Grand Union Business Ljubljana

... Damia (our hostel guy) recommended it to us.

We spent the rest of our time in the town just hanging out and wandering around. We went to the markets, walked along the river, got outside of the main part of the city a little, and saw some cool Jose Plecnik architecture around the city.

The last full day we were there, we decided to rent a car. It all started when I’d read online (months ago) about these world famous caves in Slovenia that are a UNESCO ...

... town is full of tiny streets, there’s a castle on the top of the hill & the whole city area is surrounded by mountains. Oh, & a windy river through it. So a nice kind of cute. Although, maybe it is just me, but they need to work on some signage! I walked round & round the castle trying to work out how to get in. you have to go under then across then up. How was I supposed to work that out? But once I got inside it was kind of ...

... rainy on our first stop into Ljubljana, but that didn't stop us from checking out the quaint old town. It was eerily quiet due to the European Congress elections, but when we returned the next day, the town was lively and bustling. We climbed up to Ljubljana castle for nice views of the city below, and visited the town hall and the famous Dragon bridge.

... stools, the walls were covered in a dark wood and the room was dimly lit. It was a perfect setting. Oh well.

The next bar looked amazing. It was cooly lit with outside seating and funky furniture inside. They were playing good music and it was full of young people who looked like they were having a good time. We looked at the extensive menu and tried ordering a few drinks. This is where the fun began. When we ...

... part of the day, a sauna awith lavender oil whisked off a icy wet towel through the air for inhaling. Talked Chuck into a Hostel for our second night in Ljubljana. Turned out this wasn't for Chuck, after a couple dorm mates come in an turned on the lights, Chuck was up and back to his Hotel. For my part, simply asked the young man who started reading if he would take his book back out to the dayroom so I could sleep. Problem solved. Anyway off to Chucks in Northern Italy.

... to the prison hostel (Celica Hostel, a former military prison turned into a hippie hostel), left my luggage there and took my already traditional (in my private universe, of course!) aimless walk through the city. Even though Ljubljana has a population of about 250,000 people its central area is very compact and small and if you walk 30 minutes in any direction from the train station you will start seeing cows, pigs and horses around! :-) Its city center ...

... comparison. Bled is the most gorgeous town, nestled into the Alps, and built on Lake Bled, which is just breathtaking. The water of this lake is swimming pool quality, 6 km. in diameter, and as clear blue as you could get. It takes about 3 hours to do a leisurely stroll around the diameter, but it really takes all day, because you stop and people watch, find a big shady tree to snooze under for an hour or 2, hop in for a quick dip to cool off, rent a ...

The final country we would see on our winter break was the tiny nation of Slovenia, squeezed in between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. It had also been part of the former Yugoslavia, however had gained it's independence before most of the hostilities in the region broke out. It was granted EU status in 2004, and after a lengthy talk about the country with a girl I met in Wroclaw a few months earlier I was looking forward to seeing the spectacular mountain ...

... Castle Hill is surounded by dense trees, providing a vertical park. We climbed the double helix spiral staircase to the tower for a spectacular view over town and distant fields. Beyond the core old town typical concrete block highrises are spaciously laid out with large green parks and play grounds in the center of each five or six units. Cars are parked on the far perimeter. The Communist planners did a better job here compared to Budapest or Warsaw ...

... of the Julian Alps, the warm waters of the Adriatic and the historical importance of their eastern towns. The Slovenes also want to correct any misconceptions you have. No, they are not part of the Balkans, nor Eastern Europe. No, they didnīt suffer under communism - they are not a withdrawn, distrustful people like their eastern neighbours. Their country isnīt dangerous, there are no minefields or roving militias like in other ex - Yugoslavian countries. Instead they ...