Maybe finishing the night with Fireball wasn’t the wisest move but at least I was in no rush this morning. After eventually prizing my eyes open and adjusting to the bright and already hot sunshine I sat outside with a cup of coffee. It was a hot summer’s morning with no more noise than a distant humming of activities around us. Despite living in the capital city, mum’s house is not far from the river and set away from main routes. You could easily think you’re out in the countryside. Eventually I tuned into the buzzing I kept hearing. I looked over to where it was coming from and noticed a large lavender bush that was full of bees. What a fantastic sight. I wish I could attract them like this to my garden!
Once I’ve woken up properly, showered and had some breakfast I went to see dad again. Meal times were always important in my family and my son and I always sat down at the table for an evening meal. Every single night with an occasional ‘sofa dinner’ as a treat. It seemed the best time for me to make sure I was with dad. His motor skills have deteriorated so while he will feed himself he will also forget what he is meant to be doing and then doesn’t get to finish his meal. His girlfriend is always there at the evening meal and she’s asked me to try and see him at lunch time to help feed him.
I took the bike to see him hoping he might be interested in seeing it. He is the reason I’ve always been a bit of a petrol head. He used to take me to watch car rallies, I watched Formula 1 with him and he always liked a new car. He also took me to basketball and ice hockey matches so no wonder I was never a girlie girl. I’m pretty sure he secretly hoped for a boy.
Dad was in a bad shape and seemed argumentative but tired and he didn’t finish his sentences. I sat with him, spoke gently about news from and about Sam, his grandson. I held his hand and stroked his back the whole time which seemed to have had a calming effect on him and he ate most of his food. We took a short walk afterwards and then I left. Even thought there was no recognition of me today I felt happy I got to spend time with him.
Afterwards I met with his girlfriend to catch up. She was out shopping and asked to meet in the middle of shopping complex in a cafe. My worst nightmare! But we found each other and had a coffee and a good chinwag. I didn’t have much time as I was booked at Ducati Slovenia for a quick check of the bike so we arranged to meet for lunch the next day.
I set my map to the address and rode to the Ducati dealer. All I asked them to do is check the bike over, clean and adjust the chain, check tyre pressure and clean off the dead flies. They’ve done all that for a grand total sum of €14. It wasn’t even worth me trying to do it myself. Excellent service and super customer engagement while I had a little drool in the showroom.
After a quick coffee in the cafe at the dealer’s my bike was ready and the only sensible thing to do was to go for a ride.
A kind twitter friend, a fellow Slovenian Ducati owner suggested a route to visit a lake I’ve never been to. He was sadly on holiday with his family or he would have joined me.
Slovenia is a tiny country. A two hour drive in any direction out of the capital and you are going to be crossing the border. And yet, there are parts I’ve never visited. Having left for good at the age of 23 I was always more interested in travelling abroad and discovering the world than my own country. So I’ve tried to rediscover it in the recent years whenever I visit.
And today it was Lake Jezersko. I’ve heard of the lake before but never been. Or at least I can’t remember visiting, perhaps I did with my parents when I was a child.
It didn’t take long to get out of the city and off the motorway. I followed the sat nav on the roads that were winding around the base of the mountains and alongside a river. The higher the roads were getting the better the views. The lake isn’t very big and I didn’t know what to expect so I carried on, ignoring the sat nav wondering when I’ll see it, assuming I will be able to spot it. The road started to climb steeper and the bends were getting sharper. I tried to catch glimpses of the views that were opening up but had to pay attention to the road. It was quiet, no cars going up or down. I kept riding then all of the sudden, around the corner, there was a border for Austria. This was unexpected. I stopped the bike and consulted Google maps.
It turns up the lake is not on the main road and I have missed the turning. Heading back towards it I’ve stopped in a lay-by for a few photos.
This time I spotted the turning to the lake and I was blown away by the colour and the clarity of the water. I have no idea how deep the lake is but you could see the bottom of it so clearly it felt surreal. There was a sign in Slovenian saying no traffic beyond that point but I rode up the gravelled path to park the bike next to the water for some photos. I would have just pretended I don’t speak the language if anyone confronted me about it, but noone seemed to care.
There was a cafe next to the lake where I’ve decided to stop at and have a snack. I knew mum would cook dinner so I didn’t want to fill up too much but I was a little bit peckish. Looking at the menu I decided for a Slovenian speciality – Sirovi Štruklji. A cottage cheese filled dumplings type of food topped with fried breadcrumbs. It’s yummy, trust me!
The day was still very hot despite some of the clouds rolling in and I enjoyed sitting there and thinking about the day so far. Eventually I headed back to Ljubljana feeling very lucky I didn’t get any rain despite the forecast being a bit grim.
I returned to mum’s house for a quick shower and dinner then we decided to head to the city for a drink or two.
