LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — All week we have been bringing you a taste of Slovenia, the home country of Luka Doncic. He is absolutely beloved there. Here is a video diary of some of where we went and what we found.
Photojournalist Justin Fuller and I set out for Venice, then drove next door, into Slovenia. It was just a 2.5-hour drive from Venice to Ljubljana. By the way, if you ever have to spot Luka’s home country on a map, one Slovenian explained, “It looks like a small chicken. So, just look for chicken on the map. And that’s Slovenia.” What now? I tried it with Google Maps: You see it, right?
Anyway, we were on our way into the chicken, when we made a quick pit stop and Justin chose some other animals and special sauce for this first-ever European meal...at McDonald's! C’mon Justin!
Thankfully the food choices got much better from there as we took in the sights of Slovenia, including the stunning 15-mile-long Postojna Cave, that you enter and exit on a train. They say it is the only cave that has its own deep underground post office, so we sent Luka a postcard.
Speaking of postcards, we headed into the Alps and up to the gorgeous Lake Bled, perhaps the most famous of Slovenian sights. After watching others take a plunge…I had to as well. No one had shorts to lend me, but they were happy to count me down as I jumped into the frigid water with rolled-up pants.
Finally, to the capital Ljubljana. It is the picturesque hometown of Luka Doncic. We visited his childhood basketball court that he refurbished a few years ago. For good measure, I tossed in a quick three-pointer there -- after the not-so-quick nine misses that preceded it.
We finished it off with an all-nighter, taking in a live NBA Finals game that started at 2:30 a.m. Slovenia time and ended after sunrise. From there, an overnight in Paris where we squeezed in a few more good eats and a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower adorned with Olympic rings for this summer’s games. And then onward home.