We left the Bovec area to head south and loop back towards Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital, for the final two nights.
Our first stop was Predjama, an impressive castle-in-a-cave (the world's largest) which has stood for more than 800 years. We were able to explore the castle walls, towers, chambers, and get inside to escape the 96-degree heat. Behind the castle are secret tunnels, but alas we weren't permitted entry.
The drawbridge!
The kids enjoyed learning about the different medieval weapons including the "Morning Star" (Iver; "like nunchucks!") which delivered many death blows.
The cave portion of the castle's back wall provided cool temperatures and drinking water.
Two kilometer train ride in
The stalactite and stalagmite formations were huge, even though they grow at something like 1 cm per 100 years! I loved the ones that looked like "curtains."
"Spaghetti" stalactites are even slower growing!
While we didn't see any, the cave is home to >200 species of animals. Proteus Anguinus, olms, or the "baby dragon," are one of the coolest of the cave species and was discovered in the 18th century. They are amphibians that are nearly pigment-less, without developed eyes, and look like long axolotls-- we were able to see a couple in an aquarium, but we weren't allowed to photograph them.
Ljubljana has phở! I can't eat soup when it's 90 degrees but these boys did!
We explored Ljubljana's old town on our final day in Slovenia. We stayed at an incredibly well located City Hotel and parked our car (aided by a one-car elevator to the underground hotel parking!) and then walked everywhere.
Iconic Dragon Bridge (which has at least 20 dragons on it!)
Ljubljana Castle sits on a city hill and was occupied well before the middle ages, but the current castle dates from about the 15th century, and served as protection from several wars.
We rode a short funicular to the castle, as no one (including myself) was interested in hiking up (or down) in expected 100-degree heat!
(it literally was a fever-- 38 degrees Celsius = 100.4 F!)
Spiral tower staircase
Tower viewing platform
The castle houses many exhibits- including one on Slovenian history, and a portrait photography exhibition by Arne Hodalič.
The penitentiary was interesting for the kids
Iver is still traumatized from his wasp sting from our day rafting!
After seeing the castle (the kids are bit castled out, to be honest!), we rode on a 45 minute narrated river cruise on the Ljubljanica, the city's river.
We learned about some of the downtown spots, including the special bridges (Dragon, Three Bridges), houses, and the places where butchers washed their bloody meat in the river (and where prisoners were occasionally dipped).
Despite the shade, the kids were pretty "melted" in the near-midday heat.
We had some food at a food court near central market, where everyone could choose what suited our fancy (a seafood Istrijan salad for me and some pad thai for K!).
To escape the afternoon heat, we passed almost two hours at the city's House of Illusions, whose exhibitions were a huge hit with the kids!
Bed of nails
Mix-and-match faces via mirrors!
Niall+ Iver!
Iver + mama
Infinity room!
"Falling from the ceiling"!
Feast of dots!
I loved the floating faucet and levitating water.
The kids spent a long time trying to figure out the "Towers of Hanoi" (moving a set of discs from one tower to the next, one at a time, but finally gave up!
After some ice cream, we retired to our hotel (with A/C) to rest, but braved the later afternoon for some quick eats at a nearby food festival.
We loved the "free drink" rewareded due to the "green sign/no need to wash towels" we placed on our hotel room door. Is is such a great incentivizing idea to reduce hotel laundry/water usage (although we like to be green intrinsically).
We loved our time in Slovenia (and in Europe). English is widely spoken/understood (Slovenians speak 3 languages on average), people are incredibly friendly, it's easy to get around (especially with a smartphone for navigation and digital tickets [not that mine actually worked while we were abroad/out of wi-fi range!), and it's not too expensive. I much preferred our outdoors time than city life, but it's a beautiful place to vacation, and I highly recommend you check it out!