Wet Hot Slovenian Summer

Lake Bled might be the most famous lake in Slovenia, but Lake Bohinj in Ribcev Laz is the biggest. Surrounded by mountains, waterfalls, and trails of all kinds, tourists of all seasons come here to do outdoor activities. Since our pinnacle activity of the trip would be to bicycle 300km of trail from the Alps to the Adriatic, we focused this part of vacation on watersports and attempting to relax. In classic Mark Schlink style, he'd start our days with the casual comment of "let's take a walk, make no plans" and end up hiking 15 miles. Not all of the meandering was annoying since we'd usually end up at a waterfall or pretty mountain view, but sometimes we found ourselves overly thirsty and sore, or inadvertently looking at very naked sunbathers (a normal thing for Europeans).

The highlight of Ribcev Laz was canyoning, a general term for people dumb enough to jump, rappel (abseiling when it's done in water), and slide down waterfalls. In order to earn the fun stuff, we had to first hike up about a mile wearing 10mm thick wetsuits, boots, helmets, and harnesses. In Margo's case, she canyoned in two left foot boots, because I wasn't paying attention when I tossed them into the barrel. But she made it work. Our most important instructions were: jump and land with flat feet, slide with arms straight and cross-crossed, and no peeing in the wetsuits. Check, check, and check.

our cottage: bigger only on the outside

walking to "town" 
Ribcev Laz

Slavica Waterfall

Mostnica Gorge

Mostnika Gorge

water break and strudel stop in Voje Valley

Jake and Elwood

Mostnica Waterfall

Lake Bohinj

gear prep

watersliding

surprisingly warm wetsuits

jumping with two left boots

abseiling down to dad

holding onto my butt

Slovenia says to get outside. Maybe you should.

Regarding singles-life in Slovenia, someone recently commented in a Tales Mag post report that only those who absolutely love the outdoors should live there if they have hopes of meeting a mate. In my opinion, if that's the perceived reputation among expats, then Slovenia is surely doing something right. While the Slovenian Tourist Board capitalizes outside acticity and exploring the "green boutique quality" of the small Central European country, Slovenia also has a chic indoor scene with world famous cuisine, cool museums and shops, and spas galore. Despite its size, the place is packed with natural wonders and things to do, so even the most hermity of hermits can enjoy fresh air at least once in a while.

After marinating in our own sweat during an 11-hour layover in the Istanbul airport due a missed connection and nugatory airline staff, we landed in Slovenia with renewed determination to get outside and stay outside. The Tour of Slovenia coincided with our stay so we headed to the mountains to watch stage 4 from Ljubljana to Kobarid. Swag-vans threw out "I Feel SLOVEnia" flags, while cyclists threw out empty water bottles to cheering fans. Deets snagged one a blue one and declared himself loyal to Bahrain Victorious therafter.

We made friends with a couple (Ljubjanians? Ljubjanites?) living in the capital who recommended a steakhouse where we could celebrate Mark and Deets' birthdays in coming days, and we shared beers with like minded fans, screaming like goons as the competitors rode past. An Italian named Philippo Zana won the tour despite crashing on a descent, flipping over his bike and nearly hitting an unsuspecting horse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYytaV1Rn3Y. He and the horse were unharmed from the incident. Happy with our day, we felt that vacation had officially started. Kind of.

Unfortunately, we took more than a few wrong turns and a few extra hours to reach our next location. I blame Google Maps for not playing nice. Carsick, tired of each other, and very hungry, we arrived to a town called Ribcev Laz located on the other side of the mountains, where the best burgers in the world exist. On a previous trip to Slovenia 5 years ago, we ate at a restaurant called Forksner three times in a single week. The curt staff don't write names on a clipboard or take reservations, which matches its aloof online presence. It's strictly first come, first served, so if you can ignore the line of people mentally willing you to leave the table once you finally make it, the local beer and beef are well worth the wait despite mediocre staff.

By the end of this trip, we would repeat our visit twice more. Physically, between hiking, biking, canyoning, and swimming, and mentally just being outside, we would earn it.

Kobarid and Soca River view

watching the racers begin the climb

credit: Mark

20km to go after double summiting a 10.3km climb at 9.5%

so HAPPY

credit: Mark

beefed up in Ribcev Laz

walking off the food babies by Lake Bohinj
credit: mark