While Ljubliana is the capital and biggest city by far in Slovenia, the real beauty in the country is in the mountains, valleys, and lakes.
Ljubliana (had to spell check it again!) is a really nice city. It’s so small that it’s hard to get lost. There’s a river, and a couple of bridges, one with a dragon (Dragon Bridge), some good food, friendly people, and a little nightlife. We hit up a place called PR Skelet, and had a drink called a Zombie:
We spent 3 nights in a nice Airbnb in town. We took a journey to some caves:
Then decided to take a drive to Italy (just 25 more minutes!) and spent the afternoon in Trieste, which included wine, gelato, and a dip in the Adriatic:
The next day we headed to Bled in our rental.
We decided to stay at a place on a farm. And it was a great decision! The views were incredible:
Although, there were some early-rising cows that made sure we didn’t sleep past about 6:30 am!
Our first day included a hike. Our intention was to see the famous and gorgeous Vinta Gorge. After some twists and turns, we found the parking lot of the trail just fine.
That’s where the trouble started.
Instead of trying to follow the crowd, we followed what was CLEARLY the trail. Lots of steepness, and climbing, climbing, climbing, and not a soul in site on the trail! Something didn’t seem right, but we kept going and got to the top where there were some markers.
“We’re on the right track!” we thought.
Nope.
The next part of the hike involved twists and turns, lots of forks in the road, and led us to the river, which we thought would bring us back to the gorge.
Which it would have, but the trail along the river just ended, about 30 minutes in! We’re talking a cliff and unless we were willing to swim across the river, our only option was to turn back and retrace.
So 30 minutes later we ran into some villagers who directed us the right way.
Only that way was nuts. We were going through neighborhoods, and it sure seemed like we were trampling through people’s personal back yards!
I was expecting an old man with a shotgun to stop us in our tracks at any time.
After another big climb up a hill, and going through several gates, we finally emerged to where we started. And this is where the hike to the gorge was ACTUALLY supposed to begin.
So while everyone else was getting out of their cars with fresh legs, we had just been going for about 4.5 hours, with way too many pointless ups and downs (PUDs).
But dessert was worth it. It was a simple walk through the gorge, and a taste of what was to come in Slovenia:
The next day was spent river rafting with a group. Fun times! It wasn’t much past Class 2, but the water was…refreshing! Several dips were taken in the river.
Then a stroll around beautiful Lake Bled:
And the following day, we made the drive through the Soca valley, and took in this hike:
And finally, this waterfall at the end, where I recorded “Misled in Bled”
