Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Slovenia is also the land of polka. Slovenes claim that polka music was invented here,
and singer/accordionist Slavko Avsenik—from the village of Begunje near Bled—cranks
out popular oompah songs that make him bigger than the Beatles (and therefore, presum-
ably, Jesus) in Germany. You'll see the Avsenik ensemble and other oompah bands on
Slovenian TV, where hokey Lawrence Welk-style shows are a local institution.
To really stretch your euros, try one of Slovenia's more than 400 farmhouse B&Bs,
called “tourist farms”
(turisti
č
ne kmetije).
These are actual, working farms (often organic)
that sell meals and/or rent rooms to tourists to help make ends meet. You can use a
tourist farm as a home base to explore the entire country—remember, the farthest reaches
of Slovenia are only a day trip away. A comfortable, hotelesque double with a private
bathroom—plus a traditional Slovenian dinner and a hearty breakfast—costs as little as
Most visitors to Slovenia are, in my experience, completely charmed by the place. With
all it has going for it, it's hard to believe that Slovenia is not already overrun with tourists.
Somehow, this little country continues to glide beneath the radar. Exploring its mountain
