My alarm went off at 3:45am and I was surprisingly awake. Guess the fear of missing my stop was enough to forgo my usual snoozing pattern. The train attendant brought in breakfast which was completely unexpected but definitely welcomed. Ended up just having the tea and saving the croissants for later. If all overnight trains were like this, I'd probably make more overnight journeys. Saves a night of accommodation and also saves travel time allowing you a full day of sightseeing when you arrive.
Got off the train at Villach on the Austrian side of the border at 4:40am. Fun. Thought the station would be deserted but there were surprisingly quite a few people around, most probably waiting for the connecting train to Ljubljana. There was also a very strong police presence which put me at ease sitting in a station in the early hours of the morning. Two hours later, I finally got on the train and a short nap later, I had arrived in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
As I explored the city as it was waking up, I was amazed at just how calm everything was in this city. Ljubljana has the feeling of a small town which I absolutely loved. Very quaint and rustic. As I meandered the many cobblestoned alleyways, I couldn't help but fall in love with this city. And this was all within the first few hours of my being here.
Saw a lot of the main tourist attractions without even realising as I wandered this little city. First deliberate stop was Ljubljana Castle up on top of the hill which had an interesting history but as European castles go, it wasn't really anything spectacular. I went back into town and followed the Ljubljanica River making a point to cross back and forth over the many bridges along its length.
Highlight of the day though was dinner. I forced myself to get over my weirdness about eating alone in restaurants and ventured into one that was situated right along the river called Zlata Ribica. Ordered the traditional Slovenian dishes of beef broth and noodles and kranjska klobasa, basically kransky sausages, with horse radish cream and polenta. To wash it all down, a Slovenian beer, Lasko. It was such an excellent meal for such a good price, considering its prime location. Was very glad that I did it. However I need to have a book or something the next time I eat alone, once the phone dies, there's nothing to do to pass the time between courses haha.
Ended the night with a stroll along the river and admiring all of the lights reflecting in its water. Such a beautiful sight on such a beautiful city.
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Day 17
Today was my day trip to Lake Bled, the supposedly most beautiful place in Slovenia and the place that is most used on postcards depicting beautiful landscape scenery in Slovenia. When I got there, it was raining and there was fog everywhere. Definitely not the bright blue skies and clear water depicted on all those postcards. Nevertheless, I was here so might as well try and enjoy the lake. It's also used as training ground for the Slovenian rowers.
As I started my hike around the lake, I noticed a sign pointing up a path to Bled Castle. As I followed the path up the mountain, it split off into two: one paved path and one dirt path leading into the forest. My first thought was back to my HSC English study of the poem "The Road Not Taken". Of course I had to take the dirt path!! And it was much a better journey to the top, albeit much longer than the direct path, and definitely much more interesting. Much like Ljubljana Castle, Bled Castle was small compared to other European castles, but it did have actors in period costume explaining the exhibits and demonstrating some of the practices back then, such as the art of using the printing press. The views of the lake from the castle would presumably be beautiful on a clear day, but in this rain and fog, visibility was pretty poor.
Castle done, I went back to my hike around the lake, and came upon the actual town of Bled itself. It was pretty dead. I guess outside of tourist season, people just don't really come here. Ironically the casino was still open though. As I continued the hike, it really began to pour and even with an umbrella, I got soaked. Having to walk on the side of the road for parts of the journey also meant that splashback from cars was inevitable. I eventually made it back to my starting point and was just glad to be out of the rain.
Two hours later, I was slightly drier and back in Ljubljana. Dinner tonight was at a restaurant called Sestica, where I had traditional buckwheat dumplings with cottage cheese and dumplings, a meat platter with grilled veggies, and dessert of Apple strudel. The food was good (not as good as the previous night) but the service was pretty poor. I guess it was due to the fact that there was only one English-speaking waiter servicing an entire section of about 15 tables. My main was brought out while I was still eating my entree and dessert came out almost an hour after my main. Oh well, I didn't have anywhere better to be.
The original plan was to leave Slovenia tomorrow. Have extended my stay an extra night simply because there was more I wanted to see. If I didn't have so many places I needed to see across Europe, I definitely would have liked to have spent another week here. But alas, so much to see and so little time. Such first world problems haha.
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Day 18
Booked a tour heading to Postojna Caves and Predjama Castle for today. Initially was going to do it alone but after finding out that transport to and between these places was extremely limited (resulting in having to take taxis) it seemed better to pay a little extra to have the door to door option. And boy was I glad I booked that option. It was pouring rain, not a good day to be walking a few kilometres in the open.
Was picked up at 8am by my tour guide Vladimir, who was surprisingly witty for a guy who had English as his third language. And he was so knowledgeable as well. About everything. Pretty much, he had something to say about everything on the 90 minute drive to the caves. Interesting piece of trivia: the Ljubljanica River is the line that splits Central Europe from the Baltics. I seriously learnt so much on that drive.
At the Postojna Caves, we took a train down into the depths winding through the tunnels and under the stalactites and around the stalagmites. Apparently it takes 5 years for them to grow one millimetre. The caves also have a constant temperature of 8-10°C, which was equivalent to the outside temperature today. Guess it's a much more noticeable difference for the visitors in summer. One thing I noticed as I followed the tour group around was that I was one of only a few young people. The rest were middle aged or senior citizens. Are young people just not interested in these things? There certainly are a lot of young folk travelling but definitely did not see many in the caves. Anyways, the caves were amazing and definitely something I would recommend seeing. The formations in those caves are just beautiful, and it's cool to see so many different shapes and colours in the rock. And hey, if anything, that train ride at the beginning and end meandering through the caves is reason enough to come here haha.
Next stop was Predjama Castle, which is a castle that was built into a cave in the side of a mountain. Predjama literally means "in front of the cave". Vladimir took us on a guided tour of this castle and one again, I was astounded at his level knowledge and good wittiness. That dude knew how to keep his people entertained. At this point, the sun had come out which made for some beautiful scenery photos. It was so nice to see blue skies as well as feel the sun on my skin. It had been almost two weeks since I had enjoyed that feeling.
We got back to the city around 3pm and I just wandered the city retaking a lot of the photos I had taken on my first day here, just this time with blue skies. It's amazing how much difference a bit of sunlight can improve the beauty of a scene, as well as lift your mood.
Anyways that's my time in Slovenia. I loved it. At this point, it may actually be my new favourite country. Ljubljana was just a city I felt so safe in and it didn't feel at all like a tourist destination with hawkers everywhere. Plus the natural beauty of all the places around Slovenia just makes me wish I had more time to explore them. To anyone considering adding Slovenia to their itinerary, definitely do it!! This is one country I will definitely be coming back to somewhere down the track.
HBL signing out from Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Up next: Go solo with no regrets...
Previously: Italian adventures...
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