Month: September 2023 (Page 1 of 3)

We had walked all of today’s route in the opposite direction, in the rain, back in 2018.  We therefore decided to walk down the road to Castelmonte, where we could then get the bus into Cividale and do our washing before heading on to our accommodation.  (I had spent a while trying to book one of the many hotels in Cividale, before being told that there is a big car hill climb taking place this weekend, and that all the accommodation had been booked months ago.  We finally found a wine estate just north of Cividale offering accommodation.)  We were pleased with ourselves as we reached Castelmonte, having walked 13.3km, in in 2.5 hours.  This gave us time to walk round the fortified village, buy bus tickets, and enjoy a coffee and cake.  The bus left exactly at 12:09 and we were in Cividale about 20 minutes later, having seen numerous temporary barriers erected for the hill climb, and some of the 250 cars in the “pit area” at the entrance to the town.  We were soon in the launderette and had time to walk round the town centre, before heading back to the bus station for the 3:08 bus to Togliano.  At 3:09, the board changed to show that the bus had been cancelled.  We therefore had another few kms walk northwards, to reach the small village in the centre of vineyards.  Our accommodation is the most spectacular so far, in a large old building attached to the manor house.  We are the only occupants, and have an enormous sitting room all to ourselves.  (There was a free bottle of estate wine in our bedroom; excellent and soon to be available in the UK.)  We walked to a small trattoria just outside the village, with a spectacular sunset going to, and coming back from it.  We have a short walk tomorrow, so the plan is to take the bus back to Cividale and explore the town, and then walk on to our next stop, back in Slovenia.

We left Tolmin after an early breakfast as we had a big climb ahead of us.  The route was flat and we crossed the Soca river for the last time, before heading for the village of Volce.  This was where the climb started, winding upwards through the trees.  The path was generally good, though there were a couple of places where the track followed a stream, essentially straight up the hillside.  We finally met up with the road again, and had a few more hundred metres of ascent before clearing the trees just below the summit.  There were great views to the north of the Slovenian mountains and also of Tolmin, where we had started.  The path then took us through an area of Italian WWI fortifications, all reconstructed, leaving you to wonder how the attackers, after the huge climb, had managed to overrun the defences.  It was a short walk to the summit, where we could now see Italy before us, though sadly not all the way to the Adriatic due to the haze.  A stone at the summit marked the Slovenian/Italian border and we then quickly dropped down to a road.  A short distance took us to the Italian customs house, unmanned, and the refugio next to it, where we stopped for a cake and a drink.  From there, we continued along the route of the Alpe-Adria, past more defensive positions, before we decided to walk on the road instead.  This was easy walking, downhill, and we only saw a couple of cars and one moped.  We soon reached Tribil di sopra, where we are staying in the local commune’s hostel.  We have a room to ourselves; there’s an Australian couple and a German woman also staying.  The evening meal, cooked by a local family, was a Thai/Indian fusion!

The village used to have over 500 people, now there are 30; the restaurant, two bars, shops, and market, have all closed.

As we were starting in Kobarid, today we followed the Juliana trail to Tolmin.  The Alpe-Adria trail started higher up the mountain (if we had finished there yesterday) and went up and over the mountain to Tolmin; we were going to walk in the valley instead.  We left Kobarid, crossing the Napoleon bridge over the Soca river.  It’s called that because Napoleon marched his troops over it, though it’s been blown up and replaced several times since then.  We had a long walk on reasonably quiet roads through several small villages.  In Austria, these would all have been holiday homes and closed up, here all the houses seemed to be occupied.  Today was hot again and we were glad of any shade from trees.  We didn’t see much of the river as there was always a lot of trees and scrub between us and it.  We stopped to get some shade in the doorway of a church for our lunch stop and chatted to a Swiss man who had also stopped.  He had come all the way from Switzerland and is walking barefoot!  We left the road and walked along a narrow track between stone walls, luckily with lots of trees providing shade.  It wasn’t looking before we were back on roads, and then on a gravel track leading towards Tolmin.  Here, the wind picked up a lot, blowing into our faces, before we reached the town and got shelter.  There was a final climb up to the town centre and our accommodation.  It’s our last night in Slovenia as we cross into Italy tomorrow, and we should see the Adriatic as we cross the mountain pass.  

After a couple of days in Italy, we will be walking along the border, crossing into and out of both countries for several days.

Another day of walking through great mountain scenery, alongside the Soca river.

We knew that much of the trail was closed due to electricity work and had therefore decided to aim for Kobarid, in the valley, rather than Dreznica, up in the hills.  (This also gives us an easy day tomorrow, following the low-level Juliana trail to get to Tolmin)

We left Bovec on a small path, which soon got extremely muddy.  After a few kms of this the track joined a road.  We looked at the map and decided to continue down the road, as the trail on the map appeared to be next to a stream, which we thought would be back to mud underfoot.  We joined up with the Alpe-Adria trail, and had a nice walk alongside the river Soca.  In this section there were areas where every tree had been blown down; later on the taxi driver told us this happened about a month ago.  It was incredible to see such damage.  We did a short section along the road rather than following the trail, saving some distance, and allowing us to walk faster.  Most of the cars were going in the same direction as us, with few coming towards us.  We joined the trail again, this time on the “deviation” due to the engineering works.  It was a pleasant walk alongside the river and through fields, before ending at Srpenica.  We found our German friends and their dog, who assured us we could join them in their taxi transport (they were going to Dreznica and Kobarid was at the river crossing).  The taxi arrived and we all got in.  About 5kms down the road, the taxi stopped and the driver declared that we had arrived.  This wasn’t a concern to us as the route to Kobarid was downhill, but for the Germans it meant about another 10kms and 500m uphill.  There was a bit of discussion, before he agreed to drive them the whole way to Dreznica.  We were dropped off in Kobarid (no charge!) and walked to the hotel.  Kobarid is only 7km from the border with Italy, but we’ve got another couple  of days before we cross over.  After cleaning up we visited the WWI museum, describing the fighting between the Austro-Hungarians and the Italians.  This was a brutal conflict, with men on mountain tops, with the lines only 20m apart in places.  Many died from avalanches during the winter.  The Germans provided reinforcements to the Austro-Hungarians, and finally inflicted a huge defeat on the Italians.  Subsequently, the British and French provided troops to stop the Germans invading more of Italy.  The area, and battle, are immortalised in Ernest Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms”.  The museum has a great collection of photos from the war, and is well laid out, giving one a feeling of how dreadful the fighting was in this area; there were several photos of Italians with facial injuries so bad that you wondered how people could have survived or would even want to continue living in that state. 

We had an excellent meal, and are now looking forward to another short, easy day tomorrow.

Breakfast was cold pizza and tea, and then we set off down the road.  Today’s stage follows the river Soca, and we had been told that the path was stony, with lots of tree roots.  We had therefore decided to walk some of the trail on the road, where we can walk at 5kph, rather than 3-4kph on the stony ground.  There was very little traffic, and we soon reached Soca (about 8 km down the road), where we finally crossed the river and onto the path.  The path was good here, wide and flat, with a lot of tourists walking.  There were also several fishermen in the river, which is being restocked with the local trout.  We eventually rejoined the road, and again we walked on it, rather than the narrow footpath.  The river was a fantastic colour pale blue colour, at times wide, and other times rushing through narrow gorges.  For the final few kilometres we again followed the path, crossing yet more footbridges over the river.  We finally reached Bovec, spotting our hotel on the outskirts of town.  We walked into town for dinner; the town is surrounded by mountains, and was full of mountain bikers, climbers, canoeists, and walkers.  We’ve seen more people with rucksacks this evening, than in the whole 24 days since we started the walk!  Tomorrow should be a short day, as much of the trail is shut for electricity work.  We hope to get a lift, where necessary, with the Germans’ transport.

After the rain over the mountains yesterday, the forecast for today was sunny intervals, which was good as we had a high pass to cross.  The walk left Kranjska Gora on a nice wide path, past a couple of lakes (with lots of tourists taking photos) and then alongside the river.  The gradient was gentle, the path was good, and we made fast progress.  We crossed one dry river bed, and then the path started climbing towards the main road.  We reached the Russian chapel (built by Russian WWI prisoners who were building the road over the pass), and then stopped for a rest.  The path then worked its way up the hillside alongside a stream, with several crossings on broken planks and across stones, before finally joining the road again at a large carpark.  We stopped at the café for a coffee, which was terrible, and then started uphill again on the old donkey trail.  This showed on the map as several zigzags, but was actually easy going on a wide path with a gentle gradient.  We even cut up the hillside in places in small paths to shorten some of the zigs and zags.  We stopped to put our fleeces on, as there was a strong, cold wind blowing from the north.  A short while later, and we were at the top of the pass, along with everyone who had driven up.  We didn’t stay long before starting the descent as it was quite cold.  We now had impressive views of the mountains to the south of us, after enjoying the equally impressive northern views.  After a short section of road walking, the path dropped into the woods, and we followed it for a large part of the descent, on a mixture of good path, and narrower paths with the usual stones and tree roots.  We finally got to what we thought was the valley, only for another section along the river, followed by a climb and then a steep descent to Trenta, which has about a dozen houses.  On this final descent we had to cover our packs and put rain jackets on as the rain started.

We are in an apartment, and went across the road for a pizza and a drink.  There was also a huge tourist office, where we bought some postcards.  We’re hoping to get something for breakfast at the village shop, otherwise it will be a few pieces of cold pizza.

We woke to cloud obscuring the valley and the mountains above.  Breakfast was the usual assortment of cereals, cheese, cold meats, fruit, bread, etc.  A short while later the rain started falling heavily and we were glad that we had booked a taxi.  The taxi turned up on time, and after driving over the mountain pass we were in Kranjska Gora 45 minutes later.  The taxi driver told us about other people who had had problems on this Stage, and that it definitely wasn’t advisable in bad weather.

We left our bags at the hotel and went for a walk around town, including stopping for a coffee and cake.  It’s a big downhill, x-country and ski jumping centre, having held world championships and more to take place next year.  The town is quite small and quiet, with various places shut until the ski season starts.  We finally checked into the hotel and did some washing.  The forecast for the next several days is good and we are looking forward to tomorrow’s walk over the pass into the next valley.  (The original road was built by Russian forced labour during WWI, with many dying during the construction)

We had a rest day in Velden.  There was no launderette there, but there was one in Villach, a 15 minute train ride away.  We had a large breakfast and then walked to the station where we boarded a huge intercity train.  It had come from Venice and was going onwards to Munich and Stuttgart.  The launderette was a short walk from the station and we got everything washed and dried (and not shrunk).  Christine was able to rake up enough German to explain to an Austrian woman how to add credit to her laundry card, select the correct machine, and get the wash going.  We then walked into the old town area.  We had stayed here a few years ago on an earlier walk.  Villach is famous for having been destroyed by an earthquake in 1348, one of the largest ever experienced in Europe.  The mountain to the south lost about half its volume in a landslide.  The earthquake is well documented as the local bishop requested reports from all the churches and these have been used to map the effects.  We had coffee and cake and then went back to the station.  Trains were delayed, but we were just in time to catch a replacement bus service, which allowed us to see a bit more of the countryside. 

The forecast for the next few days is not good, the very exposed ridge walk for Stage 22 to Kranjska Gora has been in cloud every afternoon, and we have therefore decided not to walk over the mountains to Slovenia, but go by taxi instead.

Today’s forecast was for the morning to be overcast and then heavy rain later.  We decided to take the train from Velden for a couple of stops to cut down on today’s walk and maybe beat the rain.  We had a short walk to the station, then rode two stops to Foderlach, where we had a short walk to join the trail.  The route took us around another small lake, and through forest and pasture.  The rain started and we covered our bags and put our jackets on.  The rain wasn’t too heavy, but it was sweaty wearing jackets.  As we started the final ascent the sun started coming out and we thought we were going to be lucky.  We arrived at Finkelstein castle and found a cafe, where we decided to stop for a drink.  As we sat down, the rain started to come down really hard, with big rolls of thunder and some lightning. 

We’ve enjoyed our apfelstrudel and are now wondering what to do.  It’s about 900m, or 15 minutes to our night’s accommodation.  We could go the direct route along the path, which by now will be very wet, or go the longer route by the tarred road which will be faster walking and better underfoot.  We’re hoping that there may be a break in the rain and we can make it without getting too wet.

We finally put our jackets and waterproof trousers on and started on the direct route.  The rain wasn’t too heavy, and the track was well kept.  There was a short final climb through the woods, then across a field to the hotel.

We have a great view from our room, and the sun came out as we unpacked, showing Villach, the lakes, and Gerlitzen. 

The rain is now pouring down again, there’s low cloud, and it’s good to be inside!

On leaving Ossiach we decided to walk up the forest road, rather than climbing the steps in the gorge.  We made the 400m climb in about 50 minutes and then stopped for a rest on a bench overlooking the small lake.  The track continued through the forest, which was a mixture of beech and conifers.  For once, this forest track was very easy walking, mainly on fallen leaves.  It does look as if autumn is arriving, with the bracken turning brown and leaves (and cones) falling.  We finally caught a glimpse across the lake to the top of Gerlitzen, where we had spent the previous night.  The track now swung to the south, and we were soon on tarmac, walking to the small village of Oberdorf.  The church had some Roman stones in its vestibule, and also three memorial plaques for men killed in the war; including one in Finland, and one in Murmansk.  (The German army escaped in 1944 with the bulk of their forces intact).  From here, we followed a country road rather than doing another walk through forest, but soon rejoined the Alpe-Adria trail.  This took us past another small lake.  Again, the area was full of very large holiday homes, many closed up for the season, or until the weekend?  There was another short section of road-walking before we reached a viewpoint overlooking Velden Am Worther See (Velden the town and Worther the lake).  It was a short walk from there into town and the end of the stage, and from there to our hotel.  This is the biggest place we’ve been in since the start of our trip, and has some expensive shops and hotels, lots of visitors, and a casino!

We’ve got a rest day tomorrow.  There’s no launderette, so we are planning a train excursion to Villach, about 20 minutes on the train, where we can use one.

Despite all the bad reviews of the hotel and restaurant on Google maps, we had a really nice meal last night. 

It rained heavily overnight.  That seems to have cleared the air, for the forecast for today was now dry, sunny weather.  In the morning, the valley below us was full of cloud.  We started on the trail down, initially on gravel paths alongside the ski runs, but then off into the forest.  This made for slow progress, as every tree root, and every stone, was very slippy.  We assumed we would have views of the lake, but all we could see were trees.  The path would be reasonably wide, but then there would then be a section where it narrowed and dropped down through the trees before paralleling the hillside again.  This repeated several times as we gradually descended.

I spotted a fire salamander on the track, we then saw another four in about 400m.  They were all climbing uphill for some unknown reason.  Not only was the path slippy, but other parts were very boggy with standing water.  We dropped down into the cloud as it was beginning to burn off, and finally got our first view of the lake.  The low cloud was now gone and the day warmed up a lot.  We reached the lake at Steindorf and decided to wait for the ferry to Ossiach, rather than walking the final 5kms around the lake to the southern side.  We were looking forward to an ice-cream or cake, but Steindorf has nothing, all the shops are 5 minutes drive along the lake in the next, bigger, town.  We found a bench by the pier and removed our socks and boots to allow them to dry in the now very warm sunshine.  It’s a 2 hour wait for the ferry, so it’s nice and relaxing.  The ferry took 15 minutes and when we arrived in Ossiach we walked on to the stage end, about 400m.  There were two busloads of people walking towards us, all going to look at the abbey.  We checked into our hotel, and when we came back out it was a bit different – no people.  The supermarket opens from October to March, the pizzeria re-opens in May 2024, all the hotels, apart from our hotel and another, were closed.  The other hotel had a restaurant that was open, where we ate this evening.  It was busy, presumably because there is nowhere else to eat, though we were not sure where all the people had come from; the car parking was busy.