Quick journey stats update

Lisa bug bite count: 2

Steps today: 21,763 or 8.62 miles

Steps total: 67,699

Flights of stairs today: 128

It is currently 10 p.m. in Venice, Italy. I have a GIGANTIC slice of fresh margherita pizza to my right and some water. We had quite the adventure getting here.

We started our day in Ljubljana, Slovenia. We woke up early to get breakfast before the rush. Although we finally had AC we didn’t sleep that well because the AC was really weak and didn’t get the room really cool, or at least as cool as we needed it to be. We still woke up sweating with the AC on max. So fun!

We enjoyed our breakfast on the outside terrace where I commented that it was already warm and it was 7 a.m. Then we were swarmed by bees, and when I say swarmed, I mean there were two bees. But they wouldn’t leave us alone. Yesterday when we had walked through the market we had seen hundreds of bees on the fresh watermelons and many bees just buzzing about. Jacob later found an article that says Ljubljana is bee friendly! Hence, so many bees! Neither of us got stung. My bug bites are from Bled.

After breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and then walked over to catch the funicular train up to the Ljubljana Castle. We got there right at 9 a.m. so there were no crowds. This castle was so cool because it had a mix of modern design and the 11th century castle all together. Here is an example:

The castle had cafes and they were setting up for some sort of concert in the courtyard. We walked all over and checked out the multiple towers. The fortress design of the castle took shape during the 15th century. There were spectacular views!

We walked around the castle grounds and then ended up at the train again to take us down. We then headed back to the hotel to change our clothes for our next stop, the Postojna Caves!

Before the caves, we obviously needed to fuel up. Luckily, at the cave there were many options for food. We ended up both getting a gigantic plate of spaghetti. Looking back, this was a huge win for the day because it would be a LONG time until we got anymore grub.

Now to the caves. These caves belong to a the 24-kilometer-long system. Part of the tour you are on a small train that guides you through the cave and part of it you are walking with a tour guide. It was absolutely incredible. I could have taken a thousand pictures and not been able to capture how magnificent it was. The reason we had to change our clothes earlier is because the cave is at 50 degrees year-round and in some stretches even colder.

(Dear devoted readers, most of my cave photos are on my camera but that is in the other room and I’m exhausted, you’ll learn why soon.. so this is what you get for visuals!)

The tour of the cave lasted 90 minutes and ended the same way it started, on the little train. After cave time, we were off on a shuttle to the Predjama Castle. From the website: The impregnable medieval marvel has been perched in the middle of a 123-metre-high cliff for more than 800 years. Behind the largest cave castle in the world, there is a network of secret tunnels.

I love castles. I would have fit in them so well! I love all the small doors that I fit in perfectly and enjoy watching everyone else duck. I was made for medieval times!

We walked about the castle, listening to the audio tour guide. We got to see all the incredible rooms including the torture chamber.

After we finished at the castle, we were back on the shuttle and heading back to the caves where our car was parked. We got on the road about 5 p.m.

We were set to arrive in Venice around 7 p.m. Along the way, we accidentally missed our exit and ended up on an extremely long detour (about 26 km). This not only put us behind but also meant we had to pay a toll to exit the freeway and then get back on the freeway to pay another toll later. Once we figured out where we were going, we were off to Venice!

We made it the rest of the way with ease, and by some miracle there was plenty of parking in the garage we had picked out. I was feeling giddy since we had finally arrived. We grabbed our bags and followed the signs to the water buses. We were going to take this right to our apartment.

Unfortunately… the boat workers went on strike. Today. From 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. We arrived at 7:40 p.m.

This meant we were a long distance from our apartment, in 90 degree weather, with two giant suitcases and not a lot of options. The water taxis were taking advantage of the situation to spike rates and the train only goes two stops into town. We got on the train, figuring that would at least get us closer. Then it was a 1.7 km walk from there, just over a mile. Doesn’t sound too bad right?

We set off and I was immediately enamored with the beauty of Venice. I said to Jacob, “this is magical!” And he said we had different definitions of magical.

We had to drag our bags over cobblestone walkways, through alleys that were barely wide enough to let two people through, over numerous bridges. Let me tell you, Venice is not ADA accessible. My arms are so sore from carrying our luggage. We were both completely drenched in sweat. I asked Jacob how much further we had to go and he said we were about halfway…. ugh.

We powered through then made it to the street our apartment is on. The numbers are not in order so we passed it before we had to head back and find the door. We were able to buzz in and then we had to find our room, which was three floors up a narrow staircase, of course.

Thankfully, our apartment has AC and we have that on full blast cooling the room. I’m looking forward to sleeping in. Then grabbing coffee and a pastry and taking in the sights of Venice without lugging a suitcase around.

Hence, I have no photos to share from our first night here. I will make up for it tomorrow, I promise!

Until then!