From Mountain Peaks to Vineyard Valleys: Discovering Eastern Slovenia

After two nights in the mountains, it was a tough decision to leave the tourist farm at Govc Vršnik. The gorgeous scenery, peaceful trails, amazing home-cooked food, and warm hospitality made it a place we could have easily stayed longer. But alas, there’s still so much of Slovenia to explore, and our time here is short.

For the past two days, we’ve watched, heard and smelled the cows that spend the night in this barn. There’s a playful kitten that darts around the cows feet when they’re on the move.

The region that we’ve been staying in is known for their traditional wool crafts. I regret that I didn’t get Bob to model this mountain hat for a quick photo!

Our destination for the day is Eastern Slovenia. Slovenia is a small country (about the size of Massachusetts), and from our location in the mountains, it was less than two hours to the far east side of the country. Instead of rushing to get there, we opted for the scenic route.

We took a road that treated us to stunning mountain views, this time from a high elevation.

Along the way, we dipped our toes into Austria for a brief detour. At a roadside café, we enjoyed a snack while chatting with a friendly Austrian who asked to join our table. He was excited to share stories about his days as a foreign exchange student in Iowa back in the early ‘90s. It was a fun, unexpected break from the road.

Crossing back into Slovenia, we spent a little time exploring the ancient city of Ptuj (best name ever – pronounced ‘pah-too-EEE’). It’s the oldest city in Slovenia with Roman roots, and we strolled the castle grounds before finding a spot for an afternoon refreshment.

At the cafe, we had another chat with friendly locals who were interested in where all we’d been in their beautiful country.

From Ptuj, we followed a winding route through the hills to our stop for the night, near Jeruzelem Slovenia. Eastern Slovenia is a mix of hilly forests, crop fields, and vineyards. Tonight, we’re staying at another tourist farm—a modest private room on a vineyard.

Instead of our balcony looking up into a mountainous valley, we’re overlooking peaceful rows of grapevines. No complaints from us!

We have the place to ourselves, and our host prepared a spectacular meal. We started with a regional bean, sauerkraut, and potato soup (which I must try to recreate - this link HERE is my best guess), followed by a garden salad and a main of pork chops, zucchini, and potatoes. Dessert was a potato flour dumpling stuffed with a whole plum, cooked in butter and breadcrumbs. Oh my… we are so satisfied with this meal!

There is something about the potatoes we’ve been served in Slovenia. They’re small, yellow and very rich and creamy in flavor. We really can’t get enough of them!

Where will we head tomorrow? Further east into Hungary? South to Zagreb Croatia? Even we don’t know. Stay tuned to find out!

Good night!

Jen & Bob