Odds and Ends

 

They all went to Italy and left me in Slovenia

The cows in these parts are all sporting very chic wet mop hair-doos

It's 144 steps to the top (I counted)

In the early 90,'s the Slovenians built giant rock "Tito" signs high on the slopes facing Italy, just to piss them off. 

We were hoping we'd found a banana slug, but it turned out to be a yellow zucchini, escaped from a nearby field.

This bench looks uncomfortable 

There are war monuments scattered everywhere near the front lines.  This one was built by the Romanians in honor of Archduke Joseph, using materials they had at hand

This dog, constructed from discarded war materials, was guarding the entrance to last night's lodging. He was one of many sculptures on the grounds made by the owner. 

The snack of choice during long walking stretches between breaks.

Mary, posing next to a large stalagmite 

Perhaps some of the mystery keys in my junk drawer could come in handy here

Slovenia has lots of hiking trails. The major ones each have their own markers.

This church's bells were quite insistent, and rang for a long time while we were walking past