Ljubljana, Slovenia

I came to Slovenia because pictures of it looked beautiful, it was off the beaten path, and understated. It is over 50% forest, and you realize this when you get off the plane, I always felt like I was just on the edge of a huge forest as I went from the airport to the downtown.

I intended to spend 3 nights in Ljubljana, so that I could take one night to catchup on sleep and then 2 nights to party. I arrived on Thursday, and decided against going out at 23:00 so that I could preserve my energy for Fri and Sat nights. I hadn´t planned on jet lag being so strong. It was close to 4 am when I finally fell asleep, about the same time 3 blokes from the UK, who were sharing my hostel room, came in from partying. I finally met these guys at 16:00 the next day, they were just getting out of bed as I was coming back to rest my feet from exploring all day.

Ljubljana is small enough so that you can walk around the downtown without serious exertion. The architecture is a mixture of baroque and secessionist, whatever that is. A majority of the buildings were designed by local architecht Joze Plecnik, who spent a good deal of time in Prague, so I am told that it carries some similar features in a more ecclectic way. The rivers in this town are small enough to resemble canals, with several bridges and outdoor cafes lining them. The people are friendly, and very laid back. The city is surrounded on 3 sides by rolling green hills and mountains that continue to get bigger as you go to the Alps just to the North and West. And yet, as ideal a setting as this all is, there is nothing truly magnificent about Ljubljana, which is its greatest attraction I guess. There are no crowds, no hustle, no ˝ must see˝ attractions for tourists. Just regular people going about their lives. The place is just really, really nice. It´s an easy place to feel comfortable in.

I went out Friday night with the fellows from the UK, Matthew, James, and Tom. Most of us know of pub crawls. I get the impression these guys do one every day of the week. I can´t recall how many spots we visited, but I know we had at least 12 rounds of drinks. Beer, gin, Vodka, and Absinthe. I somehow got separated from the guys when I came to a fabulous dance partner in a German girl named Anita. It was now near 2am and her Slovenian friend Lydia wanted to go to another club across town. So we went on and danced like mad, and I watched as the clock hit 3, 4, 5am. This was one way of dealing with jet lag. Stay on Eastern Standard Time.

As the club let out, Anita was catching a train back to Munich, Lydia offered to walk me across town to the hostel, which was near her house. She gave me a historical, informational, and architectural tour of the town, which was a very kind gesture, and was really the best way to get a tour of a beautiful city. The birds were chirping, the sun was about to rise, color is starting to come to the buildings out of the darkness, and I will probably have a massive headache in a few hours.

I thought eating a ˝Horseburger˝ would be good for me when I woke around 13:00. I assumed it was not actual horse, but just some European adjective used to make Americans feel comfortable that they are getting large enough portions. Once I took a bite, I realized that it very well could be Horse, but enough ketchup will make anything taste good.

The next night was relatively low key. 2 Canadian girls joined me and the UK boys as we went to a big outdoor music festival in a large park in town. Several big name DJs were there, DJ Yoda, Freddy Fresh, and Vector Lovers. It was a really happening and nice outdoor dance party. James was getting along very well with one of the Canadian gals, and I made a few suggestions to them that they should walk around and explore the park (I had been there earlier in the day, and was now recalling that there were several intimate spots there). I was hoping they would take the hint. A crowded hostel is not conducive to a hook-up. They didn´t take the hint, and they headed back as the rest of us went to a club. I ran into James the next morning on a train and asked him which bathroom they used the night before. He laughed and confessed. Travelling forces you to be resourceful in more ways than one.