Blogs from Slovenia, Europe - page 54

Arrived in Ljubljana! Man... this trip is really straining me in every possible way. Financially, emotionally, physically... In all my other travels, nothing big usually goes wrong... on this one, its ALL going wrong! The only consolation is all the cool stuff I'm seeing, on the occassaions that I am actually able to see something! Rome was incredible! There was so much richness and history there, it was almost palpable. You couldn't turn around and not see a beautiful piece of architecture... or a moped scooter thing, lol. I went to the Coloseum, Pantheon, St. Peter's, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Trevi fountain. Al the usual spots. Sistine was amazing... not at all like I had thought that it was going to be! I had always thought that the painting of God and Adam was really big and ... read more

It was a lovely Saturday in June. The Capital was alive with shoppers and day trippers, enjoying the spring-like weather. We visited St. Nicolas Cathedral c.1461, which is immensely Baroque and had hosted Napoleon, all the Austrian emperors, Tsar Alexander and Pope Paul II. During Saturdays much of the town is devoted to marketing, and large portions are set aside for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The markets are loosely organized by product: flowers, fish, produce, clothing and so forth. During our saunter we found the Parliament building, an unimposing structure, a delightful Opera/Ballet house, the national museum (closed at the time for renovation) and a very modern department store in the style found in Germany. Buildings everywhere were in need of repair, unfortunately many of them leftovers from the socialist building spree of the 1960s that ... read more

I will remember Thursday, October 23rd as the worst day of this 2008 tour. I cycled for over an hour on the national road number 3 with an endless row of trucks (mainly Hungarian) continuously overtaking me just centimeters away from my body. My own safety constantly at stake. After about twenty kms, the road turned into a motorway, a relief for me, so at least I had a meter across in the emergency lane all for myself. But the joy was short-lived: a police patrol stopped me after a few kilometers, same as it had happened in the Czech Republic, only, that one is a democratic country where problems are civilly discussed, this one is a police state where the fine represents the sole purpose of the security forces. I refused to pay the 75€ ... read more

waking easliy for a change i started the day lazily at 9am..time to get off my arse to do a day trip i thought..so Bled it was. It is surprisingly close to Ljubljana where im based, only 1hr 20mins includeing the traffic we hit downtown. the first thing that hit me was the temperature. it was bloody freezing! i had a polafleece shirt, a jacket, scalf and beanie on and yet i was really contimplating jumping straight back on that bus and heading back to civilisation namely a hot cappucino by the river in Ljubljana, which was cloked in sunshine when i left. no such luck in Bled, there was low cloud obscuring the mountains that apparenly form an amazing backdrop to Bled Lake. that was after all the main reason i had decided to head ... read more

well yesterday i was wondering the city aimlessly as is my habit..when my path was suddenly obstucted by a large gathering crowd outside the front of the Grand Hotel..but they werent alone..there was a maze of steel barricades and yes 11 unmarked police cars, 2 marked police cars, 3 police moterbikes and a fleet of unmarked vans that looked suspeciously CIA-like with dark tinted windows and shiny exteriors, these vehicles were of course accompanied by their appropiate drivers and lots of them at that..what the hell was going on? were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in town? what was with the over kill in security?.. i asked a kindly stall owner..and yes someone very important was in town..but not so much CIA as MI5 and not so much Hollywood Royalty as British Royalty..yes..the Queen is in ... read more