We had one host in the park. They lived in a tiny grouping of three or four houses on the mountain side. To get to the house, we had to drive up a very narrow road that would be terrifying if there was snow or ice. Twisting and turning up the mountain with a steep ledge below. The house was old; it felt like it was built of history. The family was large, but most of the kids had left for college. We were treated like family. They fed us like kings, told us wonderful stories, and gave us amazing information about what places to visit. The father even gave us a Slovenian history book.
Outside of the Triglavski National Park is the lovely lake and town of Bled.
We went to a small cave that some hosts told us about. It was neither large, nor spectacular, but we spent some time crawling around and exploring it.
North of the capital we visited several country towns: Kranj, Kramnik, and Sofja Loka.
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia. It is a small, elegant capital.
The main site to see in Ljubljana is the Tromostovje (Triple Bridge) - a limestone bridge that splits into three passages.
Predjama Castle is one of the more unique castles we have visited. Long before we arrived in Slovenia I had seen an image of this castle, and it became engrained in my mind. It is built into the cliff wall, with many of the walls being the cliff itself. The upper part of the castle extends into an open cave.
After we visited the Predjama Castle, we took the short drive down the road to Postojna Cave. We paid our fees, and got on the underground train that took us to the beginning of the cave tour. When we got off the train, the tour guides started calling out for people to split into different groups based on language. At first we went towards the English group. It was enormous and we could see that we would not be able to hear the guide. Then we heard a woman calling out for the Spanish group. We saw our opportunity.
We got into the Spanish group where we were greeted very warmly. The elderly tourists immediately began to ask us where we were from. It turned out that the Spanish group had been requested specially for this group of Spanish tourists - we were just lucky that we could join them.
The next couple of hours were hysterical. After being away from Spain for so long, we were very happy to be with these people. They joked with us, reacted with us, and brought us into their group. It made our trip through these beautiful caves even more special.
We stayed with an nice multicultural family in the south of Slovenia. The wife was a German and French-Swiss opera singer, the husband was Italian, and their children were being raised in Slovenia. The man made us a delicious Torta di Ceci - garbanzo pancake - with wild asparagus. I still fantasize about this dish.
The funniest thing about our stay - and part of the reason that we ended up staying with them - was their car. They had the exact same car as us. To make it even funnier, the called their car "Hans". If you don't know this, we called our car "Rolf". It was like long lost brothers finally reunited!
We stayed with another couple in the same town as this family. During that time I actually got a cold. We spent a couple days at their place, so I could recuperate. They were a wonderful young couple and we all got along splendidly. We cooked meals for each other, and spent long hours talking. I still think about them.
The coast of Slovenia is very small but has some very nice cities. We visited Koper, Izola, and Piran.
