Blogs from Upper Carniola, Slovenia, Europe - page 47

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Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Ljubljana July 19th 2006

Geo: 46.0514, 14.506Goodbye Greenwich! Next time I will actually get around to seeing the local attractions and the park. Caught the train to Luton airport. With Wizzair I wizzed all the way to Ljublana. We flew quite low and saw lots of mountains, towns in the valleys and a bit of snow on mountain tops. Caught a bus from the airport to the city. Then a non-English speaking taxi driver took me as close as he could to my hostel and gave me directions- speaking to me in a slow, loud voice doesn't mean that I will understand Slovene!! Made it to the hostel, all I had to do was walk over a bridge and past a few cafes along the canal. This hostel is in a great location- on the canal, in the middle of ... read more
02 Hill
03 Floral bridge
04 Dragon

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Kranjska Gora July 8th 2006

Today began with Grega, Miha, and Helena picking me up at 9 am. This was quite a controversy during the lunchtime discussion two days earlier: Marija had voted for 7am, Helena for 8, and Grega, indignant and young, for 10. A compromise was in order. We headed northwest towards Kranjska Gora. (As a side note, when we stopped for gas and snacks, I was absolutely thrilled to find that Milka brand also has a white chocolate candy bar "Mit Limetta & Gruner Tee" - with lime and green tea; damn, where's that umlaut when you need it? It was to die for). The first stop was Planica, which at 239m is the world record-holding ski jump. And we climbed it. I was mildly pleased that I did not have a coronary halfway up, and celebrated accordingly ... read more
Token lame ski jump pose
Ruska kapelica
Road closed

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Ljubljana July 7th 2006

Darja and I went out for lunch today to a place in Moste called Piazza. It was so fricking cute, I wanted to scream. It looked like a little rustic Italian villa inside, complete with grapevines etc. Darja kept with the Slovenian tradition of ordering a fried egg of top of her pizza, while I decided to be experimentally vegetarian and get the Piazza San Domenico, which had zucchini, arugula, and various assorted greens on top. It was excellent... and that was my serving of vegetables for the month ;). I went back to Majda's house for a catnap. An hour later or so, Grega, Miha, and Jaka picked me up for a night out. Jaka, although the youngest, was obviously the ringleader, so we hit up some of his favorite spots. The first was Cafe ... read more
Out with the guys at Cafe Bolivar
Enjoying a Croatian "fourth meal" ;)

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Ljubljana July 6th 2006

Sorry that I couldn't find a better song quote: I hate that song, but I am trying to update this quickly. Today I spent a good 3 hours or so trying to post photos onto my previous posts. Yeah, so that didn't work so well. I will try again once I have this group of photos loaded onto a CD. I went over my mother's father's family's house for lunch. Marija, the same cousin who took me to dinner the night before, cooked wiener schnitzel and potatoes for lunch. Also there were Teta Ana, my mother's aunt, and three of my "cousins" around my age: Grega (Greg), Miha (Mike), and Jaka (Jake). Teta Ana is so sweet and was so happy to see me; she likes to bring up family history and the war, much to ... read more
All in the family
Darja, the superbowler
At the Sladoledni Vrt

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Ljubljana July 5th 2006

I dont know who sings that song, but I remember them playing it as a teaching exercise when I was studying here a few years back, and now it obnoxiously runs through my head whenever I am here. Kind of a weird song about the singer"s car being too small to fit all her friends who wanted to go out to downtown Ljubljana with her. Anyway, today has been sort of a reorientation to the city. I am staying at the house of my mother" maternal cousins. In the house live Majda (Maria - I will attempt to give rough translations of names and places), her husband Rudi, her sister Anka (Anna), daughter Katja (Katie), and mother Francka (Frances). Majda, Rudi and their grandsons are already on the beach in Croatia; Rudi will come later on ... read more
Fruc and mestni burek
Rollin' down the river
Ron the dog

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Bled June 22nd 2006

Slovenia really makes me happy!! But first I should talk about my time in Budapest... So after waking up obscenely early (like 4am, after staying up packing until 1am) to get to the airport and flying to Budapest, and then eventually finding my hostel I was decidedly tired and ended up doing exactly nothing on my first day in Hungary. I spent alot of time on the internet writing the last blog entry and looking up places to go after Budapest. Talking to the owner of the Hostel about where I should go, he strongly suggested sarajevo... said it was amazing and that I should go there before everyone finds it... all I could think of was poor mum and dad having concurrent heart attacks if I told them I was going to sarajevo. So i ... read more
Castle
Novelty Over-sized Communist Statue
Communist Statue in the foreground...

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Ljubljana June 21st 2006

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, straw... read more

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Bled June 10th 2006

Paa anbefaling fra onkel Odd la vi, som skrevet i forrige innlegg, turen innom Bled i nord-Slovenia. Vi tok derimot ikke baaten paa innsjoen slik han anbefalte, men var spreke nok til aa gaa rundt. Det tok oss hele den forste dagen, mandag maa det ha vaert. Bled er en liten by med om lag 5000 innbyggere og antakelig til enhver tid like mange turister. Det foltes likevel som en rolig plass, i hvert fall midt i uka da vi var der. Den andre dagen der kjorte vi innover en dal som heter Bohinj, saerdeles vakkert: grone aaser, knallblaa innsjoer, fjell med sno paa, omtrent som i Norge paa en god sommerdag. Den siste dagen dro vi paa dagstur til hovedstaden Ljubljana, seks mil sor for Bled. Det tok sin tid aa finne parkeringsplass, men da ... read more
Tannpuss
Sitter

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Ljubljana May 27th 2006

Look, I don't even CARE about soccer, but truly, the Italians shouldn't have won. That was a sentiment echoed by the few thousand (mostly French) fans who gathered in the cities capital to watch the Italians do what they do best... ham it up. But other than the World Cup final (and a mighty, mighty hangover), Slovenia offered an enormous array of to-die-for shoes, some extraordinary walks among the greenery at the Botanical Gardens, and one of the best Industrial Design exhibitions I have ever seen. Another living history lesson for this little black duck. ... read more

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Bled May 27th 2006

Nary a small town of fitter, more stunning guys and girls have I seen yet. And here I was thinking Slovenia was a mere extension of Slovakia... or Yugoslaiva... or something. I mean seriously, I was picturing plastic tablecloths, bad music and old toothless women with woollen stockings - even in the middle of summer. No, no folks. Step right up and be prepared for a gorgeous race of people with a fierce outdoor industry, an unrivalled service ethic and one of the highest GDP rates per capita than any of the other newly joined EU cities. Welcome to Bled, Slovenia! A coastal Alpine country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west; the Adriatic Sea to the southwest; Croatia to the south and east; Hungary to the northeast; and Austria to the north, Slovenia ... read more




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