Travel Bugs

I was ready for some warm weather after our time in Iceland. We flew from Reykjavik to London, had a brief layover, then onward to Ljubljana, where we picked up a rental car that we would have in our possession for the next month as we travelled through part of Eastern Europe.

Callum had already been to Slovenia in 2011 and so it was interesting for him to see it again 14 years later and to see how it changed (or not) in that time. When we got to our accommodation in Ljubljana, it was late at night and we were too tired to try and find dinner, so we did without, instead munching on some granola bars I had. I always try to have a couple of granola bars with me for such a reason.

The next morning, we got up and went in search of breakfast. We found a cute little café packed with tourists and several flustered looking servers. It was Sunday morning, a day of rest for most places except restaurants and bars. This means that if you want to self-cater while in this part of Europe, you better get your act together and shop for groceries before the stores close on Saturdays. Later, in search of lunch, we looked around at the city. I was pleased with how very European everything was. That might seem like a silly thing to say, but I think I probably should have been born European. I love it so much! The history, the architecture, the art! The pedestrian-only places, the cobblestone streets! It was so good to be back; I love old buildings, picturesque bridges, fountains, and castles. This capital city had it all and it was a gorgeously warm day. I have since read that it is one of the most underrated cities in Europe and I would have to agree.

The next day we drove to what I was most excited to see: Bled and the iconic church on an island in the middle of the lake. It is Slovenia’s only island, in fact. I was not disappointed; every day the scenery was picturesque and like a fairy tale. Every angle of the lake and its castle on the towering rock was a good angle. In our three days, we biked around the lake (about 6kms), had a boat ride to the island with the church (the island itself is overrated—the beauty is the view of the island and church), walked up to the castle and saw the view from there, hiked up to a viewpoint on the opposite side of the lake and saw the view there, walked up to the summer tobogganing and saw the view from up there (and had a rip-roaring good time for 44 euros—two rides each), and we walked a short distance along its banks where I sat and did a painting while Callum did a run around the lake. We really saw the lake. Despite its small size, this town has a lot to offer. Maybe it was the fact we’ve been travelling for six months, and I am tired. I feel like I could have spent another full day in Bled. I feel sorry for people who only go as a daytrip. You would really have to choose one or two of the aforementioned activities if a single day was all you had time for.

From Bled we made our way to visit the Mostnica Gorge. Callum had planned to do a big hike here, but when we arrived, we both realised just how exhausted we both were. We did a small traipse through the forest for a few kms and turned back to our car. It was beautiful, and I had fun discovering all the small, unique flowers there, but neither of us were feeling it. There is an 11km round trip you can do. Since the country we were in directly before Slovenia was Iceland, and Iceland is positively littered with waterfalls and gorges, the quaint little waterfalls we saw here weren’t appealing enough to set aside our tiredness to discover more than we did. We stayed in a very small village called Čiginj for three nights and recuperated. We went to the Soča river one day and that is all I did while there.

Feeling a bit more energetic, we next headed to Postojna where there are two things to see near to each other. Firstly, the Predjama Castle which is the largest cave castle in the world. We did a self-guided tour there, jostling for position with the other hundreds of tourists, mostly elderly people being shuffled along. They made the visit hard to enjoy. There’s something about the older generations where they seem to be unaware or uncaring about standing in the way of other people. Callum’s theory is that they’re all about to die so they don’t give a flying you-know-what about other people. We took our time, giving way to a loud Italian tour group, and stealing moments of peace where we could. The castle itself seemed quite cozy—a fairly unassuming entrance, narrow staircases, humble rooms. We wondered what families lived here in such a grand-looking castle from the outside. As we went deeper into the building, the cave portion of the castle gave way to huge openings and the entrance to some of the tunnels that the knight Erazem used to escape or set out on expeditions from.

Our next stop was to visit the Postojna Cave. This is a fabulous experience which was well-run and organized. You must buy tickets in advance and stand in line about 15 minutes before your entry time. Once you enter the cave you are led to wait for a train which takes you on a journey 3.5kms into the cave. I couldn’t believe how much it kept going—on and on, with lighting illuminating all of the best bits along the way. The railway was first opened in 1872, so visitors have marvelled at this cave for many years.

We have caves in the southern part of our state in Australia. Quite beautiful caves which we are proud of. I must admit the Postojna cave puts ours to shame, since it is so very immense. Once our train journey was over, we walked 1.5kms before returning to the train to exit the cave, making the tour about 1.5 hours long. Our guide was good at telling us all about the cave. Apparently, graffiti from the 13^th century indicates early use; but it was a lamplighter by the name of Luka Čeč who found more of the cave when he was prepping for a visit from the emperor of Austria in 1818. All that was known was the great hall—the opening of the cave. His discovery made it a very popular tourist destination. A train system was put in, then electric lights were installed in 1884, and scientists discovered a strange species of salamander in the cave affectionately (or for marketing purposes) known as “baby dragons”. Called ‘olms’ they can apparently survive years without eating anything. I thought they were gross-looking.

Our final stop in Slovenia was to have a half-day in Piran enroute to Croatia. Much discussion was had about whether to go to Piran, a small coastal town on the way to our next destination of Rovinj, or, to venture a bit north to the Italian town of Trieste. As much as I love Italy and would state it as my favourite country, I wanted to give Slovenia the proper attention it deserves. I was also not sure I could handle a day in the hot sun in such a big town as Trieste is. I wanted something smaller, something more manageable. So, we opted for Piran.

It was big enough to keep us occupied for a few hours, but small enough that we could easily say goodbye once the heat of the day proved too much and the air-conditioning of our rental car called us back. We did the usual things one does in a coastal town: we walked the streets, bought coffee and lunch, ice cream and souvenirs, saw the iconic mermaid statue, walked up to the highest point (the church), sat in the pews for a few moments to escape the sun, took some pictures of the town square below, and then went on our way. A charming place to spend a few hours.

And with that, our time in Slovenia was done. Ten days was a perfect amount of time, and, if you travel faster than us, a week would also be sufficient as a first-time visit to this small country. I really liked it and would recommend it to anyone tired of the typical European destinations, but still wanting the comfort and ease of Europe.