Slovenia

We arrived in Slovenia and went straight to the capital, Ljubljana (pronounced Lubyana) where we were meeting some friends. Slovenia is a small country but it has a lot going for it. At the break up of Yugoslavia it was up there in terms of economic stability and productivity so it quickly adapted. It made its currency from the same materials as the Euro so when it came time to join it could easily re-mint its money.
Most of the country is covered in forest and Slovenia is well known for its outdoors activities. Ljubljana has a rich architecture and the old town is full of cobbled streets, 300 year old buildings, decorative bridges (a river flows right through the centre) and a large market place. Give its proximity to Venice, there is no wonder looks as if it has been influenced by the former city-state.
It is also close to Vienna and you can see the Austro-Hungarian influence here, just as the rest of the area. The city is dominated by the old castle, perched upon the hill that overlooks the city. It doesn’t take too long to walk up, zigzagging through more narrow cobble streets, and once you get to the top the view over the city it spectacular, if somewhat fuzzy due to the pollution, a common sight in the Balkans. We were lucky it wasn’t too bad on the day we were there.

Our friends that we stayed with don’t live in Ljubljana but in a small town just outside called Kranj. In a country as small as Slovenia this is a town, in other countries it might be considered a suburb of the capital. It was a good jumping off point to see some of the countryside of Slovenia. We made our way to Bled which is famous for its lake, castle and monastery.
It is favoured by hikers and nature lovers and its reputation didn’t let us down. The castle itself wasn’t really a great castle when you are in it, but its real grandeur comes when you look at it from afar. From across the lake the castle looks grand, especially with its monastery neighbour not too far away.
You could easily while away a whole afternoon, if not a whole day, just hanging out at the lake there, sitting on a bench, maybe swimming (bring a wetsuit though, the water looked cold) but only in summer.

Just past Bled, driving through some traditional villages that cars look out of place in, there is another lake called Bohinj. The lake runs a long way and right into some mountains that you can climb. The climb can go on for days if you want it, but most people will climb as far as the waterfall. We had the intention of seeing the waterfall, but once we got so far up, it was getting quite cold and we did not have the right clothes.
Still, seeing the lake and the surroundings was worth it. According to our friends people often go hiking for several days in this area and there are rest cabins where you can stay the night and/or an hour or two and recharge. They are usually run by old ladies who will stay for the whole summer in these cabins, waiting for hikers to come along. At this time of year though, they are rarely open.

I think that for Slovenia, it is another case of the pictures telling the story. There is only so much you can describe in writing, so here are lots of photos. It is also the end of our journey by car. From Slovenia we will drive straight across Italy to Nice where we will spend one night and return the car. It is a shame because it is such a cool little car and it has not let us down once. From Nice we will go to Milan by train, and there again we will pick up the travels.