"Take a virtual tour to some landmarks of Slovenia and a lot of fun!"

November 25, 2004 10:03 PM

Virtual Reality Panoramas of Slovenia. This virtual guide is an attempt to present world landmarks with the point to - Slovenia. The goal of this project is to display the cultural and natural heritage of our planet with interactive Virtual RealityPanoramas. The project started in 1996 and is updated almost every week, so welcome to check it On-line! This presentation is a part of work in progress. Today it consists of 3610 Virtual Reality Panoramas, 1283 high resolution full screen QTVR-s  and more than 16.000 photos (also wallpapers in three standard resolutions), which is about 80 % (hm..?) of the project (Slovenia Landmarks only) . By Slovenian artist Bostjan Burger.
posted by jokeefe (9 comments total)

For those of you settling down into winter weather, you can also visit The French Riveria, The Italian Riviera, or the Frescoes of the Church of Santa Maria Degli Angeli, in Switzerland.
posted by jokeefe at 10:31 PM on November 25, 2004

Beautiful site! I was at a conference in Ljubljana a couple of years ago, then spent a week in Piran. I highly recommend either to anyone looking for a relaxing, not too expensive, European vacation. Very friendly people. Direct flights from all over Europe.
posted by Rumple at 12:14 AM on November 26, 2004

A truly wonderful site. He's also making his way, slowly, through other European countries. See Austria, Croatia, and others. If you have no idea where to begin, I can recommend checking the page for Bled. It may not be the prettiest name, but it's definitely a gorgeous town.

I did a quick interview (self-link) with Boštjan many moons ago. He's a very determined guy and somewhat of a local legend.

Rumple: Glad you enjoyed it. And congratulations on joining the elite ranks of the one-percent. :)
posted by Ljubljana at 2:47 AM on November 26, 2004

The Slovenians are the most civilized people in Eastern Europe, with a marvelous musical heritage that includes sublime choral singing and button box accordions. As a people, they are subtle in temperament, and often have large, liquid eyes. The women can be quite beautiful, with high cheekbones and small, beak-like noses. In a region where most nations and would-be nations are devoted to slaughter, blood feuds, and suicidal grudges, the Slovenians are gentle, cultured and comfort-oriented. I salute them.
posted by shambles at 6:28 AM on November 26, 2004

A great way to upset to someone from Slovenia is to confuse them with Slovakia -- also works the other way around, btw.

The second best used to be to call Slovenia a "war zone", although that doesn't really work anymore since things have (thankfully) quieted down in ex yug.

I've never been there, but they say it's sorta like a miniature Europe including everything from beaches (they got like a whopping 40 miles coastline) to mountains with a smattering of baroque churches. And probably the odd mosque.
posted by sour cream at 7:23 AM on November 26, 2004

Desbladet had an amusing riff on Slovenia:

I think they're making it up and there's not really any such place, anyway. I mean, it was (allegedly) part of Yugoslavia, but it hasn't had a war with anyone since the early 1990's. A likely story! So far as I can see the only way a former Yugoslav territory can be at peace for that long is if it doesn't really exist...

And perhaps the real reason everyone mistakes "Slovenia" for Slovakia is that that's exactly what it is. It would be easy enough: whenever one of the big international aid agency is reviewing your gravy train application, you ship them to a disused corner of Slovakia (it's not as if touristes ever go there, so they won't recognise it) and slip the locals a few zlotys to put on a fake "Slovenian" accent and say "Welcome to our beloved Slovenian homeland! I will now recite some of our glorious poetry in honour of your visit!" The hardest part would be keeping a straight face, I should think.

Come on, "Slovenia", 'fess up!

posted by languagehat at 7:54 AM on November 26, 2004

No mosque yet, oddly enough. Slovenia's muslim community (about 50,000-strong) has been pushing for one in Ljubljana for about 20 years now, but keep getting the runaround. In protest, Slovenia's muslim community recently put together this clever website.

It is very much a kind of Europe in miniature, though. (I even think this was an official tourist slogan for a while... now it's the slightly less-inspiring "Slovenia invigorates!") There's definitely a lot of things smashed together in one place, which is great for anyone who likes to change their scenery regularly.
posted by Ljubljana at 8:29 AM on November 26, 2004

Ooh, beautiful site! And a thoroughly beautiful country.

I've just today submitting a funding application for an arts project in Ljubljana. Great timing! This must be a sign from above...
posted by nylon at 10:01 AM on November 26, 2004

Nice site! I liked the waterfalls. It even mentions which ones hikers can access. Well done! I'll try to get over there this summer. Thanks.
posted by faux ami at 3:24 PM on November 26, 2004