Postojna Cave

Saturday, we decided to go see the Postojna Cave, which is one of the main tourist attractions in all of Slovenia.  They give tours every two hours and our plan was to have lunch, drive thirty minutes to Postojna, hit the 2:00 tour, and be back to our apartment by dinner time.  However, it's the exception when things go as planned, and we missed the 2:00 tour by three minutes.  Literally.  There were a number of culprits that put us behind schedule, but the final one was Rosetta, who said the second we got in the car, "I need to go potty!"  So, we stopped on our way out of town.  For three minutes.

From 2:03 to 4:00, we stood outside the cave listening to Rosetta ask when we were going to go inside the cave, and then finally it was time.  There's a two-kilometer train ride in, through huge caverns and narrow tunnels in which it would be easy to lose a knee, hand, or head if you weren't paying attention (we are pretty sure that train wouldn't pass in the U.S. -- there were no seat belts or doors to keep you in, and there were a lot of spots we felt like we needed to duck in order to keep our scalps intact).  Then we had a one-kilometer hike through the cave, which climbed up about 100 meters, then down 150 meters, and then back up again.  And then another two-kilometer train ride out.

It was very impressive and worth our wait.  We learned that the Postojna cave was one of the first caves in the world to be open to visitors back in the 1800's.  We also learned that prior to that, people stayed away from the caves because they thought that the "human fish" (an albino salamander) that were found there were baby dragons.  And, we learned that the stalagtites and stalagmites that form from dripping water take thirty years to grow a millimeter.  So, if you do the math, a 10-foot long stalagtite would take 30,000 years to form (the caves are estimated to be a few million years old).

The kiddos each got something different out of it.  Sy's favorite part (of course) were the train rides.  Rosetta loved the "icicles" on the ceiling and is very impressed with herself that she knows what they're called now.  And Celia got in a nice nap during the hike (but liked the train).  So, even with our standard goof-up, it turned out to be a successful trip.

If you want to see pictures, click on this link:  Postojna Cave Pictures  (we weren't supposed to take pictures inside).