Slovenia - country of encounters and passes...

For both of us, it was our first time in this beautiful country. It is a very small territory which forms the end of the Alpine arc with only 2 million inhabitants and… 1200 bears! Our first impressions? Extremely green country, with a lot of relief and covered by immense forests. Actually the exact opposite of the 10 days in Italy that we had just experienced, here it is a cyclists' paradise ! And what's even better: everyone speaks English!

This country was for us, above all, a place of beautiful encounters. We spent here 5 days and 4 nights and were hosted as many times by Slovenians, always with open arms.

The first night, somewhere near Podbrdo, we saw a family eating in front of their house and after an akward hesitation (yeah, it's not that easy to ask a stranger for a place to sleep!) but eventually we did, we asked Maria and her family if we could pitch our tent in front of their barn, not only it was not a problem but also she invited us for her homemade gnocchi and Slovenian beer. A huge thank you Maria…

The second night we were invited by Anna and Ruk, to whom we asked if we could pitch the tent not far from their house and they offered to sleep in their cottage house. How did we deserve to be treated so well… THANK YOU!

The following night we found a WarmShower in the capital, Ljubljana. Welcomed by Andy, Crazy House owner and craft beer brewer! He made us taste his production. Special mention to its Imperial Stout, a marvel! We took advantage of being in the capital to upgrade Roxy's speed gear so she doesn't suffer that much on the steepy roads.

The last night did not disappoint us either! After a hell of a downpour, we asked Daniel, in a street in Vrhnika, if he knew (the same old question...) where we could pitch the tent. He offered us to sleep in his sister's garage next door. We ended up being invited for an aperitif with liters of traditional Slovenian wine with the whole family and their friends… Having the chance to fully enter into Slovenian daily life was very touching and enriching. We spent an evening laughing and speaking all the languages. Thank you for inviting us to live this little moment with you!!!

Finally we also had a special meeting: Colin and Adèle, two cyclotrotters who also go east! The family of nomads to the land of the rising sun is growing day by day!

We don’t really have words to describe all these beautiful encounters and how grateful we are. It is thanks to these experiences that our journey has meaning. It is thanks to you that we have the strength to continue!