Kamnik & Northern Slovenia

After warm and sunny weather here in Slovenia for the past week, fall announced itself today with morning rain showers and much cooler temperatures.

The rain wasn’t forecast to continue all day, in fact it tapered off to a fine mist late in the morning and then cleared a bit. I’ve learned that wet weather makes you work a little harder in your exploring but it also enhances what you do manage to find.

I drove north from Trzin about eight miles to Kamnik, one of the oldest towns in Slovenia. In the Middle Ages, Kamnik was a prominent and wealthy center of power. It even had its own mint. Today, the old central core with its Austro-Hungarian architecture is well-preserved.

I then drove further north on a narrow and twisty road high into the Savinja Alps. I passed old farms and homesteads in small valleys that didn’t look like they’d changed much from years ago.

One settlement near Robanov Kot on a stream named Bela caught my eye and I pulled over for a better look. Faded religious artwork decorated one wall of the main barn. A water-powered mill on the stream had ceased operation long ago with vines now strangling the machinery.

Nearing the Austrian border, I stopped again in the village of Solčava and climbed a steep stairway to inspect the medieval church. I wondered how the little old ladies in town managed to attend services with such a challenging climb.

In the adjacent cemetery, two headstones piqued my curiosity. A young man and woman buried near each other had both died on the same day in February 1938. Later I did some research online and learned they were known as Slovenia’s “Romeo & Juliet” tragedy. They’d chosen to commit suicide by poison due to forbidden love.

Not the most uplifting story but interesting all the same.

You also learn roads have to go where the mountains allow. The one I was traveling twisted out of Slovenia into Austria for a few kilometers. So, willkommen and then just as quickly, auf Wiedersehen!

My final stop was in the town of Jezersko back across the border in Slovenia. The town church had an ornate headstone embedded in the back wall. It was from 1814 and engraved in German (when Slovenia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire).

It read like a message from a grieving husband to his “loyal wife” Frau Barbara and six “lovely” children. It stated that they all rested together under this stone. It ended by saying “ let me see them again, oh Lord. This is my wish, hope and my plea.”

There was no other explanation as to what happened, only that Frau Barbara had died in her 48th year.

You simply never know what you’ll find on a rainy day.

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Thanks for coming along on the trip. If you have questions or suggestions, tweet @JasonRMatheson. Missed an entry? Click here.