I will find myself in Slovenia over the next week, with my wife Isabel and a group of ten South African travel and business journalists we have invited to first-hand explore this delightful country with the aim of boosting tourism and trade between South Africa and Slovenia.
Blog posting will be slow (and totally absent on some days) while I am on the road. The normal blogging service will be resumed on my return to Cape Town on September 12.
However, I will be “tweeting” regularly throughout my trip. For those not familiar with the concept, a Twitter feed has been added to the sidebar of Investment Postcards where I post short comments (maximum 140 characters) on topical market issues, and also on my personal whereabouts. You can also “follow me” direct on Twitter by clicking here.
For those not familiar with Slovenia, the country has been dubbed many things – “Europe in Miniature”, “The Sunny Side of the Alps”, “The Green Piece of Europe” – and they’re all true. It is a compact country, around half the size of Switzerland, and is situated between Austria (280 km from Salzburg and 370 km from Vienna), Croatia (135 km from Zagreb), Hungary (440 km from Budapest) and Italy (220 km from Venice and 470 km from Milan), in the very centre of Europe.
Although it is a small country of only 20 273 km2, it is very diverse with areas of outstanding natural beauty ranging from rugged Alpine mountains to tranquil lakes to fairytale forests to valleys with lush vineyards and even a stretch of beautiful coastline on the Adriatic. The country’s “wooded” area amounts to 63% of the total, making it a clear leader in this category among all European countries (even beating Sweden).
Add a historic capital like Ljubljana with unsurpassed architecture, museums and numerous cafes along the river banks and you indeed have a cross-section of Europe. Moreover, all this can be experienced in a single day – after all, it only takes three to four hours to drive across the entire country.
Now for braving 13 hours at airports and on airplanes flying from Cape Town to Johannesburg, then on to Frankfurt, and finally to Ljubljana. Meanwhile, I have posted a few pictures below to give you a feel for my surroundings over the next few days …
