Slovenian and Croatian Cuisine

Two types of pasta, meat dumplings with cracklings, AND pumpkin gnocchi with figs, chestnuts and pumpkin seeds

Prekmurska Gibanicais

štruklji are made with filo pastry and have a filling of your choice

 "Kremsnita", the local cake of Bled. An improvement of the custard square, with vanilla whipped cream underneath the pastry layer. The hot chocolate is thickened. A normal hot chocolate is called a Kakov (sounds like co-cow)

Kakov

Red wine soup with made with Prosciutto and bread. Refreshing, it tasted like mulled wine with ham.

 Local pasta dishes, fuzi with truffles, ravioli with abergine, and gnocchi with wild nettles

 A local hamburger, but instead of a patty, the meat is similar shapes to kebabs.

 Bean soup with bread

 Ljubljana Cake

 Roasted Chestnuts

 Spinach pasta with chicken

 Polenta and sour milk

 Plum dumping with honeyed breadcrumbs.

Chips and things

 Deep fried dough balls.

 Cheese, tomatoes, rocket, and cabbage, - a salad

 Plum dumplings - Austrian style

 Beef steak with štuklji 

 Pasta with mushroom and pancetta.

Apple štuklji 

Honeymoon Highlights - Slovenia and Croatia

 
Exploring the capital city of Slovenia, the old city of Ljubljana.

The architecture is so different from New Zealand, and so old!

 The medieval town of Skofja Loka.

 Lake Bled nestled in the hills.

 Vinegar Gorge.  Autumn splendour following a river, complete with waterfalls.

 Koper, a seaside city with alleyways to explore and Venetian architecture.

 Piran - A compact city on a peninsular.  Lots of red tiled roofs, and alleyways to explore.

 Hrastovje - 14th century church with "Dance of the Death" mural.  The exterior hides the beauty within.

Postojna Caves - Wonder and awe inspiring

 
Popped over to Italy for the afternoon after visiting the caves. Canals and scooters

 We spent three days in Croatia, and explored the North Western parts, and the Istrian Peninsula.

 Karlovac Castle

 War damaged homes in Turanj - Karlovac

 The villages of Rastoke and Slunj, situated between two rivers.

Plitvice Lakes - Waterfalls and more waterfalls...

... and more waterfalls.

 Our trusty stead, a VW Roc, parked in Rijeka.

 A day spent exploring the old stuff and ruins on the Istrian Peninsula.

 The smallest town in the world -Hum (population 20 people)

 
 Skull and cross bone gravestones in Graēišče, and the fragrance of figs in the village

 3BC mosaics in Pula. Lots of Roman influence in the architecture of the city.

 The arena at Pula.

 Bronze age ruins - 3,000 years old - Monkodonjo

 Abandoned township - Dvigrad

 Zâvsrjé - nature reclaiming a nearly abandoned village.

Last evening in Ljubljana - Slovenia

A gentle stroll through the city on our last evening in Slovenia.  Autumn has arrived at Tivoli Park, the central park in Ljubljana.

Ljubljana's largest park was designed by the famous Slovenian architect Plečnik, Jože Plečni, while the Jakopič p romenade is named after a Slovenian painter, Rihard Jakopič. The promenade is used as an open air gallery.

The locals cycle and walk through this park, it is Ljubljana's largest park, with 5 sq. km. of formal gardens, paved paths & grassy picnic areas.

 We decided to have dinner in the old town, and with the Marathon in town, streets were closed off, and the restaurants were full, and had waiting times.

The National Art Gallery

St Cyril Church - Orthodox

We found a restaurant that specialised in local Slovenian cuisine.  Erik opted for the steak and mushrooms,  in a wine sauce, with cheese dumplings.

 Istrian "zlikrofi", handmade pasta with pancetta and porcini mushrooms. We had apple strudel for dessert.  The buttered breadcrumbs are a nice touch.

The honeymoon has come to an end. As the Ljubljana Marathon is also happening in the morning, we have to leave earlier, as all the road around the city are closed to vehicles. We leave at 8am, taking the Go-opti shuttle to Marco Polo airport in Venice, Italy, then fly 5 hours to Doha, Qatar.  I am not looking forward to the 18 hour flight from Doha to Auckland, New Zealand.