Last Day - Mangart Pass

Mangart Pass is said to be one of the greatest climbs in Europe.  I am sure that is right.  It was hard.  Really hard.  Basically it is a 10 mile climb that is unrelenting in its gradient.  You start out of this little town and just keep on going, turning right at the bridge, but up, up and up.   I finished it in tortoise-like fashion, but slow and steady did not - unlike the fairy tale - win the race.  But I got to the top.   We has earlier done the climb up the back of Vrsic Pass, which was no cakewalk itself.

Along the way I realized that climbs that were not double-digit gradients and that were green and pastoral really were more enjoyable (at least to me) than the mega-climbs that take you to the tallest passes, where the rock and the scree overwhelm any plant life and there is more of a moonscape feel.  Okay, it is true that I don't like heights, and I am certainly not a mountain person.  And maybe it's the memory of how hard it is to push a bike up there (which it certainly is).  Oh well.  It was quite a day, but I have no real pictures to show for it, as it took all I could summon to get myself up the mountain.  And since the Boston contingent all rode in the same group, I didn't want to slow everyone else down.

I do want to correct one thing.  We had a fantastic dinner at a very nice contemporary restaurant in Kranjska Gora tonight.  The food was wonderful - pumpkin soup with Slovenian dumpling, duck breast served over lentils, chicken and prosciutto served over mushroom mashed potatoes and vegetables and an apple dessert that was delicious.  I ordered up a bottle of Slovenia's finest red wine.  A 2006 Veliko Rdece from Movia winemakers.  A blend of caberner franc, cabernet sauvignon, pnot noir and a touch of merlot.  It was delicious.  So I take it back about Slovenia not being for foodies.  That is not true about the Ski Pass Travel Restaurant and Hotel in Kranjska Gora!

I am sure there will be some follow up, but I am too tired not to think about it.  Packing and leaving in the morning.  Bikes are back in their containers and let's hope they (and our luggage) find their way back to Boston.