Our time in Dolenja Vas went too quickly! We enjoyed our last breakfast here and spent
some time with Jože before heading our way south. The innkeepers gave us wine and honey and
were so kind and sweet that I didn’t ever want to leave! Some quickly headed to a Skofja Loka
bookstore before we left to head to the caves and castle.
We drove down to the Postojna Caves and the Predjama Castle. First, we went to the caves, which requires a
train ride down into the caves then a tour followed by a train ride out. Sierra may have been yelled out by a stranger
for touching the stalagmites and stalactites.
We then loaded up and headed towards the castle. Included in the castle admission was a
headset so we were able to hear about the castle while exploring it. After the exploration, we grabbed some gelato
(it was turning into a real addiction!) before making our way to Kozana and
Smartno.
Barbara and I were in one van, the others were split between
the car and the other van. It was nice
to ride along with Barbara for a while.
We had great conversations along our way and loved the scenery. Our route to this area of Slovenia is along
the Italy and Slovenia border so we were in Italy, then Slovenia, then Italy,
then Slovenia! We made our way to the
hotel – Hotel San Martin in Smartno. Oh my gosh – what a hotel! This place was incredible. The vista from the hotel was rolling
vineyards with mountains in the distance and Barbara and I found our family sitting
on it drinking wine when we arrived. At
this place, we had four rooms.
After we got settled, we walked over and explored parts of
Smartno, which is a walled city. It was
now time for dinner and they were able to pull some tables together for us to
enjoy dinner on the patio. The owner of
the hotel (Vessna) could not be more accommodating and sweet. We had a wonderful meal before Albin and
Madja showed up to surprise us. It was
so great to see them again after the past six years. They exude such love and kindness.
Vessna helped us do some laundry since some of us where
traveling for such long periods of time.
Elaine thought we were visiting some younger cousins and had packed an
Elsa doll. We found out that Vessna’s
daughter was a huge Frozen fan and presented her with the doll. She was beyond thrilled. I cannot say enough about this hotel and the
owner and the employees. Another place I
was hoping I wouldn’t have to leave!
