Slovenia

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We left Croatia for at the beginning of October, and drove north toward Slovenia. Our first stop in Slovenia was The Skocjan Caves. These caves are a Unesco World Heritage Site and boast the world's largest subterranean canyon, replete with a rushing river (seen from hundreds of feet above) and waterfalls, and filled with stalagmites and stalagtites of strange and wonderous shapes and sizes. These caves are beautiful, spectacular, and breathtaking. I hated every moment I was in them.
The first section was the worst. A tunnel. I hate tunnels. Knowing that I have terrible claustrophobia, Ari very nicely held my hand for this part--we were assured that the first tunnel was the only truly enclosed section--but I was still in tears by the time I reached the end. This was right up there with having an MRI. I didn't scream or try to run back, though--which I have done before (Florence, bell tower, security guard).
Things opened up as we continued, but I was still fairly panicked. This excursion combined my dread of being underground with a recently developed fear of heights, along with the terror of having my children fall off a cliff or drop from a suspension bridge. Yep, it was all there. I focused on the ground, tried to listen to the guide, tried to tune out the guide when he talked about the statistical probability of having an earthquake, and practiced, as unobtrusively as possible, alternate nostril breathing.
For everyone else, though, the tour of the caves was a success. According to both boys, "they were cool" and Dean was utterly fascinated. Recognizing that I am in the minority, I do recommend this for visitors to Slovenia. I will be staying above ground from now on.











From the caves we continued traveling north to Lake Bled, on the edge of Triglav National Park, where Slovenia borders Austria. Here, the scenery ranges from picturesque to breathtaking. Lake Bled, at the foot of the Julian Alps, is often described as a "fairy tale" setting, as "picture perfect" and "lovely". All the adjectives apply, and none of them do justice. Even the professionally produced photos and postcards fall slightly short.
We spent a few days in Bled, biking and walking, rowing and exploring. We also hiked through nearby Vintgar Gorge and then visited the wilder and even more beautiful Lake Bohinj. Every time we'd turn a corner we'd laugh at the perfection of it all. We moved from one breathtaking (pardon my overuse of this adjective) vista after another, going through charming villages. And everywhere we went, people were friendly and industrious, cheerfully tending tidy gardens outside their tidy alpine houses. We felt like we had stumbled into bliss.




On our way out, just a short drive from Bled, we stopped in the town of Radovljica. Established mainly in the Middle Ages, this place has a most charming old center. We visited the Cebelarski Muzej (Beekeeping Museum) which sounds a little weird but was a little wonderful. Slovenia has a long history of beekeeping and the museum has information on bees and beekeeping. But the art is the thing. The painting of beehive panels is a folk art tradition here, with allegorical, biblical and folk tales depicted on the more than 200 that are on display in the museum. There are elaborately carved beehives, and intricate beeswax sculptures as well.



Our visit to Slovenia was not only enjoyable, but easy. Countless people spoke English and other languages too, besides the native Slovene. The people were friendly and helpful, the food was great, the vibe was relaxed. This felt like an inexpensive, laid-back version of Austria (with a little slice of Adriatic coastline) thrown in. As the national travel slogan goes, I FEEL sLOVEnia!

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Photos

Emerging into the light
This is near the exit, the only place where photos are allowed at the Caves.

Fresco at St. John
This was a lovely church, dating from sometime in the 16th century.

Bohinj
Bell tower at St. John's church

Beehive
"The Turk"

Radovljica
Old town square

Comments

[Richard Dugdale]

Interesting
An interesting report on the country giving some detail of what it is like to visit.