SUMMER DAYS BY THE RIVER
I always tell the tourist to go swimming, but I hadn’t gone myself. So I started going everyday. I invited Natasa, she declined to swim but said she would go watch. After watching several times she finally put on her swim suit underneath her clothes and we made the 5 minute walk to the river. She finally went in and we both enjoyed hanging out in the river.
NEW AIR B&B APARTMENT
We opened an Air B & B apartment in the center of the old town. Natasa’s brother owned the apartment below us. He wasn’t having any luck renting it, so we decided to try an Air B&B apartment. We’ve had a few guest, if you want to come to Skofja Loka here’s the link to the
OLD TOWN MEDIEVAL MANSION. FYI you can stay in the European Union for 3 months without a special Visa. Come rent the apartment for a month or 3, no car needed, it’s a great experience.
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- ONLY A 2 STAR?
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- SLEEPS 5
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- LIVING ROOM/DINNING ROOM
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- KITCHEN
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- ANTIQUE CEILING
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- MODERN BATHROOM WITH CLOTHES WASHER
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- 2 OF THE 4 WINDOWS
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- IT’S RIGHT ABOVE THE TOURIST OFFICE
We would have gotten 4 stars but the outside of the building is falling apart. Owning a building with 5 other people, it seems nearly impossible to get them to agree on anything. Your best and greatest asset is your home, letting it fall into disrepair is bad money management, I wish they understood that.
THE NEW BY-PASS TUNNEL IS ABOUT TO OPEN
I’ve been here in Skofja Loka for almost 2 years and all that time they have been working on a Tunnel to by-pass the Skofja Loka bottle neck.
ONLY ONE LANE OF TRAFFIC AT A TIME THROUGH HERE
I talked with the bus driver one day and he said they have talked about the by-pass tunnel for 30 years. The European Union gave Slovenia the money, but they had to finish by a certain date or they had to return the money. I would sometimes see them out there on a Sunday working, ( I don’t think they had the money to give back).
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- TUNNEL ENTRANCE
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- TUNNEL ENTRANCE
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- FRESHLY PAINTED BIKE LANES
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- ALMOST DONE
WE GOT A KITTEN
Sara and Natasa had a booth at the old town garage sale. They sold a few things and got a few things too–a kitten. I’m home alone some days so I also thought a cat would be fun.
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- KITTEN TOBY SLEEPING IN MY BIKE HELMET
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- I OPEN THE CABINET
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- AND IN JUMPS THE CAT
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- PAPER RECYCLE BARREL
THERE’S LOTS OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS TO CLOSE OUT THE SUMMER
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- RE-INSTALLING FENCE AROUND THE PLAGUE MONUMENT
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- WORKING ON THE SUICIDE FIRE ROOF
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- NEW ROOF AT OUR NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS HOUSE.
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- IT’S A BUSY TOWN SQUARE
IT’S FALL, TIME TO STORE SOME FOOD AND TRIM SOME FRUIT TREES
I left a huge vegetable garden and fruit orchard, back in Portland. Our patio garden here only produces so much food. so Natasa and I enlarged her parents garden. With our tomatoes, I canned 30 jars of Italian sauce and Mexican Salsa. One of my reasons for not starting a business here in Skofja Loka was that I could help her parents. Food is a great thing to share with others, so working on a community garden is very rewarding.
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- MAKING THE NEW GARDEN WITH NATASA AND HER DAD, FRANC
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- LOTS OF TOMATOES
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- STUFFED ZUCCHINI FROM THE GARDEN
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- READY FOR WINTER, WALNUTS AND FIREWOOD
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- APPLES STORED FOR THE WINTER AT THE PARENTS HOUSE
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- HOMEMADE APPLE STRUDEL
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- IT’S TIME TO TRIM THE 6 APPLE TREES
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- A KILOMETER OUT OF TOWN, CORN BEING HARVESTED
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- FARMERS MARKET-RED PEPPERS and CABBAGE
SOME FUN PICTURES FROM AROUND SKOJFA LOKA
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- LOCAL PRIEST HOME
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- AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES
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- TURNING IN MY FBI REPORT SO I CAN LIVE HERE.
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- MY GRANDPARENTS NEWLY REPAIRED WATCH
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- WOOL AND SHEEP SHOW, TRAVELING COMMUNITY RUG, OUR TURN TO ADD TO IT.
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- DEVILS BRIDGE SKOFJA LOKA
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- SMART CAR
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- VERY SMART
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- FAMOUS LOCATION OF MY BIKE RIDES TO LJUBLJANA
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- FARMERS MARKET WEEKLY SHOPPING SPREE
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- NATASA USING OUR NEW BIKE TRAILER
In Škofja Loka there is a legend about Prince Abraham, the first feudal lord from Bavaria, who was travelling up the Poljane Valley with his black servant. While walking through the bushes, they ran into a bear. Prince Abraham froze in his tracks, but the black servant calmly drew his bow and shot dead the bear. When they returned to Loka Castle, Prince Abraham ordered that, as an acknowledgment, the face of the man who saved his life should be depicted in the coat of arms. Since then, the Škofja Loka coat of arms has featured the black servant’s face.
FYI, there are virtually no black people in Slovenia, so this is a remarkable commemorative in more than one way.
I keep thinking I’m going to run out of fun stories, but I’m about a month behind now. We’ve used two of our honeymoon gifts to adventure around Slovenia. I took a train-bike trip to the coast. So if your a bike enthusiast (or a wanna be) I’ve got some fun bike stories coming.
I discovered this new musical artist, COURTNEY BARNETT from Melbourne Australia. I put a live show and a great album below feel free to give it a listen, pretty great music.
NEXT: WHO NEEDS A CAR WITH A TRAIN AND A BIKE!
THANKS FOR READING
Jeff
