Bac – Ljubljana 77.84km 🚴♀️ 4.36.19⏱ 16.9km/hr ⬆️ 485m ⬇️ 720m 🌡29C
🎵 Ljublj Ljubljana Lublj Ljubljana Ljubl Lubl Jaana Lublj Lubljananana 🎵 (on the melody of Elise ladieladie Elise ladeladie …, See video below) . So this amazing song was our theme song of the day and we sang it loud and proud across the many fields and farms we passed today. And it’s the perfect drunk song for our night out in the capital of Slovenia 🇸🇮 tonight. It probably sounds even better the more alcohol 🍷 🍺 🍹 you drink. Spoiler, the way we feel right now, we’ll probably crash two sips into our first drink, Lublj Lublj lullaby 💤.
Anyway, so we had this great wake up call around 5.30 by these annoying flies zooming around our head and tickling our arms and faces. How much we wanted to smack those things, but we weren’t fast enough. We just got up and went for breakfast at seven. The dude even woke up especially early for us. We had eggs 🍳 and some kind of rolled up cake 🍰 with cream that tasted kinda interesting. We already went there, but breakfast is this huge struggle time and again and we are usually nauseous 🤢 for the first hour or so on the bike.
We had to cycle back on the same road as yesterday for a few hundred meters this morning. It was even a little chilly outside, something totally new to us. We loved it ❤️! The landscape was pretty. We cycled through lots of little villages, green hills and farmland all around us. It was a good day. For some reason we did not really get into it though. We were both pretty tired and everything just seemed to take forever. Relax mode was on and speed was off. Maybe it was the tough day yesterday, maybe it was the horrible fly, maybe it was Mas’s bike 🚲 who has fallen ill but has to hang in there for just one more day until Johny can go and see a doctor in Ljubl Ljubljana.
We just did what we always do, keep on cycling, keep on cycling. Although we did stop a lot to make pictures. And to buy croissants 🥐 and Weltmeister Brot 🍞 at the Lidl. We ate those little treats with our well deserved espresso ☕️ in Postojna. Suuz wanted to go and see caves and castles 🏰 over there, but since there were some dark clouds ☁️ hanging above us she just put on a bike shirt 👕 and cycled on.
There were no huge climbs today, instead it was hilly so we mostly went up and down all day. Slovenia pleasantly surprised us with a few actual bike lanes by the side of the main roads 💪🏻! We did struggle with the wind 🌬 though. It was in the face the whole day and on the longer stretches in between the hills not very friendly to us. And although we had bike paths for a good part, cycling on the road was a little busy. Most drivers gave us lots of space though, friendly Slovenians. So far everyone seems friendly here, even the guard dogs 🐶. We were cycling on a small village road when we made a turn and all of a sudden there was a monstrously big shepherd dog standing right by the side of the road, unchained. Now in the Balkan countries, this would mean big, big trouble. Suuz’ heart skipped a few beats and we kept our eyes 👀 glued to the road, but the dog couldn’t care less and didn’t even bark once. Friendly Slovenian dogs.
Just before Laze we were cycling on a beautiful small road again through some green fields when we hit a road block 🚧. Normally we try to find a way around it, we are smaller than a car so it does work quite often. This time there was no way, there were high fences to keep us away. Also, a few meters back we passed this dirt road so we figured we could take that one instead. And so we did. It was pretty nice, not too bumpy, some soft grass even.
Until the road ended into this little stream. Only there was no bridge or anything, no path around it, and it looked too deep to cycle through. Just when we turned around to cycle back, something Mas really does not want to do, a car passed us and just drove straight through the water. Well if a car 🚙 can do it, so can we 💪🏼. Unlike Noor(th)tosouth, we don’t need a gringo to carry our stuff over a little stream! We took of our shoes 👠 and socks 🧦, well for Suuz with her fancy Jesus sandals 👡 just removing the socks was enough, and went for it. There was no way to cycle through it, we tried but failed, so we just walked our bikes through instead. It was even kind of nice to cool our feet in the clean and muddy water. Also, Suuz discovered that her Jesus sandals are actually super comfy to cycle in without socks, so she’s going commando into her sandals from now on 👌🏻. She’s convinced she looks less ridiculous this way…
After this welcome adventure we tried to find a place for lunch. We had our own bread 🍞 so all we wanted was a cold drink. We didn’t put a lot of effort into finding a bar so we ended up on a kids playground instead. When we we’re having lunch on this merry-go-round 🎠 minus the merries some kids got fussy because they wanted to play on it, but Suuz didn’t want to give away our spot. Playgrounds are for adults just as much as kids she thinks and kids should practice a bit of patience. Instead of being patient the kid took a shit 💩 in the bushes, oh the great lunch we had!
After lunch it was another 25 kilometres to Ljubljana, we are staying a little North just outside the city centre. This way we avoid the heavy traffic going in and out of the city. Also, it’s a little cheaper and close to grocery stores and the best bike doctor 👨⚕️ of Ljubljana, at least we hope so. The roads we took into the city included a nice uphill with hair pin turns, we didn’t really expected it that close to a capital city but what the hell. Other than that it was really nice, just farm land and green hills almost all the way into the city.
When we arrived at the restaurant/bar/hotel we took a shower 🚿, handed in our laundry and walked over to the bike shop. We dropped off Johny, wished him a good recovery and promised Mas would stop by first thing in the morning to see if he is okay. After that we walked back, had a local beer 🍺, sweet potato 🍠 fries and mozzarella sticks at the hotel terrace before we took a half an hour power nap 💤. Suuz did some research and found a good Japanese restaurant in town tucked away in a shopping mall, so that promises to be a feast!
And a feast it was… the shopping mall was completely deserted, but after a short search we found the cute little place with only a handful of people there, nice and quiet. There was no menu. The restaurants serves omakase, a traditional multi-course tasting menu. We went on a splurge and opted for 6 courses, swapping the desert for some fresh sashimi. It was absolutely delicious and a welcome change from our regular staple of grilled fish/meat, pasta, French fries and mixed salad. At a comfortable pace we were served lemon 🍋 coconut soup, shrimp 🍤 tempura, sea bass 🐟, fresh sushi 🍣, sashimi with ponzu dressing and smoked teriyaki chicken for Suuz and miso marinated salmon for Mas. It was a total treat and we went home and straight to bed with happy 😃 bellies.
Of course our night didn’t end there, there was women’s soccer ⚽️ to watch! Go Holland! We even made it through the entire game without falling asleep 💪🏻. Looking forward to the final, such an amazing performance!
Bijzonder om dan zo’n leuk restaurant te vinden in een verlaten winkelcentrum!!! Mooi einde v d dag 👍😀