BIKING LJUBLJANA & BEING CRAFTY IN SKOFJA LOKA

It’s been winter and a little cabin fever is setting in.  We had some great sunny but it was also very cold.  I would rather ride my bike when it’s cold than when it’s raining..   There’s a walking tour called THE TRAIL OF REMEMBRANCE that encircles Ljubljana. It’s where the Italian fascist during World War II erected a barbed wire fence around the city.  I contacted WATERMELON BIKE TOURS of Ljubljana to arrange a guided tour, that was a good decision.
After weeks of emailing back and forth he finally finds a day when he’s available.  I text back “it’s -2”!  He’s convinces me it will be OK, so I ride into Ljubljana to meet him.

I’m so glad I hired Tevz to show me the route.  The POT (pot means route) signs didn’t have an arrow on them and I couldn’t really tell which way we should go. Sometimes it’s more efficient for your time and money to hire someone, in this case that was really true. It’s a 25 km ride into Ljubljana and the Trail of Remembrance is 34 km, that’s almost 60 km on one COLD day.  I considered riding my bike back to Skofja Loka, but NO, I was too tired and it was cold.  I can’t wait to attempt the trail  again when there’s some nice warm weather, this summer.

The history of the Skofja Loka region is Handmade goods.  Today we have about 25 crafts people who work out of the DUO Crafts Center, directed & organized by Kati.   I signed up for the felt hat workshop, months ago. We had  only 2 people sign up here, so they had us come to Ljubljana for the class.  I tried to hitchhike in, nope, got on the bus.  The workshop was 4 1/2 hours of standing and working the wool. I was dead tired but luckily, I got a ride home from the women wearing the green hat.  I wear the hat everywhere and with spring coming I wearing even when it’s a little warm!

There was a ceramics exhibit in December, featuring pieces made by the local Handicapped  community.  It’s a super cool program, they not only do ceramics but disassemble old electric meters for recyling and package misc. goods too.  When they offered a ceramic workshop, I couldn’t wait to sign up.  I wanted to learn how they put the intricate & symmetrical pattern on the ceramics.  I found out and it’s lace that is rolled into the clay and then the black glaze is painted on.

We in the process of organizing workshops for creative & active tourist of all ages.  All our local crafts people have signed up to be part of this fantastic project.  If your considering coming to Slovenia and Skofja Loka be sure to plan for a workshop where you can make authentic Slovenia crafts. That you can share with your friends and family or best of all for you!

I’ve had some pain in my leg so I visited a physical therapist and he recommended that I do more walking.  If you’ve read this blog, you know I’m not a huge fan of walking, I’m a biker.  He also recommended that I should walk  with stickers, I painfully took the advice.  I  decided to walk one of my bike routes.  I biked Amsterdam years ago and thought, “I’ve seen Amsterdam.”  Then I parked my bike, Amsterdam  became a whole new city.  I realized then, walking is different  perspective. Some roads don’t allow for 2 cars to pass each other.  One or both of the drivers will take the dirt.  They were “fixing” the roads during my walk.  It took me 3 1/2 hours to walk the route, then I met Natasa at a restaurant.

I’ve been doing lots of different stuff: I went to the travel show in Ljubljana, we got a new Mini-museum in Skofja Loka, it’s part of the castle museum, Starman’s my favorite restaurant is closed for 3 1/2 months for remodeling. There always seems to be a holiday where the kids dress up.  I met with the mayor recently to talk about the growing amount of empty storefronts and the lack of effort to fight the graffiti.

I’ve been working on this post for awhile, everyday I have some great new photos to add.  It’s going to have to be another blog about Skojfa Loka and Ljubljana.   I went to Ljubljana 5 days last week, I went to the International film festival, signed up for a guided tour of Ljubljana.  Used the Bike Share in Ljubljana to ride to the Botanical Garden.

I’ve been twice to Venice, once with Natasa and once alone.  I’ve got some “not so typical” photos.  The first time I didn’t like Venice, but now I feel comfortable being there.
NEXT: VENICE

OK this is it  BYE!

Jeff