Slovenia

Nicky:  The rain stopped just before the Slovenian border, which we passed in a tunnel.  Unfortunately we were up in the clouds for the journey so saw very little.  We arrived about 7pm and stayed in a village just outside Bled, had dinner and went to bed.

We woke early the next morning and drove to a car park on the shores of Lake Bled.  It was 5 euros for all day, perfect- however the machine only took change and even with us both trying to collect change, we only had 4.70.  So we headed for the closest shop where we thought we would be able to get some more change.  We drove to the nearby train station, which we found had free parking with no time limits.  We decided to park there, as from first impressions it seemed safe, and was a short 5 minute walk downhill to the original car park we had tried. The lake is very beautiful, there is a church on an island and a castle that sits on the rocks overlooking the lake.  We planned to walk the 6km around the lake and also up to a lookout point.  We stopped plenty of times for photos, and the sun enhanced these as the weather improved.  We made it to the info centre where we picked up a guide and map.   Whilst there we saw a Dutch man and Australian women, whom by chance we met again shortly afterwards beside the lake.  We enjoyed chatting to some other tourists, it turned out that they knew each other as they were staying at the same hostel.  They were wanting to go to the Osojnica lookout, the same as us, so we continued around the lake, and then made the 20 minute climb to the lookout point.  We stayed up there for a while talking about our trips, we were all going to be away for 6-12 months, and we compared our  travels so far.  We returned to the lake, and found a bench for lunch, we then said goodbye to our new acquaintances and returned to the van.

Lake Bled

It was mid afternoon by this stage, and we drove to Lake Bohinj about 30 minutes away to visit the Savica waterfall.  The guidebook had suggested that it was an hour walk each way, so I was cautious to get there in time as it gets dark about 7pm now.  It turns out it is more like 25 minutes each way.  We handed over our 2.50 euro each and walk the uphill path to the waterfall, where we stood taking in the view.  I was a little disappointed when Dale pointed out that the second/lower part of the fall was man made/altered.  Afterwards we headed back around lake Bohinj in the van, stopping several times for photos.  There were awesome reflections in the water, and a gorgeous church and stone bridge in the village of Stara Fuzina on one side of the lake.

Savica Falls

 Lake Bohinj

The following morning we set off with reaching Venice, Italy in two days in mind.  We drove for a couple of hours, and were in search of a lunch stop when Dale saw a car park with a few cars parked in it and some walking track signs.  It turns out that the car park was for Mengore Hill, which during World War 1 was part of the Isonzo front, where the Austro-Hungarians defended against the Italians.  I had just placed lunch in the oven, when another car pulled up and the occupants came out and set up the sites two picnic tables with table cloths and looked to be getting ready for a party.  A chap, Vito it turns out, promptly gestured us over and encouraged us to share a toast of their moonshine which seemed pretty lethal.  Turned out they were setting up lunch for a group of walkers due to arrive any minute.  They all knew each other from the Ministry of Defence, in which they had all served in some capacity, and were now retired.  They were so generous and jovial that we spent the next 4 hours with them, eating Jota (a Slovenian pork, bean and cabbage soup), cured meats and drinking way too much alcohol.  It really was a very memorial moment of our trip.  No longer in a fit state to continue the drive that day we said goodbye when the group left at 5pm, and went for a walk up the hill and saw the gun positions and also the Church of the Virgin Mary at the top. We stayed the night in the car park, watching a movie and eating the lunch we had never got to earlier.   We set off the next morning, when I'll admit, I (Nicky) had a mild hangover.

We have really enjoyed our short stay in Slovenia, the countryside is lovely and the people friendly.  We plan to return to Slovenia again sometime, as we have only just touched on this country.