Playing in the Slovenian Alps

I arrived at Bled, Slovenia, a town on a picturesque lake surrounded by mountains, complete with a church on an island and castle perched on a cliff above. It was a cool, cloudy, and misty morning, my kind of weather, and low clouds were lifting up between the mountain valleys, looking magical as they enveloped the lake with its old church. The hostel in Bled was of very high standard, clean, quiet and excellent showers. The people at this hostel were also a bit older than the university crowd, fellow adventure seekers in their mid twenties and 30s who were interested in playing hard during the day and getting plenty of sleep at night. Here, I met Mark, a guy from Northern Ireland, Jared and Matt from New Zealand, and Cam from Calgary, all of us only intending to stay a day or so, only to rebook another night first thing in the morning. We were all relaxed, getting to bed by 2300 without the temptation of partying, and this would be the place we would all temporarily recharge.

Here I was able to hike along the light blue waters of the very narrow Vintgar Gorge, kayak along a very fast, light blue, almost turquoise river, Mountain bike and hike to watefalls on the steep slopes of the Alps. Mark and I hung out quite a bit doing some kayaking and hiking, we were in the same position of just having quit our jobs. While I try to travel with no set plans, Mark really is the spontaneous traveller, having quit his job, booked his flight and boarded the plane all within a few days. He doesn´t use the internet or travel books to research accomodations, cities, transportation or sights. He just goes, and then sees what happens.

The New Zealanders, coming from a land of extreme sports, apparently couldn´t get enough adventure. We were all startled from our sleep one night when we heard a big thud at 3am. There was a groaning sound and I realized what had happened and groggily yelled ˝Shit man, are you OK?˝ Jared had fallen off the top bunk and was lying on his back. All he said was ˝Ahh, Cheers mate,˝ got up, walked around and then went back to bed. Extreme sleeping, coming soon to the states. He turned out to be ok, he landed on Matt´s backpack, but he later sprained his wrist and knee in a mountain biking accident the next day.

The 4th day in Bled was met with a downpour of rain, I was deciding between staying one more night or heading to southern Slovenia or Italy or Croatia. Cam, Mark and I spent the day playing the old college days card game of Asshole with 4 lovely Australian ladies, all of whom were better at this game than us. (There are alot of travelling Aussies and Kiwis, and while Americans and Europeans tend to travel for 2 months, they are all on 6-12 month walkabouts because of their remote location). One of the Aussie girls told me about a park in Croatia of lakes and waterfalls that were formed from limestone deposits and petrified vegetation with nice blue green waters (such clear waters now becoming the norm in these parts). I thought that sounded cool to check out, so I boarded the next bus to Croatia, planning on stopping at the park on my way to the Croatian coastal town of Split.

Bohinj 2

Church at Lake Bohinj

two Slovenian dudes doing something with wood



Relaxing in the fields of the Alps

Bohinj pictures

Lake Bohinj,

Sign of some future stops.

Savica Falls

Ljubljana Pictures

Laura, James, Tom, Nina, Matthew

Shots of some of the old town Ljubljana

Bled pictures

Me,
The blue waters of Vintgar Gorge,
Lake Bled with the church on the island

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.

pronounced Loob Liyana

Presernov Square, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Gas must be expensive here

The line of taxis at the Ljubljana airport was 10 deep. instead of sitting in an idling cab, waiting for their turn to pick up the next passenger, cab drivers were standing outside of the cabs, with the driver's side door open, one hand on the wheel, one hand on the side of the windshield. The cars were all in neutral and the drivers would push them until they got to the front of the queue. I bet these guys would love to work in the states where you will see 50-100 buses idling for 30 minutes or more outside of the museums on the national mall, just to keep the air conditioner running.