Italy's Secret Road To Slovenia - The Sella Carnizza Motorcycle Touring

Today we are going to Slovenia. So we've woken up in the beautiful Dolomites. We stayed on a hotel right on one of the main passes near Cortina and we spent the past two days riding through some incredible roads in the Dolomite region. But today we're going to be leaving Italy and heading to Ljubljana. So we're going to spend the morning riding through a few more passes in Italy then hopefully we'll make our way to Kranska Gorge, up to Lake Bled and then drop down to Ljubljana. So of course we're going to take you all with us but we need to get packed up first. I'm going to put my suit on and enjoy a few more minutes looking at these incredible views of the Dolomites and then we're going to head on head on off. I think we need to pick up fuel straight away and then get on the road and make our way to Slovenia. So we have ridden around an hour from Cortina through some lovely little Italian villages, very rural Italy, loads of Dolomite views and now we've arrived at our first pass of the day which is Passo Marura, M-A-U-R-I-A I think it's spelt, and we're about to hit this for around 54 kilometers which sounds pretty awesome if you ask me. They're doing a lot of roadworks on this road though so we'll see how the conditions go from there. Yeah it's going to be good, we're heading in the direction of Slovenia and tonight we're going to be staying in So it's a long ride today but it's going to be fun because the roads look really cool, the route looks good too. Another great little town we're just riding through. Yeah this is very typical of the region, we've ridden through about I think 10 of these little towns already today. Quite rustic, a lot of old building techniques, the ones that are still standing look really good don't they? Yeah very traditional a lot of them, not so many of the restaurants open yet, I still think it's quite early season for them. It appears to be. So you guys normally don't hear us much when we're on the passes because we normally put like a movie montage with music over the top but a lot of the time, especially on these tight twisty roads, this one's not too bad. Sean and I do a lot of communication between the two of us of what's going on around and I try and look up the of the passes as a pillion so Sean can focus on the turn and let him know what's coming around the corner and it helps you a little bit doesn't it Sean? Yeah it's quite useful at times when I can look where I'm going instead of trying to see if there's any like big log in trucks or you know any cars on the wrong side of the road so yeah it's quite useful. Just something that maybe you and your pillion can try out when you're on the passes is getting them a little bit more involved in the riding technique. Yeah also if your pillion is is keeping an eye out on what's coming up they can prepare themselves in case there's going to be any sudden braking or anything so they're not like all of a sudden headbutting you in the back of the head or pushing you forward in the seat they can brace for some braking as well or any dips in the road or things. Absolutely. So we've just reached the top of the pass and I think we're heading downhill from this point if you can see on the sat-nav there we've got some quite rough surfaces and on the sat-nav is some spaghetti road coming up. Yeah this road hasn't seen better days it's a bit of a patchwork quilt with many little crack lines in it. This is another typical Dolomite village lots of wooden cladded balconies lots of the stone the stone's really nice I like that it looks really good you got my gloves? Yeah I got your gloves up Fred but it was a nice little town this wasn't it? Yeah it was really cute stop had a pharmacy a supermarket and a cafe everything you need. So we are just starting on the pass that will take us all the way to Slovenia we're heading over the border in the direction of a place called Bovec and this pass I'm not too sure if it has a name or anything but basically we're going to be on it for around 60 kilometers lovely alpine roads they're doing some roadworks on it at the moment so there was a bit of a traffic light and it's 31 degrees it is hot hot today yeah the traffic light was actually counting down in minutes not seconds so it looks like the people have been waiting for quite a while unfortunately we turned up when it had about 60 seconds left so that's nice perfect timing but the the water colour in the the river to the right of us is mostly dried up but what is there is this lovely turquoise blue colour which is supposed to be quite renowned in this area so I think it's going to be a really spectacular ride into Slovenia this path is looking absolutely awesome we are in the middle of the forest in an area of Italy we really haven't been able to explore much yet this is a tiny road very narrow we've got um a gorge next to us with a river running through like over the rocks quite like a little stream I guess mountains all around us the trees surrounding us road conditions are good a couple of bumps yeah they're good it's it's quite a rustic road because this obviously it's leading to Slovenia so it's not like a well-used road that we use in the motorways nowadays so yeah it's it's a really nice peaceful road we've got a few bikers in front of us two bikers behind us Evan and Wendy got a little convoy of uh five of us and it is it's gone up again the temperature it's so hot oh yeah it's pushing 30 now but it's uh yeah it's a nice road it feels a little bit more like an adventure it's a great way to cross the country border isn't it for a little road like this yeah so exciting looks like we're about to just drive straight into a wall of rock doesn't it it does actually I don't know how we're gonna get through that oh very sharp turn coming up I think yeah a real sharp one final section of Slovenia but I've got a real adventure up there you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere yeah the uh the road seemed better days there's some huge potholes there and they were really tight switchbacks as well so have to pick your line to avoid the holes and get up the hill at the same time but thank goodness there's not much traffic here because otherwise it might be a bit of a nightmare but all in all what a fun road nice place to be looks like it's very popular with hikers and just an awesome adventure hey yeah absolutely great way to cross countries we have just passed the sign up for Slovenia so hopefully we're not too far away you can barely fit one bike on these roads I know it looks like it used to be like a almost like a roundabout the road is about to get tight again there's lots of little squiggles on but I don't think that happens they're just it's just weaving its way through now but what a lovely way to enter Slovenia I wouldn't like to drive a car or a camper van down here I think you might have to reverse a few times there were signs wasn't there that said even cyclists weren't allowed on this yeah for some reason cyclists were forbidden maybe it's because the road was a bit I think we're entering a different community but look at that it looked quite aggressive written in red it did this is amazing it's almost like a bobsleigh track isn't it with the the concrete either side it has been winding roads like this for about 20 minutes it feels never-ending this is the coolest road to change into a country possibly ever I cannot wait to see the border it is it feels like a road that you smuggle things into the border across the border let's call it smugglers pass is this the way to Slovenia I hope they've got a phone I hope they've got some pretty good beer dreaming dreams of Slovenia and sweet piran that waits for me here's the high security border crossings here's the sign gorge road that leads you all the way up to the northern part of Slovenia bordering Austria and from there we will probably be jumping on the motorway very briefly but it's Slovenian motorway so it's not a big motorway like you think to Lake Bled and then from Lake Bled we will jump onto a big motorway where we'll be going to Ljubljana for the evening but we're going to be enjoying this cranks for board for now so far we are just entering um so so far so far um and it is absolutely stunning the road is right next to the gorge where you can see all of the turquoise water rolling through and the rocks and then you've got the Slovenian mountains yeah it's looking like a spectacular ride again you just get glimpses of that water every now and again and it's so lush here it's really green we think they must have had all of the water from the winter time has made it all nice and lush and we're heading going up some higher altitude again I think now hopefully it's going to drop in temperature it's a nice road this one nice and long and like twists lots of places to pull over and it's a quite a casual cruise through isn't it a nice day like this nothing too tasking just nice scenery and a great road surface too Slovenia have got really good roads just having a quick rest to stretch the legs before we hit the switchbacks 20 switchbacks coming up as we go up this mountain but look how insanely clear the water is here it's such a beautiful area of Slovenia we are just entering the big switchback section of the Cranksville gorge it really does I don't know if this part of the forest is on fire but let's hope it's just one of those log cabins cooking something on the stove gained altitude so quickly got a itchy nose all right next switchback clear this is your second time then riding this road Sean yeah I think I rode this one a long time ago on my S3000 I vaguely remember I think when we go down the other side it's cobblestones if I remember right oh got another hairpin here clear you're gonna give them the thumbs up yeah good call like Sean mentioned before part of this path is in cobbles if you did remember correctly I did 10 points is it just the hairpins we've done in cobbles I think yeah it's just the bits where you need the most grip they're poor slippy cobbles it's all right they're quite grippy it looks like the hairpins are all cobbles this area is absolutely stunning it is a nature outdoor lover and a motorcyclist's dream there's just gigantic peaks everywhere and they're so different from the Dolomites they're not as sharp on the peak they're a the switchbacks are really cool nice and easy as well nothing too taxing and we're finally back down onto the valley level we stopped by this little town here because we saw a supermarket because we want to grab something to eat plan for this afternoon is to head over to Lake Bled we're going to do a whole lap of the lake and then afterwards we're going to head on to Ljubljana where we're going to stay tonight so it's almost three o'clock now so I think we're making good time that we can be in Ljubljana for enough time to enjoy the city this afternoon it's great to be back in Slovenia I've forgotten how much of a beautiful country is every street you go down is perfectly clean all the buildings maintained the streets are fantastic and the roads oh yeah they're perfect they really are I really like Slovenia anyway we've been on the road now for another 20 minutes since we stopped for some lunch at the supermarket and we're about nine minutes away from Lake Bled just approaching the lake you can already see the famous castle on the rock there so the water should just be below it we're going to drop down there in a few minutes now I hope it's a bit cooler down there because it's getting to 31 degrees up here it's getting hot so we have just been pleasantly reminded about why we travel in the mesh suits because we always ride with like a little vest on or shorts underneath and it is 32 33 degrees today we are sweating it's so hot we've literally pulled the bikes right here Lake Bled is right here and we've just stopped at a coffee shop grabbed two coffees Sean got a black black americano on ice I got rice milk and we've both been able to take off our suits I don't know if we're gonna get them back on no I ain't taking my socks off as I don't think I'll get the socks back on oh it's nice Evan and Wendy have gone for a little splash in the lake if they can get their pants off that is uh but Lake Bled is such a beautiful place it's so nice here but it gets so so busy here and it's quite difficult to pull in this spot that we found is actually quite good for the camping site but they waved us through um last time we were here you were able to to ride around the entire lake but it looks like they've closed it off now so you can only get this far if you head towards the camping so we have to do a little detour and come back in but I think we're only going to be in here for another what 15 20 minutes and then we're going to head to Ljubljana all right right here we are enjoying Lake Bled partly clothed so we're here at Lake Bled we are in the lake kind of we're in our under garments from our bike suits um it is very busy I think we just mentioned it before we were up there but yeah it's just like all tranquil tranquil tranquil nightmare it's definitely not our scene to stick around here but it's nice to put our feet in there are quieter places on the lake but there is no parking to get to them even with the bike everything's like cornered off or gravel is tricky to park here this time maybe off season as always early or late in the season we're in the peak season here or getting to the peak season so he's getting really busy yeah but it's beautiful definitely worth a stop in the lake dip your feet in and then get back on your bike and continue on which is what we're gonna do we're gonna put our suits back on and we're head ahead to Ljubljana it's been quite a big day today it's been a really big day but it's been incredible yeah we left the dolomites this morning nine o'clock a.m. 9 a.m. this morning and it's just coming up to 5 p.m. now the other guys have done really well there's some quite different riding to what they were used to but they've done great there's Evan and Wendy yeah it's been awesome to experience this with them and it's awesome to see everybody having such a great time on the lake but we're gonna head off now there's not many places you can pull over and stop around Lake Bled but we've just quickly parked here not going to get off the bike though and we've got a great view of the church on the island i've never noticed before there's a little staircase running straight up to it and there's the castle and the onder the castle you can actually walk up to it's actually a very short little hike we did that i think last year or the year before last that also gives you some good views yeah well it's time to press on to Ljubljana okay we are just pulling off the motorway and heading into the city centre of Ljubljana so city mode is activated i don't think Ljubljana is too bad of a capital city not like the ones we've been used to in italy and spain anyway yeah should be a fairly casual ride up to the hotel and then we're gonna have the quickest wash-up ever head straight out into the city and find some food because i think we're all getting a bit hungry yeah it's gonna have to be a quick turnaround i think today uh took a little bit longer than we expected there was a lot of there was a lot of slow roads in fairness but it was well worth it because we had a great ride you'll all know from our previous videos maybe from the head in east tour and from our instagram if you're following us there that we love Ljubljana we've been here so many times Sean's been here on his own and before we were married i've been here we absolutely love this it's probably one of our favorite capital cities in europe because it doesn't feel like a capital city i guess it's still really small even though it's um it's the capital of slovenia so we aren't going to spend too much time in the city here we will come back and do a city tour for you one day but tonight we just want to go and grab some food and then in the morning we're going to be going to our favorite coffee shop in all of europe and that will be in the next vlog but we're nearly in the city center now we've got about nine minutes left that was a quick turnaround i think 20 minutes from unpacking to shower and changed and we are this hotel is really nice it's got lots and lots of character i don't know what the building used to be used as but it feels like it was a school or something it's got multiple levels but there was no lift so we had to carry the panniers up three levels but it's a nice workout we've booked a reservation at a place called gaudian non for dinner where sean and i went um a year ago and we absolutely adored it so we're going back there for dinner is it the heading east tour was the last so yeah we're staying at the galleria river on the third floor with great views there's no official bike parking but you can chain them outside to the cycle what they call yeah bicycle bicycle places that's what we've done anyway so yeah and we're only like a two minute walk into town some cities are really dependable you can just keep coming back to them and they're just the same exactly as they were the last time and lubiana is no exception it's absolutely spotless here and it's just got the best vibe in all of europe i think lubiana is my favorite european city everything about it has so much character it's authentic the people here so the indian people are wonderful it has the best coffee and it is also really reasonable it's not overpriced in any way and if we don't mind one hell of a slog home we can get home in about eight hours well yeah absolutely fantastic city if you haven't been to lubiana you have to check this place out it's one of our favorites so we are at gaudi and non and i like i said came here a year ago and it's one of my favorite restaurants i've ever been to in europe and tonight they have their famous tasting menu so you've got a full course or a six course we are going for the six course because it's my favorite place so we've got smoked rolls gnocchi it's all plant-based and vegan here and they also have a chocolate tart for dessert for drinks i have gone for something a little bit unusual it is the kombucha hot grammy which is kind of it's a kombucha but it's very very spicy which is unique and sean also grabbed a beer which is the fruitpocalypse now which looks like this which looks really cool so we are gonna order our dinner and have a very relaxing evening it's so warm we're sat outside in a really cute courtyard here in lubiana and just enjoy a few hours