Blogs from Ljubljana, Upper Carniola, Slovenia, Europe - page 25

One thing I definitly appreciate so much about Ljubljana is that I have yet to leave the house without hearing some sort of beautiful or strange music, either drifting from the speakers of one of the thousand coffee shops here (NONE of which are Starbucks! Strike one for monopolies! muah ha ha ha...), from a flute or violin or any other random instrument whose case is lying open on the ground with hundreds of Tolars thrown in, or from some sort of small band playing to ever increasing crouds in the street. I hear accordions from my balcony, and yesterday I walked out of my gate to hear a construction worker belting out a beautiful opera song... It really is just a city that is somehow filled with music, and generally GOOD music too. Every ... read more

Since my last entry, I have been to lake Balaton, in Hungary, and Ptuj, Nazerje and Ljubljana in Slovenia. The sun has been kind and I have seen some interesting sights and done loads of biking (some great downhills on the ski slopes of mt Golte, in Slovenia). I have even been paragliding, which I enjoyed, but did not find as exciting as I expected. Balaton lake is huge. From where I camped, you could see water on the horizon in one direction. Whilst there I did a fair bit of biking, even some off-road. Saw some interesting cattle there, Nat, I challenge you to name the cow in the picture (not Daisy etc, but the breed). Stopped in the second main town of Keszthely at Balaton, which was ok. Moved on to Slovenia after a ... read more

Al went to catch up with another friend which meant she had catch a train back across to Paris where she´d already been. Claire and I decided that she was too smelly anyway, and continued without her, heading south to Slovenia. Just quickly, anyone travelling to Europe HAS to visit Slovenia and its capital Ljubljana. It´s awesome. Claire and I arrived reasonably late and went looking for a quick bite and a beer. This turned into just finding a pub and sinking lots of local brew. The next day we did the tourist thing and went to all the sites, incluiding (yes i have my guide book with me) St Nicholas´cathedral, Dragon Bridge, Cobblers Bridge, the castle, the three bridges and a heap of other lovely buildings. For night time fun, we had a traditional type ... read more

Took the train from Zagreb, the capital of Croatia to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia in the morning. Bought the train ticket at the train station just before departure. Wasn't a problem. Found the platform and boarded the train minutes before it pulled away. Shortly moving, the train stopped. It was time for an exit stamp courtesy of the Croatian Customs. We stayed on the train and a custom agent came by to check out and stamp our passports. Then moving again to the no-man's land (between the borders of the two countries) and the train stopped again. This time was more "serious" from the Slovenia Customs. There was even a police K-9 dog accompanied the agents. It was all courteous. We arrived in Vibriant Ljubljana few hours later. The train station was not too far ... read more

What can I say but I love Slovenia. I have had the most wonderful 24 hours, first with the party last night and then an amazing, culture-experiencing, death-defying, leg-burning hike today. Last night, after spending the day touring (see Beautiful Day entry) the city and doing a few errands, Simona took me out to a going away party for a student leaving for France for a year. The party was out at this little cabin/barn thing, and apparently the guy who was leaving invited everybody from his cell phone… even people he couldn’t remember who they were! Needless to say, there were a ton of people there, all getting pretty drunk and all waiting on this enormous stewing pot of traditional Slovenian Goulash. We drank good wine (they make excellent wines here mom!), and danced… even ... read more