Category: Slovenia

The sickness! Gah, the sickness!

Yes, I am sick. I blame the coughing girl in my Salzburg hostel. But then, is she really to blame? I tried to cancel my hostel in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, but it had a 48 hour cancellation window! So, who’s to blame, really?? I don’t know. At least I determined I would try my very hardest never to cough and to be as respectful as possible if I really had to cough in the end! As opposed to Salzburg girl, who coughed into the room unabated and unashamed!

I boarded my morning bus from Bled, clean laundry in hand, and saw some pretty Slovenian countryside along the way.

It was a short, one-hour bus ride, and I arrived in the late morning. I left my bags at the hostel and planned out how to spend my day with such low energy. I really was moving much slower than usual! I was a bit achy, a bit lethargic, and my throat hurt. Add the sunshine and heat, and I made it my mission to move very, very slow so as not to topple over in the middle of the road somewhere!

When I went to use the toilet before leaving my hostel, I was startled to find this restroom straight out of many nightmares:

Hahaha. Turns out they are just renovating, which meant I had to walk up three flights of stairs every time I wanted to pee or blow my nose. Oh well!

I decided to spend my day with some slow nature explorations. I was honestly a bit sad to be in such a hustling, bustling, modern city after the quiet serenity of Lake Bled. So, I walked along the river and made my way to the botanical gardens.

The gardens had a nice café, so I ordered some homemade iced tea and a “toast with ham and cheese.” Nice, light, and refreshing. A good snack while I made a good dent in my book.

I wandered the gardens a little more after that, and then I made my way toward Ljubljana Castle, up on a hill.

My, my, it was slow going. I felt like a sick person, alright! I stopped to sit on every bench, constantly sipped at my water, and did my best to keep my heart rate down.

Luckily, most of the path (lined with parsnips, for some reason) was shaded, and I did make my way up to the castle.

I was a bit peckish by this point, so when I came to the bottom of the hill and found a market wrapping up, I bought a pack of the tastiest looking little strawberries ever!

About half tasted as good as they looked, haha.

Rounding another corner, I found a busy, joyful food market with dishes from all over the world, and it all looked so yummy. Pad Thai, paella, spring rolls, Turkish sweets, cruffins, poke bowls. It was so hard to choose!

In the spirit of feeding my body good foods, I decided to get a vegan “chicken” Caesar salad, but I paired it with a glass of sangria. It was so yummy!!!

Turns out the marker is only on Fridays in the late spring and summer, so I really lucked out finding it! I also got a pistachio cruffin and a cookie to go.

I ate these back in my hostel. The cookie was amazing. The cruffin was not. Waaaay too much pistachio filling. Should have just gotten a second cookie!

I managed not to cough at all that first day and first night, but I was pretty snotty. Had to keep getting up to blow my nose. The beds were SO loud, and the room was SO quiet, so that kind of sucked. The beds were also curled up about eight inches on the head and foot of the bed, like the fitted sheet was too small for the bed or something? Very strange.

In the morning, I was originally planning (and very much looking forward to) visiting one of the vast cave systems in Slovenia. I’ve seen a few big cave systems recently, especially in Vietnam, and I’ve thought they were some of the coolest things, so I was pumped to learn there were some here! However, I was so tired, and I’d seen so little of the city on my first day. Spending hours on the bus also just didn’t seem like fun. So, I decided to leave out the caves. I’m a little bit bummed, but honestly, I think it was very much the right decision.

My hostel was right on the river, right next to all these little restaurants, so when I made the split second decision not to go to the bus station, I sat down at one of these and attempted to order a hot chocolate.

Awkwardly, nothing came out of my mouth! I couldn’t get the words out! I had to clear my throat several times, and then eventually, I just ordered a tea. Lol. It was pretty embarrassing.

When the waiter came back, I’d recovered enough to order a croissant, not trusting myself to ask for a breakfast menu. He gave me a few options, and I selected chocolate. Oh boy, was this one of the best chocolate croissants I’ve ever had!! It was warm and chocolate filled and so soft!!

I made another good dent in my book before continuing into the city.

I wish I’d gone straight back to the market, because it had been mostly closed down when I found it the day before, but I instead crossed the river toward the sound of a man on a microphone that had been going all morning.

There was an adorable brother and sister playing tuba and trumpet in the street, and they were really great!!

When I finally reached the microphone man, I found it to be the finishing area for some sort of city run. I caught the tail end of a men’s choir singing a song many in the crowd knew and sang along to. Very cute!

I picked up a treat nearby that only cost three euros and weighed about a pound.

Some kind of layered dough thing with some kind of mild cheese? I didn’t love it, unfortunately. I ate about a third before I had to toss it. The doughy parts were fine, but the cheesy parts were sour and not easy to get down.

By this time, I decided I was going to go full leisure and check out some of the museums. I started with the National Museum and the natural history museum, which were combined into one building.

The natural history museum had a small whale skeleton, and I LOVE whale skeletons.

The national museum had a lot of fun artifacts found within Slovenia that dated back thousands of years, so it was almost more a history of time rather than of Slovenia’s recent past.

I can’t remember precisely, but I’m pretty sure this wooden boat was thousands of years old and preserved in a big of some sort?

I did get to see a (fake) critter that I was looking forward to seeing in the caves! A little albino “dragon” creature that has evolved to have no eyes and only three toes on its front feet and two toes on the back! So fun!

I wasn’t planning to visit any other museums, but the modern art museum was only five euros to enter, so I couldn’t pass it up.

I ended up really loving it! I was just about the only person in the whole place, save the two cute, bored security guards who stood up every time I came within sight and then followed me a little bit into adjacent rooms. Lolol. Poor things. Seriously must have been bored out of their minds.

The art was fun and interesting, though!

The cherry on top was the museum café in the basement. I love me a good museum café. This one had cheesecake, and it was AWESOME. So creamy, with a slight floral hint, and it paired well with the chai latte I got on the side.

Most of the café attendees were actually outside, at ground level, so one of the waiters had to keep jumping in and out of the high window to get to them. It was pretty fun to watch.

I lingered here a long time, then made my way across the street to visit the Russian Orthodox church.

Then to Tivoli Park across the highway.

Feeling pretty fulfilled and wanting to visit the market again, I headed back towards the river.

But ugh! The market closes even earlier on Sundays! So I’d missed it again! Quite frustrating. I felt like this:

Haha.

The food market had transformed into a gin and cocktail market for Saturday.

I wandered the many bridges and churches in the area for a bit, really admiring the cast iron doors on the Ljubljana Cathedral.

Then I made my way back to the empty market square where I’d seen a waiter delivering some especially yummy-looking soup. I ordered it and a gin and tonic. Yum!!!!

The waiter was quite easy on the eyes, and he was very complimentary. Complimented my dinner choice, my drink choice, and the fact that I managed to finish all of the soup, despite leaving half the bread basket full.

He also asked, “How’s the sugar in your body? Is in the right position?” He asked this while motioning toward his own belly. I assume he was asking if I was full? Or satisfied??? Lolol. Not sure exactly, but I said yes and made the same gesture to my own stomach. Bahahahaha.

The theme of the day was Spend a Lot of Time at Every Eatery Place, and dinner was no exception. I read a lot, and then chatted with Sean for a bit. Very nice! It rained at one point, but I was safe under my umbrella.

I got a kick out of some of the vending machines here. Austria was full of cigarette vending machines, and they were often visited by passersby. Slovenia had egg vending machines and raw (unpasteurized) milk vending machines. I had to try!

As I wandered my way slowly back along the river, I found a little art gallery and some fun, quiet streets and statues.

A nice day in the end, and a nice visit to Slovenia!

I did cough a lot more that night, always trying desperately to muffle myself with my covers or my pillow, and clinging fiercely to my box of Ricola cough drops I’d picked up. Sigh…. I hope I didn’t get anybody else sick.

In the morning, I ran to the market one last time and bought some cute art. Even though they were just getting set up, somehow there was more going on at 8:30am than at 4pm!

Off to the busses again.

Hope I get better soon!! Until then,

Najboljše želje,

-Lizzy-wa

After an eventful morning in Salzburg, I had a long and complex train ride to Slovenia. To get to my hostel, I had to take a train, then a bus, a second train, a third train, and then a taxi. Phew!

I had some nice viewpoints along the way, and a donut for breakfast.

But I became hungry halfway into my 5+ hour journey. Luckily, as I boarded my second train, I accidentally hopped into the first class car. As I made my way toward the second class seats, I had to walk through the (very nice) dining car. So I thought, why not feed two birds with one scone? (I am the first bird, obviously.)

I ordered a cappuccino and a Turlaner wine soup. I’m not sure exactly what was in the soup besides cream and white wine, but it was soooo tasty!

I had to gobble it all down because I was only on this train for one stop, so my journey lasted only 26 minutes.

The last train was like the Hogwarts Express, in that there were little compartments with doors that you had to squeeze into and face the people opposite yourself. Always a little nerve-wracking! Most compartments were somewhat full, so I dropped my things down in one and caught the tail-end of some friendly English conversation happening as I left to find a restroom.

In the next car, I found several empty compartments. Huzzah! I planned to bring my things into one of these, but when I returned to my original spot, the three people there were all chatting so nicely, and clearly didn’t know each other, so I forced myself to stay and be social.

Good thing I did! They were a lady from Berlin, a young man from Amsterdam, and a girl from France/ transplanted to Brussels. We all chatted about our travels and about the various pros and cons of our home cities.

As I made my way to leave the train, the group stopped me and told me I didn’t have to transfer. Turned out the French girl was also headed to Bled, a small town in Slovenia famous for its lake.

When we left the train together, it turned out we were also staying in the same hostel! How funny! We shared a taxi, checked in together, and then I awkwardly snuck into her room to ask if she wanted to adventure together the next morning. We exchanged contact info and that was that!

I was especially tired this evening because I hadn’t slept well the night before. I was planning to head to bed right away, just before 8pm, but I could hear quite the ruckus coming from what I assumed was a nearby common area. Again, pushing myself to be social, I wandered toward the noise and discovered a tiny kitchen, dining table, and L-shaped couch filled with about thirty people. It was crazy!

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was that there were no seats, and then a girl yelled to me, “It’s quite crowded in here!”

“Yeah!” I shouted back with a smile.

I did a small loop of the space and considered retreating to bed, but socialism won out! (I kid, I kid, but you know what I mean, hahaha.) I pointed to a boy in the corner of the couch who had a bit of space on either side of him and asked if I could sit in one of these spaces. He scooted over, and that’s where I stayed for the next two hours!

I mostly chatted with him (an Australian boy), a Norwegian gal and guy (they didn’t know each other), a Finnish boy (named Ellis), and a Scottish girl (she was a hoot). It was so much fun! We chatted about our travels, but it also diverted into talking about F1 racing, me giving Australian travel tips to the Australian boy, and us comparing various hostels in the area. I’m glad I decided against solitude.

Shortly after heading to bed, I heard the roar of chatter and laughter suddenly cease. Turns out the common space is closed 10pm-8am. Makes sense!

I woke up quite early, around 5am, unfortunately. I tried to go back to sleep and then eventually turned to blogging and other phone chores. At 8:30, I got some breakfast (an apple tart) from the nearby grocery store.

I was feeling some blisters coming on the back of my heels, so I’d worn band-aids the previous couple of days, but I picked up some medical tape from the grocery store, and it seems to be holding up well! Not super nice to remove at the end of the day, but better than blisters, for sure.

Around nine, I met Gabrielle, and we were off on a long walk to Vintgar Gorge!

We met a boy from Seattle along the way! Quite funny. I haven’t met many Americans yet. He was from Ballard.

The walk was along a nice, quiet road lined with fields, cows, and mountain horizons. It was the perfect temperature in the morning.

The gorge itself was really lovely, and I’m glad I met Gabrielle, because I wouldn’t have known about it otherwise!

The path snaked along the rock walls on a series of raised platforms and bridges. The mist from the rushing water and occasional dam or falls was crisp and cool.

There was also a really nice bridge crossing overhead toward the end of the gorge.

I played around with one of the warning signs, which obviously said “no funny poses.”

And in the end, we were treated with a waterfall rainbow!

Our exit from the park took us up through another pathway, where we saw lots of these funny beetles that Gabrielle said were quite common in France. Who knew?

Once we exited the Triglav National Park, we were back amongst dandelion fields and winding paths. I wanted sooooo badly to rent a bike, but I didn’t want to leave Gabrielle.

We settled down for a snack, which was described as a blueberry “dumpling.” A very strange texture! Soft, chewy, doughy, kind of yogurt-y. Gabrielle didn’t like it much because she doesn’t like yogurt, but I thought it was quite fun! Apparently the #1 flavor is buckwheat and walnut. They seem to really like buckwheat and walnuts in Slovenia!

When we made it back to the lake, we found an adorable shop full of pieces designed and made by the owner and his wife. I picked up several postcards and a keychain, and Gabrielle got a fun necklace for her boyfriend.

For lunch, we tried some Slovenian dishes we’d never heard of. I had some pumpkin soup with a side of “bread dumpling,” and Gabrielle had “buckwheat fritters” with a side of mushroom soup. The fritters had a similar boiled-doughy texture to the dumpling we’d had earlier, and the “bread dumpling” was almost like a chewy, sliced bread pudding. It came with a side of cranberry sauce, and it was all so yummy! I really wanted dessert, but I was just way too full.

Moving a little slower with full stomachs and in the heat of the day, we made our way up to Bled Castle, perched on a cliff. The castle wasn’t particularly marvelous up close, but it made for a great view point! Gabrielle decided to sit and sketch for a while.

The artist from the little shop had given us a tip on where to find another great view behind the castle, and that was even more lovely! The water seemed so turquoise and opaque from this height. So solid.

Then we made our way back down and continued our journey around the lake.

Lake Bled is famous for the little island in its center which is home to many steps and a pretty church. There were boats ferrying to and from the island all day, and I really wanted to rent one, but there were never any available when we approached the rental docks.

Baby ducks and tiny flowers made me feel better!

We really got all the angles on the little island, including a view from up above as we attempted to find a high-up café, but it was closed already for the evening.

Back by the lake, I found some small paintings, and when I leaned they were only four euros, each, I decide to buy two, since I couldn’t decide between the colors! Gabrielle also chose one, and then the painter told me to sit so he could write “a message” on the back. Quite the message! He painted all three of us! And then he did it again for Gabrielle!

So sweet! Thanks, Bobi!

We were told the walk around would take about an hour and a half, but in the end, it took us nearly five hours. Either we were very slow or we stopped a lot! Hahaha. Soooo exhausting.

Several trees around the lake had been overtaken by ivy and bushes, like this one! Became a strange mutant-looking bush.

Gabrielle thought it was funny that I thought these bushes were funny, haha.

We finished our walk (finally!) with a Bled cream cake, which we’d been seeing on posters all day. It was so nice! With a side of Moscato.

At this point, Gabrielle went back to the hostel, and I went up to see the cathedral.

The common area was much less lively this evening, so I didn’t feel bad for turning in early, especially because I was feeling a sore throat coming on!!! Ugh!!!

When I woke in the morning, it was clear I was sick. So sad. So frustrating. I did some laundry and accidentally fed some of my dollars to someone else’s dryer (ugh again!), and then I took my sick self to the bus station.

All in all, Gabrielle and I walked nearly SIXTEEN miles in one day. So tiring! No wonder I was wishing for a bike all day long! And now I’m wishing for a massage, haha.

Until next time,

Najboljše želje!

-Lizzy-wa