Winter @ Velika Planina
Velika Planina plateau is a great place for photography, no matter which time of the year you visit it. My favourite time is winter, just after fresh snowfall. It is easy accessible by cable car that takes you directly to the ski resort and then it is possible to take another chair lift to the top. Personally I prefer walking up from the other side to Mala Planina and then to Velika planina. To take advantage of morning and evening light it is a good idea to overnight at one of the mountain huts at Mala Planina.
The weather conditions were fantastic – great visibility and no clouds or mists. The only problem was cold – the batteries were failing and it was not possible to do star trail time lapse movie. But anyway, I managed to capture some decent shots that I am posting here.
First Snowfall
Winter is finally here! It is snowing almost in entire Slovenia and the forecast expects two more days of snowfall. Yesss! After a dull late Autumn we have again new possibilities for photographing. Ljubljana is covered in snow and today I took a short walk through the old town. Lovely. Fresh air, festive atmosphere and pure white snow! And it gets even better – tomorrow we are going to the old town again – to have a cooked wine and to make some evening shots of beautifully decorated city!
Beauty of Vineyards
On our Autumn colours tour in October this year we visited Northeastern Slovenia. We spent there two wonderful days and we managed to catch some beautiful light – ideal for landscape photos. On the way there we also stopped at Ptuj – one of the oldest and best preserved medieval town of Slovenia. Our base was private wine cellar that has a few rooms available to rent. The host family surprised everyone with its friendliness, mother is an excellent cook and their own wine was a perfect supplement for her delicious meals.
The weather was totally unpredictable with rain followed by sunshine and rainbows and the sunsets were stunning. Mornings were ice cold, but it was worth every minute standing among colourful vineyards, waiting for the sun to rise. Here are some photos of these two days…
Flight over Julian Alps
Julian Alps is the highest region of Slovenia. It lies to the North-East of the country and a big part of the area is protected as a Triglav National Park. The park is named after the highest peak of Slovenia, Mt. Triglav (2864 m). The mountain is a true national symbol and is featured on the national coat of arms and the flag.
On our tours we spend at least four nights in the area of Lake Bled and Soca river valley. Only this way we can fully appreciate the beauty of the Julian Alps and the Triglav NP. Most of the area where we take our guests are easily accessible and do not require too much of walking. Within these four days we cover most of the natural attractions such as lakes, rivers, waterfalls and mountains.
One of the most popular optional trips with our guests is the panoramic flight over the Alps. It offers completely different perspective and only this way a man can experience all the vastness of the mountain world. The flight can be organised by our team and it can be done from the Lake Bled area or Bovec town. It is possible to open the side windows of the plane to point the camera lens out for unobstructed views. Usually the flight lasts from 30 minutes to one hour, which is long enough to make a full circle around the Julian Alps and lakes Bled and Bohinj.
If you would like to experience the Alps from the sky, let us know soon enough to make all the necessary arrangements.
Truffle hunting in Istria
With our guests from Seattle we went hunting for truffles while we were touring Istria and Slovenia this September. It was a wonderful sunny day – just perfect to search for this Istrian delicacy.
Our host Klaudio took us to nearby forest where he usually hunts for truffles. Two of his loyal dogs were sniffing around the bushes with success – in just one hour we found seven white truffles! After short hunt we went back to his wine cellar to taste Klaudio’s excellent Istrian wines and the cream on the cake was a wonderful spread made of truffles, cheese and butter.
It was a lovely experience and we all had a great time!
