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Published: July 22nd 2010
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Left Gorizia fairly early this morning and headed into Slovenia. I honestly wasn't sure why on earth we were going to Slovenia, of all the places in the world, but my non-expectations have been thoroughly exceeded and I think it was what we needed to get over the emotional drama of yesterday.
Our first stop was at Predjama castle. Pred apparently means 'before' in Slovenian, and jama means 'cave'... So three guesses as to where this castle was located. But the name doesn't really do it justice. When you come up the hill and look at the Castle, it looks like something out of a fairy tale. It's white, and set straight into the side of a cliff. Our guide there pointed out that there was also an earlier castle actuallz _in_ the cave in the side of the cliff, the current manifestation being a 15th century creation.
Lunch was held in a hotel just outside an amaying set of caves near the castle. I'm still getting over the fact that beer is cheaper in most places here than bottled water, and that alcohol is generally just inexpensive. For example, my two glasses of wine at lunch were only
2.90.
After lunch, we ventured down into the caves. I don't know that my pictures will do them justice. Apparently we got to see about 5 km of the 20-odd km of caves that exist, and it was impressive to see the stalactites and stalagmites that are literally millions of years old. It was one of the most stunning and beautiful things I've ever seen. Near the end, we were able to sing in a formation in the cave that is called the concert hall, and it's evident why - the acoustic was incredible and the reverb seemed to last forever (apparently if zou stand in the right spot and listen carefully, it can last up to 6 seconds!). Quite possibly the niftiest place I have ever gotten to sing in my entire life.
It was on to Ljubljana from there, where my epic hunt for a Slovenian football jersey began. Fortunately we were staying in what may possibly have been the swankiest hotel in town, and the gentlemen at the front desk were able to give me a map with the location of several nearby sports stores. I say epic hunt not because the jersezs were difficult
to find. All the stores I went to had them. The epic part was trying to find anzthing smaller than a men's XXL. There was a huge run on the things when Slovenia made the World Cup, and thez literally have nothing smaller left. I finally found an XL, which will be added to my pyjama collection, I think, but nevertheless, I am now 2 for 2 in my jersey hunt.
We had a group dinner at the hotel to finish off the tour, and a handful of us went for one final drink before saying our Arrivederci's to one another.
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