...proving that life is an uphill struggle.
...as the editor turned the corner, there was hope that it would become easier...alas, the struggle continued.
and then she peaked and the struggle became the reward.
The small villages in Slovenia are proving to be wonderful places in which to live. After spending three weeks in three of them, we are impressed with the cleanliness, tranquility and friendly neighborly disposition. Add the soaring mountains that both surround and isolate the villages and we see havens of comfort, peace and of course, daunting challenges. Wherever one stands, these edifices comprising dolomite and limestone provide amazing backdrops, positioned high so as to challenge the clouds as well as intimidating mere mortals who wish to reach their peaks and walk along the ridges.
Each village has at least one church that seems to bolster the presence of the residences. The church appears to provide a stability and authenticity to each small area structurally speaking. Of course, it has a far more important function which is outside the ambit of the narrative. Thus far, we have but one comment in regard to these buildings. You might say it is a Hemingway moment. It differs in effect slightly in each village. We are currently in Kranjska Gora, a ski village nestled below…need we add anything further. As we write, the bells are pealing or is it tolling. In this village, the bells peal on the quarter hour and of course, more loudly on the hour. However, at 7am and sometime in the early evening, complete lack of control of the bells occurs and we have two minutes of ear piercing ringing/banging. Whether this is to announce services, act as a community wake-up alarm or because a pastor has too much time on his hands, we don’t know. However, what we do know is that in an age where most people have watches, digital or analog, as quaint as the pealing system is, it amounts to disturbing the peace. Okay, there we said it. We will concede in at least one village, the bells ceased their function from 10pm each night. This was nice and in retrospect, great.
One Saturday morning, I lay awake and soon thereafter, the bells sounded. I heard the hourly double ‘ting’ and then counted three louder strikes, aha, 3am. Admittedly, it saved me getting up to check the time. Guess who does not wear a watch? Could the above thoughts be hypocritical for taking advantage of the time-check mechanism while at the same time, criticizing it.
and then she looked across the way and saw some of Slovenia's finest.
and looked a little to the left and was struck by Slovenia's highest, Trigalav.
and looked down and realized why the climb was so steep.
and when we 'were nearly half-way up we were neither nearly half-way up nor nearly halfway-down...actually, quarter way up. The town of Dovje below.
Standing on the border of Slovenia, the Slav language; Austria, the Germanic language and Italy, the romantic.
We then entered Austria for breakfast with peppermint tea, on a dull day, weather wise.
A dedication to 'cooperation' between the tri-countries at the border, more than 2,000 feet above our
trailhead in Slovenia.
A view from our village, Kranjska Gora, of the tough peak (right) scheduled for the following day.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
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