We’re tourists again.

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May have to revise my Slovenian breakfast award. Forgot to take any pictures but this breakfast spread has a lot going for it. I’ll try and capture some of the spectrum of dishes tomorrow.

But it’s tourist day. We booked and caught the bus from the train station just before 9 o’clock which is not stupid o’clock but it means we keep moving. From the bus stop it seemed like a short 1.7 km walk to the caves at Postajna. This complex is the largest cave system in Europe and is indeed very impressive. Not colourful but impressive in its scale. There’s more than 20 km of cave tunnels, 39 million people have visited the caves (most of them today I think!) and it takes between 100 and 400 years to produce a cm of growth in the stalagmites/stalactites. That puts the scale of things into a time frame that is virtually pre-historic. And you get around in a cute little but long train. There’s probably almost a 2km walk through the complex but that walk commences and finishes with that little train ride. The temperature in the cave complex remains 8 degrees and it was the first time we have been cold despite the fact we came prepared with jumpers. They actually hire coats and wraps there.

Then it’s castle time. Despite the shuttle bus not running to schedule we managed to get to the Cave Castle at Predjama. Again touristy but touristy for a reason. Again an impressive sight, with an impressive history. The castle nestles into another cave complex and indeed the caves provided such a great defence that the castle withstood sieges and attacks and provided safe haven over the centuries. The rooms are very spartan and some are literally just caves but there are some furnishings and details that give a glimpse of what was once upon a time. There’s quite a bit of walking as the complex expanded over time and grew from in the caves to outside but clinging to the caves. It was different to lots of other castles because it was far from comfortable, decadent and ostentatious. I’ll drop photos so you can share some of the details.

We've had the almost compulsory Radlers and some potato chips and have recovered pretty well, which means when Julie has finished watching Australian MasterChef we should be in a position to venture out for something to eat. I’ll shower, make myself beautiful and start rubbing my tummy, it usually works.

See you soon.

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