So, if you are following my blog, you know I’ve written about Ljubljana, Caves and Castles, Lake Bled,  Lake Bohinj and Piran.  If you haven’t read these, do catch up.  I think Slovenia is a country worth knowing about. I’m going to finish my tour of Slovenia with this blog post describing a couple of other spots we visited at the end of the two week trip. 

Before I do that I would like to share that Slovenians refer to the parts of the country as parts of a chicken.  It’s a bit like those of us from Michigan refer to where we live as the Mitten State. 

Here’s a visual to show why.  Funny isn’t it? But it works.

One of the main places that people visit if they venturing away from Ljubilaian is the Bovec and Logar Valley.  It’s in the tail of the chicken.  Rick Steves said the town isn’t all that attractive but the scenery is worth it.  I agree with him. 

If you are a hiker this is a place to go. Actually it is a year round destination for all kinds of sports.  My guess is that it isn’t overrun with tourists like nearby Switzerland.  

Not being hikers, we went to the WWII museum. I’m not into wars and museums about wars, but my husband mildly enjoyed it and I found meeting these guys the best. They were a group of WWII vets called Bersaglieris touring the museum that day.    

I was fascinated with them and, of course, looked up on the ultimate source, Wikipedia, and learned their history.

The ‘Bersaglieri’, or sharpshooters in Italian, are a unique unit of the Italian Army who trace their roots back to the 19th century. An elegant black feather plumage marks them out in the field.

Bersaglieri are well-known for their extraordinary performances in parades and military tattoos, always running instead of marching, with hundreds of black feathers flowing from their wide-brimmed black hats. These feathers are also worn on Bersaglieri combat helmets.

The feathers symbolize the speed and lightness of the Bersaglieri, known for their speed and agility, and are a proud badge for those who are part of this corps of the Italian army.

I soon made friends with several of the gents and even got to try on the feathered hat. This made history come alive for me. 

This part of the country is beautiful and I’d highly recommend it for anyone who wants an active vacation in a beautiful setting.

PTUJ

At the end of the trip we went to the head  of the chicken to visit Ptuj, making a stop in Maribor on the way. Unfortunately I developed a mild cold and it rained non stop so we didn’t see much.  

On the way I found these buildings interesting. The first one got picked up and moved during a huge flash flood in the mountains.  It felt like the Wizard of Oz.  

This one is a post office.  Wonder what kind of committee designed this? 

 I loved the red tile roofs in this part of the world, creating interesting patterns. 

PTUJ  appeared to me to be charming and I’d suggest going there even in the rain. The people were friendly and I thoroughly enjoyed the museum there.  

I chuckled when I saw this lady blending in with the funny little statues on a balcony of the museum.   What I mostly found interesting were  the replicas  of traditional costumes worn for festivals in the area.  I’d like to be there for the actual celebration.