Any Travels

Slovenia is the ex-Yugoslav Republic that is most like Western Europe. Bordering on Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, this small state is easy to explore. It has both natural beauty and historical sights, so it makes for a good destination.

It's very easy to say that one county is beautiful, what makes Slovenia different, unique in the company of other beautiful countries is it's diversity. It's the only place on our planet were you can find mountains, see, karst, lowland, ... so closely together.

Slovenia is a small country with a wide exposure to the outside world. It is known, among other things, for its recent Olympic medals in downhill skiing, rowing, shooting, kayaking and athletics. Slovenia's younger generation of winegrowers on the very borders with Italy have developed a seriously lucrative export business for their high-quality, high-tech and high-price white wines. It hosts one of Europe's leading early music festivals. Endowed with highly skilled human capital and strategically located between the east and west of Europe - the cross-roads of key east-west and north-south trans-European corridors - it is widely perceived as an important contributor to the stabilisation and cohesion of the Balkan region. And Slovenia was chosen by George W Bush and Vladimir Putin as the location for their first-ever meeting - at the home of former Yugoslav President Tito, Brdo Castle.

The only EU candidate country from the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia's two million population - and its picture-book capital of Ljubljana - owe their heritage to their uninterrupted links from the early Middle Ages with the Italian- and German-speaking part of the Holy Roman and Austro-Hungarian empires. Always the most liberal of the republics in Yugoslavia, it has established a stable democracy and moved easily to a market economy. It is one of the most prosperous EU candidate countries, with a GDP per capita (in terms of Purchasing Power parities) higher than Greece's and close to Portugal's, and an unemployment rate lower than in Germany or France. Its main concern about its terms of EU accession is that its relative prosperity will mean it could pay in more than it gets out.

Since WWII many Slovenian folk traditions have been lost, but traditional musicians and old-style cooking (heavily dependent on fish, venison and the dumpling) keep the beat alive. Slovenia is no stranger to more modern pleasures like punk and post-modernist art, but their best-loved writer is still the 19th-century Romantic poet France Preseren.

Postmodernist painting and sculpture has been dominated since the 1980s by the multimedia group Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) and the five-member anonymous artists' cooperative IRWIN.

Slovenia's most beloved writer is the Romantic poet France Preseren (1800-49), whose lyric poems set new standards for Slovenian literature and helped raise national consciousness.

Slovenia's most beloved writer is the Romantic poet France Preseren (1800-49), whose lyric poems set new standards for Slovenian literature and helped raise national consciousness.

Slovenian cuisine, which traditionally relies heavily on venison and fish, is heavily influenced by that of its neighbours. From Austria, it's klobasa (sausage), zavitek (strudel) and Dunajski zrezek (Wiener schnitzel). Njoki (potato dumplings), rizota (risotto) and the ravioli-like zlikrofi are Italian. Hungary has contributed golaz (goulash) and paprikas (chicken or beef stew). And then there's an old Balkan standby, burek, a greasy layered cheese, meat or even apple pie served at takeaway places. There are many types of dumplings; cheese ones called struklji are the most popular. Traditional dishes are best tried at an inn (gostilna). Slovenia produces some noticeable red and white wines, a strong brandy called zganje and Union and Zlatorog brand beers, which are very popular.