Caves, Castles, and Cemeteries, Oh My

In every town, city, or National Park there is a cave or castle and often times both to visit here in Slovenia. Our first visit was to Postojna Caves and Predjama Castle. Postojna Cave is Slovenia’s largest cave and was discovered when a man fell into the cave. This man survived and ever since it has been a big tourist attraction. Before entering the cave we boarded a train that drove us in about 2 kilometers and then from there we walked around to various parts. The downfall about this cave is that it’s set up a bi like an amusement park; think Disneyland’s Matterhorn. The upside to this cave is the amount of stalactites and stalagmites it has inside, never have I seen so many. Immediately, as we entered the cave via train we started to see stalactites/mites everywhere, in all different shapes, colors and sizes. The colors we saw were either pink for calcium, white for iron or black for magnesium. My favorite rock formation was the translucent “curtain” formations or as I liked to call them “bacon strips” because they were the color pink and white and looked like bacon. Another favorite is the “spaghetti” room, all over the ceiling there are little thin white stalactites hanging down, imagine a chef throwing a big bowl of spaghetti to the ceiling to see if it would stick. After about an hour or so of walking through only 20% of the cave the guide lead us back to the train for our ride out. From here we drove just down the road to Predjama Castle which is burrowed into the side of a mountain. This castle, like the cave, has its up’s and down’s, the down part is the fake 16th century décor and folk manikins. Setting this aside, what I did love about this castle is the free range to roam around and while doing this you see the various stages of growth this castle under went. The castle was first constructed in the 12th century and was built inside of the mountain and then in the 16th century it expanded outside of the mountain and left it with a distinct Renaissance flair. Underneath the castle there is a cave but since we just came from Postojna we opted to skip it.

Since we still had the car and had driven it across the Croatia-Slovenia boarder we did the similar thing as we did in Croatia. We stayed at Hudicevec Farm which was our base and from there drove to the different towns/cities we wanted to visit. With the first cave visit being such a success we thought to visit Skocjan Cave. Skocjan Cave is nothing like Postojna cave; first it is a lot less touristy and has less stalactites/mites. Nevertheless our tour through Skocjan was very unique and different then most of the caves I have been in before. First we walked about 15 min. before arriving to the cave, then walked nearly 90 min. through both the dry and wet parts of the cave and finally took a funicular to the top. In the beginning we walked through the dry cave which consist of stalactites/mites and collapse ceilings (when rock falls during an earthquake). In the second half we saw the Reka-Velka River cut right through the cave and create a series of cascades, waterfalls and lakes. Walking through the wet part was fascinating, especially since for most of it we were walking above and along the river so we could really see all the sinkholes, lakes and falls. For the afternoon we headed to the town of Piran and as usual sat in the square, visited the cathedral and strolled along the harbor. Since it"s right on the Adriatic Sea, fish is very popular and we had lunch at this wonderful local run fish restaurant. Dad ordered the fried fish which came with fried calamari and shrimp and I had a local fish simmered in white wine. All the food was so fresh and absolutely delicious but dad’s calamari and shrimp was the best I have ever had in my life.

Of all the days spent in Slovenia our drive through the Julian Alps was my favorite. We started our driving tour along the stunningly turquoise Soca River till we arrived in Kobarid, the town where Hemmingway drove an ambulance truck during WWI and picked up dead and wounded bodies (Did you know this?). It is this town in which Hemmingway writes about in his novel “Farewell to Arms.” In Kobarid’s backyard sits the famous Soca Front, where a lot of WWI took place. Kobarid has dedicated a Museum explaining the history of the front and all the tragedy that occurred there. Since most of our planned route passed old WWI remnants we felt a tour around the museum would be a good way to start the day. The museum is divided into rooms; winter conditions, day to day activities, stories and pictures of tragedies, Kobarid’s history in the war and much, much more. Over all, the Museum is relatively small but there is so much to see plus a video to watch, we spent nearly two hours absorbing it all in. Continuing on our drive we drove past a WWI fort, a WWI cemetery and then stopped to take a peak in St. Joseph’s church. Much of it is covered in scaffolding but what is unique about this church is it is covered in patriotic symbolism that dates back to WWII. For example, it’s painted in red, white and blue (Yugoslavia’s colors); the ceiling has a painting of St Michael with Yugoslavia’s three WWII enemies at his feet: eagle, wolf and serpent; and on the walls are Slavic saints verses Catholic. Behind the church is a cemetery and one part of it is solely dedicated to the military. Just beyond the church is the start of Vrsic Pass which is in Triglav National Park and is the start of our 50 switchbacks, each one being numbered. Along the pass we drove through the “Valley of the Cemeteries,” (#49)crossed over Soca River, (#26-28) saw old abandon checkpoints as well as WWI debris,(#22) admired the mountain vista, (#15)took pictures of the nearly 10 foot snow still standing, (#8) hiked up to a cute Russian Orthodox Chapel and before getting back into the car I took a photo of the cobble stone road (the road we were driving on) which was built by the Russians in WWI. With the pass behind us and evening time quickly approaching we quickly headed to Lake Bled. Since it was getting dark we opted to drive around the lake, instead of walking, before we sat down for dinner. After our warm pizza and cold beer we headed for the highway which took us home.

Four days in and just a few to remain we felt it was time to visit Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana. The best thing about Ljubljana is that it’s dominantly a pedestrian city. It is so easy to walk around this capitol and there are so many pedestrian walkways, one would really not need a car, and this is werid to say for a capitol that doesn’t have a lot of public transportation. Anyway, once we arrived in Ljubljana we headed straight to Ljubljanica River to see and walk across the Triple Bridge, Ugly Duckling Bridge, Cobbler’s Bridge and finally the Dragon Bridge. Once we finished crossing all the bridges we made our way to Ljubljana’s castle (lame), but before we arrived we stopped and admired St. Nicholas’s Cathedrals and strolled through Riverside Market. St. Nicholas’s Cathedral has these two amazingly intricate bronze doors as well as some beautiful golden alters. Just behind the church is the market with tones of fresh produce and flowers, everything looked and smelled amazing. From here we took the funicular up to the castle where we were completely let down and unimpressed by what we saw. The only perk to visiting the castle was the panoramic view it has of the city. After our quick tour around the castle we sat and had lunch by the river and then headed to Slovenia’s famous architects house, Joze Plecnik. Plecnik was originally born in Ljubljana and although he moved away for his studies, he did eventually return to Ljubljana and lived till his death in 1957. Many of Ljubljana’s famous sights have Plecnik’s architectural touch to them, he left his mark everywhere. For example, the Triple Bridge was originally a single bridge but Plecnik added two pedestrian bridges, one on each side, and now it is the Triple Bridge. Plecnik also put his touch in the Universities Library, the Riverside Market, in Zale Cemetery, a few churches, and many other places, such as his own house. Plecnik designed one side of his house to be round so two of the rooms inside are in the shape of a circle. Although Plecnik is not well known, the pieces of work I did happen to see I liked and I found him a very clever man.

The day had come for us to head back to Zagreb, Croatia and return the car before we caught our evening train to Budapest, Hungary. Since we had the morning free we thought one more visit to yet again another castle would be a good end before we continued our travels north. We visited the 13th century Trakoscan castle that is surrounded by forest and at the bottom of the castle is a big lake. Trokoscan Castle has a fairy tale look to it, with its bright white walls that stand on top of this hill and green trees surrounding it. Much of what we saw in the rooms are the castles original décor and nearly all the rooms are open for touring. The kitchen is my favorite room, it’s separated from the rest of the rooms and in the center is a big old fashion fire oven and stove. Plus, hanging on the walls were old pots, pans and utensil that look much different then the ones we use today. Overall, Trokoscan Castle is one of my favorite castles I have visited. From here we drove to Zagreb, returned the car, and headed to the train station. With fifteen minutes till the train is expected to leave we make it to the platform and have a look around because no where could we see the train. Dad goes to check the platform number again and assures me we are in the right spot but of course, with it now being the time to depart, we ask a train worker and he says the train has already left. What? Excuse Me? How can this be? Well come to find out the platform we needed was about a mile down (a bit of an exaggeration) and since we didn’t know this we missed the train. To make us feel a bit better a local guy missed the train, making the same mistake we had. With little option, we had to stay the night and take the following train which left at 5 am, this one we did not miss.