Slovenia
from august 4th to 6th 2000
I had planned to go to Slovenia for a while
since I have 2 friends there. I finally found a resonably priced
ticked so it could be paid by the company.

When I got there, I took my student housing
room, then I went at Suzi's work to meet her. She was finishing
at 6 so I went downtown to see the city. Then I went with Suzi
and Glen to eat Slovenian food
Next day, which was my only full day in
Ljubljana, it rained all day. We still visited the castle and we
walked in town, going from cafe to restraurant, avoiding to stay
in the rain for too long. And I was not in the mood for museums.
Sunday I was leaving at noon. Finally it was
sunny so we had ice-cream on a terrace next to the river. Then we
walked again, nose in the air in the streets of Ljubljana.
History and Geography
Normally, I just tell what I seen and did, but
since I've been often asked "Slovenia, where is it - in Ex
Yugoslavia - isn't it dangerous?" I will add a little
educational capsule.
As a matter of fact, Slovenia was part of
Yugoslavia until 1992. When Milosevic cancelled autonomy of
Kosovo, in 1990 or 91, the Slovenians began to worry that he
would sooner or later go against them. So they organized a
referendum on Independance. The result had been 88% yes so the
Slovenians began to prepare war. When they unilaterally declared
independance, the Serbs attacked but Milosevic soon realised that
there was no point in fighting since there is no real Serb
minority in Serbia to use. So after 10 days, the war was stopped.
Since then, Slovenians get closer to Europe and they want to be
part of the European Community as soon as possible. Compared to
other old communist countries, the economic situation seems
pretty good.
Ljubljana is the capital of the country. A
small city, about 300000 inhabitants, but there is all the
services needed in a big city. I really liked to walk in the
street, houses are beautiful, a little bit like in Prague or
Vienna. The city is crossed by a river and there is a castle in
the middle, on the top of a hill. It's small enough to be
possible to walk to go everywhere.
I really liked the absences of the hordes of
tourists you see in Prague and Vienna. There is some, but not too
much.
The name Ljubljana comes from the word Love. I
love is said Ia Lioubliou. And the Slovenian is also a Slavic
language so Ljubljana means something like "The one we
like"
Slovenia is located south of Austria, East of
Italy, Venice is not very far, Trieste is almost in the country.
The castle
Ljubljana's castle is well located, on
the top of a hill soounded by a loop of the river. Unfortunately,
it has been renovated, badly. We are far too aware of the
renovations. Ultra-modern structures had been added everywhere,
which don't fit with my idea of a castle.
Food

I had Goulash friday night, For those who don't
know, it's a kind of stew. In this case it was beef in a sauce.
And instead of potatoes, we had big bread dumplings (Drobtinice).
but some goulash have patatoes or pasta. We also had Ajdovi
Struklji, a sid eorder made of bread and cheese, christmas log
shaped.
The bus
Bus in Ljubljana is not very expensive. For 160
Tolar, so about 1$20, we have a single trip. But a special
caracteristic make it... uncomfortable. The old buses have wooden
seats. But they pass regularily and have a good coverage of town.
Currency

This situation give the impression that you
spend a lot. Taking a bill for a 50 Tolar expense give the
impression of a big spending, but it's just 0.30$
Rest of Slovenia
Between the airport, small, even if it's 26Km
from Ljubljana, and the town, I had the occasion to see Slovenian
sceneries and mountains in the back. It make me want to go back
again, to do Hiking around there. There is trails everywhere,
camping grounds, mountains (Julian Alps).
One other thing to know about Slovenia : girls
are soooooo beautiful!!!!!!
Conclusion
Even if meteo was bad, I loved Slovenia and
want to go back. Go while there is still not too many tourists.