It's not every day that you show off your beautiful country to tourists when torrential rain floods the capital and make you use an umbrella in an underground cave! Well, as luck would have it, that’s exactly what happened last September when I took Jami, Margaret and Kim on a tour around Slovenia. Trampling around
Ljubljana in heavy rain, not being able to take photos at all even though that’s what we were there for, made us a little wet and cold (OK, very wet and cold), but a hearty mushroom soup and some Slovenian wine for dinner at the and of the day made up for all the misery during the day.
To escape flooded streets of Ljubljana we decided to explore the underworld. Mistake! While the
Postojna Cave was impressive and all, it rained inside! The soil was so saturated with water that it dripped from the cave ceilings everywhere. However, we didn’t let the elements spoil our mood as we delved into the secret chambers of the
Predjama Castle and sampled some local schnapps. Especially the latter lifted our spirit!
The third day marked the beginning of some splendid early fall weather. With
Bled as our destination we were thrilled to be finally able to leave the rain gear in the car, stroll around and soak up some sun. A visit to the Bled Island is a must, particularly if you can make Jami run up and down those steps to the church a few times. In the boat on the way back we admired the oarsman’s strong bicepses and I almost made everybody believe me we would be climbing the cliff to the Bled Castle.
Sadly, Jami had to leave the following morning (thanks for drinking all that wine and being such a great sport, Jami, hehe), while Margaret, Kim and I visited the
Vintgar Gorge. The river, usually green and peaceful, now roared through the narrow canyon. Of course Kim and I played with our tripods to get the milky water effect, and in the mean time Margaret simply used the rail as the support for her compact camera. Then the road across the plateau of
Pokljuka through forests and past pastures took us to
Lake Bohinj. The water was so still we could take perfect reflection photos!
On the fifth morning we made our way into the heart of the
Julian Alps. Alpine valleys, spraying waterfalls and mountains passes with sheep took most of the day. I was hoping for some golden larches at the
Vršič pass but we were a few weeks too early. In Bovec Luka surprised us and joined us on the star-trail expedition to the
Mangart saddle in the afternoon. Oh, how we enjoyed the sweet sunset light in the mountains! OK, the chill that followed while we were waiting during the long exposures wasn’t all that enjoyable, but with the moon rising we got some pretty cool pictures of star trails and the moonlit landscape.
The area around
Bovec offers so many things to see and do we had a hard time cramming them all in one day. We saw yet another waterfall,
Kozjak near Kobarid, Kim’s favorite subject and Margaret’s not so favorite subject (because it involves quite a bit of waiting if you don’t take photos!). The afternoon was dedicated to two gorgeous valleys. In the
Lepena valley it was interesting, and sad, to see the many abandoned and dilapidating houses set in such beautiful but remote environment. Climbing the banks of the
Soča River canyons proved to be exhilarating, especially when we were on the verge of falling in a couple of times!
Landscape photography is a funny thing – you are totally dependent on the weather and light, and there are times when it is impossible to take one decent photo in a few weeks. But then sometimes you simply get lucky. And boy did we get lucky with the early morning mists in
Bovec! Kim and I scrambled around looking for the best vantage point as the sun rose from behind the mountains and heated the ground. Then the mists slowly dissipated, offering us magical twenty minutes of magnificent mood. A red tractor under a tree was just a bonus.
The drive across the
Predel pass offered perfect views of Mt. Mangart and
Strmec, a village on a ridge, and we made the effort to climb to an old fort towering above the road.
A stroll to the shore of the serene
Rabelj Lake on the Italian side was pleasant as always, and then we bid our farewell to the Julian Alps as we headed back to
Ljubljana. Seeing it in completely different light on a warm and sunny afternoon we enjoyed a cup of coffee while people-watching along the Ljubljanica River, we found Julija’s window across the square from Prešeren’s statue and looked for examples of architecture by Plečnik. Kim and Margaret became quite expert at distinguishing his work from the work of others! The love locks on the Butcher Bridge were another great photo subject. As the dusk settled upon the city, we had our last dinner together.
One week flew by too quickly. Jami, Margaret, Kim, I will never forget the fun times with you guys. My stomach hurt from all the laughing! I truly hope Slovenia stays in your hearts. :)
