The lovely hostess/waitress at our hotel produced another poached egg without hesitation for Michael’s breakfast! I do like it when there’s a kettle on the breakfast bar so that you can pep up the water temperature before making your cup of tea. I did have to supply my own soy milk, but you can’t have everything, especially in a small country village!

With bags loaded into the car, and the chain on the gate to the car park securely rejoined (Hermann will know what I mean!), we set off towards our next destination, Kobarid. The route took us through Bled, and being a half an hour later than our visit the previous morning, the traffic was even slower. We eventually moved through the busy village and continued on with our journey, our first stop being at another beautiful lake — Lake Bohinj. We fed the parking metre, allowing ourselves about 40 minutes for a walk. Michael and I took a track that headed up into the woods, hoping we might be afforded some great views down over the lake, whilst Gitti and Hermann chose the walking track around the lake, although they apparently abandoned this after a short while, as the busy road lay between it and the lake. They then headed in the opposite direction and went as far as the pretty church overlooking the lake. Our woodland track didn’t offer us any views, as the trees were too dense and high. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant walk and gave me the opportunity to relieve myself without having to pay to do so at the public amenities!

Our next destination was to visit the church of the Holy Spirit in Javorca. Michael and I dozed on and off as we wound our way through the mountains, but were definitely wide awake when we made the ascent up the 7km-long road to the church. It was very narrow, with sheer drops on one side. Every now and then, there were slightly wider sections enabling two cars to pass. However, sometimes one or more cars would have to back up a short distance to reverse in to one of these areas. It was a little hairy!

We parked on the side of the road at the bottom of the track, along with a number of other cars. We soon discovered that not far up the road was an official car parking area. I also noted that there were a couple of Porta-loos, but this was not until after I’d found a rock to hide behind!

The 20-minute walk up to the church was relentlessly steep. Michael kindly helped push me all the way up. (You can view a video clip of us in action, climbing up to the church.)

“The most beautiful World War I monument is a wooden shrine that rises high above the Tolminka riverbed – the memorial church of the Holy Spirit in Javorca. The church in the walley of Polog was built by Austrian soldiers in 1916, to the design of the Austrian architect Remgius Geyling. 
“The outside of the church is decorated with stylised coats-of-arms of all the monarchies and lands of Austria-Hungary. The interior is classic art nouveau, adorned with colourful decorations. The idea of a memorial church is communicated through engraved oak plaques bearing the names of all the Austro-Hungarian soldiers who lost their lives on the hills of Vodil vrh, Mrzli vrh, Rdeči rob and Sleme.” 

Luckily, on the descent we didn’t come across any oncoming traffic until we were much lower down (and there were no sheer drops to one side of the car). We continued on to our final destination for the day — Kobarid, a small town in “the westernmost in Slovenia, situated within the Julian Alps in the Upper Soča (Isonzo) Valley, at the confluence with the Nadiža (Natisone) River, close to the border with Italy.”

“Kobarid is known for the 1917 Battle of Caporetto, where the Italian retreat was documented by Ernest Hemingway in his novel A Farewell to Arms”.

It took a while to locate our accommodation — a group of small apartments tucked away in a small street behind the centre of the town. The bathroom for our room is located just outside our door, off a shared kitchen area. People staying in the apartments above ours pass through this kitchen area on their way upstairs, and so it’s not particularly private! But it’s also not very expensive — bed and breakfast has cost us about $90/night.

Once we had unpacked our bags, we set off to explore, passing through the newer houses built on the outskirts of the town and into the woods. Gitti and Hermann turned back, but we ventured on, up the muddy track that had clearly been churned up by a tractor, and then on to a narrower, drier walking track. It eventually led us to a pretty waterfall —  Slap Svino. There wasn’t a lot of water flowing, but enough to challenge me to learn a bit more about my camera. I took a few photos on slow speed, trying to capture a shot where the water has a milky appearance. 

We stopped at a small supermarket before heading back to our apartment and freshening up for dinner. The Main Street, although not very long, has quite a number of places for dining, from a more expensive restaurant to a place where you can buy toasted sandwiches and ice creams. We chose a place that sells pizzas, chevapchichi, etc., and enjoyed a hearty meal with some cheap wine. And then it was off to bed. I was so tired that I fell fast asleep before Michael had finished reading on his iPad.