One of the most unexpectedly fascinating journeys I’ve taken was travelling by train from Venice to Ljubljana. 

Despite being connected by direct rail lines, the only way to travel from Italy to Slovenia by rail is on foot. Our train took us as far as the Italian border town of Gorizia, where we had to walk two miles, cross the border, and finally catch another train at Nova Goricia. We knew the second leg of the journey was going completely different from the first from the moment the ancient graffiti covered train pulled into the station.  The empty train creaked and groaned as it hauled itself up into the mountains. This photo was taken moments after clearing a particularly long tunnel, when we were greeted by our first sight of snow on this cold Spring day.

I’m planning to write more about how to travel between Venice and Ljubljana (and also cram in a visit to Lake Bled) in a future post.