Our journey is winding down, as we leave for Lake Bled in the Julian Alps of Slovenia. We were up bright and early (again) – breakfast at 7 a.m., bags out in the building alcove before 7:45 to be loaded onto the cart to go to the ferry. The elaborate breakfast buffet was especially tantalizing this morning … for the sea gulls, especially the big guy that descended onto the table of one of our tour mates and gobbled down some scrambled eggs (almost seems cannibalistic) before being shooed away. Another incontinent gull decided to baptize another tour member, in solidarity, I guess!
We boarded the bus around 8:40 and we were off. The landscape was initially vineyards and small family farms, but as we moved north, the terrain became hilly. We stopped at the border for quite a while, because a bus full of Asian tourists preceded us and and the subsequent “speed” of the border agents on both Croatian and Slovenian sides. As a result, we were considerably behind schedule.
We are heading toward the capital of Ljubljana. The road signs are in Slovenian and Italian, as Slovenia has been part of Italy. Vineyards and olive trees cover the slopes bordering the highway. Salt flats were also scattered about. As we moved inland, the terrain became mountainous (part of the Julian Alps). Slovenia is a crossroads of many cultures – Roman (the western edge of the empire), Austro-Hungarian and Slavic. Unlike Croatia with its laid back attitude, Slovenians tend toward a more Austrian gestalt – punctual and precise. The Slovenians are also very environmentally aware – one of the “greenest” in the world. Other interesting tidbits: Slovenian wines and fruit infused liqueurs (especially blueberry) are typical products. Beekeeping is popular, with 7000 beekeepers.
We stopped at a gas station (our last one) for a quick cappuccino and, for some of us, a cookie or strudel. Back on the bus, Katka gave us her take on the immigrant situation that had come to a head in 2015. The people of Hungary and Czech Republic were portrayed in the media as being intolerant to the huge wave of immigrants arriving at their borders (up to 10,000 per day). In a nutshell, part of the problem was the lack of preparation by the governmental and border officials to deal with the influx, as well as the immigrants who did not want to stay in these countries but rather wanted to go to Germany.
We finally arrived in Ljubljana around 12:30, an hour behind schedule. We were met by Marijan, the local guide. He also is a Rick Steves tour guide (Best of Adriatic, Eastern Europe). 
We were given a two-hour walking tour of the city center. Ljubljana is a charming city of about 250,000, the capital of Slovenia. The town center is almost exclusively pedestrian. A river passes through the center, with several bridges traversing the banks. An earthquake in 1895 caused major destruction, with many of the buildings rebuilt and exhibiting the baroque or art nouveau style. It is not a major tourist destination, but most certainly has a vibrant feel, with a bustling public market, cafés and restaurants along the river banks and around the main squares, and an amazing variety of shopping venues. 
The citizens fill the streets, strolling, shopping, sipping coffee, eating gelato. Since the town center is free of cars, commuters use bicycles, and bike-dodging (or pedestrian-dodging) is commonplace. We were also treated to some local delicacies (Carnolian sausage with mustard and horseradish, fried frog legs, a fig and a blueberry liqueur, fresh unpasteurized milk from a machine dispenser, and a dessert described as “strudel on steroids”). 
Above are: homemade sausage place, Carnolian sausage, frog legs, Katka getting milk from a milk dispenser and typical Slovenian dessert with poppy seeds, apples, cream cheese and flaky pastry (gibanica – pronounced ” gee-bah-neet-sah”).
Then we had about an hour of free time. We chose to do a little shopping (the fig liqueur was calling to us) and to try out the artisanal gelato at Gelato Romantika. The pumpkin seed oil gelato tasted a bit like pistachio!
The temperature was surpassing 32 degrees C (over 90 degrees F), as we dragged ourselves back to where the bus was parked. We had a short drive to Radovljika, a small town with an apiary museum 
(Slovenia is a center of apiaries and the art of beekeeping was refined here) and a shop that has been baking decorated honey gingerbread hearts since 1766. They are usually given as gifts. 
Elaborately decorated, an advisory sticker states that they are not food products! However, they make great mementos or Christmas tree ornaments. One of the owners described the process of baking – flour, honey, ginger, cloves, cardamon and water are combined into a dough that “ages” for 14 days. The dough is rolled out with a machine roller and cookie cutters, some decades old, are used to shape the cookies. They are iced with a potato starch, water and food coloring frosting (no sugar) after the cookies are baked and left to air dry. He even treated us to an accordion solo after his presentation. We purchased a couple of the undecorated edible version , but I must say they did not taste anything like the gingerbread we have in the USA- they were like dry soft bread with a faint essence of ginger and cloves.
As we left this charming little village, ominous storm clouds could be seen in the distance. Rain and wind are forecasted for tonight and tomorrow morning and the high temperature tomorrow is forecasted to be about 30 degrees cooler than today!
Within 15 or 20 minutes, we reached our final destination, Lake Bled (Bled means “pale”, referring to the mist that is commonly encountered on the lake), a village at the foot of the Julian Alps. We were driven partly around the lake (the bus was not permitted to go the entire circumference) to get a preview of tomorrow’s agenda- a boat ride to an island. We disembarked from the bus, for the last time on this two-week tour, and said our farewells to Peter, our brilliant driver, who once again deftly maneuvered the bus in reverse gear up into the parking lot of the Hotel Lovec. We are free for the rest of the evening. Tonight, pizza for dinner – we are tiring of those heavy meat-centric meals!
Camino Musings 