This is the view from my favorite coffee shop, THE RAJ (translation: Paradise ) it’s right next to the river. They make me a special “Americano” a double espresso with the water run through 4 times, That’s the castle in the background and the Devil’s Bridge over the river.
Skofja Loka is one of Slovenia’s oldest villages, it’s a little over 1,000 years old. In 1511 an earthquake destroyed the entire village and it was rebuilt. In 1660 and 1690 fires also ravaged large parts of the town. So today’s infrastructure is somewhat new, just 300 years old, And old infrastructure needs to be either repaired or replaced at some point. So Skofja Loka had a HUGE makeover this summer. There was sewer and water pipes laid. They tore up all the asphalt and replaced it with cobblestone.
People still had to shop and get around. People acted like nothing was going on, they all went about their lives.
It was really interesting to watch the transformation.
T
The finishing touches really help give Skofja Loka a great look and feel.
Art is always a good way to put the finishing touches on a great job.
When your traveling it’s time to skip the old Europe: France, UK, Germany, Spain etc. It’s time to see the old “new” Europe : Slovenia, Czech, Albania, Croatia and of course the must see village of Skofja Loka. Come see a true medieval village with lots of history, photo opportunities that include many hiking and biking options too.
It’s great just living in the old town of Skofja Loka, but when you have to work on the buildings, it can be a little complicated. When the neighbors needed to get on the roof, they must come into our apartment and climb up a ladder from our deck.
There is more work being done than just the rebuilding of the old town. Most roads are just one lane each way and some roads don’t even accommodate 2 cars at the same time. This is the main road from Skofja Loka to Gorenja Vas (where Natasa works), but only one vehicle at a time can pass through here.
Being a member of the European Union has it’s advantages. The EU offered to help Skofja Loka solve the one lane road problem, by digging a tunnel around the bottle neck. The money has some strings attached, they were given just a couple years to finish the project or they had to return the money. When I go out for a bike ride on a Sunday, they’re out there working. They don’t want to give the money back! (they probably don’t have it to give back)
It’s really amazing they let you ride your bike while here while they’re working on the road, that would never happen in America.
There seems like there is construction everywhere you turn, the old town, new highway and the country is getting a sewer system, thanks to the EU again.
We’ve had some pretty incredible storms here. Houses flooded, roads washed away or covered in mud. Natasa and I did a bike ride through one of the valleys that were affected.
I went back a few weeks later by myself to see how much they had cleaned up.
I hoped you all enjoyed this little tour of Skofja Loka’s many construction projects and storm damage repair jobs. I have only one more construction project to show you all.
I have had several request on posting our address, email me and I;ll send you the address
I will post all the photos when I’m done with all the Skofja Loka stories I have a couple more.
Thanks again for reading.
JEFF
