And so I went on holiday.

It was, in essence, a stunner.  Slovenia is an incredible country which I cannot hope to describe, but here’s a few bits.

First, you can’t get England’s national dish (MacDonalds) there.  That, for me is a good start.  There are virtually no fast food outlets at all - no KFC, Burger King or anything.

Second it is beautiful beyond compare - I stayed in the Julian Alps, at Lake Bled, and it looks like a film set.  Even when I fell into the lake (my first adventure into an Alpine lake in fact) it was fun and not nearly as cold as I thought.
Third,  the music.  Bled is a small town, but every night there are at least two, sometimes four, free musical events going on.  From Irish folk music at the bandstand to two guys playing 1950s rock on guitars in the shopping centre.   Live music is what Slovenia seems to live for, and it is utterly wonderful.   Of course if you don’t like live music, then the place loses its appeal, but if you enjoy cafe society with scenery that looks like it was painted into a 1960s movie backdrop (castle at the top of a mountain, that sort of thing) with real people playing real music that they love to an appreciative audience, this is the place.

And there is the friendliness.  And the fact that the three year olds speak English.   Plus all the usual stuff to see (the caves are particularly beyond belief - mile after mile of underground caverns with stalactites and the stuff that goes the other way - they have trains that drive through the caves so you can see them).

One of the most amazing things was the music from Macedonia.   I have to admit I wasn’t too sure about it - knowing that Macedonia was next to Greece, and that personally I am not a fan of Greek music (all that plate throwing), so I sat by the door ready for a quick exit.   But a Macedonian band turned up to play one night in the Festival Hall.  (This is a town of 5000 people and it has a magnificent, modern, festival hall, that puts on free concerts).  It was utterly sensational.  A choir of 11 women, and a band of 7.    Beyond anything I have ever heard.

Stupidly I didn’t have enough euros with me to buy the CDs so I am still searching on the internet to be able to get a copy.   Macdeonia looks like being my next destination, although I did meet this Irish guy who suggested that Waterford would suit me down to the ground if it was folk music I wanted, and he had a spare room in his apartment.  But I think I will stick with Macedonia - and a lot of recommendations to everyone I know that they should go to Slovenia.

One little word of warning.  I went to the Post Office to buy Euros before setting out, and was told (and indeed shown on an official PO notice) that Slovenia’s currency was not the Euro but in fact the Flavian Pibble Bead.   This is untrue.  They are an EU country and they have the Euro.  Couldn’t be easier (except of course that we are not in the euro and so the exchange rate is really naff - that was why the Irish were having such a great time - no problems with an exchange rate).

Go there - if you like people who don’t shout, don’t argue, where there are no police cars racing by with sirens blaring, where everyone looks healthy, where the weather is great (4 days of sunshine, one night of violent lighting, one day of cloud and then repeat), where everyone speaks wonderful English, where the national dish is the cream cake…

On Monday I am back to school.  Hey ho.