Balkan Funsights

We weren't short on funny sights while we were in the Balkans. Are you technically nude if you are wearing shoes? Finally a museum for all the naïve artists out there who didn't know that they had art worth celebrating. Yes there is a museum for just about anything. Gulliver in Levis lives in Zagreb. Bosnia had some strange hotels. Is spearfishing a real problem in the Krka Falls? Skating along the Adriatic is pretty unusual. We were surprised not to see more of this based on the way people drove.

Finally a bar for the hardworking teacher in need of sustenance. In the middle of the very drab and colourless countryside of the Croatian mountains somebody is trying to make a statement. We were always amazed at how the Croatian signs assumed that everybody could read English (most Croatians are quite fluent in English). Since there aren't enough deer running onto the road, at least there are boars to keep you alert. Plumbers everywhere have the same problem.

Back to Slovenia

We had to drop our car rental off in Ljubljana so we ended up briefly seeing the country of Slovenia a second time. We made a quick tour of the Predjama Castle which is located in a cave. It is an impressive sight and has rarely been successfully attacked over the centuries. It's built right into a cave so many rooms have rock as well as brick or wooden walls. The castle's 'back door' is an extremely long cave system which is one of the reasons this castle is so easy to defend. The most famous resident of the castle was Erazem Lueger back in the fifteen century who was a robber baron. The Hapsburgs hunted him down and he hid in the castle. The Predjama Castle was besieged for a long time but could not be taken since the defenders could get supplies through the cave system behind the castle. Lueger would even throw food down to his enemies to taunt them. He was finally killed when one of his own men betrayed him. It was a fascinating tour especially since we got to feel what it would be like to live in this castle in the winter. It may look interesting to live in a castle but staying warm would be hard work.

Then it was back to Ljubljana where we discovered how the city looked when it wasn't raining. There was a Winter Festival happening but we had to keep on moving. So it was time to wrap up our visit to this corner of the world and return to Italy for our last two weeks. Our nearly four weeks in the Balkans were very memorable with endless highlights that we won't soon forget. We are so glad that we decided to explore this beautiful and fascinating corner of Europe.

Ljubljana Charm

After traveling through Western Europe we turned our gaze eastward and headed into Slovenia. It was easy to see why many people call this place 'Switzerland on a budget' since it has all the beauty of the Swiss Alps but at half the price (or less). Unfortunately we were stuck with cloudy rainy weather which meant that visibility (which is crucial for enjoying the mountain vistas) was in short supply. We wandered the charming streets of the capital city Ljubljana's Old Town with the Ljubljana Castle overlooking it. The centre of the Old Town has the beautiful Franciscan Church of the Annunciation on Preseren Square facing the Triple Bridge over the Ljubljanica River. Just down the river is the Dragon Bridge with four large dragons guarding it. Despite its small size, we found the Old Town delightful to walk through especially at night as we had it almost to ourselves.

The Julian Alps lie just to the north of Ljubljana and we spent a day driving through them. Lake Bled was beautiful except we could not see the mountain backdrop because of the low clouds. They lifted somewhat at Lake Bohinj which gave us gorgeous views especially since the lake was glass calm. The Savica Waterfall was a short hike through a beautiful red leafed forest and then it was time to leave this piece of paradise. Slovenia definitely deserves a return visit especially in the sunshine.