happy easter everyone ... we took advantage of the long weekend and made the drive to Slovenia. Slovenia is an amazingly beautiful country ... no bigger than the state of Massachusetts, but so diverse ... within a 2 hour drive you could visit the Alps, the Adriatic coast, one of the world's most impressive cave systems and a cliff-hanging castle thrown in for good measure. we left on thursday morning and made it to Lake Bled in about 7 hours. Lake Bled is Slovenia's most popular mountain retreat. the lake sits in front of the Julian Alps and has a picture perfect little island with a little white church sitting on top. it was really quiet and relaxing there ... had a nice 3.5 mile walk around the lake with beautfiul views the whole way.



The next morning we were off to the capital, Ljubljana. though the city has 300,000 residents, it felt much smaller. the weather was beautiful there ... hanging in the mid-60s ... the trees were really starting to bud ... wonderful willow trees hanging over the Ljubljanica River. it really was a city made for strolling ... great cafes line up along the river and a castle sits on a cliff over the town.



we got up early the next day and made the drive to the coast ... little over an hour later we arrived in the old fishing village of Piran. the town sits on little sliver of a puninsula on the border with Croatia ... great little town with a nice strollable (word?) harbor ... great boats to look at ... the sea was flat and air was mild ... it was hard to leave, but we had to move on.



back in the car, it was about 30 mins to the Skokjan Caves ... one of the largest cave systems in Europe (maybe the largest?) and supposedly one of the most impressive in the world ... i wouldn't be one to judge that since this is my first time spelunking. what an amazing place! the tour starts in the 'silent' part of the caves with stalagtites & stalagmites and then moves into the 'finale' cavern where the trail winds along 150 feet above a raging river!



our last stop of the day was another 30 mins back toward Ljubljana in the town of Predjama. there is a castle here that was literally built into the side of a mountain ... a most impressive sight ... we heard that the interior wasn't worth paying to see, so we skipped it. the outside was amazing though!



we left the next day and decided to break up the drive back by staying in Regensberg, Germany ... the town is in our '1000 places to see before you die' book, so we couldn't pass it up! great town with some amazing history ... beatiful gothic cathedral ... ancient stone bridge over the (very high) Danube River. the weather was chilly & sometimes rainy, but we were able to walk around the entire old town. back on the road this morning and amazingly didn't hit any traffic ... overall a great Easter weekend trip!



hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend ... later! t