July 2021
The Story of Mikul in Kostel
We started our car ride from Ljubljana at 8.30 in the morning and reached the Petrina tourist office just before 10 o’clock. We had traveled this road several times before on our way to the Croatian coast and Petrina was connected with a border crossing more than a tourist destination in our mind but we had always enjoyed the beauty of the mountain roads so we looked forward to exploring the area in more detail.
Our guide Gregor greeted us at the tourist office and showed us the big interactive screen with information and activities for the area. We were able to scan QR codes to save cycling and walking tracks on our phones. We discussed the weather conditions which did not look to our advantage for the two-day adventure but we remained optimistic and talked about some backup plans.
We drove up to the Kostel castle and enjoyed the magnificent views from both the lower and upper castles. The castle staff was very helpful and kind. We watched a short documentary film about the castle history in the knight’s hall and afterward we did the castle escape challenge which is an escape room type of game spread out in different areas of the castle. The challenges were at a good level for a family where both our daughter and us parents had to think hard at times and also solve some physical tasks.
When we completed the challenge we rewarded ourselves with an amazing picnic basket prepared by the castle staff with delicacies from the local farmers. Ice tea, wild pig salami, cheese, and cornbread were in the basket and we gladly filled our bellies.
In the afternoon we took a short track up to see the Nežica waterfall and drank pure water straight from the river. When we arrived to the tourist farm Rugole we were served a delicious dinner with fresh fish from the local fish farm, cooked potatoes and a salad. The Rugole family showed great cooking skills so we looked forward to the breakfast the next day and they did not disappoint.
The next day we had to change to original plans to fit the weather and drove to viewpoints where we could see the Kolpa river which had now grown because of the rain. We also visited the St. Anna chapel, Peter Klepec and the Fara hills. To finish this adventure we went back to the Rugole farm for a traditional Slovene lunch with goveja juha soup, potatoes, vegetable, rice, pečenka meat and apfel strudel.
Samuel, Eva and Julia Gustavsson
Photos by: Samuel, Eva, Julia
