"sLOVEnia, you guys!!"

as i've referenced here and here, slovenia is an incredible country and i'm obsessed.  i'm so glad that being here in trieste has given me the opportunity to explore the country -- i'm not sure i would have made the time to visit otherwise.

for example: this is at the bus stop near where i tutor on thursday afternoons. that blue road sign says "slovenia" with an arrow.  how cool is it that slovenia is so close, there are road signs directing you. to ANOTHER COUNTRY!

a few weekends ago brought beautiful weather and with friends visiting, i was forced (ha) to make moves to some beautiful sights.  with a macchina that we rented, it was easy to hit some major attractions nearby.

we went to ljubljana, which i love - as you've heard before.  it's the capital of slovenia and there's a large student population there.  we ate amazing indian food (YUM, anything but pasta really gets me going at this point) and then had a night out on the town that can be summarized pretty completely by the photo to the right

needless to say, this brunch (see below) was very necessary. not quite as good as boylan's brunch, but it was pretty damn good.  and it was in slovenia.

also con la macchina, we stopped at a little castle called predjama castle just outside of the postonja caves 

and i mean, if you can't tell, this castle is literally carved out of the side of this rockface. seriously!? INSANE.

seeing the sunset at lake bled was pretty gorgeous. we all know how i feel about the sun setting; i kind of like the bella vistas. and the views around bled were much better than the first time i went when it was a bit overcast. 

the best thing about all of these hidden gems in slovenia, is that they're SO CLOSE to trieste!  on sunday, when i met up with a friend in venice and was sharing stories from my weekend, she said, "hold on, you were in slovenia yesterday?!" yep, it's only a stone's throw away. and yesterday, i was exploring the beautiful coastal town of piran.  piran (or pirano, in italiano) has been rightfully dubbed the "dubrovnik of the north adriatic" -- it was gorgeous.  

after some wandering, a little coffee/postcard break (stamps in slovenia are still relatively inexpensive to the states)

and watching the sunset (of course) by the seaside while posing for perfectly balanced photographs.

so, hopefully i've effectively explained the wonders of slovenia so that you will be interested in visiting this little hidden treat of a country.  i know that personally, i would have never added slovenia to my bucket list and so, as i said, i'm very glad that it was somewhat forced upon me.  

x