Water, water, so much water!

We left Ljubljana in the direction of Bled, some 90km to the West.

After a walk around the Lake Bled, which is the main attraction here and indeed very pretty, my human paid the Triglav National Park visitor center a visit to inquire about the conditions in the area.

No, this is not the lake

This is the lake (with the only permanent island in the country)

She had planned to spend the next few days in the national park and the adjacent Soca Valley.

This is where all the cool stuff in this country is, the highest mountains, the deepest valleys, the prettiest gorges.

She had already ruled out climbing Mt. Triglav, with 2864m the highest peak in the country, for lack of proper equipment.
But Mt. Vogel seemed to be a decent alternative. Or not.

Due to the very heavy rainfalls in the last few days in this area, the mountain turned into a mudslide and the gentleman at the info center strongly advised against a climb.

Also, it turned out, all the gorges were closed, as were some roads, including those across the mountain passes. Some of them because of flooding, others due to hurricane-like winds.

Well, that put a bit of a dent in the sun induced good mood.

The only view of Triglav we got (the pyramide towards the right)

A new plan was needed. To think about it, she walked the 6km around the lake another time, in the other direction, though. And then had a piece of cake, just to inject some Dopamine back into the bloodstream.

To hang around for a few days for better conditions wasnˋt really an option. What to do in the meantime?

Well, how about a brilliant evening with four new-found friends, sitting together warm and cozy in a small van, enjoying the sound of the Spanish language?

As we arrived at our spot for the night, we had a quick chat with our neighbor ??????.
Shortly after, he came knocking and invited my human over to the van of friends of theirs who had just arrived.

Off she went and came back happy and with her head buzzing from four hours of talking and listening to Spanish.

My human decided to skip the whole area of Triglav and Soca, there was just no point. Also, a good reason to come back!

For the following day a visit to Lake Bohinj had been planned and was still possible. Although the path around this one wasnˋt traversable all the way. This my human found out after having walked almost halfway around already, having jumped over streams and climbed around huge puddles, soaking wet feet included.

Lakes everywhere

The road to nowhere

Lake Bohinj, over double the size of Lake Bled but less picturesque

Time for a break?

She got around this one all right

But the journey ended here

The Predjama cave, the second-largest flow stone cave open to visitors in the world (the largest is in Lebanon), is one of the most visited attractions in the county.

The cave system was first mentioned as early as 1213. It became open to visitors in 1819, with Archduke Ferdinand being one of the first visitors.

The known part of the system is 24km long. Visitors get transported 3,5km into the cave on a small train, and then you walk for 1,5km through this wonderland.

By far not the first cave of this kind my human had seen, nonetheless she was highly impressed by the sheer enormity of it all.

Cave olms; they call them baby dragons here and make a fortune

Spaghetti formation

Predjama Castle is another "must see" in the area. One of the most dramatic castles in the world, apparently. You will have to decide for yourselves, but we couldnˋt quite make out the attraction.

Since we had some time on our hands now, we made a little detour to Italy.

The lovely city of Trieste is only a few kilometers from the border of the two countries, and my human spent a pleasantly sunny day walking around the city.
Finally, the smell of the ocean again, itˋs been too long!

Canale Grande de Trieste

Piazza Unita dˋItalia

Seat of the government

Time for a break

Just brilliant!

She checked out a little hiking trail, called the Strada Vicentina, that runs some 300 meters above the sea from the small village of Prosecco (where she couldnˋt find Prosecco) back towards the city. The views from up there were truly spectacular.

The Castello de Miramare is also a great sight, from afar as well as close up. Built in 1860 for Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria, itˋs set in a beautiful park right by the sea.

Early the next morning, my human boarded a train to Venice, just over two hours away. It was going to be a sunny and warm day, perfect for a trip to the Floating City.

She had been here before, a little over eight years ago. At the time she had walked there from Munich, and it was in the middle of summer. You can imagine the throngs of people shoving through the narrow alleys.
Since then, she had wanted to come back when it was less crowded.

Now itˋs almost the middle of November and still there were a lot of tourist. No comparison to the summer, though, thank God

She went around ticking all the necessary boxes, Piazza San Marco, Canale Grande, Palazzo Ducale , Ponte di Rialto. But most of the time she just strolled through the smallest alleys she could find, always taking the turn in the other direction of the people in front of her, it there were any.

This is what I want to become in my next life!

View of the Rialto Bridge

View from the Rialto Bridge

St. Marcˋs Cathedral

Dogeˋs Palace

If youˋve been here before, you know how useless it is to try and navigate your way around. You definitely end up falling into a canal if you walk around looking at your phone, trying to find your way.

Half the time you take a turn and walk to the end of the street just to find out that itˋs a cul- de-sac, ending at yet another canal. Itˋs a wonderful place to just stroll around and get utterly lost!

Bridge of Sighs; convicts got their last glimpse of the city from here on their way to execution

Crossing a bridge, a shell player (Hütchenspieler) caught her attention. He was surrounded by a noisy crowd, and my human went to join them. After having watched for a few minutes and being right every single time, some people lost, some people won, she became careless and complacent.

Having seen 50€ bills change hands, she pulled on out of her wallet and put it on a shell. They guy said every round is 100€, but luckily she didnˋt have more cash on her.
Luckily, because - obviously - she lost!

Oh well, once in your life you have to lose money on the street to a con artist.

Compared to the poor Indian guy who lost 100€ with his girlfriend right next to him, totally exasperated, she only has herself to answer.