SKOFJA LOKA, “More than I could ever wish for”

                                                HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM JEFF’S BIKE TOUR

We are doing super. I have a great situation, Natasa and I are super happy together.

Not only is it great with her, but Sara (her daughter) and parents are great to be with too.
The family situation for me is something I haven’t had in my life, for a long time. After my grandmother died in1995, there has been only a couple family Holidays for me, once with my brother. My mom died last summer, I hadn’t talked with her in 20 years.  My Dad? That’s another story too, I’ve written him once in the last 10 years.   I unfriended my 1 brother  on Facebook, a couple of months ago. Enough. 

So that gets me to what I want to actually talk about.  The great family situation I’m in now.  Natasa & I laugh and love all day, I’ve never had it so good.  “Living the dream” that’s really the truth.  Natasa’s parents are only a 5 minute walk away.  We’ve  had them over for breakfast. Sunday night dinners and Christmas.  Natasa’s Mom, Mirjana  had a 70th birthday party this summer.

They had numbered birthday cards but they were sold out of the 70 ones, I went to 3 stores!

 

Both Franc and I were on our own for dinner one night. He tries to speak some English, it’s still better than my Slovenian. We had coupons for 2 free Bosnian Sausage dinners, we went and had a great time-even with the language problems.
I cooked Christmas dinner this year, turkey, vegetarian shepherd’s pie, salad, mushroom stuffing.  I looked down at the table and soon realized, I cooked the whole thing, holy shit.

Franc said if he likes the food he shows it by eating ALOT!  It’s actually quite amazing how much he can eat. Mirjana is a great cook too.

 

Another traditional Holiday that they have here and not in America is St. Nicholas Day.  You exchange small gifts 10 days before Christmas.  Natasa’s brother’s family, parents and Natasa and Sara.

 

It’s great living in the “old town”, bike tourist  come through all summer, it’s great to talk with them.   This is Oscar & Patricia from Argentina, on their  3 year journey. They stayed a few days in our basement room. I think their staying in Istanbul now for the winter.

 

 

 

My plan is to do bike tours here in Slovenia.  I’ve camped and visited maybe 1/2 the country.  There still lots to explore and would love to show off Slovenia to my friends.

 

 

 

We got invited to a neighborhood meeting, Natasa had to work so I went.  They all had kids,  I also learned that people from around Slovenia come to Skofja Loka just to walk around the square with their kids.  I was wondering why I was seeing so many baby carriages.

 

 

 

It’s been a mild &  dry winter.  I rode into Ljubljana 3 times in 7 days (50 km rt), to Christmas shop.  I’m learning all the “safe” bike routes.

 

 

 

We have a small patio and the snow was piled up.
It was pretty cold -8 (17 degrees fahrenheit). So the snow was so dry that you couldn’t make a snow man.  So we tried to shovel the into something?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m learning some Slovenian, I’ll say adijo (goodbye), then they say goodbye to me in English.  Everyone knows I only know a few words but when I try to practice they end up just speaking English to me (thanks).  So I thought ok, I call Natasa honey in Slovenian, why not?

So I started calling her Med instead of honey.  She liked honey better.  Medi is a little bear, so I started calling her Med Medi and she likes that (somewhat) we both laugh about it.
Here’s your chance to see how hard the Slovenian language  really is.  How to say “Did you eat anything yet?” in Slovenian.  There’s only 10 ways to say it!

I really feel like I rescued the 3rd phase  of my life meeting. Natasa and her family  are a true blessing for me.
More Photos are HERE

I hope you enjoyed this update.  Thanks for reading.

Jeff

NEXT: FIRE BREAKS OUT ON NEW YEARS IN SKOFJA LOKA & MORE FUN TALES.