(The Postjana Caves here in Slovenia stands out by having a railroad built into its vast caves. The star of the caves turns out to be a blind white salamander, which you can view the end of the 50min walk into this cave system)
(Bled Castle here in Slovenia takes top prize for us as the most gorgeous place in this trip of 4 countries. That little castle in the middle of the lake is simply beautiful. We can stay here for another couple of days, just soaking up the good vibes and clean air here! With the Alps as its background, it is hard to beat as a top tourist destination. Indeed, this place has 'Love' inside it, just as Slovenia is the only country with the word in it)
(Slovenia is country No.4 for us in this trip, and its capital, Ljubljana is a gem. Our ride in the furnicular up to its castle was fun, with a sweeping view of the city awaiting us. The many bridges here became apparent to us when we walked through its city centre - bridges with dragons, love locks, even one with 3 bridges in one! We had our first salted-chocolates here, a must-buy, according to our guide. We were not impressed by it though)
(The capital of Croatia, Zagreb was wet when we arrived, but its beauty was apparent, even in the rain. The main square here was striking - filled with 60,000 people when the Croatian World Cup football team returned as heroes. The church with the country's flag as its roof is quite unique. Spending more time here would have revealed its gems more than what we have seen)
(This city with such a beautiful sounding name, Sarajevo, turned out a little disappointing for me. Perhaps it was because we arrived late evening, after a long ride from Mostar. The infamous bridge that started World War 1 is still here - when the Crown Prince of Austria and his wife was assassinated, triggering the war. We had some local sweets at the old town, which is their version of Turkish Delight, according to the shopowner - itt was nice though)
(The bridge is real - the Mostar Bridge is truly a star! With bright spring sunshine, the bridge is stunning, framing the buildings and mosques in the distance beautifully. And when the high-diver took his 70m jump into the 6C waters, the crowds cheered his bravery - but only after collecting his 25euro from them. Views from both sides of the bridge are lovely - the yellowish stone used to build the bridge is centuries old, once used to bring cattle over, but the bridge itself was rebuilt after being bombed during the recent Balkan War. Now it is a huge tourist attraction - see the vdo of that 70m jump, below)
(Into this new country of Montenegro, we reached Kotor - a beautiful double-bay town. The old fort here is the attraction. We took to some trekking - up a little church about 20mins away. From here, the sight of Kotor is gorgeous! The unexpected blossoming of cherry-blossoms so early in March is a bonus for us. Montenegro has only 700,000 people - so few for such a large country)
