A driving day.

We had quite some distance to cover, at least by our European standards, and today was more about the journey than the destination.

Our planned route took us through a winding section of the Austrian Alps before crossing the border back into Slovenia. It was beautiful, mountainous driving, but somewhere along the way we managed to create our only near-miss with Border Security on the entire month-long adventure. All was OK, but a good reminder to have all your hire car papers in order and handy.

Phew!  Made it…..  The section of Austria we had to travel through was breathtaking.

Back in Slovenia, we set our sights on Rinka Falls, our planned stop for the day, a chance to break the journey before continuing to Laško for the night.

There’s always time to visit interesting sights but never forget about the journey along the way.  We passed through breathtakingly green scenery, clusters of cottages set beside the road and the occasional religious monument.

Random rest stop artwork.

Rinka Falls & Logar Valley

Our destination before lunch was Rinka Falls, about 7km into the beautiful Logar Valley.

The valley was carved by glaciers and can be found at the end of a long road at the base of the Kamnik Alps, surrounded by impossibly green mountains, scattered cottages and grazing cattle. The photos really do tell this part of the story better than I can.

At the end of the valley we left the car and took the cool, leafy walk towards Rinka Falls, one of Slovenia’s best-known waterfalls. It was a lovely place to stretch our legs after the drive.

And then there was the café.

Built into the hillside like a tiny treehouse, reaching it required climbing many, many stairs. Hardly a challenge, of course… although I was a little puffed by the time I arrived.

An espresso was definitely in order.

We sat and chatted with an intensely opinionated Slovenian gentleman who seemed to have a strong view on just about every topic under the sun. I suspect he could have kept us there for hours, but we had a road ahead of us.

Time for lunch.

Solčava: Lunch!

By now we were starving.

Jeff had been ready for lunch for some time after our glacial waterfall adventure, so we stopped in the tiny village of Solčava and enjoyed pizza sitting outside beside the river enjoying the crisp mountain air.

Simple, delicious and exactly what we needed before getting back on the road.

And, on the road again.

Lasko – A Night to Remember

We drove through the town of Celje with a small detour to the smaller spa (hot springs) town of Lasko.  It’s mostly known for the Lasko Brewery, the largest brewery in Slovenia.

Jeff’s chosen accommodation was booked out which set us on a hunt for a bed for the night.  Not as easy as we thought.  Finally, we found a motel with a “vacancy”.  Little did we know this was going to be a night to remember.

To begin with, the hotel receptionist was a friend minding the hotel (the owners were missing in action).  He did not know what he was doing and frantic phone calls were made back and forth to the conspicious absent owner.  He was also quite creepy.

The room was tiny, there was no soap or toiletries, but worst of all, there were no other guests in a motel of some 100 rooms and all the staff went home.  Curious or a warning sign?

We walked over the road to a pizzeria and enjoyed a Ceasar Salad and a Nocoise Salad – both good, washed down by a Lasko beer of course.

It was a long night.  I lay awake most of the night conjuring up images of stories that began with “It was a dark and stormy night…..”. Jeff wasn’t that worried about being the only guests in an empty motel – he slept.  In the morning I was surprised to wake with an exhausted imagination but happy that we hadn’t had our kidneys harvested during the night.

Hightailed it out of there pronto!

A reminder that sights are always worth stopping for, but some of our favourite travel memories happen between them.

Catherine & Jeff