Had a great new year; snowshoeing in Slovenia. Spent a week staying in a small town called Bled - famous for its beautiful lake featuring fairytale church on an island in the middle. The snowshoeing took place in Triglav National park in the Julian Alps. Unfortunately there was a lack of snow in the area - 2 metres less than they would usually expect at this time of year - but despite this our guides Mojca and David managed to find us places with enough to walk in - and even a bit of a blizzard on the last walking day. Snowshoeing itself is great fun. Admittedly quite hard work going uphill (you have to kick in with the crampons on the toes which is quite uncomfortable), but this is more than made up for on the way down a hill - bouncing down through the soft snow. And if it gets a bit too steep, then sit down and slide the rest of the way! Most of the time I was surprisingly warm - wearing less layers of clothes than I was in London - although on the last walking day there was a bit of an exception to this. It was about -7 at the bottom of the hill where we started, and by the time we had trekked up a few hundred metres with the accompanying drop in temperature and the wind started blowing a gale we were slightly chilly to say the least. I got ice forming in my eyebrows and my lashes started to ice up too!
Away from the snowshoeing, we took a day out to see some other attractions of the country. First stop was the Skocjan caves. This UNESCO World Heritage site is absolutely stunning. I have been to plenty of caves before but none come anywhere near these; not least due to the sheer size. Add to this the river thundering through the bottom, a bridge that crosses it 45 metres up, and beautiful, very tastefully done lighting and the effect is spectacular.
Away from the snowshoeing, we took a day out to see some other attractions of the country. First stop was the Skocjan caves. This UNESCO World Heritage site is absolutely stunning. I have been to plenty of caves before but none come anywhere near these; not least due to the sheer size. Add to this the river thundering through the bottom, a bridge that crosses it 45 metres up, and beautiful, very tastefully done lighting and the effect is spectacular.
We also popped into the centre of the capital, Ljubljana for a couple of hours after dusk. There we spent a while wandering around the winter market (of course taking time for some mulled wine) and looking at the interesting christmas lights. These were different to the usual to say the least, with varying themes on different streets. Our particular favourite was the science themed area complete with galaxies, chromosomes, the DNA helix and even a conception illustrated with a giant egg with sperm swimming around it!
Overall, a great time was had. Good company, fantastic scenery, fun activities, good food (if you like soup that is!). I went with Exodus, and would highly recommend the trip - check it out here: http://www.exodus.co.uk/holidays/cvs/overview#
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