When planning out a vacation, we agreed that we wanted something sunny and relaxing. Initially we thought we'd go on a cruise, but even the last-minute deals were not such a deal. We made a call to one cruise line based on advertised prices that we thought were very reasonable, but turns out were only for senior citizens. Gotta read the fine print, folks! The "normal" price was more than double that listing! So while we still dream of a Mediterranean cruise one day, we will be adding it to the budget for a more planned trip and less of a last-minute thing.
Honestly, researching this vacation was pretty overwhelming. Poor us, I know. After the cruise plan failed, we started looking at all-inclusive resorts. I was wildly inclined to go to Croatia, simply because I've heard such wonderful things about it, and it's relatively close and relatively cheap. We also researched B&Bs and wineries as well. Tony went to Postojna, Slovenia a little while back for work, and really enjoyed it. They had a delay for some reason or other; I forget if it was related to weather or equipment or what, but they took a group trip over to Postojna Jama, or the Postojna Cave. He raved about it so much and really wanted to take me there, so we started a rough itinerary based on one or two days in Slovenia and then 2-5 days in Croatia. Because of his approved leave, we had some good flexibility, but I really wanted to avoid traveling on the weekend if at all possible. (Thank goodness, more on that later!) We also had a houseguest with some flexibility in her schedule, so that helped nail down our timeline as well. We'd get the weekend with our guest and take off Monday morning and come back Friday.
Eventually we settled on Opatija, Croatia, as our final destination. Mostly because it is a well-regarded resort town on the Adriatic Sea, and we found a nice hotel with half board (breakfast and dinner) included, plus it had a spa and casino on site. Sounded like a winner to me!
We left Monday around 11, and headed straight to the cave in Postojna. It took us 1/4 tank of gas to get to the Italian/Slovenian border, but we went ahead and filled up at the last gas station, and bought our vignette. Tolls to get there were 15.5 Euro, and the vignette, which they use in lieu of an individual tolling system, was another 15 Euro for a 7-day pass. We did not have to go through customs, and it took about an hour and a half to get to Postojna, minus the stop time. We bought our tickets, which were I think 23 Euro for a tour of the cave and a tour of a nearby castle, and had a quick bite to eat before heading in. Our tickets were for the 2:00 tour, so we had plenty of time for that, even though we ultimately settled on "fast food." Meh, it was okay.
At 2:00, they opened the line for the English tour, and we headed on in. I didn't know this ahead of time, but you take a train ride into the cave before getting out for the walking portion of the tour. That train ride is a good 5-7 minutes long! The cave is the largest in Slovenia and one of the largest in Europe! I learned the rail tracks are 3.7km long, so we walked another 1.5km or so once we were inside. I'm having trouble loading my pictures today, so below I've posted some from the cave website. http://www.postojnska-jama.eu/en Suffice to say, it was amazing!
We saw stalactites and stalagmites that were thousands and thousands of years old. No surprise, really, since the cave itself is estimated to be over two million years old! It is a limestone cave, carved by the river Pivka, which we got to see at the end of the tour and a few places during. We toured the middle level. I forget why the upper level isn't open, but the lower level is closed because - duh - that's where the river is. At one point we were in a cavern 40m high. Apparently they hold concerts there a few times a year; mostly vocal, as instruments don't like the cool, damp environment of a cave. Makes sense to me. But now I really want to go hear a concert! Tourists are invited to sing on every tour, as there's a certain part where an echo can last as long as 6 seconds. We did hear a really quite fantastic opera singer, though he sang a bit prematurely before we got to the concert hall. Bravo, opera dude, bravo. We also saw a bridge built by Russian prisoners of war - from WWI. It connects the old and new caves; so-called not because of their age but because of their relative discovery. The old cave was discovered in 1818 and opened to the public in 1819, and the new cave was discovered in (I think) 1891 and open to the public around 1920. We got to walk across the Russian bridge into the old cave, and we saw the "white room" and the "red room," in addition to the aformentioned concert hall. We learned anything green is a type of moss or algae, and not normal in the cave system. That stuff grows because of the lighting installed. Red or orange stuff is due to iron oxide, and black and gray colors are due to manganese or sometimes carbon. The white formations are pretty much pure calcite, and they almost glow, they are so white. Oh, and we went into the "spaghetti room," where - you guessed it - all of the stalactites are long and skinny like pasta.
After we toured the cave, we checked into the Hotel Kars in Postojna, had a nap, and then wandered across the square to have dinner. I had beef and Tony had veal and they were both delicious. We had an okay bottle of Slovenian Cabernet Sauvignon, and then I got a chocolate souffle and he got two kinds of apple desserts. All delicious!
The next morning we checked out of the hotel and drove about 10km to the Postojna Predjama castle. I think Predjama translates to "in the cave" or something like that. Parts of the castle date back to the 1200s, and the majority of it as it stands today was built in the 1500s. There have been some modern upgrades, but it is sparsely furnished so you can get a really good idea of what it was like to live in it back then. Our first view of the castle was after parking the car and walking up to the entrance. And yep, there's a 27-room castle built right into the cliff! I guess the original builders picked that location for its security. It's not like anyone can sneak up on you there, with a cave at your back, a cliff above you, and a river below you. We spent about 40 minutes there, climbing around and looking at things, before taking off to Croatia.
Again, having problems posting my own photos, so here's one from viator.com. I'll put mine up on Facebook soon.
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