Predjama Castle and the Postojna Caves July 19

When we left Trieste, Italy we decided to stop at the Predjama Castle along the way. Ben had looked up directions and written them down before we left but even still it was quite confusing getting there. There are no street names and many, many small villages that we had to drive through to find it. As we were about to give up we saw a sign for the castle and eventually found our way there. The castle is built into the caves. The most famous occupant was Erasmus, a Slovenian Robin Hood. He lived there during a one year siege because he was able to walk through the caves to the other side to get food etc. It is said that he would through fresh fruit and vegetables at the men sieging the castle just to mock them. In the end he was betrayed by one of his servants and was shot with an arrow while sitting on the toilet.

After the castle we went to the Postojna caves. So beautiful!! There were stalagmites and stalactites everywhere, a 'spaghetti' room, wide open caverns with huge pillars; it was quite spectacular! To get into the main part, we took a train ride in for about 2 or 3 kilometers and then we walked around with a guide for a few kilometers. The caves maintain a steady 48 degrees throughout the year. We also saw the "human fish" or olm, one of the creatures of the caves. They are called the "human fish" because its skin is flesh covered.

The Predjama Castle

The torture room.

Trying to stay protected from the sun while waiting for our tour of the Postojna caves to begin.

The underground river in the caves.

The building on the far left is where we entered the caves. We saw about 5 kilometers of the caves but they are about 20 km long. This video shows a little bit more of the caves: Postojna Caves