On Saturday, our last full day in Bled we went on a rafting trip on the Sava River. The river itself is a really pretty blue color and quite cold. Luckily we wore wetsuits, well most of us, Kyle chose not to, and I think he regretted that decision! It was a calmer river than we were expecting and so therefore not as exciting as we wanted it to be, but nonetheless it was fun. If nothing else, it was a pretty float down the river! Although other boats had the bad habit of splashing each other and us-we certainly did not appreciate being splashed with 50 degree water!

Sunday we had our last breakfast on the balcony overlooking the mountains, saw some hot air balloons overhead and a paraglider with fan, so he could stay up there infinitely. Then we packed up and drove to Postojna Cave the biggest cave network in the world. They were huge! We took a 7 minute train ride through the caves to get to the interior, then walked 1.5 KM inside of them using an audio guide as a tour. They were beautiful and just massive. They even have one area that is big enough to fit an entire palace inside. They hold a Christmas concert inside the caves around the holidays, which I think would be amazing to experience. There is even a post office and gift shop underground, where we had to buy a t-shirt and send a postcard from! We boarded the little train which took us back out again. Unfortunately, my pictures do not do it justice.

We had lunch at a little place nearby and then continued up the hill to Predjama Castle, which is built on the side of a mountain and half inside of it. So it is a cave castle. We had the audio guides for the castle too, which I find is a great way to do a tour, if talking about the dining habits of the people who used to live in the castle is not your thing, you skip that section on the audio guide and move to the next room! Don't we all want a fast forward button on some tour guides? ;) The castle half hidden in a cave is a really cool place, but our favorite discovery was on an upper floor of the castle, we went into one room that had an old straw bed in it and a cat was sound asleep on it! At first we thought, wow look at that prop, then realized that cat is alive! I'm not sure if the cat officially lives in the castle, or just snuck in, but regardless he was quite cute and very comfortable in there.

After that we drove to Rovinj, Croatia. It was only a 2 hour drive from the castle, with a quick stop with customs at the border. Since Croatia is not Schengen territory, you must go through passport checks. That evening Paul and I walked into the old town and around the marina. Rovinj is a very charming city. Cobblestone streets, some really narrow alleyways, small little shops, cafe's galore, little hidden bars down on the water, beaches made of rock slabs, cliff jumping, etc. We found the Secret Escape Bar, which I have to believe someone had this property with rock slabs overhanging the water and thought, hmm..not enough room to have proper tables and chairs, let's throw some small stools down and cushions, and call it a bar! The drinks were creative and delicious, the atmosphere was beautiful and our server was very nice.

Monday, July 4th, a bit different from previous 4th of July celebrations, we went kayaking. We drove down to the southernmost point of the Istrian Peninsula and went on a kayak tour. It was a 45 minute paddle to the sea caves where we parked the kayaks and went swimming inside of them. You had to duck under the wall of the cave to get inside but then it opened up with light streaming in from above so no real fear of claustrophobia. There was a second room of the cave that we could swim to as well. It was an amazing experience. Then the brave one among us jumped of a cliff! I was so fearful watching, but Kyle did it perfectly!