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Published: September 28th 2007
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Ljublijana Dragon
Ljublijana's town 'mascot', on Dragon Bridge. Ever since I decided to go to Europe there was one place, that at one particular time, that i just had to be. That place is here, and that time is now, but I'll get to that later.
So from Split I went to Ljublijana via Zagreb. I can't say i enjoyed the transit, but i can say that it was eventful (in a very uneventful kind of way). The train from Split to Zagreb somehow managed to crash into a car. Noone was hurt (or so they told us), but we had to wait a few hours while the police came to do a routine check - apparrently the situation is not uncommon at all. Then the train ride from Zagreb to Ljublijana was crowded and full of drunk people - not a good combination. But in the end we made it to our destination, and that's all that matters. The group I was with had a reservation at a hostel already, so I followed them there to save myself from trying to locate one by myself.
Ljublijana, Slovenia's capital, was a great place to chill out for a few days before I headed out to Munich. I spent the
Ljublijana Castle
Taken from the Castle tower. first day checking out what the city had to offer. Plenty of bridges, beautiful colourful houses, a lovely park and Ljublijana castle. The walk up the castle was a good one (who's idea was it to plunk every single castle utop the highest cliff they could find - military advantages or not!), and the views made it all worthwhile. I dropped into the national museum expecting to read all about the recent wars, but instead all i got was an exhibition on the history of coins. It seems Slovenia has been mad about coins since they adopted the Euro earlier this year.
The next day I took the bus to Lake Bled. Bled was definetly one of the most beautiful places I've been so far. After heading to the information point, and being told that the walk up to, through and back from Vintgar gorge was a 5 hour trip (and that I should definetly hire a bike from their shop), I set off. Two and a half hours later I was back and thanking myself I didn't hire a bike (navigating the narrow walkways and slippery rocks on a bike would have taken me 5 hours!). It was an
Horse Burger
It was a pretty delicious way of spending 3. awesome walk, the way there was straight up the mountain with views overlooking the lake and the walk through the gorge was an amazing trip along the fast moving Vintgar river. The walkways often crossed over the river and its waterfalls, and I was always thankfull that they somehow didn't collapse as I crossed them. After the walk through the gorge I still had plenty of time, so I spent the rest of the day by walking up to the castle and back (yet another steep climb up a cliff), and by wandering around the lake.
By the end of the day I was stuffed and looking forward to sleeping on the bus as I made my way to Munich. What I should have remembered (I've taken enough buses by now), is that any form of sleep, on any bus, anywhere in Europe is impossible. Full stop. So I wasn't in a great mood when i got to Munich at 2am, and i started regretting my decision of taking the bus that got in at 2, instead of the train that got in at 6am, all to save myself 20€. But there's no regrets when you're travelling, so I found
Streets of Ljublijana
I never get tired of the colourful streets of Europe. myself an empty bench, put on an extra jumper and pair of pants, and begun yet another night of sleeping at the bus station. At least I was undercover.
The next morning, after very little sleep, I met the man who I have been staying with during my time in Munich (fantastic person!), dropped off my bags, and went on a wander to re-aquaint myself with the wonderful city that is München. As I expected the town was now full of people, and they were all heading in one direction - towards the festival grounds. Oktoberfest is held at Theresienweise, the festival grounds built when King Ludwig married Princess Theresa. Their wedding celebration become an annual event, and these days it is the largest festival in Europe! The Oktoberfest is full of beer halls, pretzel stalls, carnival rides and Germans in Lederhosen. Everyone is singing, music is coming out of all the beer halls and all the Americans are walking around in T-shirts reading "I survived Oktoberfest!" (Oktoberfest has been the only place I've been to where the American tourists outnumber the Australians). A stroll into one of the beer halls will take you into a world in itself. People
Lake Bled
Who's idea was it to build the church in the middle of the lake? are everywhere, smells of roasting pork and chicken waft towards you, and the Oompah band is getting the crowd riled up with all the traditional tunes. And that is just how I've been spending my time. Each day brings a new beer hall, and 10,000 more people to meet.
Speaking of beer, the Oktoberfest beer is better than any I've had before. It might have something to do with the centuries old Bavarian law that dictates that beer brewed in Bavaria (southern Germany) is not allowed to contain any ingredients apart from a combination of millet, hops and water. But don't think i've been doing nothing but drinking beer all day long. I've eaten a lot of sausages as well!
Plus, I even went to a museum yesterday. It was the Deutches museum - a museum on the history of technology. The museum was enormous, I only managed to get through two of the six floors in the four hours I had before the museum closed, but it was a good way to take a break from the rowdy festivities.
Tomorrow (being my last day here) will kick off at 5am to coincide with the kick off of the AFL
Triglav National Park
Bled was almost completely surrounded by moutains. grand final (screening here live at Ned Kelly's bar), followed by an after-celebration of breakfast, lunch and dinner at the festival. (Having lived in Geelong for 6 years i suppose i better be supporting the cats - as much as i hate to admit it!)
Then on Sunday I'll be off to St. Johann for some much needed R&R in the beautiful mountains of Austria.
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murphy
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nyce werk