Before heading off to fetch our bike we stopped at a local café to enjoy 2 lattes, a biscotti and a chocolate croissant – all for only 7Euros! We spotted this private boat in the canal..check out the engine size……. 100 horsepower!!!!! – imagine that cruising through 3 – 4m wide canals!!!!!! On our way out of Venice: Traffic jam… Motorbikes were lane splitting down the centre of both lanes… ...We could not fit as our side panniers are larger than the width of the bike so it’s hard to tell if we’re going to take ourselves out against another vehicle….. …so Ros decided to use the emergency lane to undertake the stopped vehicles. Makes sense, relatively safe, maybe not so legal…..no other vehicles – including motorbikes – were doing this. Then the traffic began to move (at a pace of around 30km/h)….we found we had overtaken a lot of the motorbikes we saw lane splitting earlier…. So Ros decided to continue using the emergency lane – while pol kept her head down in embarrassment of all the road users watching what we’re doing – and we were the only ones in this lane until…. Ros looked in her mirrors and this is what she saw… Even the ITALIAN (their own country!) bikes were following behind!!! Ros had a following! There were a lot of motorists on the road – we found out later that today is the first day of holidays for Europeans!! We couldn't understand why a traffic jam lasting around half an hour can suddenly ease up – without seeing anything on the roadway to block traffic. Puzzle solved. Another queue – this time for the toll pass…this time we witnessed the bikes use the emergency lane to get to the toll gates – so did we! …some service stations we found we didn’t have to get off the bikes or take helmets off at all. Getting close… A short while after entering Slovenia we thought this was a check point for access into the country – after waiting in the queue for around 10 mins we found this was a toll point if vehicles were to use the toll roads that were coming up. We didn’t need to wait there. We did have the option earlier to continue or pull into this check point…as Ros pointed out - better safe than sorry! We found Slovenia to be very peaceful and quiet – then we realised today is Sunday. Riding through the country roads…..toward Divaca where we randomly stopped at a restaurant we liked the look of. Turns out, it was a good choice! Beer to start with…surprisingly cheap for the size - 2 Euros! Slovenian food for lunch (including a truffle pasta) - 23 Euros!!! Amazing food – we are so full!! Traditional Dessert – warm layered cake Finished! ...Now to find somewhere to sleep. Today we decided not to book accommodation and ask locals for suggestions when we get into a town – freedom (and also a hassle when tired and wanting somewhere to put our things and relax for the afternoon)! The hotel we had lunch at had rooms available…we looked online and didn’t find many places to stay in Slovenia around the area we were in – Divaca (Specifically around this part of town as we planned on visiting the Skojan Caves tomorrow)….so we had a look at the hotel room and it reminded us of a 1970s setup (brown and cream all round and a little tacky) so we looked online some more…luckily we came across a really cheap room… a 2 storey apartment for only 55euros a night! The lady who we rented the apartment sat us down and took us through a good half our info session about what was around this area - and there was a lot - a couple of castles, caves, scenic surrounds, great motorbike roads and walking trails...she could not do enough to help us! That was so sweet! After settling in and a little rest – we headed off toward a restaurant that was suggested to us by the lady who owns the accommodation…..Ros also found a castle. Nice route on google maps to visit before the restaurant… After some awesome roads with scenery like this; …and a GPS that didn’t recognise Ros’s Google maps search (we had to navigate to a point before using the phone to get there)… We came across a small path – we actually missed it the first time and had to turn back…so we travelled down the same road at least 4 times (including after this to find the restaurant too)… Ros made it...but only so far...!!!...until we both decided it was no longer a good idea to keep going due to the sharp looking rocks and our lack of drift (yes...it was incredibly slippery here) riding skill!!!! What must go up….must also go down…this path had loosely strewn…large…rocks and a wet muddy ground...almost felt like the fast and furious (snail pace) on 2 wheels. So…Ros pushed while Pol made her way down… We came across this metal structure…it was getting dark…and a little scary…later that night at the restaurant we ended up going to – they told us that it was an old hunters accommodation that no longer gets used today So….to find the restaurant we were suggested to go to by the owner of the accommodation… …we came across a little village.. …this village had a restaurant/ pub looking building that appeared closed...there was an old man sitting at one of the tables smoking a cigarette - we figured he could not speak a word of English to ask if the place would open later...then a group of men popped their heads out of the second level above us - also smoking and drinking...they too didn't have any English to help us...they couldn't see us under our helmets which made communication more difficult so we rode off! ...heading back toward our accommodation to find somewhere closer to eat… We found a small tavern just around the corner from our accommodation and ordered there… The casually dressed waiter (Hawaii top and 3/4 shorts) came over and told us the few dishes they had for the night (there was no menu)...the meal was so cheap! Ros wanting Pol to stop taking pics of her.. So she took one of Pol After two full bellies we rode around the corner ready to go horizontal. -- The next day... We were originally going to stay one night in Slovenia before moving into Croatia but there was so must to explore in the countryside, so we decided to stay 2 nights The morning after – Pol woke up early to find gloves – which at that point she forgot she left them on the motorbike at the restaurant the night before – were mysteriously placed on the washing line…..mystery! There were a group of people who watched us ride off so we thought they were kind enough to bring us our gloves (if they had fallen off the bike straight away)...but how did they know that was our washing line!? We weren’t sure what happened there! So….the reason why we went to this part of Slovenia was the Skocjan Caves - they are UNESCO listed, and only relatively recently discovered although several million years old. We weren’t allowed to take pics while in the cave…it was spectacular. Here’s a pic of the pamphlet. From the lowest to highest point is 223 metres. The temperature was only 12 degrees so people had jumpers on but Ros loved the natural air con and enjoyed it while she could! We saw the biggest stalagmite, 15 metres! Here’s some pics of the second part of the cave that is above ground: Where’s Ros!!? So many steps to get back to the information centre – we walked around 6km in total!! Rest time – check out Ros’s backpack…well…where it was before anyway! Hot day!! Back to the accommodation and rest time before dinner… Dinner: The restaurant we headed to was suggested by the owner of the accommodation…but was closed when we arrived…the owner suggested we stay and have something simple to eat – so we ended up with wine, salad and pasta! That was so kind of the owners to do that for us! The owners even gave us complimentary blueberry liquer…it was amazing! Yum!