Ljubliana
20th September
There isn’t a train from Rovijn to Ljubliana, so we booked ourselved a Flixbus. It was a large green comfortable coach, which was travelling all the way to Zagreb eventually. The big bus set on on at dot at 10am, and stopped at numerous towns going north up the coast of Istria. At Umag bus station, two border guards got on before we crossed into Slovenia, and carefully examined everyones passports. One young woman was not allowed to continue, I don’t know what her story was, a sorrowful one no doubt.
Once it reached the city of Koper in Slovenia, the coach turned inland, joined a motorway and we really got shifting at last. Slovenia is a prosperous country, and is covered with mountains and forests, and in places it resembles Switzerland.
Our journey was a tiresome five hours, but I have been on worse trips. When I was 21 I got a Magic Bus from London to Athens, that took 48 hours. Once again we dragged our bags to another flat in a busy street in the old town. I could say apartment rather than flat, but it’s two extra syllables and is too bloody American. The flat is plain and functional, but has everything we need and is in the centre of the compact old town.
We ambled around a while in a post-busride haze, before having a beer by the riverside. The Union beer here is much better than the Croatian cooking lager. The wine was expensive at 5 euros for 100ml, twice as much as in Rovinj. The riverside is lined with busy cafes, with tourists and locals enjoying a drink in the sunshine.
Our tummies were rumbling so we walked down an alley past a bizarre bronze fountain, and found ourselves in a beer garden. A restaurant with an interesting menu beckoned to us, it said “come inside Tim and Julie, I have some delicious Slovenian food for you to enjoy”, so we did. I had Krasjska Klobasa (smoked sausage and mash) and Julie had beef goulash. It was very good, the menu didn’t lie. The waiters were very fast and efficient, and even brought a bowl of water for a customer’s dog. Which was nice.
We treated ourselves to breakfast in a cafe, and walked for 10 mintes to Le Petite Cafe near the University. I had Eggs Benedict which contained “Cured Pork Neck”, turns out that means bacon. It was absolutely delicious, but the coffees were tiny, just one shot with some milk in it, pah!
21st September
At 11am we joined a Free Walking Tour with a guide called Tina. She spoke perfect English with an American accent, and (of course) was very knowldegable about her home city.
She showed us the major sites in the city centre, which is only about 1km across. Many of the buildings are relatively new, because there was an earthquake in 1895 that destroyed a third of the city. Ljubliana was an Austrian city for 500 years, and the use of the Slovenian language was banned. Because so many buildings were destroyed, they were replaced with buildings designed in the fashion of the day which is Art Nouvea. Consequemtly there are many stunning edifices in the city centre.
The walk was a very good introduction to the city, and although it was “Free”, we gave the guide a good tip. By the way I spent four years as a secondary school teacher and the only gift I ever got was a plastic pencil holder. Parents were very tight in the 80s, mingey bastards.
After a Lidl-based lunch back at the ranch, we walked up to the castle, which is very close but up a bloody great hill. There was a funicular going up, but they are for tourists with weak hips rather than stout hearted Travellers. At the castle we met some Americans (firmly in the tourist bracket) who told us they got the Funkla up the hill. Oh how we laughed, inside of course, we are not rude.
The castle is mostly free to get in and wander round, and it has some interesting nooks and crannies, so of which are quite modern looking. I don’t think English Heritage would like what they have done, they like a ruin to stay a ruin. The Archers tower did give splendid views over the city and surrounding hills. There was a taller tower, but we would have to spend money going up that. We need that money to spend on Lidl supplies. There is a park next to the castle with a historic hump on it . I read a sign about the hump, but I can’t remember what the heck it said. It was a nice hump with more lovely views.
After descending down a zig zag path to the city centre we walked around admiring the lovely old and interesting buildings. It is a compact, and very attractive city. At the base of the castle hill we found Gorji trg, a street of old houses and restaurants that survived the earthquake. I saw some grafitti on a wall and asked Julie to take a picture of me. I posed like a punk on an album cover in 1977. Somehow I don’t look like Joe Strummer.
I cooked our dinner (penne with pasta sauce and chicken) and cracked a bottle of Limoncello we bought at Lidl. We were both convinced it said 4.99 on the shelf, but after drinking the citrus liquor I found the receipt and it was actually 14.99. Noooooo!!! It wasn’t a genuine bargain, I feel heartbroken. I may have to shop in Aldi in future. Luckily a big Aldi opens in Twickenham on 1st October.
September 22nd
The main attractions out of Ljubliana are the Lakes Bled and Bohinj. Getting to them is very tricky by public transport, so Julie found us an organised tour online.
At 9am we met Marko at the Dragon Bridge, along with five other people from Canada, Australia, America, Germany and India. A truly international band of travellers.
Driving out of Ljubliana on the motorway we headed towards the Julian Alps, a white limestone mountain range in Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. It was allegedly named after Julius Ceaser. That’s obviously bollocks because he wasn’t called Julian Ceasar was he?
Our first destination was Savica Waterfall, or Slap Savica in Slovenian. It is 78 metres high and is the main source of the Sava Bohinjka River. To reach the waterfall it’s 4 euros and 550 steps, which takes about 20 minutes. At the top is a crowded wooded platform about 5 metres square, packed with people taking photos of the waterfall on one side and the amazing Bohinj valley on the other. The valley is a perfect glacial “U” shape like we all learned about in geography.
The next stop on the tour was Lake Bohinj, which is the biggest lake in Slovenia, 4.2 Km long. It is very peaceful and beautiful, with a picturesque bridge and church. It’s also very cold. I saw two hardy souls in swimsuits trying to get in, but they didn’t get as far as their most sensitive parts before getting out again. The water was perfectly clear, and fish were visible swimming close to the bank.
Everybody back on the bus! Next stop was Lake Bled, the second most famous place in Slovenia. It really is an exquisitely beautiful alpine lake, perfectly blue and surrounded by pine forests. At its centre is a small island with a church on it, appearing to be straight off a chocolate box. On an eagles eyrie above the lake is Bledski Grad, a castle sited there not for defensive purposes, but because it looked really good.
First things first, we had lunch at a lakeside restaurant, Mushroom Risotto, which was very good. At lunch I had a conversation with comeone other than Julie, which made a change. She was a software engineer from Dehli living in Stratford, east London.
Our guide Marko is 18 or 19 and perfectly polite. He is a great driver and took an interest in all his customers. He was trained by his Uncle who introduced himself. He greeted us all with a handshake (of iron) and told us we could ring him any time for advice, and spoke like he meant it. He was also a former international basketball player, and the American guest got quite excited about it. I know less about basketball than you can write on the back of a postage stamp.
There is a very scenic path all around the lake, and we promenaded slowly and took in the views of the island, castle and boats criss crossing the water. The flat-bottomed boats are called Plenta, and have a single oarsman rowing forward with two long oars. They have a dozen passengers crossing to the church, so the oarsmen are really strong.
Some of our Fellowship of the Lake, walked up a steep hill to get a better view, but we Couldn’t Be Arsed, it all looked perfectly nice from the lakeside. At one end of the lake people were swimming, because it is warmed by thermal springs. The gentlemen’s future fertility was not at stake. There is a rowing clubhouse and a very long rowing course marked out by buoys (not boys) down the middle of the lake. It looked fantastic for rowing, skifftastic in fact.
The Fellowship got back together at 5pm and Marko drove us back to Ljubliana., which only took 45 minutes. I have seen Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Louise, Lake Como and Lake Garda, and I think that Lake Bled is the prettiest of the lot.
23 September
Today is for relaxing and enjoying more of what Ljubljana has to offer. We also have to make sure that our trains all line up to get to Innsbruck in Austria tomorrow. Julie had read that the trains to Villach were replaced by buses tomorrow, so we needed to go to the railway station here to double check.
On the way we wandered, perhaps meandered, down an old street and came across a cafe that appeared to be patronised by local people called Trubar. I ordered us some Americano coffees and burek, cheese for Julie and meat for me. I wasn’t sure what to expect, bureks not being available in Wetherspoons at home. What I got was a pastry half the size of a dinner plate, bingo! My meaty burek was layers of flakey pastry with mince in between, so a bit like a Cornish pasty. Dear Reader, it was top notch scoff, and very filling. Also it cost 3.5 euros, a Euro Bargain, which I deeply appreciate.
Close to the station is Metelkova, an “alternative” / “bohemian” area of a few blocks of flats covered in unusual sculptures and graffiti. It also had a man shooting up on a park bench and other shady looking characters. I feared for the safety of my phone, so we hot-footed it outta there.
At the railway station information office, a very efficient and helpful lady reassured us that trains are definitly running tomorrow. However our train starts in Croatia and is always late. She told us the best trains to get to ensure our connections to Innsbruck, and we have to change three times on the way.
You may be wondering how we chose our route for the month. Our aim was not to go to cities we had already visited on our last Interrail, which meant avoiding Paris, Strasburg, Munich, Budapest, Salzburg, Verona, Sienna, Genona, Nice and Lyon. Our destinations also had to be enticing and well connected. So we watched a huge number of YouTube videos of cities we thought mighty be contenders. Then Julie got onto Booking.com to find suitable places to stay.
- Close to the town centre and the station
- With a washing machine for our limited supply of clothes
- Fit within our budget
- Have a balcony if possible
Mostly she has found very suitable places, Julie is really good at this stuff
Moving on from the station being well fed and well informed , we walked to Tivoli park. You can walk everywhere in Ljubliana, it’s a compact city. Tivoli is a lovely park with mowed lawns and benches that continues into a huge hilly and forested nature reserve. It’s as if St James Park was joined onto Richmond Park. Being gluttons for punishment we hiked up a steep path and then down another and discovered a delightful Swiss chalet style building with a cafe. There was only a few people there, but the drinks menu at Bistro Svicarija was enticing us. So we sat in the sunshine and ordered two Union pivos, it was the right thing to do.
Leaving the Bistro somewhat relaxed, we continued exploring , and whaddya know, came across another EVEN BETTER cafe at Tivoli Grad selling cocktails at very affordable prices. It was sunny, the view was amazing , it was a fucking no brainer! This is what holidays are all about, drinking in the sunshine in the afternoon when it feels naughty.
It’s a short walk back to the city centre which was still bathed in sunshine. This is the splendid view from Congress Square.
