Postojna Cave - A Journey with a Fast Little Electric Train

Postojna Cave is, maybe, the top tourist site of Slovenia – a small European country, part of EU. It was part of Yugoslavia and now, after 20 years of independence, it is still associated with Slovakia – try to avoid this confusion. The cave was first visited by Francis I, the first Emperor of Austria, in 1918. It was opened to the public in 1819. From its 20,570 m long Karst cave system only 5 km are open to public, first 2 km and the last 2 of them is a journey with a fast little electric train – don’t try to take pictures because the train is fast to prevent this because there were a lot of injured visitors in the past. The ticket is a little expensive (around 23 Euros and you can buy it online) but for sure worth to the last cent. A second reason not to take photos is that there are many protected species that are affected by light and after all, you don’t have a professional camera with flash light and tripod and the pictures will not be as good as a beautiful postcard. The caves are also home to the endemic olm, the largest troglodytic amphibian in the world. The tour through the caves includes an aquarium with some olms (Proteus Anguinus) in it, a very small and fragile creature, almost transparent. The last part of the tour takes you in a big hall, used for concerts, it can accommodate up to 80.000. peoples. I have visited the caves in 2010 and bought a lot of cards, some that you can see are on my dental office wall. My mom is so afraid of caves because 30 years ago she almost died – a wrong step. It was very hard to convince her to take the tour and she did it. She was impressed because the pathway is not slippery and everything is very safe and well thought.

45.782429,14.203709 Click for Google Maps or use numbers on your GPS to navigate.

Wikipedia For more information, links, pictures and many more Wikipedia is the perfect site to be informed.

Official Site For visiting information (like fees and open days and times) use the official site.
Slovenia For travel information, the official site of the National Tourist Board, is the perfect location.

The Castle Half-Built in the Stone of the Mountain

Not far from Postojna Cave (just read my post about it), you drive on a mountain scene road and you’ll find a medieval castle, half built in the stone of the mountain, Predjamski grad as it is known in Slovenian. If you visit the cave and the castle you’ll have a ticket for both. The parking is a little bit smaller but they can’t do anything about that because the road is very small. If you ask me, me the Romanian, I will tell you that the castle seems like Bran Castle – famous for Bram Stoker’s Dracula setting. It was built in the 13th century in gothic style. After that it was destroyed many times and the one you can see today dates back to 1570 and it is built in renaissance style. I can’t tell you more because you have to see this gorgeous peace.

45.815278,14.126667  Click for Google Maps or use numbers on your GPS to navigate.

Wikipedia For more information, links, pictures and many more Wikipedia is the perfect site to be informed.

Official Site For visiting information (like fees and open days and times) use the official site.
Slovenia For travel information, the official site of the National Tourist Board, is the perfect location.

Nu departe de Peştera Postojna (citiţi despre Peşteră pe blogul meu), pe nişte drumuri de munte dar extrem de bine asfaltate, se află un castel care este construit jumătate în munte, Predjamski grad cum este numit de sloveni. Merită să faceţi un drum şi până acolo şi dacă vizitaţi şi peştera Postojna atunci există un bilet cumulativ. Sunt ceva probleme cu parcarea pentru că se aglomerează şi drumurile sunt foarte strâmte – normal că suntem în munte. Castelul seamănă cu celebrul castel Bran. A fost construit în secolul al XIII-lea în stil gotic. A fost dărâmat de mai multe ori şi cel care se află şi astăzi a fost ridicat în 1570 în stil renascentist. Mai multe familii nobiliare au deţinut castelul până la înfiinţarea statului Iugoslav care l-a naţionalizat şi l-a transformat în muzeu. Există şi un loc unde se organizează turniruri cavalereşti sau dacă sunteţi dornici de aventură, chiar sub castel se află o peşteră care şi ea se vizitează – în Slovenia sunt foarte multe sisteme carstice.