Julian Alps, 1

Our last day in Slovenia, Juillet 14, we drove a bit of the Julian Alps, from Lake Bled up and over the Vrsic pass, down the Soca valley, and then back into Italy, spending the night at a huge sosta in Udine. The Julian Alps are at the intersection of Italy, Austria, and Slovenia--Alpine country indeed--
the Julians are not quite as spectacular as the nearby Dolomites, but definitely in that league.

Slovenian hay drying racks, one of the country's icons; sometimes used as bill-
boards, too

Could be anywhere in Alpine country...Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia, Austria...

At a turn-out featuring Slovenia's big mountain, Mount Triglav; another helpful
bronze model

Local parish priest, incensed that Mount Triglav was owned
by Germans, purchased the summit so that Slovenia's
tallest mountain, 9,300+ would be, at the top, Slovenian;
details below

Mount Triglav, there in the center, further away

More drying racks, actually drying hay

And now we're on our way up the pass; each of the 50 hairpin turns is numbered

The Russian Church, so-called because it was built by Russian POWs , who
also built the road and much other WWI infrastructure; a POW cemetery is
nearby; as we'll see in the next post, the Italian/Austrian theater, so to speak,
was next only to the French/Belgian/German theater in terms of casualties

Huge alpine window

Near the top of the pass, another huge cairn city; the Slovenians certainly rival
the Norwegians in the building of these things

Vrsic Pass was a bit of a trial for Le Duc with its 1.9 liter turdo-diesel engine; we
only stopped a couple times to let the engine cool; the climb to Andorra in the
Pyrenees was worse, but that was in 90 degree weather; the climb to San Marino,
in another couple days, would be a still greater test, 18% and 20% inclines

View from the pass, looking down to the Soca valley

Gorgeous Vintgar Gorge

It was a busy day. After the beau village Radovjlica and the Apiary Museum, we hiked Vintgar Gorge. The latter is a mile-long defile created by the river Radovna through the limestone that is everywhere in the region, creating a gorgeous little gorge that you can hike along on a system of boardwalks and bridges. As elsewhere in the region, the water is completely clear and the colors are beautiful and ever-changing.

The river Radovna before it gets to its gorge

In the Triglav National Park

The whole thing is ticketed, with imposing gates...but no
one ever took our tickets nor asked for them

And we're off

The lay of the strata certainly contributes to the gorge's shape

Vicki surveying the scene

The thing about gorges is that the lighting is seldom just right

Along the way, part of a cairn city

Dam near the end of the trail

Nearly in the mountains

Looking down a waterfall at the end of the trail

Strata

Rhinemaidens--no, Radovnamaidens--they weren't speaking German so I didn't
ask them anything about a golden ring; also they were not singing; "Waft your
waves, ye waters! Carry your crests to the cradle!"

Actual fish

Cool place; especially on a hot day!

Radovljica's Apiary Museum

As if the location, ambiance, architecture, history, shoppes, scenery and views were not enough, Radovljica also has the world's only known (to me) apicultural museum. Much as I personally dislike bees and their stinging ways, I readily concede their nearly paramount importance in helping propagate much of life as we know it on this planet. Beekeeping is the principal cottage industry in Croatia, Boznia-Hertzegovina, and Slovenia, as we've seen in previous posts, and it has a long history. So we have been building up to this. Plus the beehive front boards--a whole room of them--are a hoot. And I like honey and especially the honey brandy I bought in Ljubljana. Thus, for all these and many more reasons, we had to see the Apiary Museum in Radovljica. Also, personal hero Sir Ed from New Zealand was also a bee keeper.

The adjoining city museum also had an exhibit on local boy and Englightenment
figure Anton Linhart

There were many rooms depicting the history of bee keeping, the evolution of
various implements, etc.

Bee hive "guards" (against what? I ask)

The painted front boards are the main draw for most people; from the later 18th
onward, bee keepers did these painted boards on the assumption they would
help the bees more easily find their way home; who knows? Producing replicas
for the souvenir shoppes of Ljubljana is certainly a secondary industry

Many are on religious themes

Some maybe multicultural themes

Flood?

Some satirical if repugnant

A winter scene...BORING! Let's get back to the funny stuff

One of the more elaborate bee hives

"Stop, thief!"

Little Big Horn?

Benefits of not drinking?

De-heading battle scene

Funeral procession for a hunter

Apparently the bees really like violent scenes

Another religious scene

Other implements

Actual working beehive in the museum

Bee tunnel to the hive

Useful information you probably already know but which is here to show the
museum's excellent interpretive signage, and in English too

Further rooms, further  interesting displays, although not as interesting at the
front boards

Ceiling of one of the rooms