View from the Pillion - Ptuj to Otoceč Castle

There is a heavy mist in the valley rising into the hills when we wake up and by breakfast it is raining steadily. We put on our rain gear and prepare for a damp day on the road. But fortunately, the rain stops fairly soon and by contrast the rest of the day is dry and sunny with just a scattering of clouds.
This is the heart of wine country and in the first few kilometres while the rain is still falling, we climb a hill where the vista of vineyards is exquisite; contoured with the curve of the hills, stepping down the slopes in perfect rows. Soon we ride into the medieval city of Ptuj. At one time this was an important Roman settlement and now,2,000 years later, it is thriving again due to the re-emergence of the wine industry.

Our first stop is at an a very old wine cellar. The oldest cellared wines date back to 1917, but are not for sale. You can buy a pre-WW2 wine for around  €50,000!!! I don't think anyone has dusted since the bottles were laid down. 

The ladies enjoy a good tasting of three of the wines, while the guys have to be content with a few sips and some snacks, as we watch a video about the wines of the region.

Dejan guides us around the town, showing us the main points of interest including the main square, the City Hall, the river and narrow alleys and cobbled streets. He tells us an improbable story about the Castle owner and the Bell Tower - which I have forgotten, but was amusing at the time.

It's hard not to like this, the oldest town in Slovenia, with its  picturesque setting on the Drava River. It has survived ups and downs in fortunes since first habitation in the Stone Ages and early occupation by the Celts.  From the Romans onward it has suffered invasion, burning,occupation, war and re-emergence into a new era of culture and industry. Quirky public art and festivals play a big part in the town. And it has gay friendly signs in the city centre. We relax with coffee in the square before getting back on the bikes. Already our regular coffee breaks are becoming a popular part of our day's schedule.

The riding is glorious today and it's a pity that I don't have photos to go along with my memories of the gentle countryside. I become transfixed by the landscape rich with lush fields, the neat farms and trees with red, ripening apples that remind me of Christmas ornaments. 

The houses are painted in shades of yellow and ochre with window boxes overflowing with geraniums. The route is dotted with tiny chapels and tall crucifixes stand guard. I am in awe as the scenery seems to flow by me like a movie. It makes me want to write poetry.These words start to roll around in my mind "The blue sky, kissed by the sun, sprinkled with rain makes the perfect green - that is the colour of the hills and valleys of Slovenia." I reflect to myself that it's the kind of green that, when painted, can be strident, but in nature it is perfect.  I breathe in the country smells of manure, cut grass, chicken coops and fragrant forest smells.

After a brief stop to see the view of Podsreda Castle we have a late and leisurely lunch before we continue our ride through villages and valleys with a long leg parallel to the Sava River to end up at Otoceč Grad (Castle). This is to be our overnight stop. 

The castle, nicely situated on an island between two rushing rivers, is a Relais &Chateaux hotel. Well, no one said we would be slumming it on this tour.

Primož is there to greet us with our bags already waiting for us in our splendid rooms,

Tomorrow we head for Croatia.

View from the Pillion - The road to Jeruzalem

Dan points out the route for the day.

In the morning we leave our suitcases outside our rooms from where they will be miraculously transported to our next overnight destination. This is truly luxurious. No need to cram everything into saddle bags on the bike; all we have is a top box  where we put rain gear and other necessities for the day's ride.  There are heavy clouds over the mountains where we are heading and Dan predicts rain when we get there. But for now we set off optimistically finding our place as a riding group. Everyone rides well; the Aussies are comfortable together having logged many miles together Downunder. 

But the rain starts slowly as a drizzle and as it strengthens Dan leads us to a covered rest stop in a beautiful valley where, after a pee and coffee break, we don our rain gear. The roads are wet, but the bikes handle it well as we make our way through our first mountain pass. We enter a heavily wooded national park and after riding the park roads for a while we get off to do a little exploring on foot. The rain has already tapered off and its pretty warm with all our gear. There are lockers in the park where we can leave our helmets and heavy jackets so that we can enjoy a short hike to see the lovely Rinka waterfall. The surroundings are splendid - ragged rocky outcrops and majestic tall trees. Across the valley, there is still snow in some places.  

En route again we travel the nicely paved road that leads us very briefly through a small strip of Austria. Back into Slovenia, we pass the abandoned border posts. The EU makes for seamless travel across the countries' borders.

The threat of rain has gone and there are even moments of sunshine. We relax into a comfortable pace. Peter definitely likes the feel of the Tiger and I am happy with my seat and legroom. This is a fairly big deal considering the number of hours I expect to be perched on the back of the motorcycle.With our Senna headsets paired, we can compare notes and chat as we ride. Right from the start this feels like a different experience for me emotionally than our tour in Spain. Now I am more relaxed and really able to enjoy the ride. We are a good team on the bike. Our group also seems to work well together. Dan sets a good pace but keeps a watchful eye to make sure that no one gets left behind particularly when passing cars on the narrow roads. 

Another mountain pass leads us to an valley of farmland and small hamlets. Peter notices that the fuel indicator is showing low and he worries how long it will be before a gas stop. At this point we are at the back of the pack, with no way to signal our need; so we make an executive decision and at the next small town we pull into the gas station. Peter fills the tank, I am ready at the counter with my credit card; in a flash we are back on the road, but already the others have noticed us missing and John has turned back to check on us. Very courteous. We know are in good company! 

The bikes have a nice view of the farm where we stop for lunch.

At the farmhouse, in the Robanov Kot valley we are served a sumptuous five course lunch on the deck overlooking the pasture. The rest of the day's ride passes through a changing landscape. We are entering the lush area leading to the wine region around Jeruzalem. Miles of vineyards stretch in every direction, stepping down the sides of valley, carved into the hills.

 Fruit trees, mostly apples, line the roads and mixed in with fields dotted with bright orange pumpkins, the corn is tall and ready for picking.

Primož is waiting with the van at the B & B in the tiny hamlet of Kog. There is a jovial group of wine tasters enjoying the local produce and we are invited to join them before dinner. As promised our bags are waiting for us in our room. A door leads from the room to a deck with a gorgeous view of vineyards and mountains. We breathe in the fresh air and agree that the first day has been quite blissful; only 11 more to go. 

Starting our Motorcycle Tour today

Today we are going to meet our tour group and be introduced to the motorcycle that will be riding for the next 13 days. But we still have time to do a final stroll around Ljubljana. It's Monday and there is a different vibe to the city. There are less aimless tourists and more people going about their daily business. The shops are all open on the streets we've walked before. I am very tempted by some lovely shoes, but it seems crazy to buy shoes at this stage of the trip. We head to the market where we were amused to read in the guide book that among other wares "old people sell slippers. " It seems like such an odd comment but as it happens Peter needs slippers and sure enough, there is a big selection. We choose a friendly saleslady who produces a piece of cardboard for Peter to stand on while trying on slippers. They're great quality and very reasonable, so I guess the guidebook was making a good point.

This is certainly a nice relaxing, easy to city to get around. We've pretty much walked the entire central part of it, along the river, through the embassy district, the busy squares, pedestrian streets and several routes to the castle. One last walk takes us through a wooded area to the top of the castle hill and back down the other side to check out of the Adora Hotel.

The Pensione Kmecki Hram where we are meeting our group is in a small village about half an hour from the city centre. We gather from our cab driver that it's best known for its excellent restaurant; which is a good thing since we're planning to lunch when we get there. Our room is nice and comfy with a country view and the restaurant lives up to its reputation. And now the serious business starts.

We meet our leader Dejan, (whom we call Dan), Primož, the van driver/bike mechanic/ photographer and our riding and pillion mates - John and June, Ross and Kathy, who are friends travelling together from Australia. It's a small group which is unusual and extremely lucky for us. After a briefing at the Pensione, we are taken by van to the headquarters of Adriatic Moto Tours, where our bikes are lined up and waiting. 

Our bike is a Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200 - Lic. UR31. I nickname it Tony the Tiger. And then we're off on a short orientation ride to get to know the bikes and how we work as a team. Everyone is very happy at the end of the ride. Peter likes the feel of the Tiger and I find the pillion seat extremely comfortable. With the bikes safely stowed back at the pensione, we go by van to Ljubljana for a group dinner at the Castle. We had avoided eating there earlier thinking the restaurant was basically for tourists - but wrong, it's filled with locals, many dressed in finery and the food is scrumptious. And now I think we have seen practically every aspect of Ljubljanski Grad.

Lovely Ljubljana

Church bells, directly across from our open bedroom window, wake us early with energetic ringing. We laugh at the enthusiastic pealing of bells; time to get out and explore. Not far from our hotel we have spotted a sign pointing the way up to the castle. It is like a magnet, perched and keeping watch over the city, the castle has served and protected Ljubljana for centuries.

It has been lovingly preserved with a mix of good restoration and modern interventions that work well, making it easy to access and see otherwise hard to view spaces. It is all well integrated with new uses, such as galleries, modern washrooms and eating areas. In the central court, comfortable chairs and other sitting places make it a welcome spot just to lounge around. This part of the castle is open to everyone. A ticket gets us into the galleries and historic exhibits.

At the top of the tower we take time to enjoy the panoramic view which shows 

the layout of the city, spreading in all directions, with mountains in the distance.

Perfect place for a selfie!

We get a bird's eye view of a special event being celebrated in one of the city's squares.

There is an excellent National Geographic photo exhibit in a long cavernous gallery which is part of a passageway running below the castle. 

From the castle there are several routes back down to the city. We consider the funicular but opt instead for a walking path that leads by an alternate route back to our hotel area. After a tasty goulash lunch, at an outdoor restaurant, where we cluster under large umbrellas with strangers,  to avoid the occasional drizzle, we head off to discover the alternative side of the City - ROG an artists' squat and Metelkova, a more established artists' area which was formerly a squat that became accepted and recognized by the powers that be (i.e. city government). The artists are left alone now to create interesting spaces out of an odd ball collection of buildings. This is supposed to be a great place for nightlife and restaurants, But the day is dull and very few people are about, so I don't think we really capture the essence of the areas.

The street art is wild and adorns walls, building, empty spaces.

 

 It is busier around the square where the Roman Encampment has set up to celebrate Ave, Emona, Ljubljana's 2000 years of habitation.  The camp complete is with gladiators, market and displays. We watch the gladiators form ranks and march through town.

Introduction to our Adriatic Adventure

It all started with a conversation with our travel companions in Turkey. We were discussing travel destinations and Dave and Diane mentioned Slovenia as being one of their favourites. Frankly we knew pretty much nothing about Slovenia, but in checking it out, it did seem rather lovely. Further investigation led us to discovering the highly recommended motorcycle tour company, Adriatic Moto Tours.  One thing led to another, and quite soon we decided that the Alps Adriatic Tour itinerary was the one we liked best with routing through Slovenia, to the coast of Croatia and north to the Dolomites in Italy. Well, that pretty much clinched it.  www.adriaticmototours.com/Guided-Tours/Alps-Adriatic-Adventure/Overview/ The company was great to deal with and before we left home, we had a great set of maps, travel documents and a day-by-day detailed travel itinerary booklet.

There are no direct flights to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, from Toronto, so we chose Jet Airways to Brussels with a connection on Adria Airlines. Jet Airways is a pleasant surprise with good service and nice meal service. An overnight flight with smooth connections. We have come a couple of days earlier than the start of the tour and booked a hotel in the old city. There is a driver from Adriatic Moto Tours to meet us at the airport and transport us to the City. That's a really nice touch. It makes everything so easy. By noon we're checked into the Adora Hotel and ready to explore. Just inside the pedestrian zone, the hotel proves to be an excellent choice; which we made by searching dozens of places online.

The area around the hotel is a nice mixture of shops, restaurants and homes. It's right at the base of the hill that dominates the city-scape with the Castle looming over everything. Our time clocks and food clocks are confused, so first things first we set out to find sustenance. It's raining, but the hotel thoughtfully provides large umbrellas, which are left in the lobby for guests to use. Rain must be a common occurrence!

Ljubljana is a charming city, set along the river banks, with nice bridges and gracious architecture. We do a brief recce of the immediate neighbourhood and find that we have covered a lot of ground by wandering somewhat aimlessly. It's clearly a people friendly destination. Despite the drizzle, the streets, squares and restaurants are very busy. 

In the early evening we meet Iva, our guide from Ljubljananjam for a walking food tour of the city. We stumbled onto this through Tripadvisor. The reviews were so enthusiastic we figured it would be a great way to get acclimatized to the local food culture. Turns out to be an excellent decision. Iva is passionate about food and the city and is a delightful and knowledgeable guide. Within minutes we feel as if we're out exploring with a friend. She has lined up a selection of contemporary and sometimes off the grid specialty places where the welcome is warm and the tasting is delectable.

At Repaete we have soup, salad and polenta with delicious roasted tomatoes and white wine. Moving on, we sample mezes, cold pressed coffee, gelato and mini cup cakes. At the end of the evening we relax with bottles of locally brewed stout. We've learned a lot from Iva about the food culture, the city layout and the alternative art scene. All in all a promising start to our Adriatic Adventure.