The Lacey Invasion: Slovenia and Austria

Day 114 - 118

Moving on from Italy and France we headed towards the relatively unknown and rather small Slovenia.  Having crossed Slovenia in a matter of days, we then made our way into Austria.

Predjama Castle in Slovenia. We camped just down the road at a beautiful little campground and managed to smuggle Fleur in for free. We also managed to get into bed at 8:30pm on a Saturday night - something a few of us hadn't done in  15 years.

The capital of Slovenia - Ljubljana. Home to some very beautiful architecture and a decent coffee.

Some random sculpture in the Town Hall of Ljubljana.

Sunday morning in Ljubljana. We were all very fresh from the 20 hours sleep we got the night before.

Bronwyn and her trusty backpack making a tour of Ljubljana. Bronny would not leave the blue pack out of her sight and it also made appearances out to dinner on one occasion.

An old GMC ute in the town square of Ljubljana as part of the rally of Via Flaminia. We saw these cars in the next couple of towns we stopped out as well. 

Bronny and Fleur posing in the small town of Kranj, where it is exceedingly hard to find a car park for 8m Crafter vans.

It was at this point that we announced the next days plans to go up the Vrsic Pass in Slovenia - much to Bronwyn's displeasure. 

A quiet Sunday afternoon stroll through Kranj. We quite like the shops being closed on a Sunday as it makes for a very relaxed feel, however, when you don't have any groceries for dinner that night it can be a pain in the arse.

Swinging on the arms of a poet - France Preseren. This would have to be one of the best statues we've seen to date as the guy looks like a giant, without being out of proportion.

This is the reason why you should go to Slovenia - Lake Bled.

Morning bike ride around Lake Bled with a stop to take in the castle.

The island within Lake Bled that houses the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Mary.

Taking a boat ride out to the tiny island in the middle of the lake. Claire rowed back but struggled to keep the boat in line at times.

SS Lake Bled. I tied it up three times over, although I couldn't see how anyone stealing a boat could get that far on the lake.

Steps leading up to Mary's Church.

Thank very for much for doing the dishes, thank you very much, thank you very, very, very much!

If you don't want to row your own boat, you can get these larger ones for three times the price. Although they look like row boats, they have tiny little motors in them so the captain can have a smoke while he steers.

The clear, clear waters of Lake Bled.

Lake Bled.

Moving up the road another 16km you get to the equally amazing (but less touristy) Lake Bohinj.

The water was even clearer here than Lake Bled and we stopped for lunch by the rock with a goat on it.

Look how clear that water is - you can see a big brick in it.

View from our lunch spot on Lake Bohinj.

Reaching the top of Vrsic Pass - noted as one of the top places in Eastern Europe by Lonely Planet. We would tend to agree.

Fleur got her 'Front Seat' wings on this morning as Bronwyn was relegated to the back seat. Fleur couldn't believe what she had missed out on and we had almost finished the trip.

Despite not wanting to go up the Vrsic Pass, I think Bronny enjoyed it in the end.

Doing some meditation at the top of the pass.

About to head down the other side of the pass - the bit I like least is always going down.

At the top of Vrsic Pass. We met a Scotsman who had just ridden up the other side on a shitty old rental bike which had a busted seat. He didn't complain a bit and then continued to ride down the other side saying he would come back up the pass again to get home later in the day. Crazy Scots!

Taking a stop on the way down the pass to enjoy the view.

Stopping for traffic on the way down. 

Moving on from Slovenia, we entered Austria visiting another lakeside town in Hallstadt.  We we went there on the Lacey Invasion tour it was bucketing with rain and we couldn't get a photo, so returned a week later to get this.