was able to see. In deference 
to the name of the town (Portoroz, Port of Roses), the bedroom in one of the suites featured the painting of a gigantic rose, filling the entire space behind its kingsize bed. The Presidential Suite was an enormous spread of 2,475 square feet. The beds, not only huge but with three sets of pillows, seemed to invite to a ménage a trois.
Of the hotel’s several eateries, Restaurant Sophia struck me as particularly noteworthy: a slow-food a la carte restaurant, with white Corinthian pillars, an elaborate wooden ceiling, Mediterranean cuisine, and walls covered with B&W portraits of Sophia Loren.
In Portoroz I had my first brush with a Slovenian casino. Casinos are big in this country, constituting a substantial portion of the nations economy. Lots of Italians, I understand, come here to try their luck.
PRETTY PIRAN
A fifteen-minute drive from Portoroz, and we found ourselves in Piran, a lovely little town at the tip of a peninsula by the same name. Like Croatia’s Dubrovnik or Italy’s Portofino, it exuded all the characteristics of a major tourist attraction: narrow medieval streets, colorful buildings, and historic sites. In the town square stood a statue of Piran’s great hero and native son, the 18th century violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini. We learn that that he might have had six fingers on his left hand and was the first owner of a Stradivarius.
HEADING EAST
Sixty percent of Slovenia is covered with forest and, driving east to the Dolenjska region in central Slovenia, we saw plenty of it along with wine-growing hills and small churches. The vineyards reminded me of a visit we had made to the Lisjak
Winery, just after we left Lipica. There, Boris Lisjak, the winemaker, took us on a tour of his cellars. A sampling followed: mostly light crisp white wines, but also, I recall, an exceptional cabernet, along with which came a large plateful of home-made prosciutto, a specialty of the area.
Ahead lay a tour of Otocec Castle Hotel, and, after we reached the northeastern part of the country, a peek at Olimje, a Renaissance castle turned monastery.
IF WALLS COULD SPEAK
For anyone with a yen to stay in a castle beautifully sited on a small river island and with a history that goes back to the middle Ages, Otocec, now a five-star hotel, is likely to go to the top of the list. For eight centuries, noble families have lived within these solid stone walls, and their presence can still be felt. I was amazed at the way its modern décor, with furnishings in stylish creams and browns, managed to blend perfectly with the historic masonry.
FRIAR BENKO AND THE OLD PHARMACY
In Olimja, the gracious smooth-talking Father Benko first introduced us to the church, a tour de force in baroque interior design, and then the pharmacy, built in 1663 - the third oldest in Europe. Receiving medical advice such as “nettles strengthens blood and raises hemoglobin,” we marveled at some beautiful frescoes depicting Christ, Noah, Moses, King Solomon, and others. One fresco showed Hippocrates (he of the oath) holding a sprig of wormwood.
PTUJ AND MARIBOR
We are now in the northeastern part of the country. In Ptuj, the oldest city in Slovenia, we strolled through ancient quarters and visited yet another castle, this one with an ethnographic museum, which brought history to life with its large collections of arms and musical instruments, not to mention tapestries and outsized 
paintings from the 17th century. One room was dedicated to some rather astonishing carnival masks, carnivals being an important part of the traditions of this region.
In Maribor, the second largest city in Slovenia, we gazed in wonder at what in the Guinness Book of Records has been registered as the oldest grape vine in the world - a reminder of how long viticulture has existed in this region, longer than in Spain, France or Italy. At 400 the vine looked pretty good, spreading all across the wall of a two-story building, which is now a museum. Next to us flowed the river Drava, with the nearby Old Bridge, said to be one of the most beautiful bridges of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
LAST STOP: LJUBLJANA
An air of festivity greeted us in the capital. Paintings, still on their easels, had been hoisted high into the air; others had been placed upside down along the banks of the Ljubljana River so as to present the correct image when viewed as reflections
in the water – all part of Ljubljana International Biennial of Graphic Arts. We crossed a famous bridge with dragons at its four corners, took the funicular to – what else – a castle that perched high above the city, and climbed the 100 steps to the viewing tower before deciding that lunch was long since due.
By now we had come to expect a good hearty meal anywhere we went in Slovenia, and Most, the chosen restaurant in Ljubljana, did not disappoint.
The appetizer consisted of a particularly lush pate, the soup was a rich mix of vegetables, and the main dish had slices of bacon, wrapped around a dumpling.
MEALS REMEMBERED
Dumplings apart, not to speak of scrumptious desserts such as Struklj (layered cream cake), or Gibanica (crumb cake with plums and Poppy seed), Slovenian cuisine, though grounded in local traditions, boasted an international flair - not surprising in a nation with close borders to four other countries. As for the Italian side of it, my mouth still waters when I recall our very first encounter with Slovenian cookery. It was at Restaurant Okarina in Bled, where I was served a combination of Tagliatelle with truffles and Fusilli with smoked trout
Reminiscing on food, I keep coming back to one special early afternoon. We were in
a small open boat in the Piran Bay, on an expedition arranged by Fonda, a family company raising high quality sea bass. The daughter Irene (a successful molecular biologist before she decided to apply her doctorate to the family business) prepared a small repast. With a delicate hand she cut an uncooked sea bass into tiny pieces, which she then placed on mini toast points. A drop of high quality oil, a touch of Sal de Fleur, and we were all set – a mere mouthful, reverently consumed with a glass of wine in the fresh clean air of the Adriatic.
Delicious.
For information visit www.slovenia.info
© November 2009 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
Issue:
January
2012
