Bring Me Back to Slovenia

Since I started writing here, I have wanted to post a little piece on Croatia. But before I can settle myself to do that I have to write about the beautiful country of Slovenia (and before I bore you to tears about my impending travels in September). The reason being that in 2011 I took an interrail pass and traveled down through Slovenia, into Croatia, and back up through Munich to Holland. There is just too much to write about that I need to break it into pieces.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

 So, myself and himself took an overnight train from Utrecht to Munich and then hopped on another train straight to Ljubljana, Slovenia. The trains were all clean and comfortable but I'm telling you that in future I will be booking a cabin with a bed. Well worth it. Actually a guy that was on the train, we spotted him on our first night in Ljubljana busking on the main bridge. A year ago I walked passed him performing on Leidseplein in Amsterdam. Funny.


Now, I can't remember any of the names of the buildings, streets, bridges or monuments. Nor am I going to Google them for you. What I will tell you is that Ljubljana was a treasure that I didn't expect to find. It's clean and beautiful and feels like it could be Italy's back garden. The city centre is tiny and easy to navigate. We managed to arrive in the middle of some basketball championships and I remember that there were teams playing anywhere and everywhere they could. Which was nice. Actually, Ljubljana is the first and only place I ever thought 'you know, I could get married here' which is special because I'm pretty sure I don't even want to get married.

A few days there is enough. We decided to take a little excursion out of the city and got a bus inland to Lake Bled. I'll be honest, my motivation was that I heard it was the actual real resting place of Count Dracula (Vlad Tepis). I've got a list of these kinds of places I want to visit which I should really post about. Anyway, Lake Bled is an idyllic little spot. It's a mecca for wedding day pictures and lazy boat rides. To the left of the lake there is a small adventure centre. We (of course) managed to find a toboggan ride through a field of sheep that just made my trip. And we also rented a boat for an hour or so. I think it cost ten euros but well worth it to spend some time on the calm water.

Bled Island

Word of warning, only swim within the markings on the lake or you could be fined a couple hundred euros!

If I go back there, and I will, I would visit the underground caves that everyone was raving about and also the teeny bit of coast the country has in-between Italy and Croatia.