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Now we have done Lake Bled, we did a rethink of what our next move would be. We decided we would go over the Soca Valley mountain ranges as we’d heard it was a place to visit according to some of the speakers during the Adventure Bike Festival we did at the end of June.

We loaded up the van and we were getting pretty slick at packing up as you get into a routine of what needs to be done and in what order. It was another gorgeous sunny day so we knew the temperature was going to be a hot one but thankfully we had AC in Van Morrison.

We headed to Soca Valley which is nestled within the Julian Alps of Slovenia, offering a landscape dominated by towering peaks and dramatic scenery. This was going to be another wiggly route as I like to call it so Griff was nominated as driver as we’ve had history of what Italian drivers can be like.

A spot of history on Soca, prior to the First World War, the Soca river ran parallel to the border between Italy and the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.  During World War 1, it was the scene of bitter fighting between the two countries, culminating in the Battle of Caporetto in October and November of 1917. There goes the lesson for today.

One thing that we did notice is how emerald-green the water is and how clear it is.  Apparently it is said to be one of the rarest rivers in the world that retains such a colour throughout its entire length.

The roads up and over mountain ranges were full of twist backs, narrow roads, and loads of traffic. Cyclists, motorbikes, camper vans, mobile homes, cars and it was mayhem in places as everyone was trying to overtake or riding up your arse so you couldn’t see them.  I must admit in some places I was holding on to the door frame and seat to stay upright!  We stopped off on the way up for a coffee at Kranjska Gora (1,222m) and let some of the traffic go ahead of us.

I was glad to reach the bottom of the mountain and onto better roads. We had planned to stop just inside of Italy but decided to gun it to Lake Como and Domaso.  Looking at the route we went for the motorways and tolls just to get some km under our belts. Straight, boring and fast is what it was but thankfully I could give Griff a break from the driving and took over for a bit. One thing we learnt about EU countries you have to be aware of the environmental zones as there are limitations to some places to drive into. Worth checking if you are going to Europe as it’s a hefty fine if you get it wrong.

We had planned to take 2 days to get to Domaso as it’s 10 hours from Bled.  Taking the toll road cost us €24 which wasn’t bad compared to France.  As I drove on the motorway Griff looked for a campsite and booked us in for 3 nights.  We went up the East side of Como which was mostly long tunnels which played havoc with the Sat Nav.

We arrived at the campsite just after 9.00 and were glad to get pitched. It was lovely to be back in Lake Como and it’s our third time here.  We love it.  We originally came here in 2017 when we rented an apartment from a friend that worked in Kingfisher at the time.  We came on motorbikes and did the trip here and back in 2 weeks.  The following year we came back on bikes with our friends Briony and Ken and they loved it as we did coming back to our favourite place.

We walked along the shore front and found a seafood restaurant and ordered the Mixed seafood grill.  It was okay. Some of the seafood was overcooked a bit.  Given we hadn’t eaten since breakfast we didn’t really care as was so hungry. After full bellies we headed back to the van for another beer and to catchup on blog writing.

Tomorrow is a day of exploring on foot which we are looking forward…..