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An article published in the March 2009 edition of the Hartland Times

Village life in Slovenia

Slovenia, formerly the northern most state of Yugoslavia was always the most prosperous and unified and was first to gain independence in 1991 after a 10 day war. Slovenia joined the EU in 2004 and entered the "Euro Zone" in 2007.

Only the size of Wales with a population of 2 million, Slovenia lies at the heart of Europe. It borders Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Italy and the Adriatic. It is a country of hills and mountains with woodlands and forests covering 60% of the land. There are crystal streams and crashing rivers, magnificent waterfalls and spectacular limestone gorges and cave systems, scenery so breathtaking that it provided the setting for the Disney film, Prince Caspian and the Chronicles of Narnia.

Our cottage, Híŝa Kostanja (Chestnut cottage) lies in a small village, Gorenja Vas (meaning "upper village") overlooking a pretty Italianate town, Kanal Ob Soči. Kanal with a population similar to Hartland (2000) is in the northwest region of Slovenia, Primorska. The 5 minute walk down to the central square of Kanal takes us past the train station, under the railway bridge and across the River Soča, a truly turquoise and crystal clear river teaming with trout including its own unique species, the Marble Trout. On one occasion, from the bridge we were able to count 37 fish. The summers are hotter and the winters colder as the Mediterranean and alpine weather systems converge. Primorska, is justly known as "Europe in miniature" – within a 40 mile radius you could be skiing in the mountains, shopping in Nova Gorica, rafting on the river Soča, relaxing on the banks of beautiful lakes, tasting wine in the local vineyards or even bathing in the Adriatic.

The whole village has been fantastically welcoming with every occasion marked by a belt of home-distilled schnapps. Raymond the eldest resident in Gorenja Vas, spent time during WW2 at Market Harborough, Leicestershire, as an Italian prisoner of war. Primorska was annexed to Italy between the two wars. He has a great affection for the British as he was treated so well during this time. When Italy capitulated he was posted to Africa where he was captured again, this time in Libya. In total he spent 5 years away from home. Now at the age of 87 he still completes an annual pilgrimage between two hill top churches across 30 kms of steep tracks.

Another neighbour, Tomas has been invaluable to us throughout our adventure. His "day job" is driving a gigantic 102-ton dumper truck at a local Quarry. To us Tomas has been interpreter, local advisor, plumber, electrician, tiler, paver, gardener, caretaker and ski instructor to the boys. He is also the weekend "paper boy".

Tomas is also second in command at the auxiliary fire station in Kanal. There are 50 fire personnel in the town, including the majority of our neighbours, with male, female and youth divisions, all training twice a week and regularly competing in national competitions. The huge fire station is the hub of the town with a nightclub at the back and social function rooms upstairs. We were given a guided tour at 2.00 am one night. The brigade is trained and equipped not only for fire fighting but also for under water rescue operations. Vehicles range from tanker engines to all terrain trucks and even a catering wagon. During summer droughts they deliver water to the farmers in the hills and during the winter months they are prepared to assist with any incidents at the many small ski resorts.

The locals all tend their own piece of woodland and Gorenja Vas has its own saw mill and joinery work shop, so both our kitchen work top (acacia) and the timber for our garden deck (pine) were sourced from within the village. The cement works, 3 km away, with a work force of 800 is the primary employer in the area and has its own builders’ merchant on site. With an agricultural shop in the town, most things we needed were close at hand. We did however introduce the Slovenes to magnolia paint of which we brought 25 litres from home. Preferring more radiant colours they were not so convinced

Many Slovenes speak some English and we are attempting to learn a little Slovene. Slovene is a Slavic language, Jenny can speak some ‘pigeon Slovene’ and Chris excels in the naming of various types of saws. Any attempt to speak the native tongue is received with delight. Because of the importance youngsters place on learning English, Romina, the 14-year-old daughter of one of our neighbours came to stay with us in Hartland during the summer. She fully experienced village life, joining in the Church fete and Carnival week. Unfortunately she also experienced our summer weather!

The boys have also made some good friends. Both Billy and Sammy first learnt to pedal their bikes in the street outside where all the children gather to play. The local children are always in and out of each other’s houses and gradually they have grown brave enough to visit us. During our last trip it seemed at times as though all the children of the village were in our yard. The fact they cannot understand each other doesn’t matter. The boys with great excitement are always coming home with grapes or cherries from the neighbours` gardens or with treats from Raymond or ‘Somebody’s Granny.’

Slovenia has almost become our home from home but nowhere can quite compete with Hartland. If you would like to spend a holiday there or you just want further information about the cottage and its location we would be delighted to hear from you. Please see our advert in this issue of the Hartland Times.