Day 2 – May 31, 2025

The birds in that area must have been on steroids, so loud was their chirping in the morning. In the morning sunshine, I patted myself on the back for having chosen such a comfy site.

Lush......green

At around 8 am, I was packed and read to roll. Soon I reached a summit, then it was downhill all the way to Celje - a city where I had started my Sicily trip back in 2022.

Even though it was still early on a Saturday, the city was bustling, there was music from loudspeakers, people were out and about. At a Rotary stand, a kind lady made me a pancake with homemade jams, it was delicious, I was happy to donate a few Euros. I spoke to a person who had a sporty outfit, it happened he was an avid biker, so he told me which was to follow to head to the south.

Castle over Celje

Unlike in 2022, where I rode towards the east, I was now heading south, following the river Savinja. It was a great bike road, this time with not too many riders and I made quite good distance - well, that is true at the beginning, but at times, the curse of bike paths hit me again - when the road would pitch high up, go to some mountain village nad then descend steeply again. I looked jealously at the other side of the river at the relatively flat road, but from where I was, it would have been impossible to cross over. The scenery resembled Austria - lots of high, green mountains, nice villages, rivers, cows - you get the picture.

Castle

At around noon, I reached the place where the river Savinja meets the Sava, the largest river in Slovenia. I stopped for a while at a railway station, had some lunch - at least from what I could tell, there ere no restaurants around.

In the town of Radeče, I stopped something funny - it was an old house surrounded by old Citroen DS cars (which is considered as the lucky charm car of my parents). There were about 10 of them in various conditions and I took a few snapshots.

Ancient Citroens - will they bring me luck?

As I was busy taking pictures, I noticed a cyclist and I stopped him, asking for directions. He told me to follow him for a kilometer or two, asked if I was fit. I was unsure why he asked, but soon enough I understood - he showed me a very, very steep road. Well, I must admit that ten years prior, I would have been very happy with such a a challenge, but now, getting a bit older, it looked grueling. Still, I went for it - and grueling it was. It was quite warm, I was panting and sweating, but slowly, very slowly, I made progress. It became quite a bit of a roller-coaster, one hilltop following the other - on the positive side, there was hardly any traffic and the scenery was rewarding.

Beautiful countryside...this too!

On the other side of this mountain range, it became more flat. So it happened that I managed to startle a stork next to the road - just as much as it startled me. It was a beautiful bird, rarely had I ever seen one so close to me before.

Stork on the escape

With some more inclines, I reached the town of Zuzemberk, with a nice church on the top of a hill and a castle in the center. Reaching the castle, I realized that I had been there earlier, probably two decades ago, with my friend Rupert, who is no longer with us, plus Tibor, another buddy - and I believe that was when we were riding to Croatia. I visited the castle then continued my trip into the evening.

Church in Zuzemberk...and the castle

I made the point to reach a civilized place that night, as it was the final of the Champions League, with PSG playing Inter Milan. In the small town of Dvar, I found a really nice accommodation for just €45 including breakfast. I got a really nice room with two rooms, a kitchen, a washing machine and a balcony, but even moire importantly, a nice smart TV. There I managed to log into ZDF, the station broadcasting the game, had a nice cold beer, washed my clothes, took a shower and a few minutes before 9 pm, I laid down to watch the game. It was a great match, with PSG winning 5-1.