This summer was certainly the strangest summer I've ever had. I found myself in an awkward situation. I had plenty of time, my trustful Alfa Romeo (sarcasm?) but not a proper companion for this voyage.
What could I do alone...? I could stay at home and feel miserably or... I could go to a Grand Tour.

According to Wiki, Grand Tour is described as:

The term "Grand Tour" refers to the 17th- and 18th-century custom of a traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a chaperon, such as a family member) when they had come of age (about 21 years old).

Ok, I'm a decade older and my chaperons will be Sony and Samsung, they will organise everything for me.
Upper-class men of sufficient means and rank... Well, I'm a scientist, sort of the elite, right?

Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia

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When you think about the perfect city to live within, Ljubljana is probably not on your wishlist, but it should be.
It's incredibly clean, probably the cleanest town I visited. It's perfectly safe, with the highway ring surrounding so you can reach any point in less than 30 min. And you can breathe that fresh, alpine air. In case you want to visit the Adriatic coast, no problem, you can be there in 1h. If you want to visit some Alpine beauties, including the lakes, meadows and waterfalls, no problem at all - 1h, and you are there.

Ljubljana is also one of the cutest and the most romantic places. And I was lucky to visit many "top romantic places" including Ghent, Brugge, Mykonos, Kotor, Annecy...
During the New Year celebration, the fireworks are fired from the fortress and you can watch it from this very place, the old skyscraper, Nebotičnik.

This bridge is interesting because it consists of 3 bridges, connected together. Don't miss the ice cream near Tromostovje *(Tromostovye, more English spelling...), especially if they have one made of walnuts.

Some interesting trivia:

• Ljubljana has the same lexical root lyub... as the Slavic words for kissor love
• The story about the dragon is inspired by this strange cave animal, which is endemical for the Western Balkans
• The oldest wheel ever found has been found in Ljubljana. It's about 5100 years old!

Bled Lake and Vintgar Gorge

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The Lake Bled is certainly one of the most iconic spots in Slovenia.

You can enjoy the view from the Castle, you could ride on a traditional "pletna" boats to the island. If you have a suitable girl with you, you can (if you can...) carry her up to the numerous stairs and she will say "yes" *(áccording to the legend, not tested in my case). And you can eat the famous "Kremna rezina" at the side of the lake opposite the Castle.

If you find yourself during the sunset, just sit on the Castle side and watch millions of sparkles. If you are lucky, some violinist will play live.

After 3-4 intense hours on Bled, you can go to Vintgar Gorge. The parking is free, the entrance fee is 5 Eur and the path is in perfect condition, so everybody can participate.

Slap Prečnik, (Waterfall Prechnik), Mojstrana

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Another linguistic lesson, Prečnik sounds like "something over something", it sparks curiosity...

After parking (free) just at the bottom of the waterfall or a couple kilometres down the road, you can climb to this waterfall.
Notice the everlasting rainbow :)

But... Here the catch, if you keep climbing up, you will find yet another waterfall that will fall again into the first one.

Both of them are breathtaking.

To Kranjska Gora

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If you like ski jumping, I need nothing to say. For the others, the largest hill in the world is located in Planica, just nearby Kranjska Gora.

All the rivers in this region have the white pebbles at the bottom and turn blue instantaneously.
That blue is one of the best shades of blue you can find.

Just chilling, listening relaxing lounge music and eating some sweet stuff with the name so weird I forgot it.

Vršič Pass, Trenta and Soča

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From Kranjska Gora, you can climb up to the highest mountain pass in Slovenia, Vršič. It consists of 50 hairpins and it's one of the best roads.

On the opposite side of the mountain, you will find Trenta, picturesque village with some nice landscapes.

And if you continue further, you will explore the Soča river.

Bovec

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In Bovec, you can do all sorts of adrenaline stuff, rafting, skydiving...

As I travelled alone, I decided to do something calm, and visit one more waterfall, Virje.

Ok... Two waterfalls, I visited Boka as well...

Kobarid, Caporetto

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As you can guess, there were more waterfalls... Svino, Sopot and Krampež.

And the monument dedicated to the Italian soldiers, fallen in WWI.

Slap Kozjak

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If you hate waterfalls, you probably can't stand this post :)

There are 2 options for the tourists. You can park for free at the monument, visit 2 museums dedicated to WWI and take the path that is leading you into the woods (very nice, easy, 2-3 h walk for the whole circle).
Or... You can park near Napoleon's bridge, pay a couple of euros and walk for 30 min.

Tolminska Korita

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This is similar to Vintgar, there are nice, secured paths and you pay a small fee to enter the gorge (parking is free).

The most famous is this rock, called the bear's head, and the Devil's bridge (Hudičev most).

What a tour!!!

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You have seen what I've seen, but the feelings were even better.

For example, there are numerous water pipes all over the mountain, built by the landowners, so any passenger could stop and refresh. That kindness was common some 100 years ago all over the Balkans, but today it's rare and unique. This is probably a strange concept for the Westerners who used to pay 5e for the bottle at the airport. And it's probably even stranger to the "no trespassing" Americans that you are invited to enter the unknown yard.

I took a sleep in a lodge, located almost on the Italian border. My hosts were the most pleasant people you can imagine. I heard some local stories, ate homemade food and drank my coffee with a deer?! Yes, they have deer. I found out that they are very noisy animals while running. It's a strange bass noise...

The darkness here was perfect, and I could count the stars.

Once I've forgotten to close the window of my car parked in the centre of the town. It stayed like this for the whole afternoon, night and morning. My GPS was on the windshield and my trekking stuff on the passenger seat. Do you know what happened? Absolutely nothing. Maybe a thousand people walked by, nobody got the temptation. Those are the true people...

And the most important thing about Slovenia. You are free! Free to roam, free to explore, free to start the conversation with complete strangers, free to walk through the darkness.

S<3nia, the place you should visit

Sorry for presenting 8 waterfalls in one post :)