Autumn in Slovenia

We said our goodbyes and left Kefalonia in glorious sunshine!  Typical, once we'd decided to leave the warm weather returned. We enjoyed the 3 hour ferry crossing from Sami to Astikos on the mainland, docking briefly in Ithaca. The drive north then hugged the coast and was a lovely drive as far as Paleros,  after that it was dark but we continued on to Igoumenitsa which is on the mainland opposite the island of Corfu.
We were happy to be able to swap our tickets for the ferry to Trieste in Italy, bringing the crossing forward by two days. Whilst we were waiting to board we were treated to an entertaining game of 'hide and seek' between the Greek port police and some illegal immigrants who were hiding on the axles of some juggernauts!! It was a long crossing, 26 hours, but it was very calm and we had a comfortable cabin.
We docked in Italy at 2 am, so we drove for an hour to the border with Slovenia, then pulled in for a sleep for a few hours because we wanted to drive along the Soca Valley in the daylight. When we woke up the scenery was breathtaking, we were high up in the Juliana Alps. We headed for Bovec first and took a track up into the mountains for some fantastic views, but the best bit was the drive still following the river Soca up through the Vrsic Pass.

 

The river was an amazing light turquoise blue colour, and crystal clear, with the autumn trees as a backdrop it looked very impressive. The level was low, but normally this is an excellent area for kayaking and rafting, as well as walking and cycling.

The Vrsic Pass rose to an altitude of 1611m and consisted of 50 hairpin bends, but well worth it.

This lead us to Kranjska Gora which is where I enjoyed my first skiing holiday, about 30 years ago. A pretty alpine town where we had an overnight stop. Going down to dinner now for some typical hearty Slovenian cuisine!