by Susan McKee

It's just a mosaic design in the pavement now, but until 1990 the line in front of the historic railway station at Piazza Transalpina was an actual wall dividing Western Europe from the communist East. On the Italian side of the Iron Curtain is the city of Gorizia, and on the Yugoslavian side, Nova Gorica, Slovenia. As late as last year, taking the train from Trieste to Ljubljana meant getting off at the main station in Gorizia and taking a taxi across the border to the much smaller Slovenian train station to continue the journey.

For 2006, its centennial year, the Transalpina Rail Line is once again connected between Italy and Slovenia, and it's possible to cross the border by train. In commemoration, special "Oldtimer" runs are scheduled between May and September - using an historic steam engine from the Railway Museum of Ljubljana to pull the cars along the three-hour scenic route from the Isonzo River valley to the resort town of Bled in the Julian Alps.

The journey chugs along the Soca and Sava river valleys, crossing the elegantly arcaded bridge of Solkan and tunneling through almost four miles of mountain at Podbrdo. The fast-moving river water glows an unearthly emerald from all the calcium carbonate leached from the surrounding limestone mountains.

Between the rivers is Triglav National Park, Slovenia's only national park. Covering 324 square miles, it includes almost all of the Julian Alps. The highest point, Mount Triglav is 9,400 feet.

The region is known for outdoor sports. On the rivers, there are options for kayaking, canoeing, rafting and canyoning. Outfitters offer hang-glider lessons. Mountain bike and hiking trails abound. In the winter, there's skiing, snowboarding, dogsledding, snowshoeing and ice climbing.

My destination was the spa town of Bled, where an ancient stone castle sets on a rocky bluff towers over a picturesque village on the shores of an alpine lake. Three thermal springs are channeled into the pools of local hotels.

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