While Larry and I had originally planned on heading straight to Italy after finishing our time at Piran, we quickly changed our minds when we realized that Davor Majc, the eldest son of the Majc family whom Larry baptized while on his mission, would be returning from his own mission in Barcelona this week. When Larry and I last came to Ljubljana 2 years ago, by good fortune and chance we showed up on the day he was announcing his mission call in church. We couldn’t resist being here for his triumphant return. Not to mention we were not at all averse to seeing our church friends again and spending more time with them.

Being back in Ljubljana gave us a chance to return to some of our favorite restaurants and spots, to visit the Mlekomat again for some fresh milk, for Larry and Maja H to have an encore ping pong match, and to explore some places that we didn’t make time for earlier. First up was another visit to the Serbian restaurant we loved so much. This time we were able to share it with a new friend we met at church, Aaron Orullian, who was visiting from California. Though it was a bit chilly we still sat outside on the beautiful patio and the food was just as good this time. Yummy! Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Maja S on that same night because she was leaving for a two-week vacation in the Dominican Republic. Maja, we missed you this week! 🙁

Encore ping pong was followed by encore palačinke, of course! Aaron was brave enough to order a “pizza palačinke” which turned out to be what he described as “salsa with ham, covered in paprika”. Hmmm. (A funny side note: while on her vacation in the Dominican Republic, Maja S ran into two other Slovenes at her hotel – who owned the palačinke restaurant we’ve been so frequently visiting. Small world!)

We made plans for a day trip with Aaron and Maja K to drive over Vršič, a pass high in the Julian Alps in the northwest corner of Slovenija, very near both the Italian and Austrian borders. We started the morning with a quick trip across the border to Villach, Austria so Aaron could cross another country off his list. We stopped at a mall where we grabbed some breakfast food from the local Target-like chain. I ran into a life-sized purple cow inserted as a marketing prop for Milka, which was my favorite brand of chocolate on my first fateful trip to Europe with Larry and Dana. (Milka is now owned by Kraft, by the way.) I had to have Larry snap a pic with his iPhone so we could send it to Dana later. Moo!

Crossing Austria off our list, we continued on our journey. We began the ascent up to Vršič and before we got very far, we ran into road construction. As in, the road was dug up into a big pile of boulders and rubble. I thought our day trip was going to be cut very short, until the construction crew started clearing a path for us with their backhoe! They then backed out of the way so we could pass, speaking to us in French the entire time. We realized that because our car has French plates, they assumed we were French. So we simply said “Merci!” and went on our way – as we drove over a very large boulder that Mr. Backhoe had missed. It didn’t sound like it was very healthy for poor Pierre’s underside, but he seems to have come through for us yet again. No major damage.

Unfortunately the day was a bit hazy so when we got close to the top, we couldn’t see very far (on a clear day you could see all the way to Austria and Italy), but it was still a beautiful drive.

On our way down from the pass we stopped at Kobarid, where 7,760 Italian World War I soldiers are laid to rest. 2,748 of those are unknown. Kobarid was along one of the bloodiest fronts of World War I; half of Italy’s 600,000 casualties were lost along this front. It’s also the location of the famous Battle of Caporetto, the aftermath of which is immortalized in Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.

The ossuary is basically a small chapel set upon a large octagonal marble base of three levels. The remains of the soldiers are interred in the 2 bottom levels, a marble slab inscribed where each soldier lies, with his name, age, rank, and medals. Very sad. This area of Slovenija is full of military cemeteries and monuments as it saw a lot of bloodshed during both World War I and World War II. In fact the road that we took over the pass was built by Russian prisoners of war during World War I.

We continued on from Kobarid to our next stop at Most na Soči. This is the spot where the turquoise waters of the Soča River pool into a small lake. I was not prepared for what we saw. Imagine the brightest opaque turquoise water you have ever seen, pooled in a small lake next to a small village. It looks like they’ve filled the lake with artificial coloring. I could not believe my eyes! Judge for yourself in the pictures below and keep in mind – these have not been altered in any way!!!!

From Most na Soči, we continued along a very narrow, windy, steep mountain pass that would carry us over to Lake Bohinj. It’s a good thing none of us get car sick. Aaron’s comment from the back seat likened the drive to Disneyland rides such as the Matterhorn or even Space Mountain, once it started getting dark. We stopped for some last photo ops at Bohinj and then continued on to meet Maja H for an amazing dinner of traditional Slovene food at a small gostilna that she recently found out in the middle of nowhere, not far from the Ljubljana airport. We had to roll ourselves home after all that heavy Slovene food!