Novo Mesto, Slovenia
I’ve got wheels. My Uber dropped me off at the car rental office this morning in Zagreb and I was soon in the driver’s seat, familiarizing myself with the controls of this shiny red Renault.
I adjusted the mirrors and changed the navigation voice from Croatian over to Australian English. Seriously, why is there a choice between that and British English but no American? Is it so it can tell you to watch out for the ‘roo?
Of course the car is a stick but it’s also a diesel this time, so something new. I quickly pointed this little French car west out of Zagreb and aimed for the Croatian border town of Samobor.
Although it may look far on the map, these are short distances between destinations. Remember, the whole country of Slovenia could fit in a just a fourth of Oklahoma. My hub-and-spoke style of travel will allow me to make day trips across most of the country.
Samobor turned out to be a pretty town along a stream. As I walked into the center it looked like most of the townspeople were gathered in the main square having coffee and cake under a sea of cafe umbrellas.
I continued walking on a leafy trail along the stream and soon came across this warning sign. Something along the lines of “if one of our trees falls on your noggin, we’re not at fault you silly hiker. Go have cake instead”.
Throwing caution to the wind, I boldy strode past the warning and continued climbing up the hill through the woods. Thankfully, no tree crushed my skull. I eventually broke into the sunlight on top and explored a surprisingly impressive castle ruin.
Having satisfied my exploring urge, I finally took the sign’s advice and joined the rest of the townspeople in the square for a slice of their famous cream cake (kremšnite in Croatian).
Back in the car, it was just 15 minutes or so to the border with Slovenia. I navigated two checkpoints: one for the Croatian authorities to stamp an exit in my passport and again for the Slovenian authorities to size me up and decide to let me in their country.
There are no tolls in Slovenia but every car is required to purchase a vignette (good for a week, a month or a year). Fines from the police are hefty if they catch you without a valid vignette on your windshield.
Sure enough, about 10 kilometers into Slovenia, all traffic was forced to exit and form a single line as officers scanned for your vignette. I think I prefer this method rather than stopping at toll booths like we did driving across Italy.
After another 20 minutes, I arrived in Novo Mesto. It’s an ancient, sleepy town perched on a hill on a bend of the Krka River. These are the places I tend to choose as my bases to explore surrounding areas. They’re less stressful than bigger cities and you have an opportunity to really melt into the local culture.
After checking into my Airbnb, I walked across the bridge into town. The sun was setting and cast a warm glow on the church spires. Construction on the tallest and oldest cathedral in Novo Mesto started in 1493 (!).
I was fascinated by the ancient graffiti carved into a few spots on its stone walls. I ran my finger along the arrows below and wondered about the person who carved it here for me to find in 2019.
As I crossed the bridge back over the river, I looked back to get this shot of the sun setting behind the hills surrounding Novo Mesto. Some things in Europe still look like they probably did hundreds of years ago.
I’m set to explore the castles and vineyards along the river here in southern Slovenia tomorrow. Lahko noč!
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