Balkans Road Trip: Day 3 – Postojna, Predjama, and Trieste

We departed Ljubljana in the morning after buying breakfast (and some bread and cheese for a quick lunch) at a nearby store. I also grabbed sunscreen, as my bottle was too big to pack in my carry-on.

We arrived at Postojna Cave well before the 10 o’clock opening time. Since we realised we were making good progress as we drove down the highway, Yang bought our tickets online and we proceeded straight to the entrance. The tour was very well-planned. After we were let in, we were sorted into groups by language and led to a narrow unroofed train inside the cave. The ride was nothing short of spectacular. The train carried us through forests of stalactites and stalagmites, which zoomed by so close that I could not stop instinctively ducking.

As we followed our guide through the caves, we kept marvelling at the giant dripstone formations all around us. I have been to a few caves before, but these must have been the most impressive thanks to the sheer number and proximity of the calcite creations. The tour guide told us it takes about a hundred years for one centimetre of a stalagmite to grow. That means a mere half-metre stalagmite would be as old as recorded human history.

In an aquarium close to the exit, we were also shown some cave salamanders. These pigment-less amphibians were among the first animals discovered to thrive in the absence of sunlight, and they can live to a hundred years of age. As apex predators in their ecosystem, they have excellent hearing and a great sense of smell, but they are completely blind.

About ten kilometres away from Postojna Cave is Predjama Castle, a sight noted for being built over an open cave. The castle was once the haunt of the Slovenian folk hero Erazem Predjamski, who weathered a heavy imperial siege of Predjama for over a year. The system of caves kept him supplied with food from the outside world, and the defenders were able to gather water dripping from the ceiling in one of the caves. Indeed, it is said they threw half an ox and a basketful of cherries to the enemies just to taunt them. However, Erazem’s luck ran out when a treacherous servant advised the besiegers to attack his washroom, and Erazem died buried in debris over his own poo.

We ate our sunflower bread and cheese at the parking lot before departing again. Our destination this time was Miramare Castle in Trieste, a complex built for Emperor Maximilian of Mexico and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium. The royal was a descendant of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, under whose reign Spain subjugated the Aztec Empire, but Maximilian ruled Mexico for only three years before his execution by republican forces. Nevertheless, the decorations at the castle make plenty reference to this short stint with numerous depictions of the Mexican eagle. Equally worth seeing are the beautifully tended gardens, which at the time of our visit were abloom with spring flowers.

Our descent to Miramare was a breakneck affair, with our GPS directing us straight down a series of steep and narrow alleyways in the precincts of Trieste. Fortunately, we did not encounter many cars heading in the opposite direction and when we did, they noticed our foreign license plate and thought it wiser to back out. From Miramare, the roads to the centre of Trieste were much broader and more navigable, and we found parking at the pier by our accommodation.

We spent the late afternoon walking around Trieste and – in my case – ill-advisedly consuming a whole pizza at a restaurant by the Canal Grande. Since our accommodation was in the south of the city, we began our tour by walking northwards to Arco di Ricardo, a 1^st century BCE Roman arch that stands perpendicularly against a city block. From there, it is a slight walk uphill to the Cathedral of San Giusto Martire, which has beautiful mosaics at the end of both aisles and the main nave.

Walking down the hill, we found ourselves atop the Roman Theatre, another ancient structure that interfaces directly with the city. The stage connects almost directly with the road that runs along this structure, and locals simply walk past it as tourists flock around the rails to take pictures. From there, it was only a short walk to the Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Spyridon, whose tall roofs can be seen from many parts of the city, and whose rich decorations rival those at the Cathedral. The church is a reminder of Trieste’s mixed heritage as a city that once had a significant Slavic population.

Eating dinner after visiting the Church of Saint Antony was a good move. It allowed us to wait out the slight haze that had been hanging above the coast, and we only emerged from the restaurant at golden hour. The subsequent walk from the Canal Grande to Piazza della Borsa and Unity of Italy Square was so beautiful that we lingered on and wandered back along the coast to take a better look at the Verdi Theatre.