Today was our second trip on a guided tour with Damjan our resort rep. When the minibus arrived to pick us up we found that in addition to resort rep and tour guide Damjan was also our driver for the day. On our journey to Postojna Cave Damjan took us on a scenic detour through the Slovenian countryside taking in the wine, olive and fig growing areas. The Scenery was stunning and beautiful!

On arrival at Postojna Cave there was a strong (unexpected) military presence which transpired to be soldiers that had been taking part in a military exercise in the local area during the previous few days. Whilst we waited for our guided tour around the caves Damjan explained a bit of the history of the caves. At the time we were sheltering from the heat in a cave entrance where he pointed out the blackening of the rock where the partisans had set fire to aircraft fuel that had been stored in the cave by the occupying German forces in WWII.

A train took us into the tunnel and to the start of our guided walking tour of the caves. The growing formations of stalactites and stalagmites are quite breathtaking and I found them to be even more spectacular than I remembered from my previous visit in the late 1980s. After the walk in the caves it was time to embark on the train to take us back to the cave entrance just in time for lunch. I chose an unusual looking layer cake which I found to be savoury rather than sweet. When I looked it up in the guide book later on I was pleased to find out that it is one of the local dishes, Prekmurska gibanica. I was however, surprised that I had been able to  identified all the ingredients; filo pastry, cheese, poppy seeds, walnuts and spiced apple.

After lunch we returned to the minibus for Damjan to take us on the short journey to Predjama Castle which is perched high up in a cliff. The castle and its history are interesting and we were left wondering how the castle remained attached to the cliffs that it nestles within… When we had finished our visit to Predjama, we made the return journey to the hotel where we stopped for one last drink outside the hotel until it was time to return to our room to get ready for dinner and to pack our bags ready for our stay in Ljubljana.

Our last meal in the hotel was a little chaotic… The waiter that had been serving all week had returned home for the weekend and the waitress that had taken his place was not quite as organised as he had been. Our glass of wine arrived half way through the meal. We didn’t order another glass so that we could sit an linger a while after dinner because the heat in the dining room was unbearable (it was 86^o outside). Instead we enjoyed a leisurely drink looking over the coast with a fellow traveler, for one last time before transferring to Ljubljana.

When we returned to our room for the night I opened the shutters to enjoy Tartini Square one last time before we left Piran. In addition to the lovely view and the atmosphere of the square I was treated to the delightful sight of bats flying around above the square