15 May – Easy day to Idrija

15 May – Easy day to Idrija

Today was essentially a half day ride and afternoon rest. We traveled from Pivka to Idrija – only about 55km, arriving around 1pm. The weather was overcast and cool the entire morning, adding to the ease of the ride. There was only one hill climb, the rest of the time the route was pleasantly undulating.

We left Pivka on a fairly busy road with lots of trucks heading for the highway. Once we were past the highway we stopped at a Lidl to buy some juice and from then on we were on roads with less traffic. Most of the time the highway was on our left, and we passed through small little towns nestled into the green landscape.

Towards the end of the journey we were traveling through forests, with the sounds of a chainsaws every now and then and some logs lying at the side of the road.

We had a huge downhill run through a gorge just before the town – it was about 4km long and we were applying our brakes on the many many switchbacks – which we suspect we will pay for later.

On entering the town we stopped to admire the Idrijca river, known for the clarity of its waters.

We found our accommodation early (Guest House Barbara) and went for a leisurely walk around town.

Walking up to castle

View of town from castle window

Idrija sits on top of the second largest deposit of mercury in the world and mercury was discovered here in 1490. It is listed on the UNESCO world heritage list for its mining activity.

However we declined the opportunity to go on a tourist tour down the old mine, opting instead to sit outside the guest house restaurant and enjoy some beer and an excellent pizza. Happily, they stock beer from a nearby craft brewery (crazy duck), the IPA was good. We also had more of the Union unfiltered beer. The hotel owner is very friendly and provided helpful suggestions for our upcoming route.

In the afternoon we rested our sore legs and caught up on the blog. For dinner we tried the Idrija specialty dish that they have been making for more than 400 years – žlikrofi – it is a dumpling made of dough and stuffed with potato and served with a special sauce, very tasty, with a larger range of flavour than ravioli.

After dinner we walked down to the river again, buying an ice cream cone along the way, and were delighted to see a large number of trout feeding in the shallows under the bridge.

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