Kicking Back in Great Little City

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For the last six days I’ve been in Ljubljana, Slovenia. I know, most of you have never heard of the country, let alone the city. That’s a shame because this is a really happening place. It’s located with Austria north, Italy west, Hungary east and Croatia south. It’s a very easy country to be in because most people speak English and are modern in dress and other ways too, yet it’s unique.

The city feels more like a town with a HUGE outdoor local market that has the best selection of fresh produce including cherries, strawberries, melons and peaches. Everything is ripe and sweet because it’s not imported from far away. The greens are also wonderful and they have these cute little crooked potatoes that are so tasty.

The indoor market is next door and individual vendors sell meats, cheeses, creams, yogurts, custards, butter--all bulk and unprocessed, unpackaged, unhomogenized and delicious. They have many kinds of bread (the dark grain is great), cookies, cakes, dried fruits & nuts. Every American staying here says “the yogurt is soooo good, the cheese is delicious, the creams and butter are super.” We all wish things at home could taste so good.

A large river runs through the town and there's a castle above. Rivers and castles seem to be the European mainstay. All of the action is down by the river. Young and old are out walking or riding their bikes--for which they have many bike paths here. It’s a young town and thousands come out at night to relax, eat ice cream and listen to music.

ICE CREAM. Eating this is a national past time. Every other person you see has a cone in his or her hand. Most Slovenians will tell you it’s better than in Italy but I beg to differ. It is very good though and it’s everywhere. You cannot walk down a short street without finding 4-5 vendors. They have these somewhat portable ice cream units which hold 10-16 flavors.

Outdoor cafes are the big thing here and with the World Cup going on, most places have a big screen TV set up outside for all the fans. The British guys staying here last night were very bummed about Britain’s loss to Sweden. Everyone’s into it.

The place where I’m staying is called the Most Hostel. It’s good name because Nada, the lady who runs it is fantastic. She was worried about me on the first day because I had missed the earlier train from Vienna and got in late. She and a girl Emily, who was staying here, were heading out for dinner and asked me to join them. It was an excellent meal at a Slovenian restaurant up an alley and around the corner from here—50 meters. The walls and ceilings were curved in brick and very old. My dish was swiss chard, over potatoes with prosciutto on top. Rich and salty but very good.

Nada has put a lot of care into the hostel since she opened it a year ago. She is cheerful, warm person with an open mind and big heart. The kitchen is the best I’ve seen so far—it even has granite countertops. And the tub—it’s this Italian model with an acrylic cylinder enclosure (instead of shower curtain) that can spray you from every direction. It’s the talk of the hostel—and jets in the tub too. The place has wood floors, large wooden windows a big chandelier in our eight-person dorm filled with bunk beds. How’s that for class?

I’m loving the hostel life. The people staying are mostly young, interesting and very nice. Most are considerate and quiet when they come in late or leave early. The places people come from are mainly England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, Canada and the U.S. There was a couple from Iceland a few days ago and two guys from Turkey just showed up today. Nada said they are the first she’s had from Turkey. Sometimes parents are with their grown children. A brother and sister are now here from the U.S. (Mesa, AZ). Katie’s only 18 and just graduated and Michael’s a little older. I showed her how to sew on a button. Her brother made French toast earlier and because we didn’t have syrup or jam, we all made a delicious compote with what we had—cherries, apricots and orange juice. It was better than anything we could have bought.

Emily left this morning. We spent several evenings talking and strolling down by the river looking for the best ice cream and deciding which new flavor to try. These are the major decisions we have to make—oh, and where to eat dinner. She is a very interesting girl who finished her college studies in literature with poetry as her specialty. She is now heading to Lebanon to study a famous poet who has won national French awards and draws crowds of 4000 to his recitals. I had never heard of him-Mahmoud Darwish. She encouraged me to come to Lebanon as she will be there for five weeks but I think it will be too hot. I'm not even sure if I'll go to Egypt for the same reason.

It has been very hot lately which colors everything you do because it’s humid and you can’t spend much time outside in mid day. Other travelers are reporting that it’s hot all over Europe. A few days ago, I took the bus to the main shopping mall and spent the whole afternoon in an air-conditioned mall. It was heavenly.

Last night Nada invited me to a new restaurant and insisted on paying. It was a delicious traditional Slovenian meal. Their specialty is game meats—wild boar, venison etc. They also had horsemeat on the menu. I know this will bother many of you, as it did me, but they do eat it here. The meal was very good but rich and salty with sauces, sliced polenta and dumplings. The best thing on the plate was a cooked cherry compote sauce.

We walked away stuffed—no ice cream on this night. We meandered up a new street in the town and ended up at the train station where I bought a ticket to my next destination which is Croatia.

An Aussie couple stayed here a couple of nights ago. They were just coming from a week’s cruise along the coast of Croatia. I contacted that company’s website and booked a sailing cruise with them starting June 24th. The trip begins in Split and continues to Debrovnik and stops in a new port every night. It includes breakfast, lunch and plenty of seafood. The cooks and crew are local and very good. I’m getting an above deck cabin with a bathroom which I will share with someone, thereby avoiding the single supplement. All this for 300 GBP ($555).

Booking last minute really helped me because they gave me a fantastic deal. Tomorrow I catch a train to Zagreb the capital of Croatia and then on to the coast to Split. Today I bought some shorts and sun block and someone left a diving mask here. So I’m set and will catch up with you in a week or more.

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