All aboard the magic Theaker bus

How lucky are we?  Here we are on the other side of the world and along comes Theaker, our Amazonianly gorgeous high-flying aerialist friend, complete with her Slovenian magic bus to take us to places we would never have made it to alone.

Who drives the magic bus?  Theaker drives the magic bus

Who flies the magic trapeze?  Theaker flies and turns the world on its head

I lied, that's Livija & Theaker on the left

Theaker took us to Cerkno, an enchanted mountain village which is North-East-ish in Slovenia where she was doing a show for the Festival Ala.  That gave us the gift of meeting the organiser, Livija, who became our personal guide and new friend. Of course, I don't have a picture of her; this seems to be the case with many people we've really had fun with (Gabi, Roger, Peter, Michael, Libby, Gra, Bea, Gina are also on this list...)

What a treat to spend time with someone who could show us around and tell us all about it.  I know more about Cerkno than most other places we've been to.  From the profound - a 55,000 year old bone flute (the oldest instrument in the world) was found here - to the profane - you can buy g-string knickers in a vending machine at the pub... Why?  Excellent question.

Knicker machine

But we weren't only obsessed with one-size-fits-all-knickers-in-a-ball for 2 euros each... masks were also a source of great fascination and the local museum (in tandem with Livija) was great.

The masks and costumes belong to the Laufarji - a company of 'runners' who originate from way back when (Pagan times) to mark the end of winter.  The carnival was sadly lost around the time of World War I* but some clever folk revived it in 1956 and it's been going strong ever since. 

*This area suffered terribly throughout both World Wars, but also hosted a strong partisan element and even a cleverly hidden hospital

This first picture shows the character of Pust, who is the scapegoat for everything (natural or otherwise) that has gone wrong over the past 12 months.  Much of what happens in the carnival involves him, particularly his indictment for all the wrong-doing (which comes across as quite humorous) and symbolic execution.  After he is put to death there is both a dance of celebration and a mourning.  The costume is made from moss.  If it rains, it can weigh up to 100kg. Even when dry it weighs as much as 80kg.  That's dedication, hey?
 

Other Laufarji characters represent 'typical' members of society - some are traditional, and others modern.  Below you see the old lady who sweeps away winter and Pust's brother, the pine man.  There are drunks and a neanderthal character too. Well, you can see for yourself on this video
 

The costumes creep Ayesha out (rather Doctor Who villain-esque, they are) but I'm rapt in the whole idea - the reminder that in Australia we so lack the vividness of changes in the season.  Even more than that, we lack in relevant symbolism.  All our inherited 'festivals' are topsy-turvy, out-of-touch with nature and what's really happening.  I'd love to go back to Cerkno for this...

We hit the road, and what roads!  Masterful driving of the beast by Theaker takes us through great scenery...

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..and to the UNESCO listed Scocjan Caves. Down we went, but couldn't take photos in the depths of it.  Such depths!  Such ancient, ancient evidence of time before us.  So much more than us!  We tried to calculate the age of the 'Giant' stalagmite... about 15 metres tall, growing at 1 to 1.5cm per hundred years.  Go on, work it out and be humbled.  

More Doctor Who sensations ensued in the vast canyons below ground... check the photo in this link if you care to.  Dragons.  Gollums.  All were surely there, or had been.
 

delerious explorers

cool explorers

And then we crossed the border to Croatia...

Yay! Celebrating border crossing in back of Theaker's bus

Reaching great heights in Bled

As a reprieve after the ups and downs of Salzburg, we headed back to Slovenia to the gorgeousness of Lake Bled.  Here we stayed in the bestest place so far, Kaps Penzion, ,a kind of alpine lodge all decked out in wooden furniture made by the dad of the owner/hosts.  Beds, towels, shower all sooooo very comfy which was great after the workout we were undergo later in the day.  Scroll down to see Ayesha's account of the very adventurous stuff we did...

Kaps Penzion

view from our balcony

view from our window - the very lovely Bled castle

Ayesha recreating a photo we took in 2006 

  After a frustrating luckless search for lunch, we went up a large hill only to discover that we couldn't do our amazing plans that we'd been looking forward to (Mum actually looked like she was going to cry!) because it was 'raining' (it was hardly spitting).  Dad stayed in line determinedly (he says he was 'stoically telepathising the woman to see the error of her ways').  She had walked away and sat down with her arms folded refusing to sell tickets.  Eventually, it became obvious that it wasn't going to rain and, as more people turned up, the sheer force of numbers (and Dad's will) overwhelmed her.  Win!

Soooo, we went up in a chairlift with amazing views...

and then finally we got to the top, harnessed up, did some training and hit the ropes... the high ropes course...

We all managed the green course, then Mum & I did the blue course while Dad took some photos and ate ice cream.

 


I was the only one with enough energy to tackle the Red Course - the hardest and highest one.  You can see how high I had to climb.  

All I'm going to say now is that I wished I had some gloves and I wish this was close to home so I could do it again, and again.


After all that, we still had something fun to do - we went on a summer toboggan back down the hill.  At first I was quite nervous and went slowly, but then I got my confidence up and just raced.  At the end, Dad said he realised the acceleration and brakes handle was just like a video game controller and he went 'zoooommm'.  You can see the track in this photo.  

In Ljubljana, the old, the new & nature co-exist...

Enlightened biking without fear

Ljubljana has one of these fabulous bike hire systems that exist in many European cities, in this case it's called Bicikelj.  We subscribed for a week for just 1 euro each, then we could borrow bikes for free if we used them for less than an hour at a time.  

Cycling through the pedestrian old town was gorgeous...

Simple, single gear, back-pedal break bikes.  Lovely!

  

 Cobblestones make for a bumpy ride, but bikes are prevalent and the rules about where to ride seem relaxed.  When out of the pedestrian areas, we felt no qualms about using footpaths.  More than that, the sheer numbers of bikes around makes drivers very bike-conscious.  What a contrast to the aggro of Perth and Fremantle drivers who seem to take delight in abusing cyclists and trying to run us off the road.

Bikes are everywhere....

  

...as are timely reminders.

 

Viva Vegas in Ljubljana

OH yeah... Ross Vegas met us in Ljubljana, gracing us with his-own-self for a couple of days.  We hung out in cafes,

reflected in sunglasses,

gurned (pulled faces) on the top of the castle tower,
 

gazed at views.

Vegas did a show, with some unusual participants and a good hat,

and then left us...   Viva Rossy xxx