Dans comments:

Slovenia: Lovely rural countryside, reminded me alot of home. Ljubljana is well worth a visit.

Country profile: (further details available on the BBC website)

A country with spectacular mountains, thick forests and a short Adriatic coastline, Slovenia also enjoys substantial economic and political stability.

It was the only one of the former Yugoslav republics to be in the first wave of candidates for membership of the European Union. It joined the union in May 2004.

Just a couple of months before EU entry, Slovenia became a member of Nato.