Day 107 - Wine

We made arrangements again with Warren, but were not due to meet him til 2pm.  Therefore, after breakfast (very limited food options and they leave the meat and cheese out without a cover so flies walk all over them – not very appertising!), Al and I headed into Ljubljana for shopping and to look around the markets.  First stop was the post office so I could send the marionette and a few other items to Australia.  It was worth the cost as all up it was an extra 3kg weight in my back pack I could do without.  We found a supermarket, did an errand for Warren, then looked in the food stalls at the market.  I was surprised how quiet it all was, it was a great change of pace.  We bought some biscuits and had them with our morning coffee.

Warren picked us up from the hotel at 2pm as arranged, and we drove 45min to his families’ vineyard. It is quite common for Slovenians to have a small vineyard where they produce wine for their personal consumption.  In Warren’s case the family are building a holiday house on the property.  It is very entertaining hearing his stories of the dramas of building the property and dealing with Slovenian tradies.  It is definitely a challenging situation for him.  The view from the property is brilliant.

Whilst walking around visiting the local church and looking at some other houses we met a neighbour of Warren’s – Marion.  He was a very social fellow and invited us all in to his place for a glass of wine.  Warren had to run off to a meeting, so Al and I had a great time with Marion, trying to communicate (he had very limited English).  It was a great experience, and a lovely opportunity to taste the varieties of wine (he also provided a white pinot that his grapes contributed to).  We must’ve been with Marian for over an hour before Warren returned, and Marian’s wife so they had an interesting conversation on the comings and goings of the people in the town.

Next stop was a restaurant where Warren guaranteed we would be having traditional Slovenian food.  The staff at the restaurant were a little stressed as the cook had left for the day, but they still managed to whip up a great meal of schnitzel, salad, mashed potatoes mixed with onion, and mushroom sauce for Al.  Only thing was they got a little confused and brought out the starter after the main course – we took it home in a doggy bag!

We said our goodbyes to Warren when he dropped us back at the hotel.  He really was an incredible tour guide who  went out of his way to show us Slovenia.  We will be forever grateful.