Slovenia  Photo enquiry 1- Human Fish, Snow and Sink Holes - What is Slovenia like?

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All photographs can be used in any teaching and learning context in a school but cannot be used for any other purposes without prior permission of Chris Durbin 

	1.1. We are entering this country from Austria travelling south.  We are driving from Klagenfurt to Bled
	1.2. These are the Alps in May. Much of the snow has gone but...
	1.3 It can come back at any time as these mountain passes are over 1000 metres above sea level.
	1.4 The highest mountain is Triglav, 2864 m.a.s.l. Slovenian's feel the need to climb it. This lodge in the Vrata valley is a place to tackle it.
	1.5 The villages lie in the valley bottoms.
	The Slovenian language is Slavic related to Serbian and Croatian languages
	1.6 Bled is an important tourist centre just below the alpine region. The view from the hotel district.
	1.7 The small romantic island with a catholic church.
	1.8 The forests surrounding Bled are full of flora
	1.9 Further south the lowlands are farms - flat country.
	1.10 Ljubljana is the capital and largest city.
	1.11 The city centre is attracting tourists, students and local people to enjoy the city streets.
	1.12 Further south is the limestone region of Postjona.  This collapsed cave reveals an underground river.
	1.13 Pillars are formed by stalactites and stalagmites joining up.
	1.14 The caves have this unique creature , the human fish.  It is a blind salamander indigenous to the caves of this region.
	1.15 The karst landscape is special. Lakes appear and disappear according to the rain conditions.
	1.16 Sink holes in rich farmland creating well fed pigs, sheep and cattle.
	1.17 The symbol of Slovenia - the hay drier rack
	1.18 And then there is Renault - made in Slovenia and exported all over Europe. This is an imported Mazda showing that Slovenia is not a poor country. In fact it is the richest of the  EU  states joining in 2004.
	1.19 The Spruce is a symbol of luck - a tree carries the Slovenian flag and EU flag on 1st May 2004. It is less than 10 years since it was part of Yugoslavia.  A new country.
	1.20 and there is the coast - just over 40km of it - why so short?  What else can you find out about Slovenia?

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This page last updated 14 March 2007