Weather : 22o, sunny with afternoon thunderstorm.
Our last morning in Ljubljana and we enjoyed Saturday morning market day, with an emphasis on local produce and culture. We also walked up from the main square near the river up to the Tivoli gardens, which runs for several kilometres along the north of the city, encompassing sporting arenas, several museums, the zoo and acres of parkland.
Local meats on display
Pumpkin seed and pumpkin oil are local specialties. Here my dessert last night.
Traditional costumes and dancing
Our itinerary for our 8 day walk. Dolenje Jezero to Trieste
Day 1 : Ljubljana to Lake Cerknica ( 1 hour in the car); Dolenje Jezero to Rakov Scocjan ( 2 hour walk)
We were collected just after midday by a local guide, organised by our English walking company, On Foot Holidays (www.onfootholidays.co.uk) for our self-guided 8 day walk. Gregor drove us an hour south of the city to Lake Cerknica to begin our walk. Lake Cerknica is a disappearing lake, returning every Spring and filling a large valley. We visited a museum, set up by a local family, which explains the phenomenon and has some interesting memorabilia of the area, related to the lake's history. (Maybe we could the same for Lake George!) These marshy plains are prevalent from Ljubljana southwards and contrast in culture to the alpine villages. It is called the karst region.
Lake Cerknica basin scale model with water pumped in and out to show the rise and fall of the water levels.
Basic ice skates used on the lake in years gone by
Boats developed to transport cattle, wood, people and straw when the lake filled.
Witchcraft legends alive and well in this area. This is a witch from Mt Cerknica.
Towns along the old Roman road also celebrate Jason's trek with his boat Argo (on wheels) to transport the Golden Fleece to Trieste on the Adriatic Sea. Legend for us but living history for them.
Today's walk was only two hours from the small village of Dolenje Jezero to the small hotel in the forest at Rakov Skocjan. It was mainly on an untarred road through a large pine forest with views of neat villages with their characteristic church set above them. This area, because of the limestone and dolomite deposits, has many deep gorges and hidden caves.
On the road again - yeah!
Typical karst village on the marshland
A stork family with their newborn chicks.
Pine forest - popular walking tracks
Stag beetle on the track
We arrived about 5.30 to discover a wedding tent set up in the hotel grounds and a solemn ceremony in progress. Now the celebrations are well under way.
A very happy wedding party, pleased to be accidental guests.
Friendly hotel - 4 course dinner, breakfast and packed lunch included
www.rakov-skocjan.si
M&M
14/6/2014
1 comment:
This looks like serious walking. Seriously good ,
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