Time to say arrivederci to lovely Udine. We got ready early enough to go out for a coffee at Grosmi on Piazza Matteotti, so peaceful in the morning.

We got picked up at 10:00 by the GoOpti bus–a 9 passenger van, comfortably transporting only 7 of us east to Slovenia. The driver was a very nice guy. We stopped for coffee just over the border where he paid for mine. I felt really bad because I forgot to thank him. The language thing has me in a mental tizzy. Italian keeps coming out but they speak Slovenian! Luckily, almost everyone here speaks English.

Our new spot is very nice although I had a panic when we first arrived because it was freezing inside! The cleaning person had left the windows open and it was windy and in the 40’s. We were informed that the city had turned off the heat because of the war in Ukraine! Very confusing, but this apartment does have independent heat and we are fine.

After unpacking and getting settled we were ready for lunch. Just down the street is the Druga Violina (Second Violin) so we went in there and snagged the last table. They have a very limited menu, offering only 3 things each day on a blackboard and on a paper menu where you check it off with a pen. I chose mine (beef with polenta) because it came with salad and Ken had the stew. It was really good food!

After lunch we walked to a small supermarket, over a bridge. We really need to find our bearings here but not today. It is so pretty and clearly not Italian. The architecture alone is completely different. Here’s a quick shot from the bridge:

Heading back home we passed a wine shop and the men in there before us were stocking up on high end orange wine. I remembered that this is the place to get good orange wine so we got a nice bottle and also a small bottle of some blueberry liquor they had us sample. You can look up Orange wine–in very short, it is white grapes treated like red.

We came back to the apartment and just relaxed. Oh, and there is a big TV here with CNN. We were just in time to see the disgraced and indicted ex president head to his arraignment.

I made us some simple pasta with spinach for dinner and the orange wine was superb!

Here’s our new view:

Ken’s “thing” about these trips is that it’s fine to go the Italy every time but we need to go somewhere else too. So Ljubljana is our somewhere else!