Logarska Dolina

A great game.....followed by a long drive back to Slovenia to the remote, and WAY off the beaten path, the Logarska Dolina.  Dolina, in Slovenian, means valley.  I made reservations at a hotel in the Logarska Dolina, but we arrived at 2AM in the PITCH black and went up to what we THOUGHT was the hotel.  D rang the bell many times but there was no answer.  We resigned ourselves to sleeping in the car until daylight.  Turning on the car to get heat a few times over the course of the morning, we managed a few hours of sleep.  As the night turned to day, we found the hotel and checked-in.  Our little car sleep saved us some money.

This is what we woke up to, the Logarska Dolina.

After a few hours of sleep in a real bed, we got up and took a drive on the panoramic road.

D doing her best Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music!

This part of Slovenia is just south of the Austria/Slovenia border.  Over that ridge....Austria.

Along the drive, we saw this ladder, so you know we had to climb it.

The view from our "tree bench"

This is the view of the Logarska Dolina, from the panoramic road, on this beautiful day, was the BEST moment!

Flanking Logarska Dolina, are two parallel valleys.  Here's the Matkov Kot.

Back down in the Logarska Dolina, here's whats at the "end", a wall of rock.

Logarska Dolina at sunset...such an amazingly beautiful corner of the world.  Definitely one of the top places I've visited while in Europe.

Udinese-Roma (2-0)

After the drive through the mountains and the Soca River valley, we headed west, back into Italy (and again being able understand the language, it's amazing how sharp the language boundary is) to attend the Udinese vs. Roma game.  This was the reason for the entire trip!

Walking through Udine Centro, I saw the team bus and had to take a picture of it.

Stadio Friuli.  I always get asked "why Udinese?"  I think it's the underdog streak in me.  Udine is a town of 100,000 people, about double the size of Viterbo, but has managed to be a team that has been in Serie A since 1995.  It is the little team that has held its own against the big boys, Inter, AC Milan, Roma, etc.

And I, like a lot of people, thing Antonio Di Natale is AWESOME.  By the way, I now own his jersey.  He's been loyal to this club and city.  A year ago, Juventus (who I think of as the evil Yankees of Serie A) tried to buy Di Natale, but he refused the trade!

We sat one section over from the "ultras."  No knives or fights!

"SALUTI CAPOLISTA!!"  A win over Roma brought Udinese to the lead of Serie A.  I have to reveal that, Udinese played the first game of the weekend, so its lead was temporary.

The end of game salute to the fans from the players!

The Julian Alps and the Soca River Valley

Driving northwest out of Bled, you get to the way Northwestern Corner of Slovenia (and thereby the former corner of Yugoslavia), turn south at Kranska Gora to head into the Julian Alps over the Vrsic Pass.  Note, the day was cloudy and overcast until we made the turn.  Perfect clear skies for the rest of the trip, perfect for high mountain views.

But first, a detour to see the Planica Ski Hill, which is the 2nd largest ski hill in the world.  Many, many world record ski jumps have occurred at this location.  Someday, I'm going to learn to ski jump!

The road up to Vrsic Pass from north to south has 50 hairpin turns, 24 up, and 26 down.  The turns are paved with cobblestones for better traction.

The Vrsic Pass is called the "Ruska Ceska" or "Russian Road" as it was built in 1915 by Russian Prisoners of War held by the Austro-Hungarians during WWI.  The A-H's needed this road built to supply their troops on the other side of the pass who were battling the Italians.  More on this to come.  Many Russian workers died in avalanches and so the survivors built this in honor of their brethren.

Although this isn't the actual pass (it's to right of this shot), this is was what the Russians faced.

Picnic time at Vrsic Pass....in the SUN!!

As you descend from the pass, you are heading south into the Trenta Valley.  Here is a view back towards Vrsic Pass.

The valley makes a sharp turn to the west.....(note this being late fall/early winter the sun was low, sometimes not even getting to the valley floor.)

.....and we are at the eastern end of the Soca River Valley.  This valley is historic for being the location of the front (known as the Isonzo Front) in Italian during WWI. 

Between 1915 and 1917, the Italians and the Austro-Hungarians fought 12 battles in this valley and in these mountains.  Why you ask?  Turns out the Italians were miffed that that A-H's were granted Italian speaking areas in an earlier treaty.  After initially declaring neutrality in WWI, the Italians declared war on A-H to get those lands back.....and more.

That IS the color of the Soca River.  It's got a marbley white quality it to it.

A gratuitous picture of me.

Throughout the valley, you see cemeteries and graves of soldiers who died on the Soca front.

This cemetery, back on the other side of the valley, is one of the most poignant war cemeteries I've ever visited.

Moving south down the Soca River, at a critical narrow juncture, stands Fort Kluze.  Those openings are pointed at.....

.....this vista.  Or to shoot at any attackers coming up the valley.

Across from the Fort, are rungs to aid in a quick getaway?

In the town of Kobarid (Slovenian) or Caporetto (Italian) there is a museum which explains the wars of the Isonzo Front.  As you can see, a great deal of fighting was done in the mountains, and in most cases, the A-H were in position and the Italians were attacking hill.  11 Battles of the Isonzo Front...it was a war of attrition.

But it was the 12th Battle of the Isonzo Front, also known as the Battle of Caporetto that changed EVERYTHING.  The A-H's called in the Germans for help.  In a surprise attack, the Germans used poison gas and "blitzkrieg" fighting methods to push the Italians (who still relied on top down command decision making) back 25km in one day.  It was the worst day in Italian Military history.  This here is the very moving Italian memorial to the Battle of Caporetto.  One thing D and I noticed is that the names of the deceased are in alphabetical order.  We joked that it had to be the work of the Slovenians!!!

The Isonzo Front was the site of Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms", which I read in preparation for this trip.  It's awesome to think that Hemingway drove these same roads and saw these same views...although in much different circumstances.