The Postojna Cave Experience and Predjama Castle (A Slovenian Castle In A Cave!)

When I asked my four-year-old what his favorite part of the day was, he replied, “I got to see Batman’s cave!” Today, to break up the drive from Ljubljana to Piran, we first stopped at Postojna Caves and then at Predjama Castle.

Postojna Cave is Slovenia’s largest (discovered) cave, and while it is for sure a tourist trap, it was still a pretty jaw-dropping experience. Before you ever go into the cave, there is a little (kind of lame) exhibition where you view the weird, eel- Gollum-like ‘human fish’…. a fish that does not eat the first eleven years of its life and can live for over a hundred years.

When I heard there was a butterfly exhibit, my spidey senses went on high alert! Thankfully they were dead! (For those of you that don’t know, I am inexplicably, slightly terrified of butterflies.)

The actual cave experience takes an hour and a half. It’s COLD down there, so even though it was a 25 degree Celsius day, we bundled up in long pants and coats. No flash is allowed so my photos really do not do justice to this massive cave. The best part of the experience for me was the ten minute, Indiana Jones type train ride down into the cave. Wyatt got a video of some of the train ride. On the way back up, the kids got to ride at the front.

Once down there, our guide Greggor toured us around the almost 2 km tourist part of the cave. Stalactites and limestone columns that have taken millions of years to form tower around you.

Ummmmm……and then we got stuck behind an elderly, slow-moving couple in one of the longer narrow passages and got completely separated from our group……and thought we might be setting up camp in the cave!

I am writing this blog from our apartment in Piran, so obviously we found our way out!

After the awesome Potojna Cave experience, we drove 10km up the road and were greeted by Predjama Castle, the largest cave castle in the world.

The castle juts 123 meters into the sky off the cliff face. They give you an audio pack in your language of choice when you first enter. If the four and six-year-old had not been keeping me busy, I would have learned a lot.

After a fantastic day discovering the caves and castles of the Karst region of Slovenia, we made our way to our Airbnb in the coastal town of Piran. We were not disappointed. Here is the current view from our apartment balcony.

Ahhhhhh! Time for a glass of vino while I soak all of this up!

Lake Bohinj and the Triglav National Park, Slovenia: A Feast for the Eyes!

I didn’t think anything could beat yesterday’s outing to Bled. I was wrong! This country amazes me more and more! Slovenia is the hidden gem of Europe and I fall in love with it a little harder everyday. (It’s only Day 3- ha!) Today we packed up the car and took the 30 minute drive from Lake Bled to Lake Bohinj. We had read that this is where the locals come to play, and now we know why. Even the drive from one lake to the other was gorgeous. Sleepy villages, each one with a tall church steeple, greeted us every now and again. Lake Bohinj is in Slovenia’s only National Park, Triglav National Park. First stop was Ribcev Laz.

Ribcev Laz

Ribcev Laz is a charming small town on the east bank of Lake Bohinj. It is home to the most photographed church in Slovenia, Church of St John the Baptist. The church was closed today, so we made do with soaking in the phenomenal views of the Julian Alps and Lake Bohinj, and feeding the fish in the crystal clear water.

The obligatory daily ice cream run is becoming something of a habit!

We could see a boat coming lazily down the lake toward us and docking at the tiny dock. A quick investigation told us that it was the scenic boat trip of Lake Bohinj and since it was leaving in ten minutes, we decided to hop on. Good decision! As it was low season, we had the entire boat to ourselves. Our beautiful, blonde, Slovenian tour guide Lucy told us all about the 60 year old, German, electric boat, gave us a history about the lake and imparted tips on what else to see in the area. (She also told us some of the forests in the area are in danger after becoming infested with a type of wood eating beetle.)

Mount Vogel

Mount Vogel is a ski resort 1353 above sea level. Lucy had told us the views of Lake Bohinj from the top are amazing, so we took a slightly terrifying trip up the gondala. We had a little Nickleback blasting out of the speakers on the way up! Because why not! And yes- the view from the lodge was breathtaking. It was also a lovely place to sit down and relax for a minute.

The photos just don’t do the view the justice it deserves so I’m including a video.

And when you hear a song you like in the gondala lobby, why not have a dance with your dad?

Savica Slap

Savica Slap is a cascading waterfall hanging over a limestone cliff. There are 550 bloomin steps up to this waterfall. I thought the four and six year old did a slap up job (pardon the pun!) getting to the top…..and then getting all the way back down to the bottom. No easy feat for little four year old legs. The intense rapids welcome you at the bottom of the hike and the roaring of the waterfall gets more intense as you trek your way towards the top.

The last two days have shown us that heaven on earth exists. Tomorrow we see what the Slovenian city of Ljubljana has to offer.

Lake Bled, Slovenia….(AKA the most beautiful place on earth!)

I added Slovenia to our itinerary as an afterthought. If we were going to Croatia, sure why not take in a little of Slovenia as well? Shame on me! Shame. On. Me!! Slovenia is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. And its only Day Two!

We started our morning with a little trek up to the castle. There’s more than a little climb involved, and once at the top we debated paying the 24 euro to actually go in. So glad we did! The views of Lake Bled from the castle are phenomenal. There was also a little museum that the kids had fun wandering around in.

Lake Bled has a walking/ bike trail all the way around it, so we took a stroll around some of the lake in the afternoon. Again, the views of the lake bowled us over. Candy for the eyes!

We may have to bring swimsuits tomorrow and use this slide to catapult into the lake!

Wyatt mentioned more than once how clean everything is- the streets, the air, the buildings!

You’ve probably already spotted in the photos, there’s an island with a church living in the middle of the lake. Church bells drift melodically from the island on a regular basis. We decided to take a traditional Pletna boat out to see the tranquil baroque style church up close and personal. It’s basically one poor guy rowing 15 of our lazy arses a couple of kilometers out to the island.

We got dropped off for forty minutes and visited the church, and had the kids ring the wishing bell inside the church. (Now we know why we are constantly hearing church bells at Lake Bled!)

Just like the custard tarts in Lisbon, Slovenia has it’s own dessert speciality: the cream cake! We took a trip to the site of the apparent origination of the cream cake: The Hotel Park Terrace. Our waiter told us they make 30 million cream cakes a year, enough to make a cream cake road from Lake Bled to Rome! While KJ has found a new favorite sweet, the rest of us thought it was so- so. Too much cream for my liking.

And who would have guessed how the evening would end? With my kids finding a Slovenian playground right by our place! Surprise! Surprise! We are off to Lake Bohinj tomorrow, which is supposed to be even more spectacular than Bled. Not sure how that will be possible!

Hi Dada! We missed you!

Today marked the start of our Slovenia leg of the sabbatical, and the day the littles (and I) got to see Dada again after three and a half weeks. Happy Days!

We are starting our adventure at Lake Bled….and genuinely, it is heaven on earth! (I’ll post more on Lake Bled tomorrow.)

It was evening by the time we were all settled and a quick glance at trip advisor showed us that the top family restaurant was down the road from us. It was goooood!

Great start to The Big Trip!