More of beautiful Slovenia

This small mountainous country packs quite a punch.  In this respect it is not unlike New Zealand and Tasmania in that one does not have to travel far to see changes of scenery and drink in beautiful views.

After the Yugoslav wars of the early 1990s, which pulled apart fellow states Croatia and Serbia, Slovenia emerged in the mid-2000s as the wealthiest and most successful of its Slavic siblings.  But this tiny country of about 20,000 sq kms is no featherweight when it comes to natural riches either.  Nearly 60 per cent of the land is forested, woven by 27,000 kms of waterways and stitched together by 10,000 kms of hiking trails. And in the karst landscape, more than 9,000 caves await discovery too.

A village in the mountains - takes one's breath away.  So green and so picturesque.

These are two views of Bled Castle on the craggy rock above Lake Bled.  It is a wonderful looking castle but sadly, like almost all of Slovenia's castles, it is only a virtual castle (meaning it is a shell only and also completely rebuilt) and a tour is a very big disappointment.  One exception is Predjama Castle which we visited.  Now that, is a real castle, and beautifully preserved and tastefully and imaginatively restored.  There will be a posting on it probably next time we load our photos.

This is the church in the middle of Lake Bled where it is very fashionable to get wed.  We did not think it warranted the 12EUR fee to go and see it.  Better from a distance.

This was the view from our apartment just outside of Bled.  There was a little balcony where we could sit and we had a lovely meal or roasted suckling pig at the local restaurant.

Vintgar Gorge nearby which we walked along the next morning.

There is a 1.6km boardwalk taking you along the gorge and a small fee to pay, as you do for most gorges and other scenic attractions in Slovenia.  It is well worth the money.

The force of the water is impressive to see.

Ljubljana town square.  We did not stop long in the capital.  It seemed an attractive enough city but we are more drawn to the countryside and to smaller towns.

Could not resist snapping this lovely building.  Different from buildings I have seen elsewhere and very beautiful.

Our last stop for this posting is inside Postojna caves.  There are 18 kms of caves but not all of it open to the public.  We travelled for some distance in a long train with sometimes only inches above your head and then walked for about 1.5km and viewed the various lovely galleries of stalactites and stalagmites.

This is the most famous Postojna formation known as the ice cream because of its spectacular white colour.