Nov 1, 2018 - Last day in Ljubljana

We had a leisurely last day in Ljubljana. The plan had been to float down the river, but since it was swollen, Biljana told us that a river cruise that was scheduled for 45 minutes would take 5 and be dangerous. So we headed to the castle instead. The castle is perched on the hill above the city, and there is a funicular ride included in the admission ticket. When we arrived the town was covered in cloud, but by the time we left the castle museum the sun was out. There is an exhibit on the history of Slovenia which is rather like an...

Oct 30, 2018 - Wet day on Lake Bled

Rog opted to stay in drier Ljubljana while I headed to Lake Bled to see the castle and the lake. Rog says he wandered around the city and also learned about dragons up in the castle. I saw the castle at Lake Bled; my favorite part was the print shop where there was a demo of the type of press used for the Gutenberg Bible. It rained off and on, but we managed to see the lake, ride a keel-less boat to an island in the middle, and then visit a restaurant with an enthusiastic accordion playing maker of cookies.

Oct 29, 2018 - Walking tour in Ljubljana

After our tour of the caves, we arrived in the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana. This city is our last stop on our tour. It is an interesting and beautiful city. Although we have hit some showers, so far we have been lucky enough to have rain only when we have been in the bus. For an hour and a half we hiked around the city looking at the lovely buildings, shops, markets, and restaurants. It was rather cloudy and getting dark since we have shifted to daylight savings time, but we will be here a couple of days so there will be more...

Oct 29, 2018 - Adventures in caves

On our way to our last stop on our Adriatic tour we stopped in Postojna to see the caves. What a fantastic experience! We boarded a train inside the cave entrance and ten minutes later, deep inside, we walked through caves of fantastic stalactites and stalagmites. We were in there for around an hour and forty five minutes. Photos don't really do the experience justice, so you need to go there.

Oct 25, 2018 - Postojna, Solvenia

We left Ljubljana this morning and took a bus ride to southwestern Slovenia to visit the Postojna Cave. This cave is the second-longest cave system in the country. The caves were created by the Pivka River. It was first described in the 17th century. In 1818, when the cave was being prepared for a visit by Francis I, the first Emperor of the Austria-Hungary empire, a new area of the cave was discovered accidentally by a local man. In the 1850s, the Austrian-Czech geographer Adolf Schmidl published the first comprehensive scientific overview...

Oct 24, 2018 - Ljubljana, Slovenia

We arrived in Lujbljana on Oct 23, stayed overnight, then saw the town on Oct 24. Lujbljana is the capitol of Slovenia. Its patron saint is Saint George. The legend of Saint George and the Dragon describes the saint taming and slaying a dragon that demanded human sacrifices; the saint thereby rescues the princess chosen as the next offering. So he slew the dragon of Lujbljana (the "j's" are silent). You will see pictures of the dragons on the four corners of the Dragon Bridge. Many of the buildings of the old town were from centuries ago...

Sep 27, 2018 - Kranj

Light rain started our drive north to Kranj but the day turned out near perfect except through the alpine areas where temperatures dropped to 11 C. It may have been cooler but the further away from the coast the better the scenery became, it was gorgeous. There was even a little snow on the peaks. The road through the mountains twisted and turned in many directions but was always fun and traffic was minor. We were glad that we had avoided the motorways. The main stop along the way was at Skofja Loka a very pretty medieval town positioned...

Sep 23, 2018 - Koper

From Postojna we headed for Koper on the Adriatic and along the way made a special side trip to Cerknica to see one of the amazing 'seasonal lakes'. There are 17 of them which emerge after heavy rain fills underground caves then rises through the surface of green pastureland. In summer the water mysteriously disappears back into the caves. Our timing was not good. The land was almost bone dry so our gravel road detour was in vain. Not to be beaten we travelled further south to Pivka's Park of Military History for some enlightenment. That...

Sep 22, 2018 - Postojna

Further along we passed through bear country and decided to detour slightly to Blosko Lake in a forest reserve in the hope of sighting some of the furry critters. That was a really pretty area and we did see bears but sadly all were cleverly carved from wood. Coffee on the lake was good anyway. Our short stay was in Postojna where we visited its enormous, 20 million year old cave. So huge that a train took us 1.5 kms deep inside. From the inside “station” we walked a further 1.5 kms round trip through massive caverns and tunnels. That was...

Sep 18, 2018 - Maribor

The drive towards Slovenia was brilliant. Good roads and gorgeous scenery, perfecto! A stop in Graz was short, too busy, too big and no parking. We moved on. We knew immediately when we had crossed into Slovenia, the roads deteriorated a little. Not dramatic but noticeable just like the change from industrial to more agricultural. The scenery seemed a little softer as well. We scored a homely unit in Maribor, the city with the world's oldest vine as noted in the Guinness Book of Records. With such credentials we new we would fit right in....

Sep 18, 2018 - Murska Sobota

From Maribor we moved on a little further north-easterly into an area of Slovenia crowded by Austria, Hungary and Croatia. The landscape was a little flatter which explained the heavy dominance of farms. An old inn was our choice for a stopover and it was a good one. Our host could not have been more welcoming which together with the 'old world' atmosphere of the place made it perfect. We decided on dinner outside rather than indoors and received a specially prepared table under a gorgeous tree and a starry sky. We did very well. We were...

Jun 24, 2018 - Life on the edge......

In the last week, believe it or not, we have seen the most stunning scenery on the trip. We hiked and toured the Logar Valley with its classic “front of every tourist brochure” image of pastures, valley and towering mountains. The road to the viewpoint was a little tricky and had completely collapsed in places. We finally got to Velika Planina, and was it ever worth the wait. The weather was perfect, the herders were all up on the high plain with their cows and the scenery epitomized Slovenia to us. After taking the cable car up and hiking...