Finding Slovenia

"I’d say its up there in some of the most breathtaking scenery I’ve ever seen!"

Last week I travelled to Slovenia for a speaking gig at the University in the capital. Apart from not being able to pronounce the city’s name ‘Ljubjana’ the whole time I was there, I absolutely loved the place. I can’t for the life of me understand why more people I know haven’t been there. A few months before I went, I put a message on my LinkedIn asking for recommendations and out of 8k+ I think I had 3 responses!

I don’t know, maybe someone from the tourist board will connect with me after this, I’d be happy to help!

Slovenia, if you didn’t know, is right next to the top of Italy. Its part European, part Balkan. I stayed in the capital, Ljubjana which reminded me of another city I love, Copenhagen, only on a much smaller scale.

So I was away when the news about the queen broke. This was slightly surreal as there was very little, to no coverage there. I had a lot of messages from work but found it quite hard to connect as no-one here was talking about it. Flying back into Heathrow and seeing the way the Radio and TV coverage had changed was eye-opening, I’d been in a bubble.  

So why was I in Slovenia then?

I feel so blessed to have these opportunities to talk all over Europe. This time I was asked by the University of Ljubjana to run a workshop for their Technology Transfer department. The content was around using Digital tools to research marketplaces, opportunities and find potential investors and partners for academics new and exciting technology.

My workshop was on Thursday so I arrived on Wednesday early and went straight to the the venue to do the tech check. This is a great tip by the way. What could be worse than arriving on the day, in another country and finding out you don’t have the right adapters! There is also something comforting about knowing the space you’ll be operating in - how it looks and sounds.

Tech check done, I had a few hours to kill before going to the hotel and preparing for the following day so I used the time to walk up the hill in the middle of the city to ljubjana castle. I went right to the top and got some amazing shots of the city. I’m super glad I got up that afternoon as it was beautiful weather and you could see for miles. The next day it rained constantly!

Thursday was the day of the workshop and it all went well. Such a nice bunch of people who really looked after me. Simona, who asked me to come over really took time to show me some local sights and took me out for dinner on the Friday. I felt very at home and it really demonstrated just how kind and humble the Slovenians are. Even airport security and passport control mustered a smile!

I purposely stayed on another day (in fact it was more like two as my flight was early evening on Saturday). Where commitments allow I try to do this to get a feel for the place and see some sights. Mrs B is pretty good really and lets me! She says Im a free spirit who can’t have my wings clipped. Boy I’m lucky to have her!

So on Friday I headed off to the Postojna Caves – one of the longest cave systems in Europe. It was torrential rain all day so it made sense! Much better to be in a cave than a hotel room! I’m not sure my photos do it justice to be honest - it was spectacular. You take a 15 min train (yes train) underground which takes you to the main caves. You then get an hour’s walking tour before getting back on the train again to get out. There was even a gift shop underground, pretty epic.

On Saturday (my final day) I headed to Lake Bled. I almost didn’t, but boy am I glad I did. The photo below shows just how stunning it is. I’d say its up there in some of the most breathtaking scenery I’ve ever seen! I walked the whole way round the lake, reached 15,000 steps and got some lunch before heading back on the bus to the capital to get my flight.

In summary, I fell a little bit in love with Slovenia. The people were all friendly, the city was super clean and it felt very homely. The transport was easy (and cheap). I simply can’t recommend it enough it would seem.

I hope through this post I might inspire others to take the plunge and get out there someday, you won’t regret it.