Slovenia #2 (Non-hiking exploration)

Since we cut our Slovenian Alps hiking a few days short, that gave us some time to do more exploring of Slovenia, which by the way, may be our favorite country so far. We emerged from the mountains, stinky but happy to be back in civilization. We walked to the closest bus stop, bused to Kranj, picked up a rental car, and drove to the capital city of Ljubljana (pronounced LOOB-lee-ahna).  We managed to get a room in an AirBnB apartment in Ljubljana at the last minute. Our hostess was very nice (in spite of her judgmental cats), so we had a pleasant stay overall.


Our first full day out of the mountains, we headed to a famous underground cave system in Slovenia called Škocjan caves. These caves were massive, and they came with all the things you might expect: stalactites, stalagmites, bats, huge water drops falling on your head, and an underground river. It was really remarkable.

The Skocjan cave system runs below several tiny villages

We weren't allowed to take pictures in the cave (it was too dark anyway),
but here we are emerging from the giant Skocjan cave. 

People at one of the entrances to the Skocjan cave. 

We still had several hours of daylight left after we toured the caves, so we decided to head to Slovenia's tiny coastline (29 miles long - apparently, there's about an inch of coastline for every Slovenian citizen). We visited the coastal town of Piran, which was hot but scenic, with plenty of Slovenians enjoying the sun and water. The beach was rocky and sharp, but nobody seemed to really mind. 

Slovenian coastal town of Piran. 

We have experienced many afternoon thunderstorms here in Europe. There was quite a thunderstorm on our drive back to Ljubljana, but we were treated with a double rainbow as a result.

Bad picture of the rainbow, but you get the idea. 

The next day we explored old town Ljubljana. We enjoyed Ljubljana's great people watching, sidewalk cafes along the river walk, and great castle on the hilltop. This castle did not have the same dramatic history or famous residents like some of the other castles we've toured thus far, and it wasn't as large. However, it was still interesting. During most of the 1800s, it was turned into a prison. Then, it was turned into a residence for poor families until 1963 when it was renovated to become the museum it is today. It also has a funicular. Funiculars are fun!

Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia

A little clip of the funicular ride up to the castle.

View of Ljubljana from the top of the castle hill

View of the castle courtyard from the castle tower

View of Ljubljana from the FUNicular, going up the hill to the castle

For our last day in Slovenia, we headed back up to Lake Bled (we had stopped there briefly on our first day before hiking, but it was raining). Thankfully, the weather was better this time. We walked all the way around the lake, which has a picturesque hillside castle and an island with a church on it in the middle of the lake. Many Slovenians get married at this little church on the island in the middle of Lake Bled. When you reach the island by boat, tradition says that the groom must then carry his bride up the 99 steps to the church. This may sound crazy, but remember Slovenians are Olympians (see our last post), so really this is just normal for them.

Lake Bled with the church/island in the middle

Bled castle on the edge of Lake Bled 

Another view of the island

Once again reminded of Slovenia's Olympic achievements.
Their rowing team, which trains in little tiny Lake Bled has won several Olympic medals.

Boats along the edge of Lake Bled

Besides the castle, the island, and the lake, Bled is known for its delicious pastries, so of course, Bill had to try one out. It got his stamp of approval.

Bill sinking into Kremna Rezina (cream slice), a traditional Slovenian pastry. 

Late afternoon, we decided to go ahead and rent a row boat because the water just looked so inviting. So Bill rowed me around the lake (I did some rowing too, don't worry.) We got an up close view of the island and just enjoyed being out on the turquoise water.

Bill is a much better rower than me, something about going in a straight line...

Taking a turn at rowing

We left Slovenia by train to head to Croatia, and let me just say that the entire train ride was just stunningly beautiful. So much green. So many hills. So many lakes. Slovenia is really, really nice. If you're thinking of a trip to Europe, consider adding Slovenia to your list.