Praetorian Palace of Koper, Slovenia

Praetorian Palace courtyard at Koper, Slovenia

I found the architecture and design of Koper, Slovenia to be amazing and unique. Above is a well that is in an inner court yard of the Praetorian Palace. More info on the Palace can be found on Wikipedia, follow the link above.

Another architectural detail of the Praetorian Palace

And another architectural detail 

The style is considered Venetian Gothic. It was once part of the Venetican Republic.

Sun motif prevalent thoughout Palace

The sun motif was something I saw throughout the Praetorian Palace at Koper, Slovenia. I took the inside tour, which was not really all that impressive, as only a few rooms were open to the general public. Getting out and about and seeing the town was way more exciting!

Koper, Slovenia: A Delight

Graffiti of Koper

The graffiti of Koper, Slovenia is really at a minimum. I took this shot as I loved the guy in the cap and what it says, "Graffiti is Forever." Actually that is true and graffiti has been around a lot longer than we realize. Roman times had graffiti. I couldn't imagine Italy without it. It is just the way Italians express themselves.

Mostly Koper is filled with narrow cobblestone streets, small wonderful shops, including great bakeries and a market with luscious fruit.

Bakery where I ate a cream puff of some sort

Fruit stands are Koper market

I took a very long walk through Koper. It felt safe and relaxed. I walked from the Praetorian Palace to the waterfront, where I saw the fruit stands and stopped to have a very good cappuccino. Not expensive at all, as well. The people mostly did not speak English, but I was able to get by just fine ... holding out coins like I normally do to pay for my purchase. 

Streets of Koper

Koper was a place that calls my name, and I would love to go back. I felt there was much more to see there. I actually took a tour later on that day to see the Lipica horses. The show was good and the horses were beautiful, but i preferred the town over the horse excursion. I could have lingered there all day, walking along and stopping in shops and just gazing at a way of life so different from my own.

me on the streets of Koper

Lippizzaner Horses of Slovenia

Sascha Gottschalk

Six months ago when I went on the Adriatic and Italy cruise, I was determined to come back and post all my photos and memories while they were fresh. I did do a lot of posts when I first got back, but one post I really wanted to do was about the Lippizzaner horses of Slovenia. I had taken a beautiful photo of a little girl riding a model horse in the museum of the stud farm. But I wanted to post her name, as I told her father I would. The little piece of paper I had written her name on was lost for the last six months. 

Today, cleaning my office I found it. So above is the photo of Sascha Gottschalk, a product of a US father and a Russian mother. I met them on the tour. They now live in Russia, where her father teaches English and her mother works for the government. I was perplexed why a child of an American guy couldn't speak English, so he explained to me that she had lived most of her life in Russia.  I love how I meet the most interesting people on my travels!

Info from the Lipica Stud Farm Museum

This stud farm in Slovenia is the oldest Lippazanner stud farm and has been operational for more than 400 years. More information on this beautiful place with wonderful horses can be found here.

I still prefer the horses of Andalucia. The horses we went to see near Sevilla back in 2003 took my breath away, and we were able to interact with them much more, but the Lipica horses are also beautiful. I especially enjoyed the time before the show when we were able to watch them in their natural setting.

Lippizzaner horse with baby

Note how the horses are born black and turn white as they grow older. 

Our tour group was also quite colorful. I met a wonderful couple who divides their time between Canada and California. They were quite taken aback by our guide, who practically blackmailed us in to writing favorable reviews of the tour.

Our tour group in Slovenia