A Facebook event popped up on our feed one day – a brand new music festival was to take place in Florence in late June, with Aerosmith, System Of A Down and Eddie Vedder headlining each of the 3 nights, respectively.
Name of the festival? Firenze Rocks.
We thought “hell yeah!” and dove into trip planning. Anja was especially looking forward to Florence, since she had gone to art school and Florence is considered a kind of Mecca for artists.
Well, Scotland was a 7-day expedition in March ’17, this time accompanied by my brother Bojč. It’s been ages since we’ve had some quality time together, so this was a perfect opportunity – especially since it coincided with the Scotland-Slovenia Football World Championship qualifier. Seemed almost rude not to go :)
Getting to Glasgow was a lot easier (and cheaper) than we had expected – we flew Easyjet from Ljubljana to Stansted and from there with Ryanair to Glasgow – in total, the return journey came to just 85 € per person. Excellent!
Both legs of the flight were pretty uneventful, with the 4-hour layover in Stansted just enough to grab some lunch and finalize our plans for the day. On approach to Glasgow, we were a bit concerned when we noticed snow-covered hills to the north – exactly where we were supposed to drive to that evening. The lady at the Hertz rental booth (we had booked a Corsa through AutoEurope) shared our worries and generously offered the first surprise of the trip – a free upgrade to a Nissan Qashqai (top-of-the-line Tekna trim, list price around 30k €). Thanks again, Jackie!
Ah, our first proper trip in years – last one was Ireland way back in 2012 (will post that too eventually, once I remember all the details). Sardinia has long been on our bucket list and we eventually opted for 10 days in late August/early September. A short drive to Venice Airport and we were soon underway.
We landed in Olbia, picked up our car (Hertz kindly offered a choice between two Fiats – the Panda and the 500. The desk clerk and Anja were in the 500 camp, so naturally I chose the Panda :)) and drove into the city centre towards our first Airbnb host. It was quite a drive – Sardinians are not exacty patient drivers, and our route took us straight through the very centre, with narrow cobbled streets and crowds of pedestrians.
Once we got through the tightest driveway entrance ever (had we booked anything bigger than a Panda, it wouldn’t have fit), we found ourselves at our home for the next few days – il Giardino dei Foletti or the Garden of the Elves. Laura, Ale and their heterochromatic doggie Faith were amazing hosts, doing their best to give us the best stay possible.
It feels like Christmas every time the postman drops off a huge parcel at my front door.
In this case, it was a much-awaited photo book of Vesna and Janez’s wedding (see their story here).
The book is the Ederra model offered by a Slovenian company Kalá Albums, run by the excellent photographer Iva Novak. I went all-out, choosing the largest format and page count (30×30 cm, 80 pages). The result is astonishing – the book is incredible, print quality is great and the craftsmanship is impeccable. I eventually decided against engraving on the cover since the chosen canvas color was too light to make it legible enough (also, the offered choice of typography is somewhat limited but I believe you can provide your own typeface), but the photo on the cover makes a great first impression just as well. The book itself comes in a canvas protection bag, accompanied by a personalized thank-you card from Iva.
The price is a bit steep but considering the sheer size of the book and its quality, I actually find it quite reasonable (especially after seeing products from a few other companies).
A few photos below, feel free to check out their other offerings here!
The Pony is a legend in Slovenian cycling – the folding single-speed bicycle with 20-inch wheels has a cult following among youths, especially in Ljubljana where it is considered a must-have for every student.
And then Red Bull decided on a crazy idea – to organize a Pony hill climb to the highest mountain pass in Slovenia – Vršič.
Navigating a 14 kilometre hill climb with a Pony? Sounds easier than it is!
Some didn’t even make it to the top in one piece …
