Slovenian Toilet Explosion! (Not involving us....)
Author: Brandon (Dad)
Our stay in Slovenia was short, but very sweet.
Following our adventure to Ljubljana Castle (Friday), we decided to head out of the city and enjoy the "#1 tourist attraction in Slovenia". Of course I'm talking of Postojna Cave. The bus trip out was fairly uneventful, but it was great to get outside the city and see some of the beautiful nature that Slovenia is known for.
Upon arrival at the cave, we grabbed a quick lunch (a burger with a black bun, colored by cuttlefish ink), then jumped on our tour of the cave. There were many people visiting, but you wouldn't really notice it as everything was well-planned and efficient. We were warned that temperatures are very low inside the cave and advised to dress warmly, so we grabbed our sweatshirts (that we haven't needed...well, this entire trip, really...). Turns out, it was about 50°. In San Francisco they call that summer. I loved it.
The cave was extremely beautiful. We have all kinds of pictures of stalagtites and stalagmites... but to be honest, once you've seen one, you've seen them all.
We also got to see the elusive "human fish" that Slovenians are awfully proud of. Apparently the locals thought they were baby dragons at one point. I asked Luke and he says that isn't true.
Why are they called human fish? The guide told us because they live to be about 100 and their skin "kind of" looks like a human's skin. That explanation was good enough for me. I'm not a zoologist.
As part of our trip to the cave, we added an excursion to Predjama Castle. This was the highlight of the day for me. After a very good self-guided audio tour of the castle, we sat and had a beer at the base of the mountain that the castle sits in. I stared at the castle for about 45 minutes and probably could have continued, if we didn't have a bus to catch back to the cave.
One of our favorite anecdotes about the "castle in a cave" was the legend of Erazem of Predjama. We had heard the story the day before at Ljubljana Castle. I don't want to spoil the tale for everyone, but it ends with him getting blown up while sitting on the toilet. Tiffany and I agreed that it would make a great historical fiction. There is more to the story than a toilet explosion, though that is certainly the kids' favorite part.
When we got back to the cave to catch a bus back to Ljubljana (about an hour away) we realized we read the sign wrong and that we'd missed the last bus from the cave. Not a big deal... there was another station about 1.5km away, in town. Unfortunately we arrived at that station just as the bus to Ljubljana was pulling away, so we earned ourselves another hour and a half in the town of Postojna.
We sat down for a pretty decent dinner at Restaurant Proteus and then finally caught the bus back to the capital city.
We got on the bus along with a bunch of drunk college-aged Americans. About halfway, at a bus stop, the driver stormed by us on the way to the back and started yelling (in Slovenian) at some kid who kept going, "OK, sorry, OK, sorry....". Not exactly sure what he was getting up to, but I was in favor of him getting kicked off the bus. Think of the story he could tell his kids, about the time he got booted off a bus one night in the middle of Slovenia. Idiot.
Tiffany shared her love for Slovenia in her last post and I have to echo her thoughts. Slovenia is very different from Croatia, but amazing in its own way.
It is a very clean country, the people are nice, and Ljubljana is a fantastic city to wander around (as you know we like to do). Tiffany said it felt more like Spain to her, but I think it was more like Germany or Austria...or what I imagine they are like. I'd definitely like to come back and spend more time.
I'm not sure what we expected. The scenery is pretty much what I thought it would look like (very impressive), but Ljubljana was so much more than we'd imagined. Most Croatians we talked to were a little puzzled why we'd go to such a "small country". My cousin Ićina (speaks no English), used his phone to send me a message that said "Slovenija no sea". He shrugged his shoulders. I told him, "yeah, but mountains" and he kind of went..."eh, I guess...". Why would we go somewhere without the sea?
I'm going to leave Saturday's events to Livi as she'll talk about our trip to the zoo and our adventures getting home.
I'm writing this blog from our train between Ljubljana and Vienna. It's been an absolutely stunning ride. I kind of don't want it to end....
Until next time!
Our stay in Slovenia was short, but very sweet.
Following our adventure to Ljubljana Castle (Friday), we decided to head out of the city and enjoy the "#1 tourist attraction in Slovenia". Of course I'm talking of Postojna Cave. The bus trip out was fairly uneventful, but it was great to get outside the city and see some of the beautiful nature that Slovenia is known for.
Upon arrival at the cave, we grabbed a quick lunch (a burger with a black bun, colored by cuttlefish ink), then jumped on our tour of the cave. There were many people visiting, but you wouldn't really notice it as everything was well-planned and efficient. We were warned that temperatures are very low inside the cave and advised to dress warmly, so we grabbed our sweatshirts (that we haven't needed...well, this entire trip, really...). Turns out, it was about 50°. In San Francisco they call that summer. I loved it.
The cave was extremely beautiful. We have all kinds of pictures of stalagtites and stalagmites... but to be honest, once you've seen one, you've seen them all.
 |
| Stalagtites? Stalagmites? Scientists may never know the difference... |
We also got to see the elusive "human fish" that Slovenians are awfully proud of. Apparently the locals thought they were baby dragons at one point. I asked Luke and he says that isn't true.
Why are they called human fish? The guide told us because they live to be about 100 and their skin "kind of" looks like a human's skin. That explanation was good enough for me. I'm not a zoologist.
As part of our trip to the cave, we added an excursion to Predjama Castle. This was the highlight of the day for me. After a very good self-guided audio tour of the castle, we sat and had a beer at the base of the mountain that the castle sits in. I stared at the castle for about 45 minutes and probably could have continued, if we didn't have a bus to catch back to the cave.
 |
| In front of Predjama Castle. |
 |
| Here's that beer I was carrying on about. |
One of our favorite anecdotes about the "castle in a cave" was the legend of Erazem of Predjama. We had heard the story the day before at Ljubljana Castle. I don't want to spoil the tale for everyone, but it ends with him getting blown up while sitting on the toilet. Tiffany and I agreed that it would make a great historical fiction. There is more to the story than a toilet explosion, though that is certainly the kids' favorite part.
 |
| Tiffany's trip to a Predjama Castle toilet is certainly happier than Erazem's. |
When we got back to the cave to catch a bus back to Ljubljana (about an hour away) we realized we read the sign wrong and that we'd missed the last bus from the cave. Not a big deal... there was another station about 1.5km away, in town. Unfortunately we arrived at that station just as the bus to Ljubljana was pulling away, so we earned ourselves another hour and a half in the town of Postojna.
We sat down for a pretty decent dinner at Restaurant Proteus and then finally caught the bus back to the capital city.
We got on the bus along with a bunch of drunk college-aged Americans. About halfway, at a bus stop, the driver stormed by us on the way to the back and started yelling (in Slovenian) at some kid who kept going, "OK, sorry, OK, sorry....". Not exactly sure what he was getting up to, but I was in favor of him getting kicked off the bus. Think of the story he could tell his kids, about the time he got booted off a bus one night in the middle of Slovenia. Idiot.
Tiffany shared her love for Slovenia in her last post and I have to echo her thoughts. Slovenia is very different from Croatia, but amazing in its own way.
It is a very clean country, the people are nice, and Ljubljana is a fantastic city to wander around (as you know we like to do). Tiffany said it felt more like Spain to her, but I think it was more like Germany or Austria...or what I imagine they are like. I'd definitely like to come back and spend more time.
I'm not sure what we expected. The scenery is pretty much what I thought it would look like (very impressive), but Ljubljana was so much more than we'd imagined. Most Croatians we talked to were a little puzzled why we'd go to such a "small country". My cousin Ićina (speaks no English), used his phone to send me a message that said "Slovenija no sea". He shrugged his shoulders. I told him, "yeah, but mountains" and he kind of went..."eh, I guess...". Why would we go somewhere without the sea?
I'm going to leave Saturday's events to Livi as she'll talk about our trip to the zoo and our adventures getting home.
I'm writing this blog from our train between Ljubljana and Vienna. It's been an absolutely stunning ride. I kind of don't want it to end....
 |
| Looking out my window. |
Until next time!
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