I am currently on the fast train to Rome for my next weekend adventure. Since there is free wifi, I think this is the best opportunity to write about my trip to beautiful Slovenia last weekend!
My trip to Slovenia was kind of on a whim. A group was going and I basically told them to sign me up! I handed the money over and followed the group all the way to the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. One of the student life coordinators at CIMBA is from Slovenia and highly recommended visiting! Slovenia is a wonderful country that is truly a melting pot of culture. It has German, Italian and Slavic influence. I am glad I went because I normally wouldn't visit Slovenia, because I knew little to nothing about it before this trip.
We got in and checked into our hostel, Hostel Celica. The hostel used to be a prison and some of the rooms still have bars on the windows and doors. I didn't stay in an old cell, but I still enjoyed my stay. I was a little too tired to venture out that evening so I went to bed.
The next morning we woke up and headed to a free tour we had heard about. The tour guide was a sweet little woman who was very passionate about Slovenia. She told us all about the history of the country dating back to the Slavic people who first lived here, to Slovenia in the Sochi 2014 Olympics. She also talked a lot about Plečnik, the Slovenian architect who had a huge influence on the city today. My favorite thing he designed is the triple bridge over the river. The story behind it is that there was a old bridge made of stone in the city center that was becoming a problem. There were cars, horse and buggy, and pedestrians trying to cross this bridge and it was becoming dangerous for pedestrians to use. Plečnik refused the task of redesigning the bridge because he did not want to ruin a historical bridge. However he did create a solution to make the crossing more safe for pedestrians. Plečnik added two side pedestrian bridges, hence the triple bridge. Except now only pedestrians are allowed in the city center, so the bridge is not used for its original purpose, but it is still beautiful. I also learned in the tour that the oldest wheel and oldest flute ever found was in Slovenia.
One of the best parts of Ljubljana on a Saturday morning is the market. They sell everything! From clothes, to food grown locally, to touristy things. I loved looking at all the shops and people. After the tour we ate then headed to the bus station to go to Lake Bled.
Lake Bled is a lake an hour bus ride away from the city in the middle of the mountains. This area is also famous for a cake called the cream slice. We had cream slice and cappuccino while watching the USA v Russia hockey game. It was a great experience. Another exciting Olympic development that weekend was Slovenia won their first Olympic hockey game! It was fun to be in the country during this time of pride. Slovenia has also been doing well during the Olympics so all of the people were very excited.
Back to Lake Bled, the views were breathtaking, but unfortunately the trails were not in use. There was a huge snow storm in Slovenia the weekend before we got there. I heard the worst in 100 years, or 50 years, people were saying lots of things. It wiped out a huge percentage of the forest. Trees were down and the paths to the castle at the top of the cliff were closed. The amount of tree debris all around the country was depressing. I took lots of great pictures which I will post at the end of this blog.
After Lake Bled we went to this restaurant called Das Ist Valter. It is a Balkan restaurant. I ordered something I couldn't understand on the menu and had the specially brewed Das Ist Valter beer. When the waitress came out with the food I had ended up ordering a huge plate of pork and beef sausages with these two huge pieces of break soaked in butter, or some sort of oil. It was extremely cheap, 7€ for everything and best of all it was so good. With a full belly I walked around Ljubljana at night until we got tired and went back.
Ljubljana is the safest city I have been to yet! There were no bothersome peddlers who approach you constantly and very few creepy people. During the day it was mostly families during the day and other college students from the local university in the town at night.
The next morning I woke up a little earlier than my friends to get to see the Tivoli gardens. I love visiting gardens and parks in other cities and countries. I think this is because I used to work for the parks department in my hometown. Also I love nature. The park was huge, but because of the storm the week earlier most of the trees had fallen. They hadn't even had time to clean the trees that had fallen on the walking paths! It was still gorgeous and it was a beautiful day. I then made my way back to the city center and to the castle.
The castle sits atop a hill overlooking the city center. I purchased a ticket to go up in the elevator to see the castle. The elevator takes you up the side of this hill and to the castle. I loved the scenery and the castle itself. When I imagined a castle as a child this is what I pictured. We got to go in the tower and through a museum that had mostly history about Slovenia and replicas of artifacts you can see in another museum in Ljubljana.
After the castle I got kebab and window shopped all the way to the bus station where we had to go home.
I was sad to leave this wonderful place. Here are some pictures of my adventures in Slovenia.
That's all about my trip to Slovenia! Also if anyone is interested in what music I am currently loving, I have become somewhat obsessed with 4 songs. I am currently playing them on repeat in on the train.
- Happy by Pharrell (this song makes me happy)
- Ai Se Eu Te Pego by Michel Teló (this is a Portuguese song)
- Papaoutai by Stromae (a French song I heard at a bar)
- Let It Go by Idena Menzel (from the wonderful movie, Frozen)
- Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo (it is just so catchy)
Keep on the lookout for a blog post about my trip to Rome!
Ciao,
Carolyn
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