Leaving the Ormoz resort we drove up the very steep hills through all the vineyards to the Camper Stop in Svetinje near Jeruzalem.

We cycled down and up the steep hills to the nearby Puclavek Family wine tasting cottage.

Tasting is in a very nice spot under the vines looking over the vineyard and hills.

They are having big problems with an American beetle that makes the vine go yellow and die. You can see some above.

We chose the option of 5 wines each and bread and cheese plate since it was lunchtime. The winery chap suggested we could share the wines – so we could taste 10! The wines are all white – the main grapes of the area. We tasted sipon, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc amongst others comparing 2 different levels of maturity. We usually liked the more mature wine from a pair – but the Sauvignon Blanc/pinot grigio younger version was very good and fresh. It was an extremely enjoyable tasting!

Inside the winery we found some old photos.

We then got back on our bikes to do the next horrendous hill climb – to Jeruzalem. It was so steep that Glenn got off his bike first. I’m not sure that even an electric bike would have got up there!

The hamlet is tiny consisting of a church, tourist information and a bar/hotel (closed on a Tuesday which today is).

The name Jeruzalem comes from German crusaders returning from the Middle East in the 13th century and finding the countryside so beautiful they stayed and named it after the real Jerusalem.

Here’s the translated story – from German. There was no English.

The church is from the 1652.

The painting on the main altar is a very old copy of a painting brought back from Jerusalem by one of the knights.

The other altars are also interesting.

The hand coming out of the pulpit with a cross is very creepy.

We then cycled back to the winery to buy a bottle of wine and then went down and up the next hill to the restaurant to find a gelato. There were no simple gelatos – just these extravaganzas!

The views from the restaurant over the vineyards were amazing.

We booked a table for dinner that night.

We went back down and up again to get back to the van and spruced ourselves up for dinner. We found the sign of a Camino on the way into our little hamlet of Svetinje.

Walking back there were some good views as the sun was going down.

At the restaurant Glenn was initially blinded by the setting sun, but not for too long.

We got some good pictures off the balcony before the sun went down.

The food was more than generous. We shared the starter platter – meant for 1 person – and we couldn’t finish it. We had a bottle of Sipon – the local grape. I had the very nicely cooked sea bass with potatoes and mangold – similar to spinach.

On the way home there was a red moon – and the old building behind us looked imposing in the night light.

There was only us there. It was an extremely quiet night!