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Published: August 15th 2012
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King of Slovenia
atop the Ljubljana Castle July 18th: Got ticket booked to Zagreb, though it was a mission! The ticket area had 3 windows open and they all had very old people in front of them... who STAYED in front of them... eventually one kind old chap stood aside and let me through so that I could buy my ticket and leave, and he could get back to talking to the person at the ticket window. I asked what times the train runs (it's an open ticket, I can use it on any of the Ljubljana-Zagreb services) the ticket lady pointed and said "information" so I dutifully wandered through to the "I" stand, they shook thier heads, pointed and said "train information" what a very compartmentalised station!
I've got a full day of Ljubljana ahead so I went with the lazy option and had Maccas for breakfast... they seem to have high ideas about McDonalds here, and I appreciate the effort; tablecloths, classical music, some table service... a far cry from sitting at a grubby table, having waited at the counter for your burger (trying not to look impatient) having to listen to Justin Bieber going on about his "shortie" at high volume!
Had a walk through
Ljubljana
photo taken from the 3 bridges the old town and saw "the 3 bridges" ...apparently the 3 bridges are a bit of a tourist attraction, though it really just looks like a case of poor town planning by a council with an excessive bridge budget!
~Later~
Up at the Ljubljana Castle, there's a little train that carts tourists up here, but really it's not an uphill that'd kill you (unless you're that way inclined). The castle is kind of weird; there is history here because the Romans and Ghengis Kahn have both been around, plus a 5,000 year old wagon wheel was pulled out of the ground here in the last century or so, but the castle itself has been knocked down and rebuilt so many times and stuffed full of modern bits and bobs that it's hard to know what you're looking at half the time. I must say though that I approve of the castle tower... having been up so many towers where they have fences and wire mesh and barriers etc it's nice to go up a tower that you can lean over the edge of and (if you so desired) throw yourself off of.
Back down the hill, through the
Cockta Cola!
that refreshing syruppy taste market and into the National Museum, partly because I want to check it out and partly for the shade... sunny sunny day!
~Laterer~
Just looked at a mummy and an excavated grave from the town of Bled from the 6th-11th century (that's a bit vague) it's so perfectly preserved, clothing fragments and bones. The museum has a range of stone items from the first couple of centuries AD, Roman stuff... as usual it reminds me that NZ really is at the kiddie-table when it comes to history.
~Even Later~
Had a hot pastry thing for lunch and a container of fruit pices that maybe should have been thrown away a day or so ago, washed it all down with Slovenia's answer to cocoa cola (and a very good answer it is too) cockta cola. Taking a quick break to refill water bottle and re-apply sunblock then I'm off to the zoo!! I wish I got this much done in every city I visited... oh I almost forgot, I also went and saw the national art gallery before lunch.
~Later, at the zoo...~
Whoever came up with the phrase "take the bull by the horns" has
poor spat on bears
i hope they get the chance to take their revenge! clearly never seen a bull or its horns!
The long hot walk out was worth it, lots of cool animals, these tiny little squirrel monkeys, bears, some sealions who just sat around being fat lazy bastards (typical sealions). It was annoying though, some parents seemed to get to the zoo and think "oh good, I don't need to be a parent for the next wee while" kids were screaming at animals, banging the glass/cages, and I even saw one mother laughing while her son spat reapeatedly on one of the bears. Of course I don't speak any Slovenian so I couldn't tell her that she's a horrible person and her son is the next rung down that particular ladder... instead I had to settle for pushing the little shit into the bear enclosure and watching as they tore his body to pieces, stupid baseball cap and all... at least in my head I did. In reality I just glared at them and went off to look at the owls.
~Later~
The walk back was nice... the day had cooled off enough that I didn't have to try and cling to the shade too much. The walk is really lovely, the zoo is outside the city, past a this big wooded hill.
After today my feet are feeling the burn, so I'm treating myself to beer and a sit-down dinner!
I'm eating at a riverfront restaurant and it's really nice (even though I'm by myself), one little gripe: I accept smokers because I used to be one and I AM eating outside after all but the guy at the next table seems to have the annoying habit of lighting up his ciggie, taking one drag and then sits there with is in his hand while he talks so that instead of all the smoke getting puffed out forwards it all more or less drifts back directly into my face while I'm eating, grrr, smoke it or stub it mofo! Luckily the food was brilliant, hmm tortillas.
Hmm so anyway, final thoughts on Slovenia; it's not cheap (somebody lied to me) not that it's
hugely expensive either though some of the touristy stuff seems a tad overpriced (mind you it's still cheaper than Edinburgh castle)!
It's a compact place so you can really do most of it in a day if you have the energy. And last but not least, animals should roam free while children are put in the zoo to be screamed at and possibly spat on by bears.
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