My trip to Slovenia – Moj obisk Slovenije

Trip to winter Wonderland!

The whole story with the trip to Slovenia started last summer. I work as a guide-interpreter for a local travel company in Kyrgyzstan. Last summer we had the first Slovenian groups via our partner “Nasmeh” and I was their local guide. Being impressed by open-heartedness, friendliness, national spirit of the Slovenians and their stories about their country, already then I decided I must visit this country, but did not expect it would be too soon!

Encouraged by the invitation of guests I guided, I finally packed my suitcase and started my journey to Slovenia. While driving in the bus from Vienna to Ljubljana I could already see I was coming to a beautiful country with rolling hills and mountains carpeted with dense forest; with churches and small settlements on hills, but could not imagine that country would be as beautiful as in the fairytale…

Potovanje v zimsko pravljico!

Moja zgodba o potovanju v Slovenijo se je začela preteklo poletje. Bila sem lokalna vodnica in prevajalka turistične agencije iz Kirgizije. Sredi poletja sta nas obiskali prvi slovenski skupini našega partnerja Turistične agencije Nasmeh. Bila sem njihova lokalna vodnica. Slovenci so kmalu naredili vtis name s svojo odprtostjo, s prijetnim odnosom, pa tudi z narodno zavestjo in z zgodbami o Sloveniji… Že takrat sem se odločila, da obiščem Slovenijo, vendar si nisem mislila, da bo to tako kmalu!

Opogumljena s povabilom gostov, ki sem jih vodila, sem končno spakirala kovček in začela svojo pot do Slovenije. Že ko sem se vozila z avtobusom z Dunaja proti Ljubljani, sem videla, da prihajam v čudovito deželo zelenih gričev in gora obdanih s strnjenim gozdom; s cerkvicami in manjšimi naselji na gričih, vendar si še nisem predstavljala, da bo dežela lepa kot v pravljici.

 

Postojna cave - the kingdom of magic creatures

 My first day trip was to the Postojna cave and the castle. Already few meters further than entrance I started being amazed by the wonderful shapes and forms. Of course, it was funny for Miha to watch me amazed at the entrance and knowing what was awaiting me ahead.  Having arrived in the gallery and the halls of the cave, I truly understood the meaning of a word “breathtakingly beautiful”. I was surrounded by the kingdom of magic creatures – dwarfs, dinosaurs, people’s faces with different emotions, statues and vanilla ice-cream columns… There was no boundary to my imagination from these stalagmites and stalactites. I felt as if I was Alice in Wonderland, but my Wonderland was thousands times more beautiful… And as a nice conclusion for the trip was to see the olm with its cute name “baby dragon”.

Postojnska jama – kraljestvo čarobnih bitij

Moj prvi celodnevni izlet je bil obisk Postojnske jame in Predjamskega gradu. Že po nekaj metrih v jami so me navdušile čudovite naravne oblike. Mihu je bilo najbrž zabavno opazovati moje navdušenje že pri vhodu, saj je vedel, kaj vse še sledi v nadaljevanju jame. Ko sem vstopila v galerijo in v dvorane jame, sem razumela pomen pojma “čudovito, da vzame sapo”. Znašla sem se v kraljestvu čarobnih bitij – škratov, dinozavrov, človeških obrazov z različnimi ?ustvi, med kipi in vrstami kornetov vanilijevega sladoleda… Ob opazovanju stalagmitov in stalaktitov moja domišljija ni imela meja. Počutila sem se kot Alice v čudežni deželi, a moja dežela je bila tisočkrat lepša… Za zaključek pa sem videla človeško ribico simpatično poimenovano “mali zmajček”.

Medieval castles and epic stories

As a girl from a country who had the history of nomadic lifestyle (always living in yurts – portable nomad’ dwellings from felt and wood) and with relatively recent settled villages and towns, I am always attracted to medieval constructions – castles and churches.  In Slovenia, it was a double joy to see these constructions in perfect harmony with nature: Predjama castle built into the cave, Bled church on the island, Bled castle on a precipice, and many other castles on the hilltops. I would give 10 out 10 for the creative choosing of spots for medieval builders. Walking in peaceful castle rooms and hearing the epic stories such as Erazem Predjamski’s, I was easily transferring back to medieval times being the princess locked in the castle.

Srednjeveški gradovi in epske zgodbe

Kot dekle s podeželja z zgodovino nomadskega načina življenja v jurtah (premično nomadsko bivališče iz lesa in filca) iz dežele, kjer so stalna naselja pred nedavnim, me zelo privlačijo srednjeveške zgradbe – gradovi in cerkve. V Sloveniji je bilo dvojno zadovoljstvo videti te zgradbe v popolni harmoniji z naravo: Predjamski grad zgrajen v jami, blejska cerkvica na otočku, blejski grad na navpični skali in več drugih gradov na vrhovih vzpetin. Srednjeveškim graditeljem bi dala oceno 10 od 10 za izbiro lokacij. Ob sprehodu po tihih grajskih sobanah in poslušanju zgodb kot je tista o Erazmu Predjamskemu, sem si zlahka predstavljala, da sem srednjeveška princesa zaprta v gradu.

 

Starting the Kurent festival early…

The day I had the meeting with my groups it snowed. They were joking that I brought the snow from Kyrgyzstan, which was basically true. But I had the nice opportunity to justify my guilt by starting the Kurent festival early to chase away the winter. Ana and Ales showed around Ptuj, the museum of festival costumes including the kurent, “baba nosi deda”, “zelenyi Jurek”. And the culmination of the day was to visit their friend making kurents, to be dressed in kurent costume and to dance under the nice accompaniment of bells!

Prezgodnji Kurenti…

Na dan, ko smo se dobili z mnogimi od gostov, ki so obiskal Kirgizijo, je snežilo. Šalili so se, da sem sneg prinesla iz Kirgizije, kar je bilo v bistvu res. K sreči sem imela kmalu priložnost preganjati zimo - že pred pustom. Ana in Aleš sta me vodila po Ptuju, obiskali smo tudi muzej pustnih mask, kjer sem spoznala kurentovanje in nekatere druge maske, kot so “baba nosi deda” in Zeleni Jurij. Višek dneva je bil obisk njunega prijatelja, ki kurente izdeluje. Tu so me oblekli v kurenta in sem v prijetni spremljavi zvoncev tudi zaplesala!

  

Of course, these are only some stories and adventures I had. There are many more to tell. I was very happy to meet the guests who visited Kyrgyzstan again, and was pampered by their kindness to show around the country and to host me in their houses. I truly loved my stay in Kranj, which became my temporary home in Slovenia with the scenic backdrop of Karavanke Mountains and misty peak of Triglav and the delicious meals and bakery my host family cooked for me.

Seveda so to le nekateri doživljaji z mojega obiska v Sloveniji, za povedati jih je še več. Bila sem zelo vesela, ko sem ponovno srečala goste, s katerimi smo se spoznali v Kirgiziji. Prijazno so me razvajali, ko so mi pokazali deželo in me gostili v svojih domovih. Zelo lepo sem se počutila v Kranju, ki je postal moj začasni dom v Sloveniji, s slikovitim ozadjem Karavank in skrivnostnim Triglavom v ozadju, ob zelo okusnih obrokih, svežem kruhu in pecivu, ki jih je pripravljala družina – moji gostitelji.

Nuraiym