When did you fall in love with Postojna Cave?

I used to go on a lot of trips with my family, but Postojna Cave was never something you ‘just went to’. It was something special, magnificent. And when we finally did go to Postojna Cave, we got on the cave train, and there was this guide waiting for us, clad in a uniform from the olden days and a cap on his head. I can still vividly remember standing at the Skyscraper (the tallest stalagmite in Postojna Cave), amazed by it, and I decided at that very moment “I'm going to work here!” It’s probably no coincidence that I later fell in love with a caver who worked in Postojna Cave. And one day, when he was taking visitors on an adventure cave tour, he invited me along, “Come, you’ll help me out with a few words in Italian here and there.” And that’s when I became part of the team! 24 years ago!! Those were the days. And they still are.

Postojna Cave has been a really big part of your lives – and one of the things that proves it is the fact that you got married inside the cave.

That’s right, our wedding in Postojna Cave was an extraordinary event, as couples hadn’t really been getting married here. A beautiful and unforgettable event. Of all the weddings I’ve been to, our wedding is still the best one. We took the cave train to the cave interior and we made our wedding vows at the Balvedere. I think the cave is a good metaphor for the eternity you promise your spouse when you get married.

The wedding apart, the cave has impacted your family’s life in other ways...

If you want to be a Postojna Cave guide, you have to like caves. There’s no doubt about that. Even when we go on holiday as a family, we always visit caves. “Where there is a cave, there is our family!” But for someone to show you something as big as our cave – there is no such thing. Of all the show caves in Africa, across Europe, the islands, Germany, Sicily, Dalmatia... Postojna Cave is unlike any others. Postojna Cave is always the same. It never disappoints. It is different precisely because everything is always the same. It’s difficult to explain this to someone who doesn’t understand it. It’s a safe haven. Over time, you are drawn in by its ambience. I would find it hard to live without Postojna Cave. Very hard. Inside the cave, I can put a mirror in front of me and say to myself, “This is me.”

But do you ever get tired of it?

No, never. The cave is the best! This is where you get all the news, all the gossip. It’s better than at the hairdresser’s! The hairdresser is the local scene. Here, you get to hear the world news.

The test of new cave guides involves a bit of a prank. Usually, the head guide would call the cave using a landline phone and instruct the new guide to take a stick and open a hatch at the top of the Great Mountain – the highest point of the underground world – to ventilate the cave. Of course, there’s no such thing as a hatch in the cave, but the new guide had quite a hard time searching the entire cave ceiling.

What makes a good cave tour guide?

All of us Italian-speaking cave guides are loud and even without a microphone we drown out all the other guides with a microphone. The content is important, but even more so to be sensitive to the people around you, to be able to anticipate a certain situation before it comes to it. Not to be awkward up there in the front, like during the first year when we were just starting out... You have to like people and you have to like company. And, of course, you have to know the countries that the cave visitors are from. The Italians love mentioning their Grotte di Frasassi: “Ma non sono così belle!” And they may think you are a bit of a numpty, if you don’t know what they are talking about, don’t you think? You must love the country where the visitors are from!