So I haven't forgotten how to drive...

So it's been five months since I've been behind the wheel, so I was a little nervous about driving in Slovenia. The traffic here is very tame compared to what I've seen, and far better than Italy. But there were a few sights difficult to see via public transport, so I wanted to rent a car and see them.

The Technological Museum of Slovenia was one of my stops. I know you're shocked. They have a collection of Tito's cars. They also had movies on how to make a horseshoe and a wooden wheel. And lots of large machines: saws, looms, electricity generators, that type of thing. I could tell that they were revamping the museum, as there were sections with English, and sections without.

I drove to Divača, near my next stop, to have lunch. It wandered into a pizza place that had been a stop on the Orient Express. The restaurant was designed to look like an old train station. They had a section of the rail line exposed under the floor. (I promise pictures soon.) I had quite tasty pizza, and after enquiring about the place, obtained a great map of the area from the waiter. The map proved key to finding my destination.

The Škocjan Caves were designated a World Heritage Site by the UN. There are other, more accessible caves, but this is the deepest/largest/and some other -ests I'm leaving off. The route wasn't well marked, or I was too paranoid about following the rules of the road. It turns out that there were only two of us on the tour, so the guide let us take pictures. The are normally not allowed, as people would just take too long to make it through. She probably regretted the decision, as we took a bit longer than a normal tour...

So I had wanted to head to the coast, but it was raining. A lot. So I and the other guy on the tour, Mike, headed to some small Slovenian town that was touted as, well, cute. I discovered Slovenian streets. Some are only wide enough for one vehicle. There's a sign with a red arrow, and an white arrow. Traffic in the red direction gives way. I assume. I was usually following a truck, which seemed to automatically have the right of way, so it was a rather moot point.

A couple of wrong turns later, we found Štanjel. It has aunusualal church spire, in that it's shaped like a bishop's hat. We wandered into the church, and the Priest was finishinconfirmationon class. He showed us around the church. He spoke German, and Mike gave me the general themes. As it was still pouring down rain, we didn't stay too long.

The drive back consisted of more small Slovenian towns, vineyards, and windsocks. There is strong wind that comes off the mountains, and they adjust the speed limit to compensate for it. More crosswind, the slower you must go. The only issue is that they never post the speed limit. They post the restricted speed, and the equivalent of the "End Speed Limit Zone" sign, but they never post the actual limit.

I did OK back behind the driver's wheel, even though there were several traffic signs that were incomprehensible. And my mind is still getting around the fact that it's 60 miles from the capital to the coast, and the capital is in the middle of the country.