From Austria, took a very brief detour via the top NE end of Italy into Slovenia (as a native and a resident respectively of two countries with no land borders (NZ and OZ), I still find it novel to be able to drive through three countries in the space of an hour!)
Drove over two beautiful passes on a superb sunny day with fascinating and totally different views to the Grossglocknerstrasse we had done the day before. This time we were mostly below the snow line, with amazingly steep climbs and drops from one valley through to the next with sparkling clear rivers of the most spectacular green colour where Rob could see the trout even from the road (I would prefer him to be watching the road!). One of the passes from Italy to Slovenia was the Predil Pass, with interesting castle and fortress ruins that the kids had a great time exploring (while I looked at the crumbling doorways and windows and hoped they wouldn’t crumble further while they were underneath them!).
The next one (recommended in the Lonely Planet book) was the Vrsik Pass, which did put us just into the snow – again, cause for the kids to celebrate as they had yet another snowball fight. Interesting, if somewhat disturbing, to read that the road had been built by Russian prisoners of war, and about 300 were killed in an avalanche, together with some of their Austrian guards. There was a small chapel built in their memory about half way down the north side of the mountains. Rob didn’t see it as he was busy trying to avoid crazy drivers cutting corners on the way up – okay there was only one truly crazy driver, but he came very close to having a Ford Rimor camper adorning the side of his car. It was only because Rob was driving so sensibly that he managed to come to a complete halt only inches from their tiny car, even though he was on the downhill run with a couple of tons of weight pushing us downhill.
Headed on toward Bled, which is another gorgeous town on a lake with a castle overlooking the lake and a monastery on an island in the middle. Had hoped to find a campsite, but every single campsite was closed for the winter, so another night on the side of the road perilously close to running out of water, so no shower in the morning – only time I have been a bit over free-camping.
Visited the castle next morning – another superb sunny day and fabulous views. Headed out in the afternoon towards Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, in the hope of an open campsite. Found a great campsite, which would have been superb in summer with pool, etc, but again, all closed, much to Liam’s disappointment. However, on the bright side it had wireless internet, so signed up for a full day and spent the whole of the next day being internet nerds – got the blog up to date and phoned as many people as we could manage at midnight and first thing in the morning using Skype – occasionally interrupted by the internet dropping out – most frustrating! Great to talk to family and friends at home – we do miss you all.
We loved Ljubljana – spent a very pleasant day strolling around the city the next day – saw an old roman wall and walked up the hill to the fortress at the top where we watched a 3D movie of the history of Ljubljana. Everyone we met was very friendly and their English was excellent. We also enjoyed the Burek (meat and cheese pastries) we had for lunch, and the various cakes and pastries – bakeries are a bit of a highlight everywhere we go, followed closely by icecream shops and internet cafes.
After Ljubljana, headed southwest towards the coast stopping at the spectacular limestone caves in Postojna. They really are amazing, with the scale of the cave system and the fabulous formations from spaghetti stalactites to curtain stalactites in three different colours – pure white (calcium carbonate), pink (iron oxides) and grey (manganese oxides). We caught a little train that travelled 2 km into the cave system and then walked a couple of km further.
Went up to the local castle after that and Rob and the kids explored their own cave that they found in a stream nearby – pretty big too by all accounts. I took advantage of half an hour of peace and quiet sitting next to the pretty stream in the sunshine.
Next down to the coastal town of Piran. Stayed in a little cove called Fiesa just next to it and had our first swim in the Adriatic Sea – yes it was cold, but great! The water is so clear and with a pebbly beach you come away feeling clean and refreshed, rather than sandy and salty.
Wandered around Piran next day – an interesting old town with Venetian style buildings and tiny alleyways. Again, great bakeries, good coffee. The bakery salesperson was so taken with Breanna that she got a free chocolate croissant, much to her delight. Next stop Croatia.
Drove over two beautiful passes on a superb sunny day with fascinating and totally different views to the Grossglocknerstrasse we had done the day before. This time we were mostly below the snow line, with amazingly steep climbs and drops from one valley through to the next with sparkling clear rivers of the most spectacular green colour where Rob could see the trout even from the road (I would prefer him to be watching the road!). One of the passes from Italy to Slovenia was the Predil Pass, with interesting castle and fortress ruins that the kids had a great time exploring (while I looked at the crumbling doorways and windows and hoped they wouldn’t crumble further while they were underneath them!).
The next one (recommended in the Lonely Planet book) was the Vrsik Pass, which did put us just into the snow – again, cause for the kids to celebrate as they had yet another snowball fight. Interesting, if somewhat disturbing, to read that the road had been built by Russian prisoners of war, and about 300 were killed in an avalanche, together with some of their Austrian guards. There was a small chapel built in their memory about half way down the north side of the mountains. Rob didn’t see it as he was busy trying to avoid crazy drivers cutting corners on the way up – okay there was only one truly crazy driver, but he came very close to having a Ford Rimor camper adorning the side of his car. It was only because Rob was driving so sensibly that he managed to come to a complete halt only inches from their tiny car, even though he was on the downhill run with a couple of tons of weight pushing us downhill.
Headed on toward Bled, which is another gorgeous town on a lake with a castle overlooking the lake and a monastery on an island in the middle. Had hoped to find a campsite, but every single campsite was closed for the winter, so another night on the side of the road perilously close to running out of water, so no shower in the morning – only time I have been a bit over free-camping.
Visited the castle next morning – another superb sunny day and fabulous views. Headed out in the afternoon towards Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, in the hope of an open campsite. Found a great campsite, which would have been superb in summer with pool, etc, but again, all closed, much to Liam’s disappointment. However, on the bright side it had wireless internet, so signed up for a full day and spent the whole of the next day being internet nerds – got the blog up to date and phoned as many people as we could manage at midnight and first thing in the morning using Skype – occasionally interrupted by the internet dropping out – most frustrating! Great to talk to family and friends at home – we do miss you all.
We loved Ljubljana – spent a very pleasant day strolling around the city the next day – saw an old roman wall and walked up the hill to the fortress at the top where we watched a 3D movie of the history of Ljubljana. Everyone we met was very friendly and their English was excellent. We also enjoyed the Burek (meat and cheese pastries) we had for lunch, and the various cakes and pastries – bakeries are a bit of a highlight everywhere we go, followed closely by icecream shops and internet cafes.
After Ljubljana, headed southwest towards the coast stopping at the spectacular limestone caves in Postojna. They really are amazing, with the scale of the cave system and the fabulous formations from spaghetti stalactites to curtain stalactites in three different colours – pure white (calcium carbonate), pink (iron oxides) and grey (manganese oxides). We caught a little train that travelled 2 km into the cave system and then walked a couple of km further.
Went up to the local castle after that and Rob and the kids explored their own cave that they found in a stream nearby – pretty big too by all accounts. I took advantage of half an hour of peace and quiet sitting next to the pretty stream in the sunshine.
Next down to the coastal town of Piran. Stayed in a little cove called Fiesa just next to it and had our first swim in the Adriatic Sea – yes it was cold, but great! The water is so clear and with a pebbly beach you come away feeling clean and refreshed, rather than sandy and salty.
Wandered around Piran next day – an interesting old town with Venetian style buildings and tiny alleyways. Again, great bakeries, good coffee. The bakery salesperson was so taken with Breanna that she got a free chocolate croissant, much to her delight. Next stop Croatia.
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