--A sLOVEnian Affair with Wine--

So I'm going to make this my last post about the trip.  I'll never be able to tell in detail all of our adventures.  Nor will I remember correctly all the food and when and where I had it.  However, I can clearly tell you I had wine.  And lots of it... in moderation.  In other words, it's wine country! And there was a festival!  I'll never get over the childish joy I got from the ability to walk and drive among the vineyards, easily hopping back and forth across the Austrian border (even walking into Austria to different wine houses)!  Plus, the wine was out of this world!  They take it all very seriously, even crowning a wine queen.  I never got tired of the view, and was so happy during the (too long) 11km nordic walk led by the ever endearing Peter with his red balloons, and facilitated by the fantastically outgoing Pika, who introduced the American to all the vendors and gave me servings of wine and mošt well over the typically allotted amount.  In the evening, it was a lot of fun to see an entire region wobbling from a high intake of wine and spritzers, singing along to well known songs and some doing a lovely job at dancing!
That weekend we also visited Jože's very charming sister since they have the same birthday.  She lives in a beautiful home through the mountains (again driving through part of Austria and back into Slovenia to get there) with two adorable cats and a giant mountain dog that just wants to be hugged and pet all the time.  Oh, and her family.  But we spent a lot of time with the pets after the delicious meal.