Middle-aged flash packers

Slog to Slovenia

After 3 days driving we have now arrived in Stara Fuzina, our base camp for the ascent of Triglav.

Two years ago, we visited Slovenia and were smitten. After hearing tales of how climbing Triglav (2840 metres) is a rite of passage for Slovenians, even grandmas and children, I decided I wanted to climb it too. Steve, as always, was game on for anything that involved a road trip and an adventure.

We mentioned it to our friend Nik who it turns out also had a desire to ascend Triglav and a tentative plan was formed.

However, Nik and his wife Jan had many obstacles to overcome before they could fully commit, so Steve and I forged on with a vague itinerary involving numerous stops on the way down and back, covering all kinds of bucket list “must dos”. I was beginning to wonder if we’d actually make it back to the UK during 2017.

Nik and Jan’s woes culminated in an operation for Nik three weeks before we were due to leave. 

However, They decided whatever happened, they needed a break so it was indeed the four of us sitting on the deck of the ferry, crossing from Dover to Dunkirk.

Our drive from Dunkirk to Slovenia took from Friday to Sunday with two overnight stops, one in Merzig, the other in Ausburg. Both towns are in Germany.

To cut a long story short, there are two things that are worthy of mention.

Firstly, Germany is even worse than the U.K. for unmanned roadworks and terrible traffic. Gruelling is an understatement for the driving conditions.

Secondly it was bloody cold and poured with rain. This is the second time this has happened and I’ve just about had enough of it. The first time, we drove through Germany in June and at one point the temperature dropped to 7 degrees. An aberration we were told.

This time, as we drove up to the Austrian border, there was snow on the hills. It’s the first week in September for Gods sake! 

So Germany has both rubbish weather and traffic. And they like fermented cabbage. I will say no more.

Anyway, as we drove into Slovenia, the sun came out. And it felt warm enough to remove my fleece. Hurrah!

We found Stara Fuzina and our apartment without any problem. Lovely apartment owned by a man who had definitely been hitting the alcohol. Still, he left us some cheese and and half a litre of home made schnapps as a welcome gift. Will probably give the schnapps a miss as I value my sight but it was a nice thought. 

Desperate for some fresh air and exercise, We didn’t bother unpacking but found a local hilly walk from our walk book and got outdoors straight away. The walk culminated at the local tavern and it would have been silly not to stop for a beer.

Meanwhile, Nik and Jan had gone to see some friends in Rosenheim, and unfortunately hit some awful traffic, not arriving in Stara Fuzina until 7.30pm. 

Tomorrow is an important day as We have a trail walk planned to see if Nik is going to be able to cope with Triglav.

Fingers crossed.