Day 7
Time to head to country number two: Slovenia. We head to the train station on the bus, which would be ok if we knew what the train station looked like. Luckilly a nice Italian man tells us what stop to get off at. We think that that's the stressful part of the journey over, but oh no. At the train station, our "train" doesn't come up with a platform number, but the letters PR and a picture of a bus. Is it a bus? Is it a train? Who knows. We try to queue up at the ticket office to find out, but the queue is going extremely slowly. By this point we only have fifteen minutes left and are starting to panic. I finally find out that it is indeed a bus, yet it's not where it's supposed to be. More panicking. A few minutes before it's due the bus finally turns up. We're finally en route to Villach, Austria where we need to catch our train to Ljubjlana.The journey to Villach takes roughly three hours. As we make our way through the Julian Alps we are blessed with incredible views of lush green hills and sparkling blue rivers. It's a hot sunny day and the sunlight brings out all of nature's shades in incredible brightness. I can barely put my camera down. In an Austrian Newspaper left on the bus I read that the country is currently having a heatwave, with highs of 38 degrees. I silently pray that it hasn't reached Ljubljana.
We have a two hour wait at Villach, so we camp out in the station and update our travel journals. Izzie makes her way through a couple of packs of crackers from her 20 pack multi pack that she bought in Rome. We thought they'd be finished by the time we left Italy, but we've barely had any.
Our train arrives. It's one of those old Harry potter trains, which makes Izzie really excited. It's only a 90 minute trip to Ljubljana and the journey takes us through leafy woods which give way to huge crystal blue lakes. I can hardly wait to get out and explore Slovenia.
At around half 6 in the evening we arrive in Ljubljana and now have the task of finding our way to the hostel. The directions tells us to go down a street we can't find. We know the hostel is near the city's famous landmark the Dragon Bridge, so we ask how to get there in the rent-a-car office near the station. For a moment the guy looks at us as if we're mad, before finally giving us directions. It's like wading through mud.
We finally find the Dragon Bridge and make our way to the hostel from there. it's only a short walk and within a few minutes we are all checked in. Home for the next few nights is H20 Hostel, which is a lot quieter and smaller than our one in Rome, but really nice. We're in a five bed dorm which is also like an apartment, as we have our own kitchen and bathroom, as well as space outside. Not bad for £10 a night.
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| There's the dragon. |
We head out for a walk in the city and to get some dinner. Ljubljana is rather small for a capitol, but it's absolutely gorgeous and has some proper old town charm about it. There is a great atmosphere too as we head out, as the cafes and restaurants down by the river are full of people eating and sipping on beer and coffee. It's a lot more chilled here than Italy.
We have dinner at a traditional Slovenian restaurant by the river. I have this incredible pork dish with the most amazing potatoes I have ever tasted. After almost a week of past and pizza this is music to my taste buds..
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| All ready for dinner |
Day 8
Our first full day in Ljubljana. We take advantage of the scorching heat outside and do our first batch of washing of the trip, as our clothes are all sweaty and disgusting from Rome. Money is tight, so we do it in the sink. There's not plug, so we improvise with an espresso cup which works like a treat.
Today we visit Ljubljana castle. For 7 euros we manage to get entry to the castle and all of its exhibitions and a ride up on the little funicular. The view from the top though is priceless. I can see little orange roofs for miles on end.
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| What a view |
The castle has several different exhibitions regarding the palace's history and heritage, including one on methods of torture. Some of them are truly grotesque, for example one that is called the vaginal pear. I'll leave it to you to imagine what it does.
We spend the afternoon walking the around the city centre. There are several cute shops selling handcrafted stuff that is made in Slovenia. This is a far cry from all the tourist tat in Rome. My favourite shop that we find is a place called Fox Boutique that sells hand printed tote bags with cute slogans, wooden magnets and postcards with inspirational quotes. This quirky sector of the capitol reminds me of a smaller version of Brighton's lane, only with less vegan cafes and people with dreadlocks.Ljubljana is amazing for ice cream, even better than Italy. In the course of 2 days I try everything from peanut to popcorn.
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| Gotta pose with your pudding. |
Tonight we decide to cook for the first time. We head to the supermarket to get supplies and come across the biggest bottle ( to be honest it's more like a vat) of red wine that I have ever seen. I don't know when you would ever need that much wine. I guess house parties are a riot in Slovenia.
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| Are you sure that's enough wine? |
We decide on the backpacker's staple: pasta in tomato sauce. We're in desperate need of bacon, yet this doesn't seem to be a thing over here. They have over 50 types of sausage and salami, but seemingly no bacon. We buy something that looks remotely like bacon, but it turns out be Italian ham. We fry it anyway. It's all good.
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| Jamie Oliver eat your heart out |
Day 9
The gods like us today. They give us overcast weather. We spend the morning looking around the shops buying souvenirs and checking out the Metelkova district, a former army barrack, that is now a hipster haven.
For lunch I try a Slovenian street food classic : The Burek. It's a bit like a Slovene version of a sausage roll, as it's normally a meat or cheese filling wrapped in layers of flaky filo pastry. Mine is filled with cheese and ham. For 2 euros I get several bites of flaky, salty yumminess, with enough leftover for tomorrow's train ride to Lake Bled.
The sun decides to show its face in the early afternoon, so we head to Trivoli park for a walk in the sunshine. We're expecting something like Hyde Park, but in reality it's a lot woodier. And hillier. Jelly shoes doesn't suddenly seem like a good idea any more. I manage the climb anyway, despite my unsuitable footwear, and am blessed with gorgeous views of the city and beyond.
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| Standard wood selfie |
On the way back we head to the supermarket for supplies. We manage to buy ready mixed cocktails for 70 cents, cans of radler for 50 cents and dessert for 20 cents. We go a bit mad and buy loads of food to send us into a beautiful food coma back at the hostel.
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| Nom Nom Nom |
Our last night in Ljubljana. We take our drinks and deserts and sit with our little picnic on a bridge, whilst the sun sets. It's quiet and serene, until some god awful music that sounds like a demented fog horn starts up. We decide to call it a night and head back for some peace and quiet.
Day 10
Today we move on to Lake Bled. Our train isn't until 12, so we have one last wander around the city centre. It turns out that the Spanish couple in our room last night were the people with the vintage camera we saw on the bridge the day before. They wave us over and take a photo of us for free. They tells us that they are heading to Bosnia next. They go wherever they want, set the camera up and make the money needed for the next part of the journey.
We find this bookshop that is literally filled head to toe with old books. We manage to pick up a few for the next part of the journey and chat to the friendly owner. He apologises for his broken English, yet we understand him perfectly. For the second time this trip I feel guilty that I can't respond in their mother tongue.
Our train to Bled is only an hour. It is a viciously hot day, and I am desperate to jump into the lake. When we arrive it turns out that we aren't actually in Lake Bled and need to get a bus into the centre. We meet an American guy and two girls from New Zealand at the bus stop. I make the mistake of asking whereabouts in Australia they are from. They do not seem impressed.
Our hostel is quite a walk from the bus station, but it takes us along a path with incredible views of the mountains. I am so excited to be back amongst the mountains, it's like being back in Austria.
We are staying at the Villa Mangart. , which seems to be a converted pension, and is in a traditional Slovenian house. Our room is the epitome of alpine chic with wood panelling from top to bottom and complete with gingham curtains. I am in interior design heaven. Pretty good for £13 a night.
We get to the lake mid afternoon. I have been wanting to swim in it ever since I set eyes on it in a travel brochure several years ago. As I dip my toes in, the first touch is freezing, but when I get my shoulders under it's instantly refreshing. Everywhere I look I am confronted with dark green pine trees and lime green fields. This is easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. I lie on my back, let the sun shine on my face and breathe out. I am in heaven.
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| There's the lake. |
For dinner we go to a traditional Slovene grill, where we have the biggest mixed grill I've ever seen. Sausage, pork, chicken, beef burgers, it's all here. It's every carnivore's wet dream. I savour every bite.
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| YUM. |
It seems that hiking in jelly shoes yesterday was a bad idea. My right foot has swollen up and can barely fit in my shoe.
Day 11
Today we're out of the hostel by nine, to seize the day. We hire bikes and attempt to cycle up to Vintgar Gorge, but the incline is too steep, so we push the bikes up and walk instead, hopping on when there is a patch of downhill.
The gorge itself is completely breath taking. We are lucky enough to get there before the majority of the crowds, and take advantage of the scarcely populated side walks by taking photo after photo and selfie after selfie. The water is so unbelievably blue, that it looks like someone has coloured it in with a turquoise crayon. It's so clear as well, that you can see all the fishes and rocks underneath. We gaze in awe of it all.
At the end of the gorge is a spectacular waterfall. It's so easy to take professional looking photos on your phone here, because everything is so photogenic. All you need to do is aim the lens, click and bam you have an instant work of art with no faffing or extra filters required. Makes getting one of those huge Nikons a bit pointless.
The route back from the gorge is all downhill. As I wizz down I can feel the wind in my hair as I take in the view. I scream like a child. I feel alive. We cycle into the centre of Bled, intending to cycle around the whole lake. We cycle half of it and stop for a couple of hours to swim and sunbath. I could never get bored of swimming in this lake.
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| I wan't to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike. |
******
Whilst having dinner in the hostel kitchen we get talking to a group of Irish girls, a Londoner called George and an Australian called Sean. We all agree to head out for drinks in the centre later on. Apparently there is some big run around the lake this evening with a big after party, so we decide to give it a shot.
We head out with the Irish girls just before 11 and meet the guys in a bar on the way. Turns out that loads of people from the girl's school are all in Bled at the same time. Literally loads of them. It's a small world.
We head down to the lake, but there seems no be no sign of this festival, so we head to a bar on the other side of the lake, which has a good atmosphere, good music and reasonably cheap rum and cokes. We mean to leave at one, but end up standing outside talking to two guys from Leeds, Josh and Jonathan, who are hilarious. We finally decide to get moving just before two in search of a kebab shop. There only seems to be one in the whole of Bled, and it takes us an hour to get to it, as we go the longest route known to man through fields and a housing estate. But the walk is worth it for the best kebab I have ever had. I would eat it sober for dinner it's so good.
Day 12
Our last day in Bled and in Slovenia. I'm not ready to leave this beautiful country, especially as we have a 14 hour train journey tomorrow.
In the morning we get a cable car up one of the mountains surrounding the lake. The view from the top is phenomenal and possibly the best of the trip so far. But we didn't go up there just for the views. The mountain has a summer toboggan run. As I zoom round the first bend, my initial nerves fly into the wind as I make my way round the track. The adrenaline rush lasts for a good half an hour after.
We meet the guys at three for a swim in the lake. I'm kind of sad that this is the last time I'll get to swim in it, but tomorrows journey takes us to the Croatian coast, so that makes up for it. The boys decide to swim out to the island in the middle, but I'm no Olympic swimmer so I head inland and grab my book.
In the evening we all sit downstairs and play cards. I'm sad to leave such great friends that I've made here, but everyone else is moving on tomorrow as well, which makes it less painful. Just before one I head to bed, as we have to be up at half 5 tomorrow. Croatia awaits.
Find out about my adventures in Croatia in Part 3.
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