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Published: July 19th 2008
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by anna (and david) June 10th-13th
After hiring a car in Munich, we headed down the sensational autobahns of Germany, into and across Austria, to Slovenia. All along the way we were entertained by carloads full of Spanish, Russian and Greek supporters, with flags flying out the windows, heading for the Euro Cup games in different parts of Austria and Switzerland. In between, we enjoyed the beautiful, lush countryside of Bavaria and Austria.
Almost as soon as we hit
Slovenia, it was obvious we were somewhere less affluent, but no less beautiful. Our first stop was Bled, where we checked into a hotel that felt like something out of a novel set in the 1960s, and we definitely brought down the average age (although not by much as we were well and truly out numbered).
The next day we explored
Bled, walking around the small lake (it only takes 1-1.5 hours, with lots of stopping and taking photos etc). With the mountains surrounding the lake, the cloudy, blue-green colour of the water, and the pictureque church perched on a tiny island in the middle of it all, Bled is a living postcard. It's hard to take it seriously.
We managed to for the morning, and then, feeling like we'd seen most of what it had to offer, we decided to explore the nearby Lake Bohinj.
Lake Bohinj came highly recommended, understandably, as it is a gorgeous, natural escape, quite different from Bled, surrounded almost entirely by trees rising into the sky up the side of the mountain. After surviving the breeze that attacked us as we ate our picnic lunch by the edge of the lake, we explored the waterfall nearby. Our timing left something to be desired as it started to rain about halfway up the mountain, and we spent some time at the top, admiring the cold, fresh water gushing from the side of the mountain slightly faster than it was gushing from the sky. Needless to say, we returned completely soaked. We didn't take our camera, so you'll just have to imagine. It may have been just as well!
The next day we headed for
Ljubljana, the gorgeous riverside capital of Slovenia. We loved it. Accomodation prices in Ljubljana are criminal so we stayed in a most bizarre hostal 20 minutes walk from the centre. It was in the fork of two rail
lines and next door to a dump / recycling plant. Still, the rooms were clean, and they had noise and light blockout shutters that worked a treat. It was worth it for the enthusiasm of our host who showed us to our room repeating what I think may have been the only English he knew: "very clean, very clean"!
We had a hearty lunch of game goulash and a plate of three wildmeats (boar, stag and deer apparently), where I was told quite firmly by the waiter that I didn't want to try the local 'teran' red wine, in a tone that left little choice. Afterwards, we spent the afternoon exploring
(the city centre around the river is probably the nicest I've seen in Europe), and watching the soccer before having one of the best falafels we've ever had. We bought them from an authentic looking, tiny turkish place where the falafels were made fresh, and the man behind the counter appreciated having some clients who asked for more chilli rather than none, as everyone else who walked in after us did
(it was great value too, 6 euros for the whole meal with a tasty backlava thrown in).
Hay stacks Slovenian style ...
... apparently these are quite distinct When the next day was miserable and rainy, we decided there was little for us to enjoy so we quickly checked out the Ljubljana castle (now really a function centre, after years of confused identity including being a prison, run down ruin, etc), before heading back towards Austria. Not keen to leave too soon, we travelled via the country roads
(fantastic country too) and found a little restaurant for lunch just before we hit the freeway. Another first for us was garlic soup with fried gorganzola. Go out of your way to try this if you ever get the chance. Divine!
After lunch we sped our way to
Graz, just inside the Austrian border, where we were to catch our flight to Croatia the next day. We spent the evening in the very funky hotel lobby in a death spiral of white wine spritzer shouts, with four Austrian lads on a boys weekend. We did go out for dinner for some great Greek food, which gave us a late night glimpse of Graz, and we really liked what we saw. It was a shame we didn't have more time. Still, next stop, Croatia, and our beloved Vis ...
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