Mt. Etna - the Volcanic Goddess

As the winter is slowly entering the country it is time to bring in a little heat. And what better way to do so than with a post about summer adventures.

We had a great holiday this summer, that I'm still thinking about a lot. And one of most memorable trips we had in two weeks of travelling to the South of Italy was hiking the Mt. Etna. It was so amazing that I still get excited when I think about it.

Etna is a 3323 meters high volcanic mountain in Sicily, the highest and most active volcano in Europe. It erupts every few years or even every few months. The last eruption happened about a month after we visit it.

The Emerald Water of Soča River

We are having a really beautiful fall here in Slovenia, with plenty of sunshine, relatively warm days and nature changing its appearance and covers itself in the most beautiful colours.

Apart from the last few days when nature also showed its power in a different way, with heavy rain and floods.

But let me continue with natures more pleasant virtues.

October is also the month when we celebrate our anniversary. And every year this month we take the weekend off. Off of kids, off of household chores, off of everything but us. We take two days just for us. And of course we don't sit around the house, but go on a trip.

Normally, we go somewhere to eat. Some place we weren't before and around the chosen location of a restaurant we search for great trip we can go to.

This year it was the other way around.

One Day Trip: Mount Mangart

What a day!

The weather forecast wasn't optimistic for the past weekend so the planes that my boys had - to climb to the highest pic in Slovenia mount Triglav (2864 m) was cancelled.

On Saturday morning, however, we woke up to a beautiful, sunny morning so my oldest was devastated. He is a true mountaineer. As to climb Triglav takes two days (O.K., O.K. some do it in one), that wasn't possible anymore, so we had to come up with a solution.

Normally I let my boys hiking around themselves. Giving birth to two children was also the best excuse my laziness could get for avoiding hiking in a big circle. And only now I come to realise that maybe that wasn't such a good idea. I used to hike a lot. I come from a family that spent weekends and holidays going to the mountains.

Family Holiday: Continuing Volcanic Adventure

The final destination of our volcanic journey was the wonderful island of Sicily and Mt. Etna as the highest and most active volcanos in Europe.

From Pompeii, we left the bustling region of Napoli and headed through the peaceful and serene nature of Calabria. And the difference was huge. The traffic has reduced significantly and the time and space have calmed down. It was the most tranquil drive we had in the whole two weeks, almost like meditative state with a little bit of rain and mists crossing the tops of the hills.

After a lot of loud noises and beeping, it was nice just to drive without any worry and rest the ears.

Family Holidays: Conquering Volcanos

The summer is nearly over and more leisure time is slowly fading with it. And what a summer it was!

We started early this year, with our family holidays, just right after the end of school. The next day, precisely. So the summer felt long and we could get the best out of it.

And we got it all: the adventure, the sun, the sea, the mosquito bites, few bumps and bruises, luckily nothing serious and a new record for me - I have climbed to the pic over 3000 m.

We plan the vacations carefully, but always live the space for changes. At one point we changed the destination as we wanted to conquer the volcanos. The two nearest to our home are in neighbouring Italy. So Italy it was. Again.

Hiking in Slovenia - One Day Trip to Sabotin

The autumn has already warmed up. The trees are blossoming, the birds are singing and the days are longer. I love longer days, it feels like suddenly I have more time to do things. In winter the days kind of end at 5 P.M. 

The spring is great. The weather is more pleasant and sunny and it is much more tempting to go outside, to do something that perhaps we don't do as much during the winter. In spring, nature is waking up and so are different activities that are much more tempting in spring. Like hiking.

I love hiking, although I breathe heavily and whine the whole way up. Well, it's just hard exercise and being in bad shape like I am doesn't help. But once on top of the mountain, all the hardship and endeavour are forgotten. To climb a mountain gives a spectacular feeling of accomplishment. Doesn't it? Like being on top of the world. And the views are just astonishing.

The Fast Train to Milan

Having three days of holidays in less than a week and a weekend in between is perfect for a trip.

I love Slovenia's position in the heart of Europe. It is on the crossroad of the South and the West and of the East and the West placing it in the proximity of some amazing places and Milan was our destination this time. 

Well, actually we choose the second largest Italian city by chance. 

I must confess it isn't one of my favourite places in the world as I have some not so pleasant memories from it, mainly connected to countless transfers I had to make at its central train station while travelling Europe.

I was somewhat different experience this time around. And Milan may have been our destination but the real journey was the way getting there. 

Getting Dizzy in the Museum of Illusions

When travelling the museums aren't always on our list of sights to visit. The main reason being that we don't stay in the cities for long as we want to see so much of a country or a region in a short time. When visiting a city we rather wander around the streets, picking interesting spots for kids so they don't get bored too much, and sightseeing to get the feel of city's vibes, how people live.

But there are museums worth visiting, especially with kids and some of them are just around the corner. 

There are quite a few amazing museums in Slovenia worth seeing, especially for the locals, that you can visit as well if you have time.

One of them is the Museum of Illusions in Ljubljana. And that is also a great way to spend a gloomy, windy day if you don't want to spend it at home.

The Hidden Secrets of the Underworld - Mayor's Cave

The spring is slowly crawling in. Nature will soon put on its wonderful colours. It will be some more work as the winter came very late this season, nevertheless, the buds will steadily start to blossom.

However with spring comes also the unpredictable weather and in the beginning, it is still fairly cold. It's in human nature to always complain, I guess. When it's winter they want summer, when it's spring they wouldn't like it to rain when summer finally comes it's too hot and autumn is always the most hated season of all.

So, what one can do to escape the ever-changing weather outside and not be stacked away indoors?

One Day Trips: Stud Farm in Lipica

Lipica is a place that you hear a lot about but rarely visit.

It's a home to very renown breed of horses - the Lipizzaner. Like swans, they are born black or grey and they grow to the beautiful white horses. Not that the foals are not beautiful as well. The transformation itself is beautiful.

Lipica is a small town, mainly constituted from a vast land of fields, a stud farm and a golf course.

The Lipizzaner horses, or their origin more specifically, were often the core of the dispute over history. Everyone wanted to claim them for their own, because of their unique breed. Also, they are very elegant horses and mainly trained for classical dance and ballet-like horseriding shows and tournaments.

Winter Delights

At the near end of winter, we are finally experiencing some winter weather. All the inconvenience that snowing brings aside, we had some perfect snowy weekends to embrace lots of winter fun. Even going to work during the week wasn't that bad as I could admire the curtain of snowflakes sometimes slowly other times really fast coming down.

And it doesn't stop. Snowing that is. It looks absolutely spectacular. 

Plus it doesn't rain after snowing which permits snow to stay and it doesn't turn into a sponge-like mud.

We haven't experienced this kind of winter in a long time. It's snow everywhere and we don't have to chase it to the mountains or ski resorts or any kind of place where snow lingers even in otherwise snowless winters. It is right there on our doorstep or in-laws backyard.

Visiting friends in Bela Krajina

When I talk to people and ask them what they like to do, traveling is on many peoples bucket list. Almost everyone would love to travel. To see new places. To meet new people. To discover new cultures.

I think about this a lot, because traveling is not on my bucket list and wouldn't be on any kind of list id it weren't for my hubby, who likes to travel. To see new places. To uncover the secrets of foreign cultures.

I could live without travelling. I would be perfectly content if not traveling at all. There is already not enough time to do all the thinks I like regularly or to see family and friends more often as it is.

And there are other ways to see places and enjoy the benefits of traveling - paying friends a visit. Friends that I can get to see very often. Friends that live in another region for example.

Few times I year I visit a friend that lives in the South-Est part od the country called Bela Krajina.

One of The Most Magical Places on Earth

We entered 2018 on a gloomy day, with light rain and cloudiness that made the day dark even before the night.

I must admit that rainy days suit me. I like rain, actually I like everything watery: the rivers, the lakes, the sea, the waterfalls, the running water and especially the rain. I concede that for most people the rain is not to pleasant, especially if it rains constantly for days, although for many a day or an afternoon is enough. 

For me the rain is magical and I love the scramble of raindrops on the roof and its sprinkling sound. 

However, most of all I love rainy days, because it gives a great excuse not to move from home on a free day.

And this is one of those days, that we get to enjoy at home. There's just too many thinks that I like to do and never enough time to do them, so I'm always trying to get most of the days that I get the much needed peace and quiet to do them.