O frabjous day! Callooh, callay! (to quote Lewis Carroll). A gorgeous day dawned so we set off for the Triglav National Park in the north of the country to have a look at the Julian Alps. The park is named for Slovenia’s highest peak, Mt Triglav, whose 3 triangular summits feature on the national flag. 


We accessed the park via the Vrsic Pass from Kranjska Gora, the ski resort with the world’s highest ski jump (yay, another highest!) although we never found where it was, so I reckon it can’t be THAT high! The pass has 50 hairpin bends and runs on the original road built by Russian prisoners of war during WW1 to supply the Austro-Hungarian troops who were fighting the Italians in what is now Slovenia, but was then part of Italy.


Part way up there is a small Russian chapel in a lovely woodland setting commemorating the 300 workers who lost their lives during 2 winters of starvation and avalanches. Further on there is a small Austro-Hungarian cemetery, similarly representing lost lives, plus the remains of their telpher cable car line, which moved goods between the valley floor and higher up – a remarkable achievement considering it was 1915.


All these, interesting though they are, pale into insignificance beside the wonderful scenery, made all the better by deep blue skies and sunshine. We had great views of Mt Triglav (9396 ft) and the neighbouring peaks whose sheer rock faces towered above us with snow-filled
crevices. The millions of fir trees were every shade of green and the few clouds were whiter than white, so the whole effect was stunning - there are several viewpoints on the way up, so of course we stopped at them all, just marvelling at the scenery.


We didn’t do all 50 bends as the circular route would have trebled the distance, but travelled up and over the highest part of the pass, then turned back and stopped at a mountain inn with incredible views to have a meal. I like to have a “wow” a day if at all possible – this one must have used up an entire year’s supply!

We celebrated our last night in Bled with a meal in the camp restaurant - very nice food washed down with some local beer and a lovely view of the lake. R ordered kebabs & got the Slovenian special: a HUGE plateful, made into a sort of pyramid surrounded by vegetables. Far too much food for me, but he tackled it manfully and cleared the lot!