I can’t wait to read |=|=|’s reaction, he he.

     by crni on January 19, 2005 at 3:36 pm

BTW, here is an article from NYTimes from 1997, where they mention Slovenian driving. Look at the 7th paragraph on the 1st page :

NYTimes article

     by crni on January 19, 2005 at 3:44 pm

Well, the americans are used to very slow speeds, so our normal driving speed must seem to be very fast for them. One must try and forgive them for that. :>

     by nicjasno on January 19, 2005 at 4:14 pm

> cobblestoned streets, sky-blue lakes,
> snowcapped mountains, historic grand hotels > — plus a cosmopolitan capital (Ljubljana)
> and an up-and-coming wine region.

indeed. and cows and milk and big-breasted women asking for directions. The author`s name is Heidi. Go figure. I hate it when people write about Slovenia like it`s some amazonian jungle recently discovered by the “white men”. And are then comparing it with another “perl”, the switzerland. Which is nothing like Slovenia.

still, beats the other jerks who keep calling us slovakia.

(sorry for the nagging).

     by cookie on January 19, 2005 at 9:44 pm

I can’t wait to read |=|=|’s reaction, he he.

What? Oh, right. Uhh…how dare they compare us to that crap Switzerland and horrible Prague!

     by |=|=| on January 19, 2005 at 10:32 pm

i’d love to visit. but being muslim and american, i’m afraid i get the worst of both worlds. traveling these days is such a pleasure…

seriously, tho, that’s where i envy the us. europe’s landscape, personality, history, it’s all so engaging. america’s just one big shopping mall at times, which is very frustrating.

     by haroon on January 19, 2005 at 10:50 pm

er, i meant “envy the eu” — that one letter difference makes all the difference. philosophically, karmically, geographically.

     by haroon on January 19, 2005 at 10:50 pm

I hate it when people write about Slovenia like it`s some amazonian jungle recently discovered by the “white men”. And are then comparing it with another “perl”, the switzerland. Which is nothing like Slovenia.

Nothing like Slovenia? Alpine Swizterland nothing like Alpine Slovenia? Pleeease.
Look at that picture of Bled. There should be no mystery why people sometimes refer to Slovenia as a little, Slavic Switzerland. Lake Bled, as well as a lot of Slovenia could be mistaken for places in Swizterland very easily.

We share the Alps and are rich compared to all other Slavic countries. These are simply facts. (Although, it is not necessarily in our best interests to have everyone know about these facts!)

     by |=|=| on January 19, 2005 at 11:03 pm

I think it’s true. Slovenia is similar to Switzerland. Little Switzerland - the lakes are smaller and the mountains are not as high. Ljubljana is the new Prague, only smaller. The Karst region is similar to Tuscanny in a lot of ways, only it isn’t. Our country is a sort of European Minimundus.

But have no fear, |=|=|. People, especially tourists, do not want to see the substitute for Switzerland or Prague or Tuscanny. They want to see the real deal. So there will never be throngs of tourists in Slovenia.

     by crni on January 20, 2005 at 5:08 am

Today’s Global Office, which will be shown on CNN at 22:30, will originate from Bled, Slovenia - “the center of new europe”…

     by Karantanec on January 20, 2005 at 10:03 am

I so agree with Cookie as per “some amazonian jungle recently discovered by the ‘white men’” part. Although the good comments about this country may seem like a compliment at first glance, the truth is in what Cookie says. It seems like the general populace of this planet (or at least the western civilization) tends to forget about the centuries (or should I say, millennia) when this part of the world already belonged to the “old Europe”, thus being mislead by only a few decades when Slovenia was a part of Yugoslavia. So when they come here, they expect to find low prices, lousy cars, awkward people, strange buildings, trash in the nature etc. When they find all the beauties, they are naturally surprised.
Short is the memory of mankind. :\

     by Dr. Kruegell on January 20, 2005 at 6:22 pm

Dr. Kruegell, I’m sorry that I have to correct you. Trash in the nature… That is still very common here, unfortunately.

     by visitor on January 21, 2005 at 8:18 pm

As a rare well-traveled American I have to comment here about this notion that Slovenia is anything like Switzerland. To merely cite the Alps as having something to do with it is like saying Big Bear in the Sierra Nevada (California) is like Switzerland. They are nothing alike. First of all Switzerland is much more diverse and complex – and rich. Slovenia is more compact (I think using the word “small� is an error) Slovenia has better pastries by far, better food, nicer people and, more importantly, people who are less dull. The Swiss are nice enough, but hardly exciting. They are at least as reserved as the Englis in Switzerland. The Slovenians are pretty normal, seems to me. And unless they are equipped to encourage the movement to Slovenia of rich jerks from around the world and the often unreasonable demands of rich jerks, I’d lay off this Swiss comparison. The Swiss can handle it. You can’t.

I need to mention this one other aspect, which nobody ever mentions. The Slovenians make better wine, by far. They make better wine than the Croatians. They make better wine than the Swiss. They make better wine than all the Eastern Europeans combined. The sparking wines are only topped by the French.

It seems to me that Slovenia has plenty of charm without resorting to being the “next� Switzerland.

     by John C. Dvorak on February 2, 2005 at 3:05 am

National Geographic Traveller magazine has a short spot on Ljubljana a few months ago. Typical piece with no new insight, but positive.
www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/0411/toc.html
If I recall correctly, there was some comparison to Prague in there!

     by Brian on February 14, 2005 at 5:45 pm