June 16 – Lake Bled, Slovenia. Today we have two expeditions from Lake Bled. First we are going to Lake Bohinj. It's a glacial lake on the southern slope of the Julian Alps and is the largest natural lake in Slovenia. It's much less developed than Lake Bled so it's a lot quieter and a more natural setting. We are heading there to see more of the alpine section of Slovenia.
On the drive up we passed hundreds of traditional Slovenian hay racks. They are tall and wide but very slim, roofed structures with a series of poles from which the farmers hang bundles of hay to keep them dry. Sometimes they put two close together and roof over the space between them to make an open air garage for farm implements. We saw hundreds of them dotting the landscape. Very picturesque.
We arrived at the base of Mount Vogel and took the cable car up to the top. In the winter this is a snow sports haven and there's still some snow deep in the crags of the mountain that are sheltered from the sun. The views from the top are great. In one direction you see the valley and the lake, in the other direction you see even taller mountain peaks. Very pretty.
We stopped at the Church of St John the Baptist, on the northern side of the Bohinjka River is exactly what a medieval church should be: small, on a reflective lake and well decorated. It's a very attractive church on the outside and even better on the inside. The nave of the church is Romanesque, but the Gothic presbytery dates from about 1440. The presbytery is covered with 15th- and 16th-century frescoes. The subject of many of them is the beheading of John after Solame danced for Herod and as a reward was granted a wish. Her mother, who hated John told her to ask for his head on a plate and she got it. There's a fresco of Cain and Abel making their offerings to God. Cain, who became history's first murderer is depicted with a white devil on his shoulder. A very unusual depiction. There's a fresco of three men singing and they appear to have goiters. Lack of iodine in the diet made this ailment common at the time. Hence the iodized salt. There's a wooden carving of John the Baptist's head on a plate from 1380 on one of the side altars.
The outside walls of the church are also decorated. As was common practice in the 14th century there's a mural of St. Christopher patron saint of travelers that could be seen by passersby. The belief at the time was that you would not die on a journey if you had seen the saint during your travel.
It was a nice morning and we headed back to Lake Bled for lunch.
This afternoon we are going to the Postojna Cave. This is also a big attraction in Slovenia. It's the second longest cave in the country but it is the longest cave open to the public in the world. The tour of the cave covers over 3.25 miles. About 2.25 miles are covered riding in a small electric tram. The other mile you walk. It's damp of course, this thing was cut by a river and that river still flows below it. At one point on the tour you can look down through a deep hole and see the river flowing through. It's also nice a cool, about 46 degrees F.
The tour was very interesting. After you ride through many caves on the train you get off and group up under signs that indicate the language your guide will be using. The German and English signs drew the largest groups. This Italian sign had a party of 6 join up.
The walk is not that easy so mobility challenged people should know their limitations. Wisely they start off by having you immediately climb a mountain formed by a large roof collapse. It's the toughest part of the walk. At times it's fairly steep and you go up a long way. If you can get over this the rest of the walk will not be a problem. If you can't, they send you back down to continue the tour on the train.
One thing I really liked about the way they've set up the tour. All the lights they use are natural white. I hate cave tours where they use colored lights to change the look of the cave. Caves are wonderful places often with a lot of natural color, subtle but color never the less. If you illuminate the area with blue, green, red, purple and pink lighting all the natural beauty is gone. None of that here.
The cave is home to an unusual animal, proteus. It's an elongated salamander with no coloration whatsoever, although it appears pink to me, and it has no eyes. It lives in the cave along with all sorts of little creatures. It's thought that this cave has the widest variety of life of any cave in the world.
The cave was beautiful.
Then it was back on the bus and to the hotel. Tomorrow we leave for Croatia.
Really pretty places in
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