Ljubljana - Tuesday

Last day, sigh.  Unfortunately, it looks like the Lufthansa pilots are only striking today, so our plane will be taking off tomorrow--probably fully loaded and delayed.

Here's our "favorites" list:
Best city:  Ljubljana
Best town:  Piran
Best lake:  Bohinj!  (Not Bled)
Best festival:  Cows Ball at Lake Bohinj
Best cave:  Skocjan
Best castle:  Predjama
Best museum:  Franja Partisan Hospital
Best hike:  to Kozjak waterfall by Kobarid
Worst hike:  back to Kobarid from the church
Best something-without-a-category: Velika Planina
Best restaurant:  Gostlina Ribic in Ptuj
Best dessert:  apple strudel
Best accommodation -G:  Kobarid
Best accommodation -L:  Ljubljana (either one)
Best beer:  dark Lasko
Favorite Slovenian:  Sonya! (&Alma & Vlad & Ana)

Top photo:  kittens at the farm on walk to Franja Hospital
Middle photo:  G before he's had his morning coffee.
Bottom photo:  Ljubljana taken from our room in Guesthouse Macek.

Ljubljana -Monday

Lufthansa pilots are going on strike tomorrow, Tuesday.  All Lufthansa flights from Frankfurt to the US are cancelled for Tuesday only.  We are supposed to fly out on Wednesday but who knows?  G made sure Lufthansa has our Slovenian phone number so they can text us if our flight is cancelled.  I'm hoping the strike lasts longer and we can stay on a few days.

Here's a picture of our room.  It's strange but cool.  The closet has a bed on top of it.  Part of the wood floor is light color and part is dark.  The dark wood extends up the wall and also up the head of the bed.  Also on the bathroom wall.

The streets of Ljubljana are lined with sidewalk cafés, especially here in old town.  Lonely Planet travel book listed Ljubljana as #2 on their list of places to go in 2014.  Good choice.

Piran to Ljubljana - Sunday

Sailboats dotted the Adriatic Sea off Piran's shore today.   We watched them from the park while waiting for the bus.  I hear George Clooney was over across the sea in Venice getting married yesterday.

There were lots of tourists in Piran for the day.  Time to leave.

The bus ride to Ljubljana was through forests and valleys with small farms.  Found out the average farm in Slovenia is only 20 acres.  Most of the farmers have a second job.  More than half of Slovenia is covered with trees, and most of those are owned by farmers.  The farms with cattle only have about a half dozen--mostly milk cows.  That's all I know about Slovene farms.  But they sure are pretty--so very green.

We've spent most of the month in small towns.  It was a change to get back to Ljubljana and see how cosmopolitan it is in comparison.  Our room is in the heart of old town with a view of the river.  Nice!

We had supper just around the corner at a sidewalk cafe.  G had goulash--his favorite meal here.  It was served in a copper pot hanging from an iron stand.  I had a noodle dish with pumpkin seeds in it. I could have done without the pumpkin seeds.  One other day the waitress proudly pointed out the pumpkin seeds in the bread.  I think they're the latest craze here.

Top photo:  sailboats on the Adriatic Sea
Bottom photo:  G checking out the bell in the Bell Tower.  There are a LOT of bells in this country.

Piran -Saturday

Just a quiet day at the seaside resort of Piran.  There were a lot more booths set up in Tartini Square today--being Saturday, I suppose.  Most of the new ones were selling antiques.  Their quality of antiques is much higher than in the US.

We didn't do anything exciting--just enjoyed the sun and the sea.  We shopped a bit--bought some salt  (whoopee!).  There are salt flats south of town but we decided not to visit.

Top photo:  every wall in our many-hundred-year-old apartment is crooked.  Some, like this kitchen wall, are off by 10 inches.  It must be a challenge to remodel these old buildings.

Bottom photo:  lots of activity today on Tartini Square.

Piran -Friday

We had breakfast in our crooked-y old apartment--cereal from the Mercator store and fruit from the outdoor market just the other side of the square.  After breakfast we headed out for a walk.  We met Ana on the stairs so I murdered some Deutsch again.

Piran is very small--probably 20 minute walk from one end to the other.  Our apartment is just one street off the main square so everything is nearby.  We walked to the old town walls and climbed up the Bell Tower by St George's Parish Church for a good view of the town.  The Bell Tower is a replica of St Mark's Campanile in Venice.  Piran is very much an Italian style town.  Seems like I hear more Itslian spoken here than Slovene.  Also went to the Maritime Museum where G was in his glory.  Figure in time for lunch and an afternoon ice cream break, and the day was almost over.

After a short rest we went to the restaurant Pri Mari for supper.  It's very popular and I can see why.  Excellent meal!  Our sea bass for two was perfect.

Top picture:  view of the Bell Tower from Tartini Square.

Bottom picture:  view of Piran from top of Bell Tower.  The streets are so narrow you can't see them from above.  I think I could shake hands with the person living across the street from us.

Postojna to Piran - Thursday

Ana, our host in Piran, doesn't speak English.  I dragged out my 50-year-old Deutsch and we managed somehow.  Ana met us at the main office and then guided us through the maze of streets to our apartment.  She explained (in German) how everything worked, etc.  I did pretty well understanding her, but my responses in German were pathetic.  She was sweet, though and didn't laugh.

Piran is located on the tip of a long tapering peninsula that sticks out like a tail into the Adriatic Sea.  It has a medieval look to it and is a tangle of arched alleys and tightly packed houses.  Cars aren't allowed in the old part where we're staying so it's really fun to wander around.

We had supper outside by the sea-- at the Pavel Restaurant.  G had scampi and I had mussels.  Good meal--not top notch.  The setting, however, was a 10.

Top photo:  one of the narrow streets of Piran--similar to the street where our apartment is located.
Bottom photo:  Main shopping and hotel area of Piran

Postojna - Wednesday

The server was down in our guesthouse last night so I'm late posting this.

We visited the Skocjan Caves today and both agreed they win the "cave war" in our opinion.  Both the Postojna and Skocjan caves were magnificent so it's silly to even choose.  They both had great dripstones but the Skocjan cave was more intimate.  You walked right among the formations with fewer lights so you felt like you were exploring.  It also had a tremendous cavern where the Reka River flowed through.  It was unlike anything we'd seen in a cave before.  We walked, mostly in the dark, along a narrow ledge carved into the limestone rock, towards the scary 150 ft high bridge flowing over a roaring Reka River--all this inside a cave.  It was the most fantastic sight imaginable.

All photography was forbidden in the Skocjan cave so I can't show you how beautiful it was.  Actually, that was part of the attraction--people weren't stopping every few feet to take a picture.

We walked 3 kilometers in the cave, mostly uphill and then had a strenuous 2 kilometer climb back to the reception area.  I was pooped at the end of the day--but it was worth it.


The translation of Reka is "river."  So their river was named River River.

At the caves G talked with a young Scot, and asked him what he thought about the recent vote.  He said about 60% of the young people in Scotland voted for independence from England, while about 60% of the older people voted against it.  He feels that it will inevitably happen as the old duffers die off (my words).

We had a good lunch at the cave restaurant.  Goulash for G and spaghetti for me.  Plus Gibanica for dessert.  It's a traditional Slovene dessert--pastry filled with apples, cheese and poppy seeds baked in cream.

Top photo:  entry to Skocjan cave.

Bottom photo:  A garden in Divaca, the village near Skocjan Cave.  Pretty green for end of September.  There were small gardens in most back yards.  This one might be a community garden.