September 17, 1998
Bohinj to Spodnja Idrja
We biked to the village (Bohinj Bistrica) about 9, after the morning fog lifted. At the information center we saw the day's weather report and learned that the forcast was much improved and promised good riding conditions for the day. We stopped in at a cafe to await the train departure, warming our selves with tea and reading about the latest developments in the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal.
At the station we chatted with an American couple who were here as a part of the puppet festival that included the wonderful show we had seen in Ljubljana. They let us know that the one we had seen was from Hungary. The train ride was very brief - after a 10 minute ride through a tunnel under the mountains we got off just on the other side and coasted downriver through a beautiful, narrow, very quiet road to the confluence with the Idrija River. From there we bicycled upriver 30k to Idrija, through a series of very narrow, deep valleys with pastures and vinyards hanging from precipitous slopes. The architecture and culture feels different on this side, with more stonework and a different style of hayrick than in the east.
Idrija is a lovely town, but almost without accommodations - only a single small hotel. We were startled to run into the same group of British cyclists we had chatted with days earlier on the ride from Ptuj to Celje; and then more than chagrined to find out that they had booked the entire hotel for the night, leaving us without prospects for a room in town. Amazingly bad luck.
We learned that there was lodging 6k back downriver in Spodnja Idria, so after looking around town a bit more we reversed tracks, hoping for the best. After great difficulty we finally found it - the Kendal Manor. It was a very elegant old place, practically a palace, and proved to be one of the best overnight stays of our lives. It had only recently been opened for business as a hotel, and was startlingly inexpensive. The staff were all extremely accomodating and gracious, even offering complementary laundry service (including ironing our clothes, of all things). Our room was beautiful, with a pretty view across the valley and of the town church. Best of all was the fabulous dinner in the great dining hall. We were the only guest, but enjoyed a terrific feast, all of local and traditional foods including zilizmiki (a bit like lasgna), and a delicious local white wine. We also enjoyed a history lesson from our congenial young waiter, who explained the origins of the hotel and the meaning of the huge, last-supperlike mural on the dining hall.
Today's ride: 29 miles (47 km)
Total: 332 miles (534 km)
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