On The Sunny Side Of The Alps

Now this is perfect! A house on a hill surrounded by vineyards. Lately I've been facing the dark sides of human behaviour...and could use a break in a place like this. Its funny, this sunny card was written in late april and it was still snowing. Hvala Mirjam!

Cats On Chain Postcards

Chain postcards are a great way of giving 'life' to blank postcards you keep at home because you just love them too much to swap them :D These are two latest examples, thanks to Leon who organises chain postcard groups on facebook..:))

Many thanks also to Ana of Portugal and Thealren of Ireland, and Karina of France and Ewa of Poland. Esp. love all the flowers on the 2nd postcard :))

Otočec Castle, Slovenia

Otočec Castle is situated on a small island in the middle of the Krka River in Slovenia, first mentioned in documents in the 13th century. The islet is linked to both banks of the river by bridges and the castle has now been converted into a small hotel. Its a popular venue for weddings and a music festival. I can imagine!

Thank you Kristijan :)

UNESCO - Heritage Of Mercury: Idrija, Slovenia

Mercury is a relatively rare metal, whose use has long been irreplaceable in a variety of technical, chemical and industrial processes. It has only been produced in substantial quantities and over a long period by a small number of mines worldwide, of which the two largest, until recent times, were at Almadén in Spain and Idrija in Slovenia. These two mining towns, whose origins date from ancient or Medieval times, demonstrate the lengthy period over which a socio-technical system of extraction specific to this metal was in operation, and the process of evolution it underwent. 

Many thanks to Mirjam who contributed to my collection, also using lovely bird stamps :))

Map Of Slovenia II

Something I picked on my visit to Ljubljana this winter, and left to my friend to surprise me with some ludicrous writing :) And once again I've concluded I so wouldn't mind living there..!

 

Bled Castle, Slovenia

I visited the Bled Lake early this month but didn't send any postcards...as I have quite a few in my collection already, also this one is the shape of a postal stamp which I've posted the 1st time around, in 2007. As it happens we accidentaly witnessed a wedding, and I can totally understand that someone would choose such a picturesque place for such an occasion :)

This time we've tried the traditional slovenian cream cake, really delicious!! There was a cheesecake too ;)

Jelenov Greben/Deer Ridge, Slovenia

This is a place where my sis and her family stayed last, doesnt it look so relaxing..? They fed deer some plums directly from a tree :) My first encounter with 'Postage Paid Slovenia' stamp, and a different version in Slovenian with the name of the PO. Cool to get a card from such a small place, I thought..!

UNESCO - Škocjan Caves, Slovenia

Skocjan Caves is a cave system in Western Slovenia - this exceptional system of limestone caves comprises collapsed dolines, some 6 km of underground passages with a total depth of more than 200 m, many waterfalls and one of the largest known underground chambers.

The system of subterranean passages, fashioned by the Reka River, constitutes a dramatic example of large-scale karst drainage. The river enters the Škocjan grotto in an underground passage 350 m long, reappearing in the bottom of a 150 m deep and 300 m long chasm, before disappearing into a passage 2 km long. The system of grottos is rich in speleofauna; the underground galleries hold five species of wintering bat.

Everything about these caves sounds so grand and amazing, and I wasnt aware of it until I started collectiong Unesco sites! For some reason Postojna Cave was always so familiar but the other Slovenian caves...and there seems to be many for such a relatively small country. I think I am not done with visiting Slovenia! Hvala puno Tamara :))

Painted Bee-Hive Panels, Slovenia

The beehive panel paintings are unique Slovenian  form of folk-art, with wide-ranging figurative motifs and images, religious and secular. The classical period of the beehive panels was from 1820 to 1880; sadly this art form ceased existing by 1918. Over 600 motifs have been discovered so far. The largest exhibit of beehive panels is located at the Museum of Apiculture in Radovljica, Northern Slovenia.

I haven't seen these in 'real life' as we haven't been in the region, but they seem quite amazing! I did purchase some fine honey products at Ljubljana market though :)))

Friends, Dalmatia

This is a card that I have in my offers album but I was happy to receive it from dear Tina who was on her yearly holiday in Croatia and got it for me :) It is one of my favourite donkey cards because it is a reminder of past laborious times in my region...and what can I say about the stamp? It looks so delicious I wanted to bite that corner of the postcard off! Još jednom hvala Tina ;)

Marmot, Slovenia

The marmots are large ground squirrels, most commonly living in mountainous areas such as the Alps in Europe or Rocky Mountains in America. Marmots live in burrows and hibernate there during the winter. They mainly eat greens such as grass, berries or flowers. And yes they are very cute! Esp this one peeking curiously out of the rocks :)

Hvala Tina! I na još jednoj lipoj markici :)))

Moran sad postati razglednice drugih ex-yugaša da  ne bi bili zapostavljeni ;)

Panorama Of Bled Lake, Slovenia

The glacial lake Bled,, situated in northwestern Slovenia, is one of the prime tourist attractions in beautiful Slovenia. On the small island in the middle of the lake is the pilgrimage church of The Assumption of Mary - visitors ring its bell for good luck.

What a wonderful place to have a PC meeting! Thank you Tina/tinkara for thinking of me and sending this fairytale-like view :) Hvala Tina!

Another - broader and snowier - view came from Tamara, all I was able to say is woow...Hvala :)

Map Of Slovenia

Another great card from Slovenia - this time from my favourite RR :) Makes me realise there are still places in Slovenia that i'd like to visit. Thank you Simona/lunanai, and for the Europa stamps :))

Slovenian Animals

Slovenia is a beautiful country bordering Croatia to the north - just how beautiful it is i will show one day when i post the cards from my journey :) in the meantime here are two great animal cards that i received via tags!

Slovenia' terrain is mostly hilly or mountainous, and over half of the country is covered with forests (i wish we had forests around here!). In the Kočevje area is the largest remnant of primeval forests in the country, situated in the far south. There live these cute creatures, the brown bears.

Received from Vesna - thank you!!!

Now this is something really special - an animal specific in so many ways, it is a challenge to name them all here! In school we learnt about Olm as the endemic species of the ex-yugoslavian state, as it only lives in the river Soča basin, southern Slovenia, southwestern Croatia and Herzegovina.

It is only now that i learnt its english and latin names (Proteus), as we always called it 'čovječja ribica', meaning 'man fish' or 'human fish' - because of the colour of its skin, which lacks pigmentation due to underground dwelling. For the same reason this amphibian is blind and entirely aquatic.

I think this is a wonderful photo to represent the Olm, thank you Tina! :))