Day 6 – Predjama Castle, Skocjan Caves & Piran — Slovenia

The first stop of the day was Predjama Castle. This Castle was built into a cave on a sheer cliff. It was quite impressive and built in the 9^th century. There were many stories about the castle including how the owner during the 15^th century was using the outhouse situated at the very edge of the castle and was killed by a single cannon ball launched his way by his enemies below.

While walking back to the car, I asked if I could drive. It was a 5.5 mile stretch of country road and a good place for me to learn to drive the new car. The BMW has heads up display which shows speed, GPS, arrows, directions, lane changes etc. Once it popped up in my field of vision, I was fixated on it like a video game. I kept wanting to have the speed value aligned with the divider line. I had to have Matt turn off the display before I did something to reinforce his fear of me driving his car.

There are 2 big cave systems in Slovenia…The Predjama Cave and the Skocjan Cave. People here dispute which is better and there was only time to do one. I love caves and take advantage of any opportunity to explore one. The Predjama Caves sounded interesting but I had read it took visitors underground via a small train. Skocjan Cave had warnings of it being very strenuous with 596 stairs. I chose Skocjan Cave because a cave should be explored on foot and not turned into a “Disney” ride and the billboards showing kids happily hanging off the train along the cave route only confirmed that I did not want to go there.

Skocjan Cave has 1/5 the number of visitors. There was a short hike downhill to the cave entrance. The cave is divided into 2 sections, dry & wet and is 3 miles long. The dry cave was filled with large caverns covered with stalactites and stalagmites, just as you would expect. The chambers were enormous, but it was going to be hard to top the cave systems I have seen in Virginia. There was not a lot of “factoids” provided. The group pretty much wandered through the formations quietly. The formations were all still dripping and growing so I did not understand why this section was called “dry”…then we heard the water!

The narrow path opened up into the biggest cavern I have ever seen. It’s technically called a “canyon.” It is literally the Grand Canyon complete with raging river, only underground. It was completely surreal. The canyon was crossed via a bridge that was 350 feet above the river below. I loved this place! Photos were not allowed, but Matt snuck a few. We exited the cave through the original entrance which was enormous. Hikers looked like ants silhouetted against the daylight. It was worth all 400+ steps. We took the lift up instead of hiking another 200 steps.

By late afternoon, we arrived in the coastal town of Piran and were happily greeted by the hostel’s owner, Borut (he spoke 7 languages fluently). The room was simple, but bed liners seemed to be a good option since the "sheet" only covered 1/2 the bed. 

The town was small and is architecturally similar to Venice which is directly across the Adriatic Sea. We enjoyed typical life of a coastal town…lots of boats, kids playing in the piazza, people strolling along the waterfront and eating gelato, a big church and bell tower, etc. The bell tower is a smaller replica of the one in St. Mark's Square in Venice. Everyone was so friendly which seemed to be the norm in Slovenia. The evening ended with gnocchi & scampi followed by gelato in the main square.

Love, love, love Slovenia! 

 

Day 5 – The Julian Alps, Socco Valley & Ljublijana - Slovenia

After a quick breakfast, we headed up to the castle for a quick look around and a final view of Lake Bled. From Lake Bled, we headed up to the Vrsic Pass through the Jullian Alps in Triglav National Park. Many luxury car commercials are filmed on this road because of it’s 50 hairpin turns (24 up and 26 down). The turns are  labeled with the altitude and are cobbled to provide better traction.  We had a driving tour map that also called out points of interest to explore along the way. Many of them were WW1 historical sites. On turn 8, I made my own BMW car commercial, starring Matt May. Check out the video!

As we drove further, gaining elevation with each turn, we hit the snow line. The summit was at 1600 meters (5,285 feet). It was very cold and windy and not quite in alignment with my plans for a picnic lunch at the summit. The summit is historically known for being the highest elevation battle fought in WW1 between Italy and the Austria/Hungarian empire. Most soldiers died from the cold and desolate surroundings.

As we descended the Julian Alps, we entered the Succo River Valley. However, to get  to the valley, I still had 26 more hairpin turns. I did fine until Turn 38 and then I had to close my eyes and find my happy place until the end at Turn 50. Once on the valley floor, we flowed the Socco River and the WWI historical sites along the way. There were many mass graveyards with a marker to commemorate the soldiers.

The day was a full driving tour and went through some of the most beautiful parts  of Sovenia. By the end of the day, we were out of the mountains and headed towards civilization on the autostrada on our way to the capital city Ljublijana. About 2 miles onto the autostrada, an unmarked car pulled in front of us with a flashing sign in their rear window saying, “Police, Follow Me.” We definitely had not been speeding. There were no sirens, the flashing sign was only in English and they definitely meant for us to follow them. They did not pull over to the side of the road, but rather to an off-ramp and from there into some random parking area behind a fire station. My warning instincts went into overdrive when to guys wearing scrappy jeans and t-shirts, plus no visible guns or any other police bits, got our of the car and flashed their badges, claiming to be police. They requested passports and would not immediately state a reason for pulling us over. Matt was required to supply paperwork on the vehicle along with his own identification. They did not seem to understand that Matt owned the car and proceeded to check his registration. I began filming and taking photos of the guys. Everything was red flags. I had visions of kidnappings, car theft, muggings, etc. Matt had noticed a woman next door who was hanging her laundry and watching the whole thing. Matt had waved to her basically to let the “cops” know, “Hey, someone else has seen us with you two guys.” They stated they had a computer in the car which was hard to believe. Matt followed from about 20 feet away and verified they indeed were looking up our info on the computer.

Turns out, at each autostrada on-ramp, there are cameras which look for the Blue Slovenian vignette sticker. Matt tried to explain that in Austria we were told we were sold a dual vignette sticker for both countries, but they had never heard of such a thing. The fine for using the roads without a sticker is 300 euro. When we had passed through without a sticker, they were dispatched to ticket us. Fortunately, the cops could clearly tell that we were tourists, they verified the car was not stolen, it was legitimately registered to Matt, and they could tell we thought we did do the right thing by buying the vignette in Austria. They ended up giving Matt directions as to where to get the sticker, what color it should be, the duration and where it should be applied to the windshield. Everything turned out ok and we were not fined, but went immediately to the Petrol Station to buy the 16 euro vignette sticker. In all, they were really toll plaza police, trying to catch people skirting the system (which admittedly, is a far better system of stickers than it used to be in years past – gone are toll booths and toll money takers at every on and off ramp). As Americans, we are used to very by-the-book law enforcement, coupled with always having our guard up when travelling. So wild thoughts were racing through our minds when in the end, they were actually rather kind, let us know how to fix the issue, and said goodbye. Weird.

We did not arrive in Lublijana until 6pm. The hotel was nice and on a pedestrian street. However, the “hotel parking” that we paid for was actually a spot reserved on the street. Matt left his car hoping it would be ok in the morning. We had about 4 hours to explore the city. It’s a big city, but where we stayed in Old Town with its riverside walks felt more European. The residents are very proud of the castle, so due to limited time, we took the funicular up rather than hiking. What remained of the original castle was very little. Most of it had been rebuilt after various earthquakes and was now more of a “Disney” experience. Up top it did not look like a castle, but rather a plaza where you could choose from a variety of restaurants. The view was of a big spawling city with a mix of communist era architecture and European orange tiled roofs. In short, the castle was lame. The rest of the evening was spent wandering around Old Town and the market area. The best discovery was  a vending machine for milk!

Slovenia is known for their dessert called Prekmurska Gibanica. I had heard a podcast which said it was a “MUST” to try, so when we found a slice, I was excited to try it. It contains poppy seeds, walnuts, apples, raisins and ricotta fillings. I like all these ingrediants, but put them together, it was a big disappointment. Not delicious at all.  It had a really weird texture. There wer 14 layers. Each ingredient is ground to a paste and applied between filo dough. I really wanted to like it and it was a splurged, but neither of us took more than 2 bites.

Day 4 – Lake Bled, Slovenia

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To reach Slovenia, we drove straight down the middle of Austria after buying our vignette sticker. A vignette sticker allows drivers to legally use the autostrada. Stickers are good for a specific amount of time and must be displayed in your window. Autostrada on-ramps are staffed with cameras to verify each vehicle has a vignette. We were told at the boarder that our vignette was good for 10 days for BOTH Austria and Slovenia. The drive through Austria on the autostrada was easy and I’m sure would have yielded some breath-taking scenery as we drove through the alps, however, the weather was not cooperating. It rained the entire drive with just a few breaks in the clouds that gave just a glimpse of  the alps that were soaring above. 

By the time we reached the border, the weather broke and we were finally rewarded with clear skies and big bold mountains covered in snow. The old communist boarder crossing at Slovenia was now a relic, but you could tell at one time it would have been a serious check point.

--> Once across the border, we had to wait for our turn to enter a major tunnel system. Everyone just parked their cars along the 3 land highway and waited for the green light.

 

 

The hostel was extremely friendly. Anya checked us in and we later learned she was studying to get her degree in Office Management, but truly dreamed of working in a National Park and traveling. She had applied  for a job in Yellowstone for next year. The hostel was pretty standard in that everything looked clean, however, when the little voice in your head says, “maybe I should sleep in my bed liner tonight,” you heed the advice.

Lake Bled is idyllic, quaint, and very friendly. The town sits above the lake and cascades down towards the lake front. Above the town is a castle (of course). It was still off-season, and there were very few visitors. It is a 3.5 mile walk around the lake and there is an island out in the middle which can be reached by row boat. We started the walk at the top of the lake and watched as a few people attempted to row against the strong head winds coming down the valley. There was no way I was getting into a row boat. The lake was so choppy I was getting woozy just watching the boat house bob up and down. Around the lake are huge villas nestled in the trees from the 19^th century.

By the time we got to the bottom of the lake, it was much more sheltered, so we took a row boat out to the island. The water was calm and it was considerably warmer. The island is simply called “The Island.” On summer Saturdays, a steady procession of brides and grooms, cheered on by their bridal parties, head for the island. 99 steps lead from the island’s dock up to the Church of the Assumption on top. It’s tradition for the groom to carry his bride up these steep steps. 4 out of 5 are successful proving themselves “fit for marriage.” 

Inside the church, is a rope hanging in the middle of the aisle just before the altar. Local superstition claims that if you can get it to ring 3 times with one pull, your dreams will come true. This sounded easy, but it was not and required all your muscle. We both managed to get 3 rings.

The day ended with wood-stove baked pizza and Slovenian beer. LOVE Lake Bled!

Day 3 – Berchtesgaden and The Eagles Nest

After a breakfast that offered every type of yogurt, cheese, meat, granola, fruit, bread and cake, we were out the door early to explore the town of Berchtesgaden. The town’s walking trail weaved in and out of the tree line, going above the town and then dropping back down into the main square. The 3 hour walk was very quiet since the town was closed for Sunday. The only activity occurring was around the churches in what seemed to be a battle of church bells.

The local cemetery was really interesting. Each grave is given it’s own garden plot. They are all beautifully cared for and would be the envy of any gardener. The cemetery could have been actually deemed a “garden walk” by all standards. The garden’s centerpiece was a life size crucifixion, however, Jesus was the color blue. I have never seen a blue Jesus in all my travels.

After our walk, it was on to meet our afternoon tour group. We were going on a historical tour of the Eagle’s Nest and the surrounding WWII sites. The Eagle’s Nest was Hitler’s Alpine retreat and sits on one of the highest peaks above the valley. The series, Band of Brothers, portrayed how Easy Company took hold of the Eagle’s Nest as Germany was about to surrender. The entire afternoon was as if my history book came to life. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and shared stories about meeting some of the US soldiers who were members of Easy Company who had returned to the area. She said they were very proud men.

The entire mountain range is historical. We learned about the families who had lived in the area and how their lives changed when the Nazi’s took over the valley. There are over 6 kilometers of underground bunkers catacombing the hillsides.  As we made the final ascent up the mountain, we learned that it took 3000 men 11 months working 24 hours around the clock to build the road and the 3 room retreat. I have seen Band of Brothers multiple times and had a mental image of what to expect. However, as we took the last hairpin turn and the snow began to fall, the first thing I saw was souvenir stand. Matt had been joking that we could get snacks since it was a summer retreat house. Unfortunately, he was correct. The retreat is reached by walking down a long tunnel carved into the mountain, followed by a ride up gold-mirrored elevator, which opens to… a restaurant filled with tourists eating traditional Bavarian foods. It just seemed like such a bizarre juxtopostion of historical significane and to how it is being utilized today, complete with Pepsi branded eating tables outside. When we asked the tour guide if she thought it was weird, she said, “No, they used this place to have parties and sun bathe, it is still used in the same way. Hitler only came here 14 times. He hated it. It has the best views of the valley. Why not enjoy it.” This was all true, but I can’t help but think the historical documents in the official “Documentation Center” would be more powerful if they were shown in the Eagle’s Nest itself as more of a museum. The view was incredible though and the snow was absolutely beautiful.

Next stop was the Historical Documentation Center followed by a decent into the Bunkers. The documentation center held a bounty of historical documentation, but the entire exhibit was in German. When they built the museum 23 years ago, the did not think anyone would really come...especially Americans, so they did not localize anything into English. By 2014, they plan to have English descriptions added to each display. Outside the center was the entrance to huge bunker. The bunkers were an incredible labyrinth and are all still in their original condition as found...time stopped here in 1945.

The tour overall was a great history lesson. We did get our tour guide, Erika,  alone for a bit to talk about personal stuff. She confided that even though she was born here, she hated snow, hated skiing, hated when her tour groups were full of only Germans and aspired to actually be a singer/songwriter of folk music. She was hoping to come to America to fulfill her dream.

The day ended with a meal of gulash, sausage, potatoes and beer.