Slovenia, Easter 2011

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This, to us, is Goriska Brda: small towns, tall churches, and vineyards	The Soca river, en route to Belica winery where we spent two nights	At Belica in the small town of Medane, on the Slovenia-Italy border
Vineyards and churches. Churches and vineyards.	Belica does some of the most brilliant food we've had all posting	R looking particularly happy after a 600 km drive in the Audi
Mountains! from the top of a very winding and narrow gravel road	It's marked on the highway map as a major route.	Still following the Soca, en route to the WWI museum and hiking at Kobarid
Looking straight down at a dam – camera carefully secured to wrist and glasses to ears	Kobarid is the location of the battle described by Hemingway in A farewell to arms (Battle of Caporetto)	An Italian memorial housing the remains of more than 7500 WWI soldiers
Overlooking the valley where the battle was fought; the Italians and the Austro Hungarians were in either set of mountains	The Soca and the mountains on a glorious hike	The weather was nearing high summer in Slovenia – quite a drastic change from Jutland
It turned out to be a holiday of decreasingly sketchy suspension bridges	The river is a glorious emerald color – stunningly beautiful in the sunlight	Tunnels excavated in the mountainside by Italian troops
This is the Kozjiak waterfall at the end of the hike	Wild orchids?	Rebuilt fortifications from the Italian troops, still on the mountainside
The battle was a stalemate for 29 months, during which the soldiers lived on the mountains	Coming down the Soca, the kayakers looked like small colored candies	These glorious tiny flowers were growing under large, prickly thistle-like leaves
I'm not sure this canoer appreciated the attention he was getting from the top of the canyon	He was soon joined by another, and both floundered in the rapids for a while	At the end of the walk, coming back into the town of Kobarid
To our great surprise, Vrsic pass (the highest pass in the Julian Alps) was open – last year, it didn't open until June	We decided to give the Audi a work out, and drove the pass	We went from sea level to 1611 m at the top of the pass – it was bloody cold
Snow! and mountains! and stunning vistas!	Dobrovo Castle	This, again, summarizes Slovenia for us
On Easter Sunday, we meandered through Slovenia and northern Italy, and this tiny church with a majestic entrance caught our eye	Here is the church itself – absolutely tiny	Old walls, somewhere in western Slovenia/northern Italy
Having spotted a castle high on a hillside, we drove to see it on a whim	It has gone through many iterations over the years, from a true fortified castle to a Nazi encampment	It's a meli-melange of styles, and while much is destroyed enough is left to get a feel for the castle itself
This is inside the central tower, which is freestanding	Bits are quite sad looking	And other parts are gloriously castle-like
This must have been the old chapel	Looking out from the ramparts, having climbed a rusty staircase which definitely wouldn't meet North American safety standards	The castle from where we left the Audi
Piran!, where we spent the final two nights	Piran church – this visit, we finally climbed the tower	Figs! we also saw limes, lemons, olives growing
Looking towards Italy whilst hiking near Piran	A very old olive tree at the end of a hike which involved much more vertical climbing than anticipated	This entrance to a graveyard caught our eye
Wisteria! the azaleas, roses and tulip magnolias were also out	Piran. We can't get enough of this town.	The eclectic mix of architecture, the narrow streets, and the smell and sound of the sea
Piran's main square (Tartini trg) as seen from the top of the church bell tower	This was a good idea until 1 PM, when the bells started ringing approximately a meter away from us	We seem to have survived the experience
Speaking of not meeting North American safety standards – here's the climb up the bell tower	This is Piran from the end of one of the piers, which we had not walked to before	Late afternoon light in Piran
On the way back, we stopped at some caves	Khazad Dum!	No one ever listens to me when I say they should have filmed Lord of the Rings in Slovenia
There's nothing like a cave to give you a sense of size and scale	Chalk up another questionable bridge – although this one was in much better nick	The roar of the river inside the caves was phenomenally loud
See? Khazad Dum. I told you so.	Exiting the cave with the river

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