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.