Day 14 of 35: Postojna Caves & Lake Bled
After breakfast we journeyed north to Postojna, home to one of the largest cave systems in Europe. A visit to the cave includes an underground train journey that takes you into the cave system which spans 24 km. The tour covers 5 km of the system, 3.5 by train & 1.5 on foot. The footpath is slip-resistant concrete & had several steep (20 degree) inclines & declines. It certainly worked our calves!
The Caves are completely natural, carved over thousands of years by the underground Pivka river, & they’ve never been commercially mined. The guide told us that when developing them for tourism, graffiti was found dating to 1250. The walk revealed incredible stalagmites and stalactites in an amazing array of shapes & sizes, & caverns of all shapes & sizes. The last cave on the tour is enormous & is named the Cathedral Hall because of its acoustics – up to a 9- second echo. She invited us to test the acoustics so I briefly serenaded Sir / Bill. Everyone stopped talking while I sang in the near-darkness. A very special moment!
Afterward, we visited a family-run homestead for lunch. They served a dumpling with beef goulash & were kind enough to make me a dumpling with mushroom gravy instead. On the way we passed sites where archeological digs are slowly continuing. One is where the oldest wheel in the world was found – its been dated to between 5100 -5350 years ago. I had no idea there was civilization here that long ago.
After lunch, we continued to Bled, a small lakeside town beautifully nestled in the Julian Alps. We arrived at the hotel around 4, leaving us time to rest & explore before enjoying their bounteous buffet dinner.
As we settled into the hotel, Sir / Bill developed an intense belly-ache; he said he’d “been goulashed.” I walked and the lake & explored a bit.