Breakfast as usual, but then checkout. Our stay in Celje has come to an end and we’re off to new places.

Note: This is the ninth post in this series. Go HERE to start from the beginning.

Our first task for the day was to go back through Ljubljana to pick up our guide Minka who will be with us for a few more days. She lives just a little ways out of the town so we met her there. We were a little late because there was so much traffic (on a Tuesday, mid-day?). Lots of trucks!

Our first destination was an underground cave, the Skocjanske Caves. Since the weather’s been so hot, I was looking forward to some cooler temps. I brought my quilted vest plus a light jacket, just in case it was too cool. It was supposed to be 56 degrees inside and I didn’t want to freeze. (Ha!)

This is a Unesco World Heritage site. I was looking forward to getting some pictures from inside, but at the very beginning they announced no pictures. They don’t want people holding up the group. Sigh.

The trail is very well done. Despite the steep inclines and dampness, it wasn’t slippery at all. They had told us there would be 500 steps overall, most downhill. These, too, were well done, as there were usually 5 or 6 steps then a flat walk for a few paces, then another set of steps. And there was railing all along the path. Of course, it was the uphill steps that got me. I did those OK. It wasn’t until the last push up and out of the cave that I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath.

Anyway, they take people through in groups of 100. At the entrance, they split those 100 into four groups, so we did the walk in a group of 25. The guide was very good, and the narrative was in English. I think I heard and understood most of it. But the surprise to me was something that shouldn’t have been a surprise because I’ve been in several different caves like this, the temperature wasn’t cold. It was cool, sure, but felt more like mid-60s. And with all the up-and-down, I wasn’t just warm, I was HOT. Lesson learned: temps below the surface are similar all around the world.

The pictures I did get were of the exit, both as we came up the stairs and after going out (looking back). That exit was a welcome site by the time we got to it! The second picture is looking back into where we’d come. The pictures with greenery are after walking out. Really lovely.

To get some scenes from inside the cave, I bought postcards! They give a good idea of the path we walked on, though not the steepest parts. 😉

From here, it was back on the road again, some freeway, and then a lot of windy roads in the mountains. I hesitate to say they’re back roads because there are so many houses on them. But they’re not wide, they have steep turns, and when people have to pass, they slow down and are careful while cars are next to each other. Whew!

We stopped along the highway to see the longest stone arched bridge in the world. Pretty amazing.

We stopped in Brda to see a tower with a fantastic view of the countryside. I didn’t climb all those steps, but most did and reported a great view.

In this same area, we went to a town that was unique in that so many structures remained from medieval times. Usually, when people wanted to build, they just tore down old structures, but here they were preserved. It’s a pretty small area, overall, but is very picturesque. The tree is an olive tree.

We had dinner here in a lovely restaurant that was tended by one woman–a one-woman show: cook, server, cleaner, instructor. She taught us how to taste olive oil (fruity, bitter, spicy), then served us bread, soup, salad, main course, and dessert, all in different courses. A lovely evening, but we were all really tired by this point. I was sooooo looking forward to getting horizontal for a while!

Luckily, our hotel was a 5-minute drive away. We got checked in (stairs, stairs, stairs are everywhere in Slovenia, including up to the entrance of the hotel–yikes!). I took a shower, got just a little unpacked as we’re only staying here one night, and laid down. Heavenly!

I decided to postpone doing this blog entry until the morning, so got a good night’s sleep and am finishing this up before breakfast. We’ll be checked out and on the road by 9 AM.