Every now and again, you’ve got to trust your gut.
The head said to spend the day at the eye-poppingly blue Lake Bled, in Slovenia, and maybe have a lazy one, just reading. The gut said otherwise.
The head said (upon arrival at Kranjska Gora, and not finding the promised walk signage) to turn around and go back to the apartment in Ljubljana. The gut said to drive on up into the Julian Alps.
The gut was right. In minutes we were stumbling on orchids, and with a few more hair-pin bends, and 1500m of elevation, we encountered – joy of all joys – Lilium martagon, in full bloom. Then the wildflower-world exploded with hellebores (foliage only), Paris quadrifolia, Aconitum, Digitalis, Rhododendron (on chalk!!), Campanula, Euphorbia, Astrantia and the heavenly scented Cyclamen purpurascens, among others.
It’s scary, how close we came to missing all that.
Stunning scenery! And what a treat to see these familiar plants in their own setting. Thanks, Michael.
I can hear the tinkling of the cow bells in those pics. While I can’t correctly name the glorious flowers growing wild in the Julian Alps we saw a few years ago, I do remember being blown away by the variety and the beauty at every step. Very happy you trusted your gut! They provoke some great memories.
you wont believe this I was having lunch with a dear friend today and she was talking about Lake Bled . Is that A. Ivorine , I have never known the species name . What a joy and dont tell all the turists
Seeing these glimpses of a countryside so startlingly different from Australia, and in an opposite season, has improved my week – thank you, Michael. It also reminds me that for all the organisational and practical impediments to travel, it is well worth the effort. Those larches are stunning, as are the miniature jewels of wildflowers.And imagine rhododendrons surviving in that soil!