Thursday 1 November 2012

Novo Mesto to Ljubljana (31 Oct –1 Nov 2012)

It’s Halloween today. Here the locals observe Reformation day on 31 Oct and it is a public holiday so almost all shops are closed. The town is pretty quiet too.

We had coffee and spent a good part of the morning arranging our shopping from last night (winter stuff etc) and all the things we had brought along for our trip in our Sorento. Naturally, we had overpacked at the start of this trip and ended up throwing quite a few stuff out.

We left Novo Mesto at about 3pm. Hungry, we went in search of a restaurant. Not an easy thing to find on a public holiday.

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At Zuzemberg we came across Gedzo Restaurant and decided to give it a go. This photo is taken after we had our lunch/dinner. It’s already dark outside. That’s the downside of travelling at this time of the year, you lose daylight super fast.

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Hot chocolate for me, coke for mum and red wine for dad.

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Cevapcici, pretty happy to see these (last we had these were in Turkey). Did not really taste the same, but still good.

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Leskovaca Muckalica (Pork and Pepper Stew)

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Urnebes (a type of salad made with cheese and peppers)

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Pecena Paprika

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After dinner, we were given a shot of Raki. Having only heard of it before, this is our chance to finally have a taste. Only took a sip and it’s super strong!

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We had a chance to look into the kitchen. Here is dad with the chef.

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Here’s dad with the owner. When we first came in, we thought that this was a restaurant seving Slovenian dishes. Little did we know that this is actually one that serves Serbian food!.. Oh well, at least we did not have to go to Serbia to sample their food. Will try our luck with Slovenian food in the next town, I guess.


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Corn hung out to dry in the shed right outside the restaurant.

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Today (1st Nov) is All Saint’s Day and also a public holiday in Slovenia. Just like yesterday, towns are quiet and shops are mostly closed.

It’s been consistently cold these days. Not quite sure how our Sorento will react to the cold, I woke up at 3am to warm up the engine for 20 minutes before going to bed again. Just so nothing freezes over in the engine.

At 11am, our Sorento was recording ambient temp of –5oC. We left Zuzemburg for Ljubljana.

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Zuzemberg Castle (Castle is closed. Opens in June to Sept, if not mistaken)

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Lunch at Smarje Sap

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Lunch is Kotleti, fried calamari, french fries, bread, hot coffee for each of us and red wine.

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The restaurant interior, pretty cosy.

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Church of Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic church) and anti Turkish fort at Smarje Sap.

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Church of Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic church) and anti Turkish fort at Smarje Sap.

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The church was at first a three-naved Romanesque basilica, mostly built between 1250 and 1275. There has been numerous rebuilding and reconstruction.
The anti Turkish fort around the church was built at end of the 15th century to protect against raids from the Ottoman.

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