Slovenia is not a big country but it’s filled with beautiful scenery and it’s capital Ljubljana is certainly representing it well.
Ljubljana lies in the curve of the Ljubljanica river, the main streets run alongside the canal intersected with age old bridges and with a castle high on a hill in the centre it makes for a very picturesque city centre.
Ella and I have both been here before but not for many years so we were excited to return.
We are staying in an apartment arranged through house swap by manager mum and it’s only a 1km walk from the bustling centre. Initially a short pleasant stroll but as the days got hotter (to 40 degrees) the walk got a little less enjoyable and the number of quick trips to town reduced accordingly while attempting to preserve both our hydration and energy for the race!
We visited the local market to buy our groceries for the week. Hordes of produce available and all fresh from local farmers. Through some taste testing we were also sucked into buying delicious fluffy spreadable goats cheese - safe to say no complaints here.
Similarly to Prague when a World Cup is held in Ljubljana they host a parallel slalom race on the flat water canal in town. It makes for fun viewing for the locals, gets all the athletes in town socialising and promotes the actual race. There is even money to be won! Which is a big deal as we don’t win any money for the World Cup races unless you win over the entire series, and even then it’s not even enough to cover your costs of travelling to all of them.
Tacen (the village where the race course is and what we call the venue) is notorious for its big drop off the start line. There is an art to nailing this drop and when you get it boy does it feel good! Of course there are also times where the hole takes you in and spits you out in whatever direction it chooses but really that’s all part of the thrill. It’s a great place to paddle and was a good week of training despite the wrist tendonitis playing up a bit.
Quals kicked off on Friday. Els raced what is possibly her last ever World Cup and I think she is happy with her first run! My first run on the other hand didn’t go exactly to plan, I improved on second runs but picked up 3 touches which is no way to make the final unfortunately.
We celebrated the end of this racing block by going out for a drink with some friends - Ben, Michael, Swedish boys Freddie and Erik and Huw. We went to a roof top bar with a beautiful view over the city, across to the castle and beyond to the mountains. Good gin (local Slovenian gin) and great company. Evening topped off with ice cream! Vigo is the renowned source of good ice cream in town but it was closed so Cacao made a solid back up option.
For our last day in Slovenia we watched the first day of finals, then packed up our gear (Ivan Silva from Portugal is very kindly taking our boats to Seu) and spent the afternoon at Lake Bled with Andrea (ex-Swiss team member). I had been here before but arriving again looking over the bright blue lake to the church on an island in the centre was still breath taking. The water was warm and inviting and with the colour reminiscent of the Aitutaki lagoon it made the perfect place to cool off and relax.
Ella and I now fly to the Puglia area of Italy for 3 nights! I have just a few days of holiday before heading to Seu for a training block. Sadly we part ways after this but excited for our last few days travelling together!!
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