Malček Krasa / A bit of Karst

V mladinski hotel Pliskovica sem si želel pokukati od same otvoritve naprej, kar se je zgodilo nekaj let nazaj. Glede na časovne razmere sva si privoščila eno nočitev, za kar mi je bilo kar nerodno poslati emajl za registracijo... Kratki oddih se je navkljub pričakovanjem vendarle izkazal kot učinkovito metodo za polnjenje baterij.

Prvi dan sva 'potovala' po stari cesti. Namesto po avtocesti do Sežane sva jo ubrala skozi Col in pogosto se je bilo treba ustaviti, razgledati in raztegniti ude. Ob odhodu se je Ljubljana po jesensko sončila. V gozdovih nad Logatcem sva naletela na pravo zimsko pravljico. Čez hrib nad Vipavo je vladalo pravo malo poletno vzdušje. V Štanjelu sva si ogledala Ferrarijev vrt in se s krulečimi želodci pripeljala do Dutovelj. Po rahlo precenjenem kosilu sva jo oddurhala naprej. Na pliskin borjač sva prispela v temi.

V hostlu naju je pričakalo prijazno in komunikativno osebje, super atmosfera in tradicionalna arhitektura. Jeseni navkljub je bila hiša polna ljudi, nekaj udeležencev slikarske kolonije in nekaj živahnih domačinov. Imajo tudi super knjižnico raznih revij in ostalih publikacij, povezanih z bližnjo in širšo okolico, ki so odličen vir inspiracije nadaljnjih izletov. Še recepcionistka nama je med smukanjem kraškega šetraja nasula celo kopico izletniških izhodišč.

Odločila sva se za sprehajalno pot po devinskih klifih in čez slabe pol ure sva z njih že pogledovala na morje, Trst in slovensko obalo. V Devinu naju je pričakala rdeča preproga, okras božičnega časa.

Misel na kosilo naju je hitro vrnila v domovino. Pri Planinskem polju sva zavila z avtoceste, toda še preden sva lahko začela pogledovati po gostinskih izveskih se je skujal najin ford. Kosilo je zdrselo po ledu in sledila je previdna vožnja domov z nazivno hitrostjo nedeljskih voznikov. Zaradi posledic dvodnevnega potepanja in ironije dogodka, da nama sredi zasnežene pokrajine zavre voda, je najina dobra volja ostala neokrnjena ...

Kadar se spet odpravimo na Kras, si izberemo več dni, toplejši čas in kakšen pedal, da si ogledamo vsa ta njihova čudesa.

- zasneženi Logatec / snowy Logatec -

- kaki pred Vipavo / khaki tree near Vipava -

- račji zbor / duck assembly, Vipava -

- cerkev / church, Štanjel -

- Ferarijev vrt / Ferrari garden, Štanjel -

- sončna ura / sundial, Štanjel -

- borjač mladinskega hotela / hostel yard, Pliskovica -

- detajl poslikave zidu / hostel wall detail, Pliskovica -

- na Rilkejevi poti / following Rilke's path, Devin -

- pogled na devinski grad / gazing at the Duino castle -

[en] For some time now I have wanted checking out this cool hostel in the Slovenian Karst, in the village called ‘Pliskovica na Krasu’. I never had the time or I never took the time to do this, and therefore this week, we gave ourselves a mini-vacation. We booked a single night to stay there and we did manage to make this short trip worthwhile.

On the first day we took the municipal road rather then driving on the highway. Slovenia is very small, as I am sure u know, but in this smallness everything is concentrated. We left Ljubljana on what looked like a sunny autumn morning. 30 km later in a town of Logatec we drove through a winter fairytale and over the next hill - a summer atmosphere awaited us.

In the small village of Štanjel we went to see the Ferrari garden and then had an overpriced meal in the village of Dutovlje. We arrived at our destination after nightfall.

The hostel was rebuilt according to the rules of traditional architecture. The personnel is nice and communicative, as are the most of the Karstic people. I imagine the fall is not the greatest time of the tourist season in Karst, but the homestead was full of people. There was an entire room of participants who came to a painter’s colony, and the locals kept dropping by. Their collection of various periodicals and other publications regarding the nearby and more distant places are a great source of inspiration for trip planning. We talked to the receptionist as she was picking dried savory and she immediately gave us a heap of excursion starting points.

We decided to go to Italy for a walk on the cliffs of Duino some half an hour later we were already glancing the sea, Trieste and the Slovenian seaside.

Due to our food-related conversations during our walk we became quite hungry and quickly returned to our native country. But our moody car that has, ironically, boiled over in the middle of a snowy landscape interrupted our plan. However, we didn’t let the steaming water to spoil our two-day adventure and so we proceed back home with the careful velocity of lazy-Sunday-drivers.

When we decide to return to Karst, we will choose a warmer time, more days to spend and we should also employ our pedaling skills, so that we may see all the marvels that stand there.