Sunday morning:
We did ultimately decide to take in both Predjama Castle and Postojna Cave before completing the drive to Ljubljana.
Arriving at the cave around 10:30am it became quickly apparent that this was a significantly more commercial enterprise than the Skocjan cave. Looking almost like the entrance to Disneyworld there were clearly several hundred tourists here and the whole set up looked like it was geared for add on sales, with shops, food vendors, merchandising booths etc. Tickets were assigned based on entry time and preferred tour language and we found ourselves in a crowd of about 150 people for the 11am English speaking group. It was clear from the outset that English was not the first language of at least 75% of the group but perhaps the other options, German, French and Italian were even harder for them.
Our entry into the cave involved a 2km "train ride" which deposited us in the first of several sections of the cave. Apparently the biggest in Slovenia with 12 km of it having been explored, our visit covered roughly 5km with 3 of those covered by train and the remaining 2 by walking. To say it was spectacular would, at the very least, be a great understatement. I have been in caves in many parts of the world and the size of the various galleries and the stalactites and stalagmites on display here dwarfed anything else I have seen before. Measuring up to 15 feet in length with some forming columns several feet wide they were just amazing to see. All it took to make them was a few drops of water, some added minerals and about a half a million years.
Returning to the surface, it took a while for my eyes to re-adjust to the bright sunshine.
After exiting the cave area we followed the road north to the town of Predjama to visit the "cave castle" Situated at the mouth of a large cave accessible by a narrow bridge the Castle replaced an earlier castle which was actually built within the cave. The current structure was begun around 1200 AD and was about 1/3rd the size of the present structure. Several additions over the years brought it to the current size, the last being completed in the late 1500's. A tour of the interior revealed a rather dreary and damp home, designed more for defence than comfort.
After leaving the castle we returned to Postojna for a quick but rather late lunch before completing the 45 minute drive to Ljubljana. We found our accomodations easily enough but finding a parking spot was worse than finding a needle in a haystack. This clearly a city designed more with pedestrians in mind than automobiles. After parking illegally in a construction zone I dropped our luggage off and returned the car to the rental agency rather than keep it overnight as originally planned.
After the obligatory daily ritual of showering and washing our clothing we set off to explore the city core. Centred on a large hill which is topped by a large castle the town is bisected by a river that follows a circular path across the city. Several bridges separate the two parts of the town and along each riverbank are promenades that feature dozens of bars, cafes and restaurants. Various plazas and parks give the city an air of elegance that is lacking in most modern cities. The architecture is reminiscent of Vienna, but apparently Salsburg is a better comparison, although not having been there, I can't really say.
A late dinner at a sidewalk restaurant turned out to be a bit of a disappointment as the pork and veal that we ordered were dry and overdone. At less than 20 Euro including wine and an after dinner brandy, we couldn't really complain ( To compare, a typical meal in Venice was 45-60 euro.)
The food quality was quickly forgotten as we spent the next hour strolling along the riverbank, people watching and listening to the various musicians playing a variety of styles- Gyspsy violin, Italian Accordian and British Busker ( fully equipped with guitar, bass drum, high hat and harmonica) The latter was electronically amplified and clearly had the others beat in terms of volume and projection, though not necessarily quality!!!
All in all, a very busy and rather memorable day. I omitted the part about gassing up my rental vehicle in the interest of brevity. Suffice to say, it was one of those situations where you had to be there but to give you a hint, there was only one cashier and the guy ahead of me was clearly drunk and convinced he had a winning lottery ticket but the cashier thought otherwise. One of those, you couldn't make this shit up if you tried scenarios!!!!
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