Ljubljana - Ice Caves and Stone Castles

I had pre-booked a tour of Postojna Caves and Predjama Castle.  Turns out I'm not as much of a fan of ice caves as most other people, and crikey mikey, more hills and slopes.  The Postojna Cave is HUGE - 24 kms worth and is one of thousands in Slovenia.  Our driver collected us from various points around Ljubljana, apparently waiting 20 minutes for me at random hotel which I knew nothing about and then the nine of us were on our way in a minivan.  I walked about 1km to the meeting point, across the Dragon Bridge.  I wish I'd had more time to take more photos.  The dragons are magnificant.

I'd had about 3 hours sleep the night before due to damn serious knee and foot pain, so was not at my sparkly engaging best.  I've not had pain even close to that before, so it was a little disconcerting. Our driver Primo* had quite a strong accent and it was difficult to hear from the rear of the van, so I pretty much tuned out for the drive to the caves.

Primo said he would be waiting for us, directly outside the caves exit in approximately 90 minutes.  He walked us to the spot, we all agreed to meet there, and then joined the queue for the cave tour.  Being unencumbered by a travelling companion, I found myself in a group ahead of my travellers.  
I boarded the little train which took us on a relatively fast 2km tour.  

I'm not a fan of enclosed spaces, but I had figured if a train fitted into the cave, it wouldn't be too claustrophobic.  There were a few parts early on where I doubted my rationale as the walls were oh so close to sides and heads ...  I really just had to not look at how close the ceiling was and wait it out.

We alighted and then had a 1km guided tour (up hill and down dale).  So again, my knees must have been in working order when I booked this, or else I didn't read it very well.  The gradient of the walkways was significant in parts and downhill was pretty much torture for my knees at this point.  Anyhoo, I figured I could make it, so on I went.  And discovered one dripping ice formation looks pretty much like the next to me. I know I'm in the minority with this view as other travelers were oohing and aahing at every turn.  I did like the stalagmites which the guide indicated looked like a) bacon and b) spaghetti.   Hmm.

The bacon staligmites

I thought this looked like a giant pile of pulled teeth

Yes, some part looked like carved columns, I admit.

The Spaghetti stalagmites which grow 1MM every 100 years

The most beautiful part of the whole tour was the Chandelier Room, which we whizzed through on the train and couldn't get a photo.  Still, amazing space and amazing developments over the years.  It used to take 5 hours walking to reach the "best bits" before the train.  

So I emerged, said Hi to Primo, went to the toilet and came back to wait for the rest of the crew.  Five of them emerged about 10 minutes later and then we waited, and waited for the last couple.  After 40 minutes, Primo was of course increasingly upset, profusely apologising to the rest of us, but explaining he couldn't just leave two people.  No-one in the group minded in the least, so that was good.  I was just thankful to have somewhere to sit while waiting; the others stood all this time.  

Eventually they were located, shopping in the nearby souvenir stores.  They (early 30s couple) said when they exited the cave they didn't see Primo, so just went shopping and seemed a bit put out at the fuss, and waiting so long.  Eek!

Back into the van (awkward silence) and onto the castle.  We had 30 minutes to eat at one of three cafes and then Primo walked us to the castle entrance and again we all agreed to meet at the exit at 2pm.  I had wolfed down my lunch (hot dog and chips... eww) so I wouldn't be late.  Went into the castle and saw the first set of stairs, thought back to the height of the castle and decided, nah, can not do. 

I walked back down to the cafes for a beer intending to walk back (uphill) to the castle for the 2pm meeting. Primo happened by.  We compared knee injuries and he understood my reasons for not climbing the castle, but was concerned I shouldn't miss out on an experience so took me on a guided tour of the stuffed animals and birds attached to the cafe. Cue internal screams, though he was being an excellent host.

Returned to Ljubljana, had some more Fajitas and 2 margartias (1 lime in each - the mystery continues) and then off to the supermarket to buy a bag of ice for my tortured knees and feet.  No dice no ice, but then I remembered the old hockey standby of frozen peas - flexible, re-freezes a couple of times without turning to mush.  Perfecto.   A much better night's sleep.