Blogs from Slovenia, Europe - page 49

When you last heard from us we were about to board (yet another) night train to Zagreb, Croatia. Everytime we take a night train we're always hoping that it'll be better than the previous and, that by chance, we might actually get some sleep. But being the cheap backpackers we are, we refuse to pay for a couchette. This leaves us two options: 1. Sitting in our assigned seats crammed in a small cabin with four other strangers or 2. Searching throughout the train for an empty unreserved cabin. And since there is no way of knowing if the seats are reserved, you risk getting woken up in the middle of the night by the people actually supposed to be in the cabin. To say the least, this night train was no exception and we got ... read more

Slovenia: 26th June - 8th August 2009 Here's my advice to anyone thinking about a vacation in Europe: run, do not walk...repeat: run, do not walk, to Slovenia. Here's why. First, it's beautiful. The place is covered with idyllic villages complete with onion domed churches nestled in misty valleys throughout the land. Second, the only place they speak more English in Europe is England. Third, when you buy 20 euros worth of groceries, you pay 20 euros, and this applies to restaurants and just about everything else as well. I honestly don't know how long things will remain this easy, cheap, and unspoiled in Slovenia. So, I recommend getting here quick. That's the high level summary. Now, let me break this down point by point. Part I - Eat your heart out, Frodo Slovenia is on ... read more

I've wanted to visit Slovenia for years. It lived up to my dreams and more. I only had a few days to spare between Venice and meeting up with Brent and Shona in Milan so I decided to bypass the cities and just go straight to the Julian Alps. I caught the train to Gorizia on the border and then a bus across to the station at Nova Gorica where I caught another train up to Bohinjska Bistrica in the Bohinj valley. It's a longer but far cheaper way than catching a train direct from Venice to Ljubljana then up to the National Park. I opted to stay in the Bohinj valley, wilder and a bit more remote than Bled, and a lot less touristed. I camped at the far end of Lake Bohinj, in Ukanc, ... read more

Hi all! I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to update, things here have been a whirlwind, and I've had hardly enough time to sleep. On Wednesday, June 17th, Libor and I celebrated the approaching summer by waking up at 5:30 in the morning. Weird, huh? Well, we scadaddled to the Hauptbahnhof, where we purchased our tickets, destination: Ljubljana. For those wondering, you pronounce it Luh-yoo-bluh-yana. It's the capital of Slovenia, that tiny little country with which Austria shares one of its borders. Anyways, we pulled out of Graz at 6:30am, arrived in Maribor at 7:30am, had a half-hour to kill, and then boarded our train headed for the capital. After a run-in with the conductor , we got comfy for our 2 hour ride south. At about 10:15am, we rolled into the train station ... read more

Oh our aching heads! Our night drinking with the Irish newly weds in Bled certainly helped us kill a lot of brain cells! When will I ever learn not to mix my drinks - an aching head, eyes that did not want to open and a mouth that tasted like the bottom of a budgie cage. If we had not already booked an apartment in Ljubljana then we would have extended our stay in Bled. We packed up and did our best to drive to the Slovenian capital - it was not fun! We found our way to the apartment building and got completely lost in the under ground car park. Slovenian signs can be a bit hard to fathom when your brain is not working! We were so thankful to finally get ourselves in the ... read more