A sharing by Ling Sing Lin
I recently paid a visit to Central Europe, and one of the countries I visited was Slovenia. Slovenia was totally foreign to me before my visit. I could only link it to Melania Trump.
While reading a book by Paolo Coelho titled “Veronika decides to die”, the protagonist, a 24 year old Slovenian, asked the same question “ Where is Slovenia?”. Even their citizens face this identity crisis. Apparently she was committing suicide in order to put Slovenia on the map!
Spending only four days in Slovenia, I cannot do justice to this country in my brief blogpost.
Geography
Slovenia is a landlocked country, with Austria to its north, Hungary to its east, Croatia to its south, and Italy to its west. It used to be part of Yugoslavia.
With a land area 28 times the size of Singapore, its population is only 2.1m.
It is part of the European Union, and uses the euro as its currency. Its capital and largest city is Ljubljana, an unpronounceable name (Loobliana to our ears). I discovered that the Alps is called the Julian Alps in Slovenia (the Alps is called Dolomites in Italy).
Like many European countries, Slovenia is picturesque and scenic. There is the beautiful Lake Bled, which is in the Julian Alps. Slovenia’s ONLY island (Bled Island) is in Lake Bled. Remember, Slovenia has no coastline. This tiny tear-shaped island is a famous tourist spot, with the Assumption of Maria Church located there. We were told that the boatmen who row visitors to this island actually build their own pletna or gondola, which are truly beautifully crafted.
Ljubljana
Although it is the capital city of Slovenia and its largest town, it is a small town with great restaurants, beautiful buildings lining the streets, the Ljubljana medieval castle overlooking the town, and a set of three iconic bridges ( the Triple Bridge). There is a bustling Central Market with fresh produce over the weekend, attracting both locals and tourists.
This short write up of Slovenia is not a travelogue. It is just to introduce Slovenia to many who have not visited this part of the world. I hope you now have some idea of where Slovenia is.
lingsinglin
Dr Ling Sing Lin is a medical doctor by training. She worked in MOH HQ for many years, in policy making and administrative positions, until her retirement.
