Notes on the middle part of my 2025 Europe trip; see also the first part and the last part.

I did a bike tour through Slovenia. It's an unguided tour, provided by a company called Helia. I don't have a lot of pics because in general my phone was attached to the handlebars, acting as a nav device.

This tour is pretty easy: 20-30 miles per day, with only moderate elevation gain. They offer harder tours, e.g. Salzburg to Ljubljana going over the Julian Alps. General notes are at the bottom.

Thu 24 July

Ljubljana: I walk to the Giant bike store and buy biking gloves and a stretchy silicone thing that holds your phone on the handlebars.

The forecast is ominous for tomorrow, and for the whole week: rain, thunderstorms, high winds, flooding streams. Spoiler: this does not come to pass.

Fri 25 July

8:30 AM: I meet the Helia rep and the other riders (4 couples) in the M Hotel lobby. Each person gets a helmet, lock, repair kit, and a waterproof pannier that snaps onto the rear rack. My bike is a Trek FX 2 gravel bike with large frame. It has only 1 chain ring so the range of gear ratios is limited, especially on the low end. The rear derailleur is a bit out of adjustment. Other than that it's pretty good.

The other riders are 5 couples: Dutch, German, Aussie, US, and US/Irish (a pair, but not actually a couple).

The others haven't had breakfast so I head out by myself. I carry my computer bag (with laptop, papers etc.) on my back, and jackets and water bottle in the pannier.

The route goes through the old town, past the beloved Lajbah and Sax Pub, E through suburbs and corn fields to the mountains, then S along the base of the mountains.

The route turns off onto several miles of gravel road, which is a bit unpleasant. Then it goes along a paved country road, which is OK except that there's high-speed car/truck traffic and no shoulder.

It's raining a tiny bit, and around halfway it gets medium-hard. I put my rain shell on over the computer bag; this works well and keeps things dry. The rain lessens.

I stop at the Slovenian Museum of Technology in Brista. It has a number of old cars and motorcycles, and exhibits about things like grain mills, tractors, and water turbines.

I arrive at the Tursic guesthouse around 1 PM. It's locked, and a sign says the restaurant opens at 2:30. I consider messaging the tour company. But a woman sees me, opens up, and checks me in. It's a very nice place, rustic but with AC, WiFi, and cable TV.

I rest, then go for a walk in town. None of the restaurants appeal so I eat in the guesthouse. I get a ham/sausage/mushroom pizza (E11) which is enormous; I eat half and save the rest for tomorrow.

Sat 26 July

I roll out of the Tursic guesthouse at 9:30 AM, and immediately run into the 4 e-bikers: Walter and Patricia (German) and Peter and Michelle (Australian, though Peter has roots and relatives in Slovenia).

The ride starts out with a significant hill - not what I want first thing in the morning. It's muggy, and I sweat like a pig.

The ride is kinda tough. There are several long hills, totaling around 2500'. It's about 1/3 gravel, 2/3 paved road with cars.

I chat with the e-bikers. Walter is the founder of a German graduate school that offers Master programs involving projects in industry. This sounds like a great idea. He's non-pretentious and I like him. Peter (the Aussie) is 3 months out from hip-replacement surgery. He's a wine snob and a bit of a snob in general, though friendly. I tell him I play classical piano and he says his favorite piece is by Canon. Eventually I figure he means the Pachelbel Canon.

Peter has relatives in Slovenia, including a cousin who has an apple farm / vineyard. He runs this by himself and works 12 hours/day. The market has bottomed out for apples and wine, and he makes almost no money. And the farm isn't worth anything. He's stuck. Peter helps him, e.g. by buying his wine.

The two couples are chummy with each other. It turns out the women (Michelle and Patricia) met in London 40 years ago and are fast friends. The couples have done many things together, including several bike trips.

We stop in a small village for coffee. I figure out how to use the phone-handlebar mount so that phone doesn't wobble - big improvement. Walter's bike tips over and damages the front disk brake; he manages to repair it.

The others have bought tix to the Predjama castle, and later in the day for the Postojna cave. I haven't. They veer off for the castle, and I unwittingly follow. Then I realize my mistake and go back a bit. Then the nav tells me to go that way anyway. So I end up at the castle, having lost some elevation.

I'm confused: the nav app says I'm at the end of the route, but there's no hotel. I spend some time grappling with the app, which has serious shortcomings; like, it doesn't tell you where you're going or how much farther it is; see below.

Finally I sort things out. I need to get to Postojna (which, oddly, is not shown on the map). The app wants me to go up the steep road I just came down. At this point my legs are kinda shot. I start to push the bike up a hill, then say screw it, descend, and cut over to the main car road.

The app then sends me on a gravel farm road. It starts to rain, and then rains hard. There's thunder, fairly close. I reach the car road again and rest in a covered bus stop, eating a few bites of soggy pizza. It's 8 km to Postojna, with some moderate uphills mixed in. I switch into survival mode.

Finally at 3PM I get to Postojna, and the Kras Hotel, which is pretty posh. The woman at reception tells me to take the bike to their underground parking, she'll come down and show me where to put it. But she doesn't, and I have to go back up to reception and get another guy (helpful) to show me.

My clothes are all wet and my luggage won't arrive until 5. I'm knackered - not sore, just drained. I take it all off, lay things out to dry, and lie down in bed for about an hour.

I eat more leftover pizza for dinner, then go for a walk. There's not much to the town. I have a tiramisu gelato. There's some kind of old-car event in town, specifically Citroen and 2CV.

The Kras Hotel; note 2CV atop building

View from my room

I get a beer (lager) in the lobby.

Sun 27 July

I thought being exhausted would make me sleep well, but instead I get zero sleep. So my body has no strength, and my brain can barely think. It's kinda torture.

After breakfast I retrieve my bike and head for the Postojna cave, which is 1 Km up the road. On the advice of the tour rep, I have a ticket for the 10AM tour.

The cave is a massive tourist attraction; there are giant crowds. I get on a small electric train - 2 abreast, like at Tilden. It goes for about 10 min into the cave, passing through man-made tunnels and large caverns. The bulk of the tour is walking on a concrete path to the 'great mountain', about 100' above the base level.

The cave is indeed amazing. Its formations evoke many images: cathedral spires, organ pipes, saints, demons. They're all created by water dripping down through cracks, accreting calcium carbonate at ~1 cm per century. Depending on water impurities, they can be light green, light brown, or white.

They've done a good job of presenting the cave to c. 10,000 people a day. The illumination is subtle and effective.

There's a large aquarium-type thing that houses a Proteus, AKA 'human fish': a salamander that lives in the cave, in darkness, with transparent flesh and vestigial eyes. It can live 100 years and go 10 years without eating (not sure how they know that). The Proteus is not evident at first but finally I see it at the far end of the tank.

I leave and get on my bike. I have no mojo, but fortunately the ride is pretty mellow: 20 miles, 1000' vertical. A couple of long mild uphills, and an exciting descent on a winding bike path along a stream in a wooded valley: the best stretch on the entire tour. It turns into a gloriously sunny day.

I intersect a youngish couple from Washington DC, Ian and his GF, on road bikes. I think they're on our tour, though I didn't see them in Ljubljana.

Today's destination is a B&B / winery in the middle of the country, near the village of Kodreti.

Pond at the B&B

I get there around 2 PM. It's wine-oriented and a bit pretentious. The owner/hostess is serving lunch to a party of middle-age anniversary celebrators. I have a beer. She eventually checks me in.

I'm exhausted, and lie down for about 2 hours.

There's supposed to be a wine-tasting but I can't find it. I eat with the e-bikers. They get into a sort of argument about immigration. Peter says that the Arabs arriving in Australia are all criminals, and don't even bother having papers. Patricia (the German) has no problem telling him he's completely wrong, which she does repeatedly. I like her.

In retrospect I wish I had told Peter: 'All people are about the same. If their survival is threatened, they commit crimes. If you were in their situation you'd be a criminal too.'

The mattress is too hard, and I need to sleep. There's a stack of softer mattresses under a bedspread, so I pull one of those out and sleep on the floor. With half an Ambien, I sleep, but not great.

Mon 28 July

Breakfast is OK but the coffee is terrible. I hook up with the non-e-bikers for today's ride: Lo and Al (names changed a bit). Lo is a middle-school Spanish teacher from San Diego; Al is a high-school science teacher from near Belfast. They're big-time hikers and just finished a 3-week 200-mile trip (village to village) around Mt. Triglav. They met on a hiking trip a couple years ago and have done several trips together. But they're not a couple; they have separate rooms.

Today's ride sounds pretty hard: 48 Km and 2000' vertical. Plus it's supposed to rain. The e-bikers are panicking and investigating train rides and shortcuts.

I set out with Al and Lo around 10 AM. There's light rain at the start, but it lets up. I have good mojo. Al - although a very fast hiker - is slow on bike, especially on hills. Lo is in biking group in San Diego (as well as hiking groups) and is pretty quick.

We stop at the Ferrari Gardens, which are underwhelming: a fancy stone irrigation system, but very few actual plants.

Oddly shaped steeple

Al from the back

Ferrari gardens

Town model in foreground

Later we check out a botanical garden, but it's getting a bit late so we skip it.

We talk about relationships. Lo is surprised and impressed that I have no particular interest in young women. Apparently San Diego is full of rich old guys looking for trophy brides in their 20s.

We talk about computer dating sites. Al tried eHarmony, where you fill out a long psychometric questionaire. He did this and it said: Sorry, we can't help you.

We visit the Lipizzan horse stud farm in Lipica. It's a big fancy place with a luxury hotel and golf course. Apparently there are shows where the horses prance around on their hind legs. There are no shows today (Monday), but they still want E19 just to see the horses. Thanks but no thanks.

We arrive at the Malovec Hotel in Divaca, which is nice but slightly Soviet-era and sad. I eat with Lo and Al in the hotel (pretty much the only game in town). The DC couple is there. I have a salad and gnocchi with goulash - good. The others eat giant fish dishes. The waiter seems frantic and overwhelmed.

Al talks about his relational history. At 35 there was a 2-year relationship with a woman who - in retrospect - he should have married. Later there was 15-year relationship (actually still dragging on, though she's now married to someone else) with a woman with a peculiar OCD trait: she buys - NEEDS to buy - Lego sets. She doesn't assemble them, just opens the boxes and removes the humanoid figures. The boxes stack up in her house, and Al's house. She periodically calls Al, begging for money so she can buy another set.

He estimates that with the money they've spent over the years, they could have bought a house. We ask him why he doesn't just say no - why he didn't do this a long time ago. He admits that he's sort of co-dependent in this. Lo has given up on trying to change this behavior.

We go in search of dessert to the Aurora cafe, which is open until 10 PM. A young man is working there. He's talkative and I soon realize that he's extremely smart, and is knowledgable about history and politics. He's very down on Slovenians: he views them as fascist, racist, and privileged. He works 14 hours a day, 6 days a week. The cafe is in a doomed location in a village. I feel sorry for the guy, and wish I could bring him back to the U.S.; turn out Lo feels the same way.

Back at the hotel there's a loud fire alarm, which turns out to involve an elevator malfunction. The front doors are locked and you can't get out. WTF???

Tue 29 July

Semi-bad sleep (maybe a few hours). I run into Al on the way to breakfast. Lo had a stomach bug and was up all night vomiting.

Rain is once again forecast, and the e-bikers are again freaking out and investigating train options.

Al and Lo are going to go slow, so I head out by myself. There's a stretch of medium rain, which I weather (ha ha).

The stage is 38 Km, with some rolling hills, then a long descent down to the Adriatic sea.

First view of the sea

Creepy wreck, looked recent

Giant cliffs behind village

A 2CV and another old vehicle are parked at a roadside cafe. I stop and chat with the owners, who are British. They're on their way to the big 2CV-fest in Postojna. Apparently these have been going on for 30 years, in rotating European cities, and these guys have gone to most of them. The 2nd vehicle is mechanically a 2CV, but with a plastic wagon-like body.

Giant weird statue

I enter Italy - isn't the EU great?

I get the hotel (San Rocco, near Muggia) at 12:30. It's part of a fancy development next to the sea. The guy at the desk says checkin time is 3:00, non-negotiable. Ass-hat. So I go to a cafe, get a beer and ham sandwich, do crossword puzzles for a while, then return to the lobby and do a bit of work.

The room is OK but faces the noisy road. I ask for a change but am told this is impossible. Whatever.

There was a traffic incident involving with Aussies: a bus was overtaking them. An asshole driver tried to pass the bus; there was an oncoming car; the asshole cut in too soon, clipped the front corner of bus, and kept going but pulled over in 1 mile. The bikes and bus stopped. The oncoming car turned around and came back too. Police showed up, did a breathalyzer on the asshole. The asshole tried to intimidate the bus driver and act like it was his fault. Peter made sure the cops got it right.

Lo and Al arrive. Lo is feeling better. We all walk up the road to Muggia.

Oil tanker in harbor, one of many

We eat at a tiny trattoria with a large woman like a Fellini character. I get spaghetti with the tiniest clams ever seen. I talk about SETI. Lo talks about her method of teaching Spanish to 7-8 graders: tell gossipy stories in Spanish, with names changed. students have to figure out the stories and guess who they're about, and repeat the stories. She's encouraging but demanding. Her students learn 10X faster than otherwise. The other Spanish teachers are snotty towards her.

We stop at a park with live music and volleyball - very groovy scene. We sit and eat gelato.

Wed 30 July

I sleep well for a change. Breakfast is on a top-floor terrace.

Last day. I ride with Al and Lo, back into Slovenia. The ride to Piran is 30K, flat, mostly along the coastline. Sunny, warm, beautiful.

On a section of bike trail, there are period exercise stations. I stop at one that has a bench press, maybe 50 lbs. Al and Lo try it; I do a few reps. Just then 4 teenage bikers roll up, 3 extremely buff/swole/ripped boys and an athletic-looking girl. The testosterone-drench youth jump on the bench press. One of them does reps while another one stands on top of the bar! So like 225 lbs or so total. They're on a long bike tour, starting from Vienna, 100 Km/day or something like that.

We have a scary moment. We're on a car/truck road, and it crosses a bridge, and all of a sudden there's no shoulder at all and the traffic is going even faster. People are honking at us and gesticulating. Turns out there's a separate bike/ped lane on the left side of the road, which we (I) failed to notice.

We stop at a seaside bar and get beers. The waiter (Tim) is super friendly; he seems more Italian than Slovenian. He invites us into the back for shots of some local fire-water. Moments like this boost my view of humanity.

We arrive in Piran, which is a long stretch of upscale beach resort, kinda like parts of SoCal, with an old town at the tip of the peninsula. We look for food and settle for a so-so place; Lo and Al get a 'seafood' pizza (bad). We talk about parents, careers, and other psych issues.

We're at the Hotel Piran, right on the water, pretty posh. My room faces the sea and has a balcony - sweet.

No beach, but a rocky shore and concrete jetties to swim from. Lots of sunbathers. Everyone goes for a swim; Walter is surprisingly fast. I go in waist-deep; the water is kinda cold.

Lo, Al and I explore the old town, which is Italianate: winding alleys, ancient houses, little balconies. We walk up the hill to the church and campanile.

We proceed to the ancient walls on the nearby hills, which are defensive fortifications with arrow slots.

We check out the nearby soccer field and play in a little playground with a zip line and various tests of balance.

We look for dinner. The top-rated place has a long wait. I want to settle for mediocrity, but Lo wants something good. We find a nice place on the beach. Al gets a bottle of champagne. I have risotto with shrimp, which turns out to be one of those nasty crawfish things with lots of legs and tentacles and no meat. Lo gets a little tipsy, and gets the giggles.

There's a beautiful sunset.

We're really enjoying each other's company. There's sort of a crescendo of perfection, and I raise the possibility that this is a 'peak experience' in our lives, and it's all downhill from here.

We talk more about meeting people and relationships. Lo hasn't been in one for 10 years and doesn't want one. Al wants one but doesn't know how to proceed; dating sites and apps haven't worked.

We discuss Black Mirror and the idea of the remote pickup mentor.

We discuss the simulated-universe hypothesis and my Feature Request essay.

We return to the hotel. Lo gives me a quick hug; I figure I'll see them tomorrow. At 11PM I'm ready to sleep but there's loud/bad rock music coming from outside. I go down to complain. The e-bikers are there, drinking, and they tell me to go with the flow. Fortunately the music ends soon after that.

Thu 31 July

I get up a bit early to catch my bus. I figured I'd see Lo and Al at breakfast, but I don't, and I regret not giving them a better goodbye last night.

Summary

I had a great time. I highly recommend the company (Helia). They give you everything you need - repair kit, the nav app, various online materials - but you're independent. The bike was good. I had no real glitches except for the navigation to Postojna. Peter had a couple of flat tires but fixed them.

The route wasn't ideal - too many car roads with no shoulder - but they have to work with what's there. They used gravel roads, bike paths, and country lanes when available. Slovenia should build a national network of bike paths, like Holland.

The difficulty was about right for me. ~25 miles and 1000-2000' per day. I could do this pretty fast, 3 hours or so, leaving plenty of time for stops. But I definitely felt tired at the end of each day.

I thought all the hotels were good. Peter disagreed - apparently they weren't up to his lofty standards. But again, Helia has to work with what's there.

I was apprehensive about doing the tour by myself: there's the potential for isolation and loneliness. But the other riders were very welcoming, especially Al and Lo.

Problems with the nav app (Guibo)

The basic function (following the route graphically) works well, but there are number of problems.

Audio output: there are three forms, which appear sporadically and unpredictably:

• Female voice: says left/right followed by street name. Generally correct but sometimes contradicts herself: right, then immediately left.
• Male voice: just says 'turn left' or 'keep left'. This is almost always wrong, e.g. says 'turn left' in middle of a long straight road with no turn possible.
• Bell (high or low; I guess this means which direction). Similar to male voice. Usually wrong.

Sometimes when you click Start it says 'Too far from start to navigate' even though you're right on the route. You have to restart the app.

On startup it shows the whole route rather than the close-up view you need.

It doesn't show the destination (town, hotel name).

It doesn't show the distance to destination.

Elevation contour is nice but it doesn't show where you are on it.

On A1 after Kozina it shows a sharp right turn onto a road that as far as I could tell doesn't exit.

It doesn't show town names consistently. Sometimes they disappear when you zoom in.

Blue/orange stickers

These are helpful to confirm you're going the right way, but too many are missing to use them as your only nav. You need Guibo.