[dropcap custom_class=”whb”]We woke up to another overcast day. After eating breakfast at the hotel, we left ur car at the hotel and took a cab to the city center of Ljubljana. Our plan was to ride the funicular up the side of the hill to the castle. It cost 6 Euros for both of us to ride up and then back down. They were having a free day at the castle, so we did not have to pay to enter the castle. As usual, there were a lot of steps in the castle, but the views were worth it. We climbed to the top of the viewing tower. It is is a circular staircase that goes up and up and up. After touring the castle, we did some shopping. There were stands set up along the way with homemade Slovenian crafts. Then we took a taxi back to the hotel to get our car.
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I just want to add that Ljubljana seemed to be a very clean city and very pretty. I love Slovenia, it i a very pretty county with the mountains. Also before I go any further, I must say that I love the car that I am driving. It is a Toyota Auris hybrid. I discovered today, that it had seat warmers for both the driver and the front seat passenger. It also had dual temperature controls for the heater and air conditioner. And if that is not enough, it has a moon roof that opens over both the front and rear seats. Jay keeps reminding me that I am not in the market for a new car.
OK, back to our journey. We decided to drive to Predjama Castle near Postojna, Slovenia. It was a little over a hour from Ljubljana. It was a very pretty drive. After we got off the highway, we had to drive on a narrow twisting road. But it was worth it. The castle was built into the side of a mountain, which gave it extra security. We toured the castle, again climbing a lot of stairs. The castle is over 700 years old.
After the castle visit, it was time to head to Zagreb, Croatia, our next stop on our journey. The drive to Zagreb took a little over two hours. Again, the Slovenian art of the journey was very beautiful driving through the mountains. At the border into Croatia, we had to stop and get our passports stamped. We did not have to get out of the car, just handed them to the lady in the booth through the window of the car. We also had to stop and pay a toll. The road into Zagreb was not nearly as pretty, it was flatter. We were using the GPS on my iphone which is working great. The only problem is, Jay has to hold the phone so I cannot see where it is telling us to go and have to depend on Jay to tell me.
We stopped at the hotel and checked in. I changed some money into the Croatian Kuna and we took a taxi into the city center of Zagreb. I noticed that there seemed to be graffitti on all of the buildings. We walked around and then ate dinner at a place called “American Steak House and Grill”. It was pretty good, if a little salty. After dinner, we walked around some more, before taking a taxi back to the hotel.
Tomorrow our plan is to go back into Zagreb and then we will drive to Budapest, Hungary.
