Mountains 1, Kramers 0
By 7 AM most of the people were up and making their way down to breakfast. By 8:15 everyone was packed, fed, and starting our hikes. We set off from the hut around 9:00. Thankfully, the lovely German family hiked with us, providing the motivation we needed to do the first 2 1/2 hours of our hike.
The mountains were spectacular even with the overcast conditions. We had planned to summit the second highest peak in the national Park, but since it was completely covered in clouds we decided to give it a miss.
We arrived at the second hut a little after noon and with everyone feeling good, decided to continue down to the valley floor after a hearty lunch of sausages and soup.
Our German friends were spending the night at the hut to make an attempt at summitting Triglav the following day and return to the same hut before coming back down to the valley floor the following day. Having enough time in the mountains to allow for weather was a luxury we didn’t have.
The trail down 1200 m to the valley floor seemed impossible from where we stood. You could see the trail cut into the side of the mountain and you could see the valley floor which looked nearly straight down but it wasn’t possible to see how you could possibly make it all the way down without a hang glider!
The suggested time for our hike was indeed four hours and by the time we reached the car at five we had literally used every ounce of energy we had.
The kids were giddy to be in the car, but the giggling stopped when Tom accidentally slammed Evie‘s big toe into the car door, when he didn’t know that her foot was sticking out the back window. Ouch!
We had decided on the walk down that we would trade our second night in a mountain hut for a visit to the town of Ljubljana. Which wasn’t on our original itinerary as we didn’t have enough time.
While Sue drove 38 hairpin switchbacks, yes they numbered them, Tom feverishly looked up hotel possibilities in Ljubljana. Of course, all the most recommended ones were already booked, but he was able to find an adorable hotel in the old town appropriately named Adora hotel. Yes, they had two rooms and yes, they were affordable.
As an example of the kind and generous nature of the Slovenian people making a reservation was as simple as saying yes we will be there in 30 minutes, no name, no phone number.
By seven, we were rolling our bags across the cobblestones and by 7:30 we were walking through the pedestrian only section in route to our delicious and remarkably affordable dinner.
When in London, on the drive back from the Harry Potter Studios, our cabdriver gushed over the cuteness of Slovenia and Ljubljana in particular. I have to say he wasn’t wrong! The town is adorable and we would’ve enjoyed strolling around it if any of us could walk!