August 21st
The stop in Italy was only a brief one as the next morning we headed into Slovenia, just over the border. Before we left we had a little look around Tarvisio and it was quite a nice border market town. The weather was again glorious and we left Italy looking forward to when we would return and see it properly.
As we drove we passed a little stream and stopped to cool down with a brief splash. It was pretty cold but very refreshing. We then stumbled across this lake in the midst of the mountains and had to pull over for a dip. The water of Lago Del Predil, although crystal clear was very, very cold and although you could see the bottom of the lake through the water easily, diving down the water became so cold that you had to surface pretty much
straight away.
But no sooner had we crossed the border into Slovenia than our chins hit the floor. We had seen some beautiful scenery up to now but this blew our little heads. We had headed into the Soca valley and immediately came across this castle. The castle was destroyed during the Napoleonic invasion and now stands as a memorial to the fallen Austrian defenders (the area was under Austrian rule until 1908). A wounded lion guards the tombs of the fallen soldiers.
We stopped in the town of Bovec which is the unofficial capital of the Soca region and is surrounded by the Julian Alps. Here we found a real treat. Firstly, they call cheese "sir" which went down very well with Rachel, and next the cheese-makers are happy to sell direct. As we approached a house which had the "Sir" & goat sign a head popped out of a window followed by feet to the front door. Within minutes we had purchased some of the finest tasting cheese we had tasted. Typical for the region, it was mild but so creamy and full of
flavour at the same time. Needless to say this went within hours, but we had discovered the joy of buying cheese straight from source and later we were also told that we should do the same when buying the Slovenian
wine which is also very highly rated apparently. I look forward to verifying this claim.
For the night we settled in at the local motorhome rest spot, the Stellplatz equivalent, cracked open a bottle of beer and watched the sunset. After sundown, we ventured to the on-site pub which was actually a nightclub and the place where the locals from Bovec unwind after a heavy day. Here we met Jernej, who was the Slovenian national kayaking champion, and was on the lash with his kayaking team. He spoke excellent English (as does everyone here), and weirdly it sounded more and more Scottish as the night wore on. We shared quite a few beers and stories before we had to retire for the night as we had an early start the next morning, but it was good fun.
Click here for our photostream (flickr)
Click here for our route (google maps)
The stop in Italy was only a brief one as the next morning we headed into Slovenia, just over the border. Before we left we had a little look around Tarvisio and it was quite a nice border market town. The weather was again glorious and we left Italy looking forward to when we would return and see it properly.
As we drove we passed a little stream and stopped to cool down with a brief splash. It was pretty cold but very refreshing. We then stumbled across this lake in the midst of the mountains and had to pull over for a dip. The water of Lago Del Predil, although crystal clear was very, very cold and although you could see the bottom of the lake through the water easily, diving down the water became so cold that you had to surface pretty much
straight away.
But no sooner had we crossed the border into Slovenia than our chins hit the floor. We had seen some beautiful scenery up to now but this blew our little heads. We had headed into the Soca valley and immediately came across this castle. The castle was destroyed during the Napoleonic invasion and now stands as a memorial to the fallen Austrian defenders (the area was under Austrian rule until 1908). A wounded lion guards the tombs of the fallen soldiers.
We stopped in the town of Bovec which is the unofficial capital of the Soca region and is surrounded by the Julian Alps. Here we found a real treat. Firstly, they call cheese "sir" which went down very well with Rachel, and next the cheese-makers are happy to sell direct. As we approached a house which had the "Sir" & goat sign a head popped out of a window followed by feet to the front door. Within minutes we had purchased some of the finest tasting cheese we had tasted. Typical for the region, it was mild but so creamy and full of
flavour at the same time. Needless to say this went within hours, but we had discovered the joy of buying cheese straight from source and later we were also told that we should do the same when buying the Slovenian
wine which is also very highly rated apparently. I look forward to verifying this claim.
For the night we settled in at the local motorhome rest spot, the Stellplatz equivalent, cracked open a bottle of beer and watched the sunset. After sundown, we ventured to the on-site pub which was actually a nightclub and the place where the locals from Bovec unwind after a heavy day. Here we met Jernej, who was the Slovenian national kayaking champion, and was on the lash with his kayaking team. He spoke excellent English (as does everyone here), and weirdly it sounded more and more Scottish as the night wore on. We shared quite a few beers and stories before we had to retire for the night as we had an early start the next morning, but it was good fun.
Click here for our photostream (flickr)
Click here for our route (google maps)
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