Slovenia and The Postojna Cave
We journey inland to Slovenia, with its forests, meadows, alpine villages and mountain peaks. This was the first Slavic nation to claim independence and break away from the Yugoslavia federation, and, as a result, was not that involved in the Balkan wars of the 1990s. We are now in the land of the 4 S's - sausage, schnitzel, strudel and sauerkraut.
The highlight of today's adventure is the exploration of Postojna Cave - an underground labyrinth of caves created by the karst limestone of stalactites and stalagmites.
Facts about the Postojna Cave:
- 12 miles long
- one of the finest Karst limestone formations in the world
- 2nd largest cave system in Slovenia
- caves were created by the Pivka River
- over 37 million visitors in 200 years
- the cave train has been taking visitors into the tunnel for 140 years
The crowning achievement and major attraction of the Postojna Cave is the stalagmite called Brilliant - a shiny white limestone formation approximately 15 feet tall and constructed of constant deposits of pure calcite sinter.
Brilliant
Of course we were goofing off as we entered the cave - not believing for a second that the 2 guys with cameras were actually able to photograph each person in the masses that stormed the turnstiles. So, just before we reached the exit, we tried to find our entire crew. I didn't see my photo for quite a few minutes, but when I did everyone cracked up and insisted I cough up the 4 Euros and buy it. Initially I declined but Rindy thought it was so hilarious she was willing to pay for it. Well, I couldn't let her do that so I bought it (peer pressure). And, again with peer pressure, everyone insisted it be added to the blog immediately...
Time for lunch and a new beer...
A new beer for lunch.
Sadly, we are nearing the end of our journey as we arrive at the thriving university town of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. After we had a few minutes to wait for our luggage and get settled into our hotel rooms, we took an orientation walk around the city to familiarize ourselves with our surroundings.
Ljubljana is, as Walter said, a "happy town", and most of the action is in the city center of Preseren Square. After all, where can you witness the musical Hari Krishnas parading in front of a 17th century Franciscan church? The ever-present accordion music on at least one corner.
And it is a very clean, environmentally-conscious town - as we watch bags of trash placed in designated receptacles, where it is weighed and recorded for each business.
Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity (upper left)
The Shopping...
The Galerija Emporium (upper right)
The Academics...
Ljubljana is a thriving university town, with the University of Ljubljana being the oldest and largest university in Slovenia - with over 63,000 enrolled undergraduate and graduate students. As of 2010, the university has 23 faculties and 3 academies situate throughout urban Ljubljana. It also encompasses 2 university libraries, which contain over 1,307,000 books and other resources. (below)
The Sculptures and Statues...
Europe and a Bull sculpture facing the university. (upper left)
Julija Primic, France Preseren's love, remembered with a plaque, and directly in line with the his gaze from the Preseren Statue. (upper middle)
France Preseren, a prolific Slovenian poet/writer and national hero in the 1800s, with his muse above him, sitting on a rock and holding a laurel wreath in her hand. He is facing the window where his love, Julija Primic lived. (upper right)
Flute sculpture inside the 13th century Teutonic Knights Monastery. (lower left)
Closeup of Neptunov vodnjak cherub (lower right)
Cooperative Commercial Bank
Inside the 13th century Teutonic Knights Monastery
No comments:
Post a Comment