Cave and Castle

As Martin, our Roundabout Travel guide (continues from Meet us in Slovenja) drove us to the caves, he told us much of the history of Slovenja.  Joining us were three young women, one from Latvia who worked in the pharmaceutical industry and two radiologists from Estonia who were training on the MRI machines in a Ljubljana hospital.  With Christian being an engineer and Glen a microbiologist, we were a van full of science types.

Postojna Cave has been a tourist attraction for over 200 years but its caverns have hosted humans for much longer than that.  They have found evidence of prehistoric occupation.  The Pivka River created the cave as it flowed through the limestone that forms the area's landscape (karst topography).  The cave system is the longest in Slovenja with 21 km (13 miles) of passages, galleries, and incredible caverns. You see most of it sitting in a train as it winds its way through the cave.  Lighting enhances the stalactites (formations on the ceiling) and stalagmites (on the floor) created by dissolved limestone drips (flowstone).

The first tourist to visit the cave was the Archduke Ferdinand I in 1819 but many have followed in his footsteps until the first railway was built in 1872.  Two-seater carriages pushed by the cave guides showed the caves lit by torches.  In 1927, the first locomotive was used.  However, the smoke affected the caves so in 1957, the engines became electric.  In 1964, a two track loop was built to handle the crowds and today it runs for 5 km (3 mi) underground.

The Great Mountain is an underground hall where the train stops and lets people explore the caves on foot.  Our special guide, Kevin, told us of the history of the cave and its flowstone creations as he led us through the Spaghetti Hall (aptly named), White Hall of white, sparkling stalactites and the Red Room where iron dyes the flowstone brownish red.   On our way to the Concert Hall, we passed the formation that is the symbol of the caves, a shiny white, 5 m (16 ft) tall stalagmite call the Brilliant (see photo).  At this point, Kevin asked if there were any questions.  There is always one in every crowd and it's usually Glen.  So I wasn't surprised when he asked what happened when the lights go out.  Kevin was not far from a switch so turned the cavern lights off.  It was perfectly black and a little spooky.

Just before we boarded the train, there were aquariums housing a tiny cave dwelling creature called the olm.  Originally, they were thought to be baby dragons but are actually salamanders adapted to the darkness of a cave.  They're blind, lack skin pigmentation, and have external gills (like a mudpuppy).

The entire tour takes 90 minutes and that time flies by, especially if you're like me and take lots of pictures!

Next on the agenda was Prejama Castle.  The tickets purchased at the cave include the castle as it is only 9 km away (a free shuttle runs between the two sites in July and August).  The castle is the largest cave/castle in the world nestled in the middle of a 123 m (400 ft) cliff face with the River Lokva running beneath it.  Of the dozens of castles in Slovenja, only four bear special mention and Prejama is one of these (the others are Bled Castle, Ljubljana Castle and Old Castle in Celje).

First mentioned in 1274, it is most famous for being the seat of the robber baron, Knight Erazem Lueger.  He had a falling out with the Habsburg empire and they lay siege to Prejama Castle.  The inhabitants of the castle bombarded the besiegers with cherries to show that they couldn't be starved out.  Food was brought in via a tunnel and water was collected along grooves in the cave/castle walls.  However, the Habsburgs weren't deterred and bribed a servant to tell them when Lueger used his toilet then destroyed it with the knight inside.

My camera died as we approached the castle (remember all my cave pictures?) so I was forced to use my phone to record our walk through the castle.  It had passed through many hands over the years so most of the artifacts were reproductions but it did give you a sense of how people lived.  The castle was also featured in the 1986 movie, Armour of God, starring Jackie Chan.

Back in Ljubljana, we walked along the river to a restaurant we had seen in the morning to have dinner.  The Zlata Ribica (The Golden Fish) is in one of the older buildings but its tables spill outside into a tiny square and they straddle a cobblestone sidewalk along the river.  We chose to sit next to the river and enjoyed lamb with potatoes (Glen), pork medallions (Christian) and grilled calamari with potatoes and spinach (me).  You don't get many vegetables in Slovenia, except at breakfast, so we also ordered a salad which we shared among the three of us.

We didn't want the day to end so we returned to the hotel for a nightcap before saying goodbye to Christian.  He was leaving early to return to reality in Munich.