Sotelia Podcetrtek

... for breakfast (much like how we savour our caffeine fix first thing in the morning...). We weren't too sure that what we got was actually what we ordered, but we hung around for one more round before walking to the station.
Noting that Leannes train was running 20mins late, we settled into the cafe/bar at the station and proceeded to have a couple more rounds ...

... get there and where to head to next...
Upon arrival at the train station, our next obstacle was the 'helpful' station attendant who was the most reluctant person I've encountered working in a 'service' industry (and I've encountered a few on this trip..)

With tickets in hand, & time on our hands, we found the bar and tried to spend what few Florints we had left at the bar... Whist waiting for our train, our Italian ...

... dark even after. The stallions are for the first 3 years kept in the stables near Postojna, after the selection is done, just the best ones are not castrated, poor horses... the mares are used just for cart pulling, approx. untill 25 years old, after they retire ad they live happily in the stables till they are 32-35 years old. All breeding is done by insemination, no natural sexual pleasures, again poor horses... there is also a beautiful little church ...

... I'm not into the mud culture, I went for a walk instead. I kept following the signs up into the hills that seemed to indicate a tourist trail, but it was pretty boring. Nothing but the same old woods with nothing special in sight. And it gets a bit spooky up there alone in the hills sometimes.

After a long walk around the outskirts of town up in the hills, I ended up at what seemed to be the ...

Another interesting day in Croatia. We were off to some mud-baths but the birthplace of Tito was just about on the way so we nipped into Kumrovec for a look.

This place is really close to Slovenia...



which looks superb. It definitely must be worth a visit. Somehow I didn't realise that even Zagreb is so close to Slovenia. If I had I would have caught a train to Slovenia for a day. Well ...

I'm cheating a bit with this entry as actually I was in Veliko Trgovišće, the birth-place of Franjo Tuđman, a few days ago... but I found this pretty good pic with me and the famous Croatian nationalist... well, I don't look so good, but Franjo does...

... in-laws. Lovely house on a hill in the countryside. Yes, it's nice to know someone in these places.



The view from the tiny railway station back up towards where Slavko is staying.



Good-bye at the station. I caught the train back. If you get on the train without a ticket during working hours, there's a big fine, but as the station had closed for the day, you can buy the ticket on the train... very civilised.

... very well located between the Old Town and the train station, we took a walk around the old town and the Lent area down to the river to see the oldest grapevine in the world (over 400 years). They don't get very much out of it every year so it is decanted into quite small bottles and the mayor of Maribor decides who to send bottles to. There is a thank-you letter from Bill Clinton on the wall ...

... that come your way. I guess the ideal is finding a balance between the two and if you can manage that then you can't go too far wrong. Denied by the Celica hostel I didn't have a plan B to put into action but walking the streets adjacent to the hostel I came across the 'Park Hotel', a nice hotel where the 15th floor has been converted into a hostel. This time I had no problem getting a room and at Eur23 per night it was pretty good value for Ljubljana, even if the location of the ...

... double bed, and my own shower... it was wonderful!! no kitchen so i ended up having to eat at the only restaurant in the area which was really expensive! there was no market, or anything else, so that sucked... once i got in and settled it started to pour down with rain, so i took a nap and chilled in my room... when i woke up it was cleared up so i went exploring a little... it was late so there was no point going into the lakes only for a few hours... so i just walked around the area ...