Wien, woman, and song: Biker chick

Sorry about being so photo-loaded but a "picture is worth a thousand words!"

We've had a couple of really great weekends traveling and cycling. There are so many beautiful locations within a few hours drive. So here goes!

Wednesday evening we headed off to Ljubljana Slovenia. It's about 3.5 hours drive from Vienna. We were astounded by this little city. It's gothic, storybook, brutalist, hip, quaint, dynamic, it's got it all going on! However parking is a biatch! This was a little stressful getting the car into the elevator but we knew it wasn't going anywhere!

This was the entrance to Parking 2 at our hotel!

Part of the charm of the old town

View from the castle (There's always a castle!)

Whimsical streetlighting.

Proper, rubbish graffiti not like Vienna's sanctioned "graffiti".

Massive morning market in the central platz.

I got a real sense of how tourism is overwhelming some parts of Europe. I had to dodge other tourists to try and get "that shot!" I can't imagine really living in a place like Venice. At least in Vienna, it's kind of corralled downtown. So I just avoid it!

G had business here so I goofed around and then in the afternoon we headed out of the "Ljub" for the hills or rather the Julian Alps. There's nothing much higher than 2000 meters but wow! Our destination was about an hour out of town in a place called "Radovljica". It was really just a stab in the dark destination but turned out to be a charming place perched on the edge of the valley overlooking the Sava river.

The hideousness of our view. The abundance of beauty...yuck!

We were about 5km from Lake Bled and on the bike routes. However, lake Bled is overrun and not fun to ride as you are competing with buses, trucks, pedestrians, and DEATH. I blew it off and went into the countryside which was gorgeous and quiet. Being able to do a 30-40km loop without fear of being squashed by a bus is such a treat. G likes the hills so I rode alone, but you know you never cycle alone when you're a schizophrenic! It was nice to have the balance of riding what you want. We did cycle together along the path that's between Mojstrana and Kranjska Gora. G likes the elevation so he rode up into/onto the pass and I continued on. The Slovenians are building tonnes of cycling infrastructure. It's such a joy. Good infrastructure + beautiful countryside = license to drink Pivo (beer). Okay, not the best math.

Riding to Lake Bled.

On the path to Kranjska Gora. "Yes, that 's the colour of the water!"

On Saturday the weather was threatening so we hopped in the car and drove over the other valley to the Soca region where the famous battles (both WW1 and WW2) of the Isonzo were fought. Hemingway wrote of it and driving through the valley you have got to wonder "WTF? It's nuts!" It's a very good museum. However on the way G and I came across this bizarre, brutalist monument to the Partisans in the middle of nowhere! Had to pull over and explore. Then, as one does, we drove to Italy for lunch!