Caves, castles and coasts- oh my!

Saturday in Slovenia was packed with awesomeness. Mat and I had breakfast with his mum in the morning- I enjoyed cheese and prosciutto on my rice crackers, and we had fruit and poached eggs as well. I also had a delicious cup of Blaženka's homemade tea with flowers from her garden. Mat and I left the house around 8:30 and headed to Postojnka Jama- one of Slovenia's largest cave systems (of which they have nearly 10,000! And they're such a small country!!).

Mat and me on the train, entering the cave system!

It was a brand new experience. I've never seen anything like it- save for in movies and faked caves in Disneyland. We took a 20 minute train ride through tunnels and big open spaces, and then walked around the cave for 40 mins with an English our guide. We learned all about how the cave was formed, saw loads of stalactites and stalagmites- some of which resembled animals, objects, and famous buildings. We saw "galleries" of brilliant sparkling white features, and others turned red with iron. We climbed to the highest point of the cave and walked over the lowest. It was seriously incredible. The great hall where the walking portion of the tour ended had a reverb time of 6 seconds. And was huge. And kind of unreal. Just woah.

Me outside the cave

After the cave, and after a coffee fuel-up, we visited Predjama Castle, a 12th century fortress built into the mountain side. We did a little self-guided walk that took us up old stone staircases, through the rooms, to balconies with beautiful views of the valley below, and even deep into the rocks. It was super cool.

Predjama Castle.  Very cool

The water made me feel at home

Next up, we had about a 30 min drive to the coastal town of Piran. We listened to choir music, which was obviously sweet. Slovenian folk music is so good. Bok Daj Bok Daj!!!!!!!

Piran was just lovely. The sea is so my heart's friend. We just wandered along the shore, enjoying the sunshine and pretty harbour views. We were there for a couple hours I think, and then drove to the nearby coastal town of Pontorož for dinner. Afterwards, Mat popped us over the Slovenian/Italian border into Trieste, so now I can say I've visited 10 countries besides my own. Double digits baby!

Quaint Coastal Town of Piran!

That evening, after Mat had a quick snooze back home in Domžale (he did a lot of driving. It was totally deserved), we met up with his sister Urška, and Blaženka drove us all into Ljubljana. We went to a wine bar in the heart of town where you can sample over 700 wines from the region (of which I tried 2). We were joined by Sanja, and Urška's fiancé Žiga. We had some great conversations, both fun and philosophical, shared some laughs, and got a little drunk. We parted ways with Urška and Žiga, and Blaženka picked me, Mat and Sanja up and brought us back to the house, where we got to bed by 1:30.

All you need is sLOVEnia

Dragon Bridge in the heart of Lljublana

Well. I had a fantastic weekend in the beautiful country of Slovenia. Can't believe that London and a brief stop in Amsterdam are all that's left in my epic Euro-adventure!

I arrived in Ljubljana at about 2:30pm on Friday afternoon. The station was a bit bigger than I'd imagined it would be (good for you, Ljubljana!), and I had a brief "oh shit" moment of thinking I wouldn't be able to find Mat, but it all worked out. He had a car at the station- what a luxury, not having to cart my stuff around on a bus- and our first stop in Slovenia was a department store where I finally found a replacement for my dilapidated combat boots. And only 15€!!

Then we drove to Mat's home in Domžale, where I met his parents, Matia and Blaženka, and his younger brother Jakob. Blaženka had made us a lovely lunch. First the classic "comfort food" of soup- perfect for after travelling- with these little dumpling like things called "kneudels" floating around inside. Then we had some chicken and rice and I broke the news of my annoying gluten allergy. Blaženka immediately went out and stocked up on rice alternatives- the first of many kindnesses I received from this wonderfully sweet woman.

One of the rivers running through the town

This fountain represents the 3 rivers that run through Lljubljana

The hotel we stopped in for a drink at

After lunch/dinner, Mat drove us in to Ljubljana (only about 20 mins away. You can drive across the while country in 2.5 hours) to the music academy he takes voice lessons at. I was in for the treat of hearing Mat and fellow students give a short informal concert. It was lovely and Mat sounded great. At the end of the concert I met Mat's girlfriend Sanja, and the three of us took to the streets of the capital city, both locals pointing things out to me as we went. We crossed many bridges- my favourite the "dragon bridge", decorated with the city's animal mascot of sorts. We saw lively squares, beautiful churches, and ducked into the Art Nouveau styled "Union Hotel" for drinks. There was a Slovenian story-telling performance happening, which Sanja graciously translated for little old English me. (Have I mentioned how stoked I am to be headed to a country where my language is also their's? I won't feel like such a North American jerk anymore).

A little Ljubljana model!

Sanja had to duck home then for a quick study sess (med students. Just as busy in Slov as they are back home), but Mat and I had a bit more time to explore. He showed me some beautiful churches and a little mini model of Ljubljana where I attempted to get my bearings. Then we walked to his car, picked up Sanja and drove to the hockey rink in Ljubljana where Mat was reffing an evening rec league game. Sanja and I so enjoyed each other's company in the stands that I must admit we missed most of the action of the ice.

We chatted about all sorts of things, including Sanja's experiences singing with the World Youth Choir, which is something I'm really interested in checking out for myself. The game ended around 11:30, we dropped Sanja home, and after Blaženka checked that we were happy and had had a good day, we went to bed.