After basking in the after glow of the TMB trek in Chamonix, we arranged to meet up with a friend of Rob's, Phil Godbee (who also walked the track carrying his 20kg pack). So the next day we took the small train up to Montenviers, to Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in France. Its 7kms long and 200m deep. I've never seen a glacier up close and it looked a little grubby covered in grey scree. We walked from the train down to the ice cave and every so often passed signs dating the receeding glacier being from 1890, 1920 etc and I thought global warming was a new thing, this glacier is a visible demonstration of it happening for over 100 years. We arrived hot & sweaty at the snow cave and enjoyed walking inside the huge cool cave with lots of rooms to explore. Each year the cave is in a new location as it moves 90m per year. They used to dig it out with ice picks but now have special machinery to make it easier.
Next day, it was again another country with a bus trip back into Switzerland. Geneva - the city of time...Lynne has a new watch to support the Swiss economy. Got the free city ferry to the old town and enjoyed the sights and sounds of Geneva for a night, people watching the bankers meeting after work for their drinks...too expensive to stay too long - the wine was more expensive than our meals, so goodbye Switzerland and hello Croatia.
Flew to Zagreb, capital of Croatia, and arrived on a public holiday- we were wondering why it was so deserted. Wandered along the streets to the cathedral and again sat around the old city, people watching and having a wine. Took a local bus ride out of town to see the countryside and visit Sambor- we had read it was famous for a type of desert and being good tourists decided it was worth a day visit....yes it was worth the visit, our waist lines will testify to that.
Everyone had told us to visit Plitvice Lakes a huge Croatian national park that is included on Unesco's list of World Natural Heritage sites. It has 16 turquoise lakes connected by waterfalls & cascades. So picked up another car and with me driving again, we go exploring. Stopping along the way for a freshly caught trout lunch. Plitvice has about 10,000 visitors daily during summer peak season so we started walking early on the wooden footbridges. Swimming is not allowed and the water is a pristine turquoise colour with waterfalls surrounding us. We walked the footbridges in a couple of hours and with our TMB fitness still current decided to walk another track in the forest. The 1st half hour we were powering and laughing about wild life - then it dawned on us.. we hadn't seen another soul for a long time and Plitvice is also famous for its bears, wolves and abundant animal life. The walk sped up to a cracking pace with the laughing ceasing and the image of drop bears surrounding us clearly in our mind....finally back again on the wooden walkways and the welcome sight of the 10,000 daily tourists ......another lesson learnt...take bear spray or learn how to scare a bear before entering the woods.
Now a pleasant drive into Slovenia...a tiny country 1/2 the size of Switzerland and surrounded by Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. It has only 2 million people, is in the EU and over 1/2 of the country is covered in forest. As we drove to our destination, we fell in love with sLOVEnia. Rob had booked us a week in Lake Bohinj, it was a B&B apartment on the top floor of a chalet (66 steps). Rob was to arrive the following day. Lynne & I did a big walk up a mountain but all ups have a down and this was straight down no relief. The afternoon it was to be another walk around the lake ...12km no worry. Started off briskly but by about 4pm I start to get my loser's limp again and Lynne has to promise me the world to keep me going...just like a kid with ice creams, glass of wine, etc. ...thank heavens we found a bus stop along the way.
Lynne also viewed another of her daredevil passions...paragliding off the high peak Mt Vogel, so she booked in for the following day.
Woke to the valley covered in mist but by the time 9.30am arrived, she was floating tandem over Lake Bohinj, loving every minute...think the good looking instructor also had something to do with her grin from ear to ear.
With our feet firmly on the ground we drove to Ljubljana airport to pick up Rob, who was returning, after saying goodbye to his mum & attending her funeral. Sad time but excited to have him back in the gang.
