Hairpins and hair-raising - 22 May 2007

Lake Bled was like a millpond in the morning. On the way out of town, we called in at the church, to see the wall paintings. Painted in 1936, the artist depicted Lenin as Judas leaving the Last Supper, moneybag in hand.

We traveled northwest into the Julian Alps. A side trip up the Vrata valley took us, seemingly, right to the foot of the mountains but the track markers indicated it was another 10km on foot before one really was at the base, we appreciated the view from where we were.

Another side trip, almost to the point where Italy, Austria and Slovenia meet, took us to a great lunch spot in the Zelenci National Park where streams that have disappeared underground further up the mountains reappear in crystal clear springs; very reminiscent of Pupu Springs in Golden Bay NZ, only smaller.

Past Jasna Lake, the real challenge started as we took the Vršič mountain pass with its 50 hairpin bends. The day was excellent and the scenery breathtaking. Russian POWs built the road during WWI. 100 killed in an avalanche are remembered with a fairytale Russian Chapel at bend 8 and near bend 21 there is a military gravesite.

A couple of bends further on is the highest point one can drive a car to in Slovenia, 1611m. [Circled in this picture is an inverted heart shaped hole through the mountain.]

The guidebook suggested a side trip to the source of the Soča River by leaving the main road at bend 49 on the descent. After driving to the parking spot we set off on the 15-minute walk along what the book described as a path.

We met a very hot and bothered looking walker, and asked by sign language, if the track was steep: he indicated it was OK. The day was definitely hot by now, when we set off on this easy walk along a 'path’. It ended up as a cliff scramble! Assisted by stakes in the mountainside and steel cables we struggled up the mountainside to where the river emerges from the hillside.

On a clear day this drive is a must: the track to the source of the Soča is definitely optional.

We finished the slalom drive at the town of Kobarid, the site of the “Italian Front” in WWI. There is a historic trail that takes one to bunkers, trenches and a gun emplacement. Nearby is the Italian Charnel House where 7014 Italian soldiers are buried and the names of the 4266 known dead are engraved on the immense slabs of serpentine that make the walls of this most imposing monument. Ironically, Mussolini opened it in 1938, just a year before it was déjà vu, all over again.

Our last challenge of the day was finding a bed for the night. Ignoring perfectly good signs for B&Bs as we drove along, we tried to find an organic tourist farm mentioned in the Slovenian guide. We followed the signs for Čadrag, as indicated, until the road seemed to stop at a National Park boundary. There was a tavern there, so we enquired and were told we had about 6km to go. On we pressed. The road up the side of a gorge made the morning’s hairpin bends on the alpine pass seem like driving for amateurs. After what seemed like miles of cliff edges with no passing room; road works on a track that hardly qualified as a road; and a wooden slat bridge over a very deep ravine, we arrived at a T intersection where we met a small truck and managed to pass by both going to the wrong side of the road. The direction signs indicated a left turn so we drove up what was no more than a narrow driveway to reach a cluster of houses. Sign language told us the farm was another 4 km along the right-hand branch of the T, an even worse road. Our nerves couldn't take any more; we turned back.

Fourth impression of Slovenia: the people are very friendly.

Beautiful Bled - 21 May 2007

The big high over Central Europe arrived today, good timing, as we set out for the mountains.

Our first stop was the Smlednik Calvary: built in 1772 and one of the oldest and most beautiful in Slovenia, the 14 restored Baroque stations of the Cross snake up the hill to the three crosses at the top.

On then to Skofja Loka: founded in 973 and complete with an upper class square for the wealthy, and a lower class square, for the others; the difference is still very obvious today. The Capuchin Bridge [background], a handsome, single span arch was built in the 14th Century and is one of central Europe’s oldest bridges. It has now been augmented by other crossings but is still in use for traffic today.


Kranj was better from a distance but did provide the rather unusual spectacle of some men scuba diving in the main street.

After that, it was on to the popular tourist destination of Lake Bled where we found a lovely lakeside pension to stay in.


Across the road we were able to take a boat ride to the picture-postcard Otok Island.

4km north of Bled is the very stunning Vintgar Gorge. The afternoon had turned very hot, so we really enjoyed the walk in the cool shadows of the cliffs. The walkway is about 1.5 km long, and most of its length is a boardwalk, built out from the cliff edge.

After dinner, on a balcony overlooking the lake, we walked along the lakeside into Bled. Surpsingly, for a 1000 year-old settlement, the town itself has no appeal: but the setting is fabulous; justly deserving its place as Slovenia's premier tourist resort.

Third impression of Slovenia: the countryside is dotted with racks for drying hay. There are distinct regional variations to these racks, some single, some double, some including corn drying areas, some built into barns.

Funicular and cable car - 20 May 2007

Ljubljana has a crisp old centre with many elegant buildings. This is due to the efforts of a 20th century architect called Jože Plečnik. His most well known legacy is the triple bridge and colonnades used, when we visited, for an antiques market. We bumped into his work in a number of places on our trip including an altar and a tabernacle in two churches.



The very recently opened funicular railway took the effort out of climbing up to the high bluff above the town, to visit the castle.

Ljubljana is small and compact and we spent the morning on a trail of discovery of Plečnik buildings. One of the more fascinating, off the main tourist route, discoveries we made, was his monument to celebrate the point where the river left the town. He dressed up some utilitarian sluice gates into a triumphal arch for the waters that leave the city.

Weary with architecture and hot streets, we decided to head out to the mountains, taking the northeast route out of town to Kamnik. This seemed very quiet after Ljubljana: a perfect place to unwind. North of the town, we took a cable car followed by a chair lift to Velika Planina, a plateau at the top of the mountain (1666m). It was described as the perfect place for an effortless alpine stroll. The most fascinating feature was the herdsmen's huts: we were a few weeks early, but in June, the herdsmen will arrive with their herds to graze the alpine meadows.

Once off the mountain, we visited a nearby arboretum. This had a French parterre, an English garden, a rose garden and forest. It was a beautiful evening to enjoy the long warm Summer day.

We had spotted a very picturesque village on the trip up the valley, so went back to explore: the churchyard was fascinating; every plot has a very manicured garden with lit candles or LEDs. They all looked like display gardens from the Chelsea Flower Show (just on a smaller scale). Having looked at a few other cemeteries in Slovenia, this appears to be the norm, although we never saw another one to match this first one. The time and cost expended to keep these graveyards looking like this must be amazing, unlike the typical English churchyard, not a single plot appeared unloved.

We had expected Kamnik to show some signs of life in the evening so headed back for dinner. We only found one place open, maybe because it was Sunday evening. They managed to serve Murray the wrong meal, so he got to eat two meals.

Second impression of Slovenia is that the drivers are madmen. Rules such as no cellphone use; obeying speed limits; keeping to your own side of the road; and observing ‘no passing’ restrictions clearly do not apply to the locals.

Sloping off to Slovenia - 19 May 2007

Although we left Stansted airport late we managed to arrive in Ljubljana by 4:20 p.m., collected our grey 'Soviet issue’ rental car and drove to the apartment we had booked and paid for through EasyJet.

The accomodation was described as a ‘hotel apartment’ but when we arrived at the address we found a 13-story ‘soviet issue’ residential apartment block with a card-access security entrance rather than the ‘hotel’ desk we were expecting. Some tenants arrived home, so we ‘shoulder surfed’ through the security door behind them, thus accessing the lobby. While trying to decide on our next move another couple of tenants arrived so we asked them if they spoke English and found that they did not.

We knew the apartment was on the 12th floor, so took the lift up to have a look. Sure enough, there was a door with the apartment name we were looking for but it was firmly locked and there was no bell. Then the next door opened and it turned out that the non-English speaking folk we met in the lobby lived next door. (I think that they were expecting us to turn up on the landing and were waiting for us.) After a sign language exchange and showing them our booking confirmation the woman rattled off in Slovenian then indicated for us to wait while she went and rang the apartment owner who appeared from the floor above, with a key. We have no idea how we would have got on without their help and the coincidence of meeting these helpful neighbours in the lobby.

Apart from the practicalities of finding the place, it was a very well appointed apartment and reasonably handy to the city centre (if you have a car)

We drove into the city to have a look around. Dinner was a memorable meal: we decided to try a platter for two, which turned out to be a huge serving dish loaded with different types of meat and vegetables; there was enough meat on the plate for a week so we struggled to eat a delicious meal which could have fed a whole family.

First impression of Slovenia is that they have a much more relaxed attitude to advertising images than we are used to, this billboard being a little more restrained than some.

Please bee seated - 13 May 2007

It must be the swarming season for bees.

On the last two weekends we have come across bees clustered together in unusual locations, certainly nowhere near a hive.

Hidden history - 12 May 2007

The curious thing about the UK is that there are quaint little bits of history scattered all over the place, some in the most obscure locations.

This mausoleum, modelled on one on the Apian Way in Rome, was built in 1752 in the little village of Fawley, tucked away in the Chilterns.

John Freeman saw the original while on his Grand Tour and decided to copy it for his and the family's mortal remains. There are 12 Freemans entombed here. The mausoleum in the background is a MacKenzie resting place.

World Heritage day - 8 May 2007

We had previously known King Edward I as a romantic from the memorial crosses he built marking Queen Eleanor's funeral journey.

From our trip to north Wales, we saw him in a different light. In the 13th Century he commissioned a series of strategic castles, around the coastline of northern Wales; these are all now classed as world Heritage Sites

On our final day we visited another three of his castles. Beaumaris is a perfectly symmetrical castle; built on a marsh beside sea it had a channel cut to allow ships to tie up beside the walls. Possibly the pinnacle of medieval military architecture, this castle was built from scratch on a new site, so was unfettered by previous constructions and allowed the designer free reign to explore the latest defensive techniques. Ironically, it was never fully completed and never saw action until the Civil War some four centuries later.

The whole of Conwy is like a film set. A C 19th suspension bridge leads to the castle walls. Like Caenarfon, the castle has walls to walk along, corridors to explore and towers to climb. It is a stunning castle set at one corner of an amazing town, itself a World Heritage Site.

Surrounding the town, almost intact, are its medieval walls. Unlike Caenarfon where what remains of the walls seems to get lost in the modern town, Conwy’s walls are its defining feature. Inside the walls medieval houses have survived: we visited one of the oldest and reputedly the finest remaining Elizabethan Townhouse in Britain, a Tudor merchant's house. The exterior of Plas Mawr is white plaster, which apparently is how the town walls and castle originally looked: it must have been very impressive. In fact all of the castles we visited on this trip were originally plastered inside and out and lime whitewashed. They must have made a fantastic sight on the occasional sunny Welsh day.

Just outside Conwy is Bodnant Garden; these were equally impressive, in a different way. These gardens are famous for their rhododendrons and azaleas; and, in spite of the inclement Welsh weather, everything was looking stunning.

As we headed back to London, on a rather quicker journey than King Edward could ever have imagined, we had a quick stop at one more of his castles. Castle Rhuddlan is inland, and a 2-mile section of the passing river was straightened and channelled to bring the ships up to the foot of the castle. This was the first of Edward’s northern castles; Beumaris was the last.

One weekend is not long enough to visit all the surviving castles in Wales; there are 641, and not even long enough to visit all the castles Edward built, but the 13 we saw gave us a great appreciation of the building skills from so long ago.