I had wanted to return to Slovenia since a trip there in the winter several years ago, and this was the perfect opportunity. We spent five nights in the village of Stara Fužina by Lake Bohinj at the foothills of Triglav National Park in the Julian Alps, which gave us ample time for some much-needed relaxation and immediate access to all the nature we had missed while in Venice. The village had two grocery stores, a snack bar, two restaurants, two churches, and a fire station. The primary business seemed to be tourism with a good amount of farming, and it seemed like everyone knew everyone else.

As we would learn, the church bells next door to our accommodation ring promptly at 9pm and 7am – and by ring, I mean clash and clang. Insistently. For several minutes. Our host told us that she likes them; being on holiday, I was rather less fond of the 7am round.

Our time in Slovenia was mostly spent enjoying Triglav National Park. On our first full day, we hiked past the fields at the edge of the village . . .

. . . through Mostnica Gorge with its deep caverns of bitingly cold water that provided relief for our feet . . .

. . . and alongside fields owned and operated by farming families . . .

. . . before arriving at the main attraction, the Mostnica Waterfall.

It was here where we picnicked on the rocks before heading back in the direction of the guesthouse we’d passed on the way. There would be a cold drink there waiting for us.

The next day, we walked in a different direction through the village and past the fields . . .

. . . to reach the path that runs the length of Lake Bohinj. We stopped for ice cream, our usual picnic, and to sit for a while by the water. Despite wearing a bathing suit, I only went in as far as possible without getting wet. I am not fond of hiking in wet clothes and we had a ways to go.

The following day, we visited Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital, where I hadn’t been on my first trip. The city felt like many around Germany with narrow side streets, pastel buildings, and open squares. The amount of German being spoken by tourists only augmented the sense of familiarity. The castle on the hill and the city’s dragon symbol added an air of the medieval.

I enjoy any city with a market . . .

. . . or on the water . . .

. . . and Ljubljana’s car-free old town was pleasant to walk through. It is also very small, making it easy to take everything in. I especially appreciated aspects of Ljubljana that hinted at the daily lives of the people who live there.

On the way back, we stopped in Lake Bled. The lake was an almost unreal blue, and we were, as always, enchanted by the mountains in the distance.

We walked up the path to Castle Bled, stopping just before we had to pay admission to look down at the valley through which we had driven on our way there.

We spent our last day in Slovenia having a beach day at Lake Bohinj. We spread our towels on the grass under a tree, bought ice cream bars from a kiosk, went swimming, and paddled our rented boards. It had been very hot the last several days and the water was delicious.

Rejuvenated from the slow pace and having spent nearly a week surrounded by the Julian Alps, we were excited to get back into the mountains for one final adventure: Germany’s Zugspitze.