Slovenia and North East Italy

After departing the Dolomites we drove south towards Pauda. The temperature kept rising as we drove out of the mountains and we were thankful that we hadn’t planned a holiday further south.  We checked into Palazzo Mantua Benavides.  I was somewhat apprehensive that the parking/arrival process would be stressful considering the description inside a pedestrian zone but it was actually quite smooth.  We quickly showered and changed, and were off in a taxi to Le Calandre.  There were some artistic highlights with wonderful taste combinations with some early highlights on the classico menu (all-aimo, passi d oro risotto, sun).  Towards the later half of the menu food was solid but not mind blowing, and deserts were a let down.  We  did not find a deconstructed cannoli worthy of a level of this international reputation.  Service was substandard for the price as well, some unprofessional staff  (with uniforms to match) and little attention at the beginning of our meal. The next day we headed for Friuli, and ate at L’Argine a Venco.  We rushed in under a torrential downpour of rain for an invigorating start to our meal.  It was a light local lunch, which we both enjoyed.  Tried some very nice local wines.  After this we continued on towards Slovenia. We stayed at Hotel Boka, and ate at the restaurant that evening with some local delicacies.  We did some light hiking in the Soca gorge nearby, water levels were low but the water color and clarity  was  very impressive. We had a late lunch at Hisa Polonka, the sister restaurant of Hisa Franko, a worthwhile stop in nearby Kobarid.  Hisa Franko was a very enjoyable meal, interesting décor, excellent service with a lot of originality.  The next morning we arose early for a drive to Venice airport for our flight home via Frankfurt.

This side trip was a lovely relaxing finish to our week of climbing in the Dolomites.  I was unsure if a couple days was worthwhile to see Slovenia, but our glad we did.  Very friendly people, uncrowded, interesting food scene and nice experience.  We consciously chose to avoid Lake Bled in the summer on the weekend, and do not have regrets about this. I would say that as visitors form Western Canada we would probably take some of the superlatives written about the beauty of the country with a grain of salt, as green forests as raging rivers are not all that rare in these parts, but it was a perfect side trip destination, and I can see why it is popular with European tourists.