Plitzvicsa [PLITZ vick ah*] National Park is a Croatian must-see that is, ahem, driveable from where we stayed in Slovenia. “Driveable” in this case means 3 hours by delusional Google Maps but 4.5 hours in reality. Of course, the drive was beautiful, and I was especially taken with the local WCs.

It wasn’t until a few hours in, after we were stamped out of the EU and into Croatia, that I realized we had completely left the youngers in a different country from us. This was immediately followed by a twinge of guilt drowned out by the realization that everyone was happier this way, and Piper and Wes had enough euros to feed themselves for a day.

Plitzvicsa can best be described as a series of lakes connected by waterfalls. That is like describing a butterfly as a pretty insect, so let me show, not tell.

This is a place where we all wish we could swim, but fully agree others should not. The waters are so clear and blue that it’s cliché, and I had to give up on my kissing bridge rule, as there are more picturesque bridges than I have kisses. 

The park is well-organized with electric ferries and buses to bring hikers to each new place, and then back to the parking lot when we peaked. 

Again, May is the right time of the year— lush but not muddy, warm but not hot, crowds but not hoards.  When we were in Dubrovnik and Split in 2019, we were disappointed not to make it north to Plitzvisa then. This was worth the wait, however, and I bet we’ll be back again for the full day hike, instead of just a half-day.

PS We were gone for at least 12 hours, and I’m not sure our youngers noticed.

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*Again, an acceptable pronunciation for Americans but in no way actually correct.

Finally, there be dragons. Baby dragons. Which is the working name for a blind cave salamander that is so specialized for the Postojna caves that it doesn’t live more than a few days if removed, even under the most careful conditions.

Like all proper dragons, everything you first hear about them is probably false. They live 100 years (fact: possibly, but better confirmation of 60 year lifespans), eat only once every 10 years (fact: okay, this seems to be true, but only if necessary, not as a lifestyle choice), and breathe fire (I refuse to believe otherwise). They are considered amphibians that are fully aquatic, and to really confuse us, ohms have both lungs and gills. They really aren’t even that cute, but between the good naming and excellent PR, we’re all lining up to buy baby dragon keychains that look hardly at all like penises.*

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*Did I go too many posts without mentioning penises? My bad.

Our second spot in Slovenia was Postojna, a town that boasts the country’s second-largest cave system and one of the most scenic castles in Europe. Cave size doesn’t really matter, but the experience was “really cool”, and that is a Wes quote!

With an English-speaking tour guide, we took the cave train deep into the limestone caverns, carved out by rivers over eons.

The existence of the cave has certainly been known before recorded history, but it took some technology to discover its further recesses. Since we know exactly when distant caverns and tunnels were discovered, and hence, when they were widened and readied for tourists, stalactite growth can be precisely measured. Growth of about 1mm per decade is not particularly slow-growing in cave time. Almost exactly 100 years ago, this reinforcement was done and a new (circled) stalactite is growing.

This stuff is cool! (And, um, cold and damp, but truly, totally neat-o.)

Down the (necessarily charming, bucolic) road is Predjama Castle, literally “castle in front of the cave”. It is both an incredibly attractive and very secure fortress. What it wasn’t was comfortable–at least for residents under siege for long periods of time. Cold, damp, dim…and that wasn’t just the torture chamber.

Have I sold you on Slovenia yet? Come with me next time!

Lake Bled is one of the top tourist sights in Slovenia.

What’s to like about Lake Bled? Let me count the ways:

1. Bled Island. This tiny lake isle is mostly taken up by the Lady of the Lake church. The whole thing is adorable, from being rowed out on a pletna wooden boat, to a pretty little island to a cute little steepled church with a sweet little clock tower that also houses a museum on time-telling.

2. Of course, there’s a Bled Castle that looks out over all this adorableness.

3. This outdoor paradise has a trail circling the lake, where we were able to rent a bike and scooters. Piper staked claim to a sunny park bench with her kindle, I rented a bike, and Dwayne, Kyla and Wes got scooters, which are one of life’s joys for Wes.

If it looks like there aren’t many people there, it’s because there weren’t many people there! I think the crowds change this are in July/August, but all the more reason to travel May and September. I’m not kidding, I really want to spend more time in Slovenia.

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We left Lake Bled before I had my fill because I had reserved another adventure for us in a small town halfway between Lake Bled and where we were staying in Ljubljana: the Škofja Loka Escape Town Outdoor Game. A few brilliant game nerds came up with this Escape Room meets Old Town Tourism. For about $70, the five us up picked up our loot, got a warm welcome and introduction to this town established over 1000 years ago, and then followed our leather-maps to each new riddle. We did NOT complete this in record time, but we completed it. There were two best parts: 1) Each of us made valuable contributions that helped us complete that game, and 2) we never used the hints and the kids got to witness perseverance through some difficult puzzles.  Ice cream was had, and the opening of a medieval clothing store was celebrated. What a delightful day in Slovenia!

…which is a good thing, because of all the places we’ve been, it’s one of the few places I want to return to sooner than later. No less than a half-dozen separate people would tell me something like, “You can be on the beach in the morning and skiing in the mountains by afternoon in Slovenia”. It contains multitudes.

Notable Slovenia Tidbits:

1) It is possibly prettier than my beloved Pacific Northwest, more green, more lush, more lakes, more blue sky, like if the drive over the Cascades or through the Olympics took performance-enhancing drugs. It was THAT beautiful. 

One of my favorite scenes was church steeples peeking up through the hills and forests. My shots from a moving car window didn’t do them justice, so again, I turn to Bing images.

2) Slovenia was the first of the former Yugoslavia to declare its independence in 1991, resulting in the Ten Day War and about 65 casualties. The Croatian War of Independence, in comparison, lasted four years and resulted in 20,000 deaths. This is not to imply Slovenia is superior to Croatia–it was further from the political power of Yugoslavia and was able to control its own borders quickly.

3) Ljubljana (/YOU BLEE ahnna/ is as close as an American can get to the correct pronunciation) is the capital of this small and beautiful country of 2 million. Even as the biggest city, it is incredibly green, both botanically and ecologically. One of my highlights was borrowing a cruiser bike from our hotel and riding down to the Old Town to meet up with a tour and cruising back at our leisure. When I grow up, I want to live in a place just like Ljubljana which speaks English.

Ljubljana is a beautiful small city, and we found a restaurant that served traditional Slovenian food. I loved their liver & onions, which is a lifetime first. It may have been the best traditional food we’ve had.

4) As soon as we entered Slovenia, we stopped wearing masks. We didn’t see a single mask during our 5-days here.

5) Another thing I gave up once I entered Slovenia was trying to say local phrases. I’m not proud of this, but I thank all fates that made me a native English speaker in a bilingual world where Engish is the most common second language to learn.

English	Slovene Phrases
Greeting	Pozdravi
Hi!	Zdravo!
Welcome! (to greet someone)	Dobrodošli!
Thank you (very much)!	Najlepša hvala
You’re welcome! (for “thank you”)	Ni za kaj

6) In Slovenia, there be dragons! Seriously, Kyla tried counting them all when we were in Old Town and couldn’t keep up. Historically, it comes from the legend of St. George slaying the dragon, the symbol of evil. Now, Ljubljanian dragons are more of a beloved mascot. Kyla and I loved it.

7) The Ljubljana National Library is a much-beloved Slovenian building by a much-beloved Slovenian architect, Jože Plečnik. There is much symbolism in the entire structure, but I love the windows that look like open books.