Day14-17 Final days in Slovenia. Idrija to Ljubiana

We are so sad to leave Bled, but the journey must continue. We visited the castle high up on hill on our way out of town since we ran out of time yesterday with the gorge hiking debacle. Totally different views of the city and very historic tour since this is the oldest castle in Slovenia and dates back to the 11th century. The castle printing works and the castle terrace, built on a 130-meter-high cliff were the highlights. 

View from the castle terrace of the church in the middle of Lake Bled

Our hotel (circled in red) 

Beautiful view of the church from the castle terrace 

Bill was enamored with this chap hanging out on the castle terrace 

Printers box.  Andrea collects printers boxes and would love to have this one. Did you know that the letters in the upper portion of the case are always capitalized and the bottom of the case carry the lower case letters, ergo that’s where the terms upper case and lower case come from? Also,  the P’s and Q’s are beside each other and look exactly alike if you turn one upside down which could cause confusion when returning them to their proper slot, so this started the beginning of the phrase “mind your p’s and q’s. 

Peter, the resident printer expert 

We hit the road around noon with our destination being Idrija. We took the back roads in order to enjoy more of the Slovenian countryside. There were a lot of hairpin turns as we climbed to the top of the mountains which made for some tense moments but the scenery was beautiful. 

This church was about a mile hike round trip, makes for quite a walk for church services. . 

This monument represents the Battle of Drazgose that took place during WWII between the Slovene Partisans and German armed forces. The battle was brutal and the the Germans destroyed the village. It was very somber. 

There were fields and fields of wildflowers, there was actually a wildflower festival happening close by.  

Woodpiles like this one were everywhere. The winters must be brutal. 

We arrived around 3pm to our hotel in Idrija and were pleasantly surprised at how quaint and charming it was. We had a large room overlooking the courtyard and there was a Michelin star restaurant located in the hotel. We are not foodies but we booked a table for that evening hoping it was going to be good and it was! 

Dinner definitely got a star from us 

Our hotel 

Best coffee of the trip! 

Andrea’s Knight? 

The next day started out by touring a school that specializes in lace making. Lace making is a very tedious and the kids here work on there projects all year long. The equipment is a firm lace pillow, bobbins, thread, pins and a pattern. Andrea tried to make a row but it turned into a big knot. Just a small Christmas ornament was over $40 and worth every penny! 

The beach! 

Fun fact: locals have a parking dial that they put on their dashboard that shows what time you entered a facility. Max two hours. Since we didn't have a dial, we just used pieces of paper. If you don't have the time noted, it's a $40 fine. The nice lady at the lace school told us and wrote us a note for our dashboard. Could you imagine that in the states? 

We also toured  Anthony's Shaft Mining Museum. Mercury started being mined here in the 1500's. The town evolved around the mining of the mercury and some families made a fortune off the trade. Of course mercury is a poisonous metal and not only was work in the mines dangerous but also deadly. We did see mercury droplets but they were behind plexiglass. Till this day the rate of cancer in Idrija is higher than anywhere else in Slovenia. 

We ascended from the mine on these steps and they were brutal. Wet, slippery and very steep. It was tough after a tour and we couldn't imagine it after working in a dark, dusty, wet mine all day. 

We had to wear hardhats and protective clothing. 

For all you boomers and gen x people, did you ever use Mercurochrome? It was red and in a 

liquid form and turns out was full of mercury and highly toxic. It was banned in the states in 1998. 

The next day we enjoyed a great breakfast in the hotel dining room and set our sites on  our next stop Ljubljana, with a stop at the Postojna Cave, the largest cave systems open to the public in all of Europe. The 1 ½  hour tour started out in a train car going deep into the cave, then a walking tour and then a train back to the entrance. The deepest part we went to was 380 feel under ground. Ever been to mammoth Cave? This was like mammoth cave on steroids. Bill compared it to Disney World, including the long lines and crying kids.  

On the train ride

We had an English speaking guide that informed us that  Postojna Cave was carved by the Pivka River over millions of years. There are stalagmites, stalactites, and formations called curtains or draperies that look like folded curtains. The cave system is 24.34 kilometers (15.12 mi) long and is made up of four caves interconnected through the same underground river. There are parts of the cave that haven’t even been explored yet. 

In the cave live small blind salamanders that are called olms, or Proteus anguinus. They are aquatic cave-dwelling salamanders and are often referred to as "baby dragons" due to their unique appearance. We saw one in an aquarium. 

Cave curtains 

After a morning of cave dwelling, we made it to Ljubiana where we spent two days touring and enjoying the lively city. 

Franciscan Church of the Annunciation 

Below are interior pictures of the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation. Pope John Paul visited here in 1996. We met an older gentleman (he actually found us wandering the halls where we shouldn’t have been while looking for a bathroom) who was there during the Popes visit and received a blessing. There’s no official record of the visit but this gentleman swore by it! 

The pulpit 

The organ 

The river that runs thru town. 

There was a huge market going on and we bought some cherries to snack on. 

Next stop was the castle. This place is famous for their dragons and Andrea took a picture of one of the resident dragons.. 

The prison cell in the bottom of the tower. There are carvings of prisoner’s coat of arms on the walls.

Steps leading up to the tower that had beautiful views of the city. 

Early Handmaids tale? 

Museum of puppetry

We reached the castle via funicular. 

Famous dragon bridge. There is a legend that Jason was the founder of Ljubljana, and he and his Argonauts killed a dragon.This is one of the four dragon statues on the bridge. According to local legends, when a virgin crosses the bridge, the dragons will wag their tales.  Some local people have nicknamed this structure "mother-in-law" because of its fiery nature. There are four large dragons, one on each corner and 16 smaller dragons on the bridge. 

Another’s locks of love bridge 

We took an afternoon boat cruise on the river 

Time for a beer

There are three bridges in this picture. The original bridge, in the middle, was a wooden structure and was replaced with a stone enforced bridge. Rather than ruining the original bridge by making it wider they added two pedestrian bridges in each side. 

We ended our day sitting on the river enjoying some much needed nourishment. We have to be up at 3:30am for a 5:00am train ride in the morning to Budapest!