SLOVENIA TRIP 2007

(Some of the photos can be clicked to show them larger)

DAY 1: TUES JUNE 12

We left home at 0620 and travelled with no problem by car to Stafford, 2 trains to Stansted then Easyjet flight to Ljubljana, arriving at 1630 (1 hour forward). The Rough Guide, which was very helpful to us throughout the trip, described the buses at the airport but it was too detailed and the details were wrong. But the info desk was very helpful, and there was a bus waiting which took us for €5 each non-stop to Ljubljana bus station. Our hostel was said to be 5 minutes walk from there, but we had suitcases and dragging them took much more than 5 minutes.

The Celica hostel is in a former prison. This has been transformed, with a good deal of artistic expression, such that all the cells are different. Ours was a 'twin' room, with one bed at low level fixed diagonally across the room, and the other at a high level placed on a substantial platform oriented on the other diagonal!

Celica Hostel -- covered patio

Climbing to the platform was dangerously scary and outside my confidence level, but fortunately my wife was happy to take that one. Other hostellers later told us that they had only a double bed at that high level, so if you go to that hostel and have any qualms about high vertical ladders, check it out before you book! The only other problem with the room was that, even with the window open, the door was a sheet of metal and could not easily be left open so there was no air circulation, this in a temperature of 26C. Apart from these two limitations, it was an excellent hostel, with a large sociable ground-level patio area for eating and socialising, a bar with cheap beer, and some food dishes. Breakfast was very good, with juice, cereal, bread with meat, cheese and jam, and some extras, all you can eat.

The 'jam session' which the hostel hosts every Tuesday was a dead loss. Publicised to start at 2100, the performers were trying out fragments of music and song and twiddling their knobs from 2110 until 2130, whereupon they retired to the bar! It didn't get going until 2150, and comprised some good music on several instruments and singing, but the female singer was somewhat drowned by the instruments, and the sound was distorted too much to be enjoyable. We left at 2230, having had a long day; we were told later that things really got going at 2300 when other players joined the group. We were told later it was Bosnian music; rather wistful in sound.

The hostel is in the grounds of a former barracks, in which the other buildings have been neglected and taken over by squatters. This featured more art on the walls, including statues, and a general mess at ground level (unlike most of Slovenia which is notably clean and tidy). The hippyish residents held a party every night in their courtyard, supplying background noise to our sleeping, culminating in jovial pub-type singing at 0500 after first light!

Wall art	Building art	More wall art

DAY 2: WED JUNE 13

On a sunny day with clouds building at times, we explored the centre of Ljubljana.

Views of Ljubljana from Castle	view

The first thing we wanted to buy was a dictionary, and the information bureau were very helpful in pointing us to a bookshop. The bookshop had to go to their storeroom to find Slovenian/English dictionaries, but came out with a choice, and one was suitable. We went for a coffee and tried coffee with cream: it turned out to be more cream than coffee by volume! There was a large market with very good fruit and vegetables much cheaper than in UK. We then took the cable car up to the castle on the top of the hill. There we experienced the characteristic Slovenian mixture of quiet efficiency but poor signage: We bought a ticket to go up the tower, then when we came down the clerk told us we were just too late for the film, but we should come back at 1300, which we did, and sat and watched an excellent film about the history of Ljubljana, with English text from earphones; however we needed that advice because the signs were not very helpful, and the expected cafe turned out to serve only drinks.

We only saw two objectionable characters. The first was a man begging for change near our local cash machine. The second occurred when I opened the door of the big Town Hall to take a look inside, and in the small hallway was a man sitting on the floor with his hand out saying 'please'. I felt sufficiently uncomfortable that we did not feel like passing within 10 cm of his open hand to go inside. So we missed it, which was a pity. Perhaps I should write to the Tourist Bureau about him.

Ljub2	Peter in a Ljubljana street

DAY 3: THU JUNE 14

We decided to sample the Slovenian trains by taking a trip to Kamnik, a small town 15km from Ljubljana. The train was OK and comfortable, the route being a bit like a tram route with lots of stops. In Kamnik it was quite hot so we just had gentle strolls through the small but attractive sleepy little town, with a coffee at a shaded outdoor cafe. We went up a stiff trail up a hill opposite the town, through forest so pleasantly cool, to a ruined castle on the top with extensive views. The Rough Guide was very helpful with this; otherwise we wouldn't have even known about it, and there was no signage to guide us to it except one sign just where the path left the main road. The cafe on the top was closed. Back at the bottom, we wandered past the railway line; people were walking through a rail tunnel! That evening we cooked dinner in the hostel, for the only time on the trip.

View over roofs of Kamnik	Mountains beyond Kamnik

DAY 4: FRI JUNE 15

This morning we got our rental car. This involved a 1-km walk then a 1-km bus ride to the M Hotel, where the rental office was. The procedure was pretty smooth, but we had a lot to get used to at once. We drove carefully through the city streets (where drivers were more patient and orderly than in England) and had to drive through the hippy area, and there was a barrier. After puzzling for minutes, someone told us to drive nearer the barrier which then opened automatically. Or something like that. Then we loaded up the car. On being ready to set off, something suddenly went odd with my vision. I discovered that a lens had fallen out of my glasses, due to a loose screw. I retrieved everything but the screw, but they were unusable. Fortunately I had a spare pair (glasses wearers take note: you may go on dozens of trips and never need a spare pair, but one day you will!).

So we drove, with some trepidation, through city streets, out to the motorway orbital road, a further stretch of motorway, then onto the ordinary roads. The weather was warm and humid, as on most days. We stopped at the small town of Zuzemberk, where there was a ruined castle being renovated, but gratifyingly there were information signs about the town's history, including in English, and we could look round free.

A further journey took us to the small town of Crnomelj. The route to our lodging looked easy on the Rough Guide map, however we got lost and had to ask in a bar. We should have read more carefully beforehand the description of an internet friend who had described how it was difficult to find! Anyway, several bridges, junctions and bends later we found Gostilna Muller, an Inn that is mainly a restaurant (the most popular in town) but also has a few rooms. Here, we were checked in very casually. I asked about where I could attend to my glasses (it was Friday afternoon) and someone in the bar told me where there was an Optiker. We were sick of driving and the road was closed for the festival so we walked, and after some uncertainties found a shopping mall with an Optiker who, fortunately, was still open. She repaired and cleaned my glasses very efficiently, with the usual polite courtesy, and free of charge! On the walk back we passed the arena where the Jurjevanje folk festival was being prepared. There was a fine male oktet from Serbia performing at the time, and they ended with a Croatian song I knew! I looked forward to seeing them later, but unfortunately they did not appear again, and indeed they were the only purely-singing group we saw.

We had a superb meal in the Gostilna that evening, then went back to the festival which started with a procession of performing groups, who were from Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania and Macedonia. Then there were the welcome speeches -- the Hungarian ambassador gave his in English! Then the groups gave their performances, which were top class and delightful: nearly all were song-dances, often with the theme of courting, the boys courting a girl who would keep rejecting then accepted one; or wedding feasts, where the dances were in honour of the couple. Their bands played a wide variety of instruments, including a vertical framework which held lots of hollow wood blocks of different sizes which were hit with a hammer.

Jurjevanje Festival	Audience	Dance group

While our accommodation was very good, there were two little things: The water was not hot, and they took several goes to fix it until eventually, when we came back at 2300, it was hot! Our room had air conditioning, very welcome, except that at 0200 we were wakened with a drip..drip..DRIPP..drip..DRIPP.. .! We switched it to 'the 'dry' setting, and that seemed to cure the problem yet maintain some cooling. Our sleep was further disturbed by distant thunder and lightning.

DAY 5: SAT JUNE 16

The breakfast was superb. We had to wait a little while before they brought it, but it comprised juice, breads, several sorts of meat, cheese, meat spreads, jams, fruit, yogurt. On top of that, they asked us what sort of eggs we would like? And 1 or 2? For tea they brought us packets of 5 different kinds of tea, which was great, except they brought a pot of 'hot' water without a lid which, by the time we got the tea bag into it, was not really hot!

In the morning we watched various performances in a square at our end of town. They included a Hungarian group playing gipsy-style music. We had lunch in our room, then went up to the festival field, but found there was nothing much on, just rehearsals. In the evening we went back for the main concert. They were roasting whole lambs on a spit, so I went and queued for a portion. After over half an hour I got to the counter and hoped to get the last item, but they were giving preference to the customers who were ordering 2 kilos for their table and I had to then wait 15 more minutes until the next lamb arrived and was cut up! The evening continued with an excellent concert of all the song-dancing groups, and in the background a midsummer bonfire blazed. All this was free!!

Male dance team	Hungarian music	Singing and playing

The people were quite reserved, but a few times we had occasion to ask something of our neighbours and we found that they spoke some English. Some were then quite interested in asking about us. We met no other native English speakers in Crnomelj.

DAY 6: SUN JUNE 17

"Green George" tree ceremony	Tree dance

On another very warm morning, we strolled to the town centre where there appeared a small procession of dancers in costume, together with a young man dressed as a tree. This was the 'Green George' ceremony, a celebration of St George's Day / Coming of spring and greenery. Why on June 17? Well, it appears that the Jurjevo (St George) festival does take place in late April, but they do a 'copy' of it here as part of the Jurjevanje festival which is apparently a blend of the Jurjevo and the midsummer festival. Just as they started singing at 1015, an adjacent church started its Sunday morning bellringing, and drowned the ceremony for 5 minutes while the bells played their own tune! But it was an impressive, gentle ceremony.

We then went back to Holy Spirit Square where several groups of musicians and singers performed. The Macedonian group played particularly exciting music, and an impromptu kolo (circle) dance developed among the audience in the square, mainly members of the Macedonian dance groups including children, although the dance steps looked easy enough. Another group was a local brass band, which sounded just like an English brass band except for the tunes! An older man next to us asked if we were Hungarian and was surprised to hear that we were English. So he said the only English words he knew: London!.... Tony Blair! I tried to indicate a negative opinion on the latter!

In the afternoon we went for a drive around the area. We went to a village called Semic, the centre of a spread-out community but itself pretty small and quiet. The church was huge, as are many Slovenian churches, and featured frescoes, elaborate altar with lifesize statues, and extremely ornate throughout the interior, though very bland on the outside.

We then drove up a dirt road to a village called Planina, where we parked. There were, as usual, some half-helpful signs to walking tracks, and we put on our boots and found the one that took us up Mirna Gora in an hour. We had a coffee in a little cafe on the top. As we got back down to the car, a young couple had just arrived in another car. On discovering we were English, he asked us if we knew about the history of the area. He had written a book about his village based on his collection of old postcards, many in German as this area had been occupied by German-speaking people. He showed us his book, which has text in both Slovenian and English, and we were persuaded to buy a copy! It is limited in scope, but extremely well produced and laid out. I think it was good to support a person with the enthusiasm to carry out such a project. (Now I must find the time to read it!)

View from Mirna Gora

Finally today we went to visit a Roman shrine. At least, we found our way there eventually. The Rough Guide was quite helpful, the signs less so. We came to an elaborate sign which pointed to the right: 50m to parking, 100m to Information. So we parked, then walked on to the information. There was a nice big 'I' sign on a barn, but on looking in we saw only bales of hay! So we walked a bit further, and a woman told us which way to go. In fact, the original sign WAS the information, and if we had walked straight on, we would have found it more easily! The shrine, located in a small quarry, comprised a Roman carving in limestone of the god Mithras killing a bull. Our excellent dinner at the Gostilna included the local speciality of pancakes filled with chocolate sauce served with ice cream, cream and blueberries!

DAY 7: MON JUNE 18

We drove to Metlika, a small town which is capital of the region, quite attractive with a sleepy feel. It had a good museum in a castle. There were hardly any other visitors, although we did meet the first UK people since Ljubljana. We first watched a film in English about the history of the area, then we looked round the extensive displays and photos about the town's long history from Stone Age to 1950's. Now I had greatly liked the Slovenian music at the festival, but nobody had any cd's for sale. An internet friend, MO, had told me she had bought a cd of songs and dances of Slovenia from this very museum, which is partly what drew us to here. There was nothing obvious for sale, but with a little searching of the small showcase in the reception room I spotted that disc, and bought it! And it's really good!

From motorway picnic place

Then we drove directly, mainly along motorway, to Bohinj. It was hot (32C) and the car fan blew air that did not cool us. We stopped at a very nice picnic station with a small cafe, and shaded picnic tables where we spread our bread for a late lunch. The photo shows the view from there. It was a very pleasant spot, but it was the only such rest station we saw. The road became 2-lane before Bled and was congested. We drove straight through Bled as there was no sign of a parking place: it looked very touristy compared with where we had been. The last 20 km was along a good road through lush valley scenery. We were held up behind a tractor for a while, and later, we inferred, other people were held up by us, because 3 times in 10 minutes 3 cars overtook us and each gave a long (2-second) honk as they passed! What was wrong? Maybe (we thought hours later) we should have kept pulling in to let them pass. At least that was the only conclusion we could draw, as nobody ever told us so. Not a pleasant drive, we both got jittery, as we were going as fast as we felt comfortable on the always-winding road. We were glad to reach the Pension Gasperin, an excellent guest house run by father and son (both called Peter) and son's wife who was English.

That evening we walked to the recommended restaurants and looked at their menus, and eventually settled on the Hotel Kristal. I ordered a trout, and after some confusion the waiter said 'Did you order the filet?', I said yes and he went off. I had a hunch and went to re-look at the menu, and saw, as I had remembered, that BOTH the trout items included the words 'filet of trout'. 20 minutes later, sure enough, he brought the wrong one! I knew what to expect because I had had the right one the night before, 'Filet of Trout Trieste style'. I jumped up to get the menu from his table to show him. After some consternation he said 'no problem, we'll sort it out' . 20 minutes later still, the correct dish arrived! Well, he was very nice about it! Incidentally, it was not filet, it was the whole fish. But very tasty!

DAY 8: TUE JUNE 19

We were in the guesthouse for 5 nights and we gradually got to know some of the other guests, meeting them at breakfast and sometimes on the terrace. They included an English couple who had been coming to Slovenia since it was Yugoslavia. At that time, they were not allowed to leave the country for a brief visit to Italy. On this day we drove a few km along the delightful lake. There were some superb reflections seen from the car, but we didn't manage to photograph them. We then rode in the cable car 1000 metres up the cliff, to 1500m. Slovenia has, like England, the scourge of pop music played on speakers in stores, restaurants and numerous other places, including even the cable car! But it was not too loud. We reached the top (1500m) and as the car came to a shuddering stop, Elvis was singing: "I'm all shook up...."!

Bohinj lake from cable car top	Cable car hotel and Triglav

At the top there were again several signs to walking tracks and again they were misleading. We found our way to a track that rose gradually, and we attained the mountaintop of Shija (1880m). After the final steep climb we reached a small top which was, unusually, a grassy meadow! Unfortunately we were now close to cloud base, and the clouds swirled around us as we ate our lunch and enjoyed the on-and-off views. We did not attempt the further hike to the top of Vogel (1920m)

Cloud swirling round Mount Shija	Diana on Mount Shija

That evening we spread our bread at a table on the terrace in the pension. We then took a drive through the string of local villages which each had distinctive styles of building, and one village seemed to be full of hayracks, including very large double ones. Driving was very tricky, with houses all on the road at different angles, and there was always a car behind us, so we couldn't stop to take a photo!

Bohinj lake	Bohinj lake	Bohinj bridge & church

DAY 9: WED JUNE 20

Following advice from the Pension, we took the car into the mountains to have a walk on the higher ground. What they didn't tell us was that we would come to a barrier, in the form of a string of banners across the road, and a man would charge us 10 euros to lower it! For this we had the privilege of driving about 8km up a narrow winding dirt road with a near-vertical drop on one side. There were some fabulous views down into the valley as we rose, and we parked at 1050m. We then set off walking along a good path through forest. As we were going uphill, we kept a lookout for views, but didn't get any. Occasionally we found signs which did not always tell us where we wanted to go, and we had to check the destinations on the map, which didn't always mention places. At one point there was a sign to Razgled, we looked on the map -- no such place mentioned, yet again! On a hunch we started on the track, and within 100 metres it opened up, and there was the most magnificent view -- towards all the mountains with Triglav towering above, in the middle distance a Planina (alpine meadow) with a few huts, and down below in the near distance another such meadow. Then we realised what 'razgled' meant!! We were very lucky to get two fine cloudless views of Triglav (2864m); it was hidden by cloud more often than not.

Triglav and surrounding peaks (enlarge!)	Mountains with meadow village (enlarge!)

Continuing, we passed a peak at 1620m but hardly noticed it as it was in thick forest with no views. Dropping to 1450m we reached a mountain hut (called: "Hut of the Meadow by the Lake") in a clearing, in a hollow surrounded by cliffs, with, in a deeper hollow, a very green lake (called: "Lake of the Meadow by the Lake"!). We had a snack of beef noodle soup / applestrudel. People can stay there overnight when doing a walking tour or on the way to Triglav. We met there a Slovenian couple who had passed us on the slopes of Shija the day before.

We walked back to the car an easier way, and the same couple again overtook us, on their way to the track down the mountain. We first drove to the alternative car park, near the meadow we had looked down on from the 'razgled', where there were many huts, a herd of cattle with bells, but no sign of other life. We then drove carefully down. At the bottom, we saw the couple again!!

DAY 10: THU JUNE 21

We decided to take it easier today, but the first visit was briefly strenuous. We went early to the Savica waterfall, because we had heard it gets very crowded. But there was only one coachload there, namely a party of Slovenian schoolchildren, who shared with us the climb up 540 steps to the waterfall, which was very impressive. We then drove to Bled. After parking in a limited area and walking round we discovered a large and very good parking area that was very central -- just not signed at all from the main through road! Bled seemed altogether more pleasant than when we had driven through, hot and sticky during a long drive, on Monday. We walked by the lake and up the hill behind the castle. We saw 3 hostels, in the same street, as we came back into town. It was over 30C, but clouds built up and there was some thunder with a light shower as we sat by the lake eating an icecream.

In the evening we went to a restaurant (named Rupa) that had been recommended and we had looked at the day before. As we sat down it was thundering and rain was threatening, and we thought we would have to move to the covered area. But the waitress asked us to stay there, went and pressed a button and an extension roof uncoiled slowly over us! The meal was outstanding; 'fried chicken' it said on the menu, but I did not expect FOUR good-sized pieces of chicken in crisp batter! And there was an accordionist playing for much of the evening! The music was fairly lively light music. It could just as well have been Bavarian or Scottish, except that no tunes were familiar. He told me afterwards that they were by a Slovenian composer who was evidently well-known. All this for normal restaurant prices, which were about 60% of normal restaurant prices in Britain, and far superior food in quantity! The evening ended with a moderate thunderstorm.

DAY 11: FRI JUNE 22

We left the car behind today and walked to Stara Fuzina. Again the signs were misleading, but we found our way to the road/footpath that led up the Mostnice valley. We first came to a gorge, spectacularly cut into the limestone, with the river far below. The walk was pleasant and forested, with only brief steep patches. We passed a mountain hut, and later a meadow before reaching the Mostnice slap (waterfall). It was hard to get to a point where we could see it, so it was rather disappointing. We turned to go back on a different route, on the other side of the stream. There, some signs led us to turn back up the valley again, and we came to a proper viewing platform!

It was quite a long walk back, so we stopped at the mountain hut for refreshment. The menu was only on a chalk board without prices, and the manager spoke little English. We asked for tea, and got fruit tea. (If you want tea, ask for 'black tea'.) I then thought I ought to have a proper dish at a mountain hut. There was a choice of 2: Beef noodle soup (OK, but I'd had it twice) and Segerin Goulash. I asked for the goulash, and he explained that Segerin implied "cabbage" (OK) "sauerkraut" (er -- oh well OK!"). The dish arrived in a soup bowl, and comprised a modest amount of goulash topped with a large amount of sauerkraut! Expensive and not excellent.

That night there was thunder, lightning and rain on and off and from bedtime. At times it became very heavy, with hail. At the peak, about 0200h, we woke (or were kept awake) by terrific continuous rain and hail, and lightning flashing continuously for an hour. By continuous, I mean there were no breaks of a second or longer. Apart from getting up to close the window to reduce the noise, I don't know much detail, but the lightning was cloud-to-cloud. This was the most amazing thunderstorm I have ever experienced. As far as I know, it rained continuously for at least 8 hours. Next morning it had calmed down and cooled down to 15C, with cloud scattered over the mountains and white streaks on the tops which we decided were hail rather than snow.

DAY 12: SAT JUNE 23

The day dawned overcast and pleasantly cool (15C), and in the morning it rained on and off. We drove our car in good time to the rail station at Bohinjska Bistrica. We had been told that we could take our car on the train, but the procedure was not clear, so we arrived early. But we hung around for an hour with nobody to ask. Eventually all turned out well, we drove the car onto a rail truck, and the train set off through a tunnel. 10 minutes later the train emerged on the south side of the mountains where the air was already warmer with sunshine. We then had a pleasant journey, first along a very winding, fairly busy road through several villages where our driving was tested with a steep hill followed by a sharp bend straight into a spot too narrow for 2 cars to pass. When we could look around, we saw we were in a very scenic valley. Later we followed a very quiet road over higher ground through pleasant meadow scenery surrounded by large hills and forests. The map was misleading such that we took a wrong turning and ended up in a village called Grgar. Close to Nova Gorica and the Italian border, this village looked Italian and was deserted, with a run-down feel. We drove through the suburbs of Nova Gorica, with confusing signs such that we passed within 100 metres of the Italian border customs post, before entering pleasant open country. We travelled along the former main road (which was straight!), then along the motorway, through the Vipava Valley, a major wine area. The motorway then turned back into normal road where we followed a very slow fumey truck up hills, while glimpsing the new stretch of motorway just being built, along the hillside -- what an engineering feat, with giant pillars some 50 metres tall carrying the future road over amazing viaducts! We arrived at the Tourist Farm to find 2 coachloads of tourists eating in the dining rooms (1600h), and numerous day visitors with children playing. The check-in was rather sketchy, but we ended up in an excellent room. The evening meal was OK & good value, but we were the only ones having it. We had read about Tourist farms as being good sociable places to stay. It was not really sociable, the staff were quite pleasant but we hardly saw them. This tourist farm had a large area of land where we could walk, and the Mount Nanos plateau was within hiking distance, but the motorway ran along a raised bank well within hearing distance!

Tourist farm Hrudovice	View towards Mount Nanos	Mount Nanos Plateau from Stanjel

DAY 13: SUN JUNE 24

We had arranged to meet our 2nd son's girlfriend's parents, who live in Stanjel, one of the loveliest villages in the area. They had kindly offered to show us the sights. The first place we visited was the home of the Lipica horses. Now I have almost no knowledge of horses, but even so I found the tour very interesting. The tour guide, who spoke good English with a weird accent, told us that they were started by one of the Hapsburgs in the 1500's to combine the best features of Spanish & Arabian breeds. They are dark at birth, but become pure white at about 6 months -- genetically, they go prematurely grey! We then went for another excellent meal at a restaurant where the other guests were mostly Italian, since this was close to the border. Our friends then took us to their village, where we had a most enjoyable tour of the castle and surrounding old houses built of the local Karst limestone (even the rain gutters and door hinges were made of stone!) . The church contained features made of marble and polished limestone. In the 1920s a rich Italian bought up some of the houses and converted them to a villa, and built an expansive garden on the slope of the hill, including swimming pools; in this area with no surface water, this involved an elaborate system of pipes and ditches! The castle and gardens are very popular for weddings, and were booked up for 2 Saturdays later, which would be the 7/7/07!

The white horses at Lipica	Stanjel Castle	View from Castle

DAY 14: MON JUNE 25

We went to Skocjan caves, the second most famous. No fancy little trains or multicoloured lights here, as in Postojna, the most publicised and most expensive cave, but just raw natural beauty. It's giant! There were halls with lots of stalactites and stalagmites, with names such as the King and the Bear. The main caverns were enormous; at one point we crossed a bridge 45m above the river Reka (which means 'river River!'), and we were nowhere near the roof. I couldn't help comparing them with the caves in my native Yorkshire limestone; those are tiny by comparison, but more intimate, damper and with more stalactites & stalagmites. The Yorkshire ones are prettier, the Skocjan cave overwhelmingly grander. We went in a party of about 40, led by a guide who spoke in English then German in each hall. Afterwards we explored the modest but informative sequence of museums (geological, archeological, ethnic, history of exploration etc) which occupied several old houses in Scocjan village. The village was in an area of sinkholes some 90m deep, with vertical cliffs; the village church was right on the edge of one! That evening we had a final excellent restaurant meal a few km from the tourist farm. After the meal they offered us free blueberry schnapps, unfortunately one of us was driving, and the other found it just too sweet and strong!

Peter, Diana & Slovenian friends	Skocjan Church & deep sinkhole	Soup bowl was bread!

DAY 15: TUE JUNE 26

On our final morning we went to Predjama castle. This was moderately easy to find, but was reached along lots of minor roads. The castle is built into a limestone cliff, and has a strange history. We had no time to explore the cave beneath the castle, but we had to make for the airport. The car return was fairly straightforward, and the flight home on Easyjet was good. In the train from Stansted to Stafford we saw English newspapers and for the first time realised what rain and floods they had had. When we got home our rainfall records, faithfully kept by our 3rd son, showed that the 2 weeks we had been in the sunshine had been the wettest month ever (in 104 years) in our village!