Last couple of days. And fr the first time ever my morning walk took me across an International border.
And not a great deal of security …
Not actually a huge amount to do, and didn’t seem to be that many tourists (although it must be close to the end of the season).
Long drive to Pula Airport (especially as we had to avoid Italy) but smooth trip home.
What must have been one of our slowest and most scenic drives ever – 120km including stops. Took the route through the mountains, and the target time of under 3 hours is wildly optimistic.
And when you’re in the middle of the Slovenian Alps, you come across a coffee shop – of course you do.
And an amazing monument commemorating the Battle of Drazgose in January 1942.
And to our final stop in the winemaking region of BRDA, very near Italy – and looks a bit like Tuscany.
View from our terrace.
To finish the 2 days, here’s Saturday afternoon – north-west of Bled. Some amazing scenic drives which I can’t do justice to.
Right on the border – we were in Kranjska Gora
North is Austria, west is Italy (and we hadn’t paid the €56 surcharge on the hire car to enter either). But there was no need …
And got talking to a Czech man whose wife was competing in the 120km run where we just happened on the finish line. She’d set off at 9.30 last night and was scheduled to finish about 7.00 this evening. Oh and there were thousands of metres of climbing as well as the distance. Crazy!
And dinner at home
We reckon the Slovenian Alps must be the most photogenic place we’ve ever been. Bled (1 and 2) were both on Friday, and were nearby, but this page is actually Bled itself.
And the weather has been perfect for 2 days which helps.
The same day!
Lake Bohini
Savica Waterfall
Only 120m climb to see them
Vogel
Only a 1000m climb (luckily in a cable car)
Stunning location, so just lots of pictures.
When your ticket says your entry time is 09.12 it means it – try at 09.11 and no entry. So a bit of confusion at the start.
But then it made total sense as you’re spread out down the one-way walkway.
Bit of (quite a lot of) a climb at the end to a very welcome coffee shop.
And a gentle 30 minute walk back – fantastic.
Off to the world famous, and allegedly super busy Lake Bled. It’s really not far – nothing is in Slovenia. Liked a traffic sign that said go left for Italy and right for Austria.
Stopped off at Lola Castle on the way – diverting enough.
And then to Bled. Busy but not super crazy.
Improved weather and an introductory walking tour made a difference. Nina Regina was our wonderfully named guide. So we got some history, some context and a sense of smallness – Ljubljana is smaller than St Albans!
A couple of days is perfectly adequate, especially staying so central.
According to my adding up, I think Slovenia might be my 46th country visited. No idea what that means. Anyway now in Ljubljana for a couple of days (which is probably enough – it’s pretty small).
Staying in a large apartment slap bang in the middle which is terrific.
Here’s the view from our window
And some wandering about
Up to the castle. Got some sense of a tiny country in the middle of Europe fighting its bigger neighbours (and itself sometimes) – basically it’s got a lot of history!
Heading off to Slovenia, but on the way stopped at this amazing castle built into the cliffs.
You can google it for historical stuff, but did like the anecdote about the 15th-century robber-baron Erazem Lueger who was besieged and, instead of starving, taunted his attackers by sending them gifts of fresh cherries, using secret tunnels to smuggle supplies. The tunnels are still there.
