Notes from Underground

Slovenia

Our voyage to Slovenia was a long and semi-complicated process. Our train tickets indicated we had two connections to make, which turned out to be an hour-long segment in the middle that was completed by bus; everybody hopped out of the train, made their way over to about 6 waiting buses all going to the same destination, loaded everything on, and then got back on another train to finish the journey.

For us, this particular leg ended in Zagreb, where we had booked a little hotel apartment. Our kind hostess had provided some homemade Croatian strudel for us, as well as some homebrewed fruit brandy! Being the adventurous soul that I am, I decided to try not only the strudel, but to break my teetotalling ways and sample the alcohol – got to try the local delicacies, right? The strudel was actually very nice. Then the liquor – OH MY WORD. One little sip, and the intensity was overwhelming – down the drain went the rest of the little cup! I don't like the taste of alcohol at the best of times; this stuff, though, tasted closer to meths than alcohol. John tried his and just about choked on it as well. He was fool enough to try it twice, though, before the rest of his ended up in the same place as mine. The drink had a very strong licorice flavour, and after some research John found what the brew probably was, Rakia, and that the alcohol content of our concoction was probably between 50-80%!

The next day we had a mere two-hour bus trip to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, from where we picked up our (very cheap) rental car and headed off down to Postojna. That same day we were able to visit the main attraction in the region – the Postojna Caves. Our English-speaking tour through the caves lasted about 90 minutes and was well worth it. The intricacies of the natural structures were just amazing; just like some of the overly fancy buildings we've seen, it felt like you could stand in one spot for ages and still not be able to take in all the detail around you. We learned that Postojna was the first explored cave in Slovenia, and that it got its first tourists in 1819. I'd never really thought about what tourism would've been like 200 years ago.

the vast size of the cave

such detail!

such detail!!

The next day we decided to mix it up by visiting... another cave! This time the Skocjan Cave, a cave system where the underground river actually comes through part of it. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos on the main tour, but we paid a bit more to be able to do an extra bit on our own, and snapped away there to our heart's content.

In comparing the two, the Postojna cave beat the dry part of Skocjan, but the parts of Skocjan where the river came through were just spectacular; the cave was so vast, the water so majestic, I could well imagine an epic fantasy scene being set there; it was one part The Hobbit to two parts The Silver Chair. The surrounding area was beautiful, too, although our camera, lasting valiantly through the caves, now decided it had snapped its last. Hence, from now on for a while, it's all smartphone photos.

the path leading out of the cave

some of the surrounding area

That evening we also visited the Predjama Castle, another tourist staple, and marvelled at the way it really seemed to grow out of the stone. Seeing it in person was more impressive than through a screen.

The next day we drove up to Lake Bled, determined to tick off all the tourist sights in Slovenia. We had received an email from our hotel there, saying we couldn't stay in the room we'd booked due to a leaky pipe, and that she had booked us into another hotel room close by for the same price. This one also had kitchen facilities, so we were happy; it was only the next morning that we became aware that, ironically, the shower in this place leaked out onto the bathroom floor. Never mind – it wasn't as bad as in Budapest!

Lake Bled

We visited Lake Bled that day, and immediately saw why it's so popular. The setting is lovely, and it has a cute tiny island in the middle, with a dramatic cliff-top castle. Despite the number of people there, the lake still felt very calm and peaceful. We paid for a boat to take us out to the island in the middle, a fun excursion, and also climbed the steep path to the castle, for some good views.

view from the island in the middle

sunshine!

possibly the creepiest poster known to man

We continued the theme of beautiful scenic tours by visiting the Vintgar Gorge the next day, near Bled, an absolutely gorgeous defile. It cost 4 euros each, but we felt it was worth it, as we followed the narrow wooden walkway beside the river for about an hour return, loving the surrounding greenery, clear water and spotting some fish as we went.

the clarity of the water

There is also another lake near Bled, Lake Bohinj, so we checked this one out as well – supposedly less touristy, though it didn't seem that way to us. Perhaps it was just because we visited it on a Saturday, and there also seemed to be a triathlon going on that weekend. Parking at the eastern end, we paid the fee to be able to climb a lot of steps to see the Savica waterfall, the most famous in Slovenia (apparently). If you've read our Banff/Jasper/Iceland posts, you probably have an inkling as to how many waterfalls we've seen elsewhere, so this excursion probably wasn't worth it. Also, unfortunately, I seemed to have come down with a minor virus that day, which made me feel achey and made me very slow going up all the steps, and then made my legs feel very sore going down again (that's normally the easy part)!

The waterfall we paid to climb up to see. That means: photo = a must!

the view from the top

Despite my weak end to our visit, we loved Slovenia, and its natural beauty, and felt refreshed after all the cities we'd been visiting to get out into the countryside again.

Also, for all those hanging out for the other gem from our tourist book in Prague, which I forgot to post there, and is now kind of irrelevant, here it is anyway: "Aristocratic palaces lie across Hradcanske namesti (name of the street) like a pod of beached whales." Hahaha!!