I wasn't sure what to expect when I got on a bus from Venice to Ljubljana (LPT it's pronounced "lyoo-blyah-nah"). This was mostly due to the fact that prior to planning this trip, I hadn't even heard of Slovenia. I even had to spell it out to my credit card companies when I was informing them of my departure from the States. Slovakia is a bit more well known, since it used to be part of Czechoslovakia and is the setting of the movie Hostel. Do I regret not stocking up on horror films about murdered backpackers in Europe? Maybe just a little...
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| One of the many quirky pieces of art throughout the city. |
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| Yeah, yeah... I just came from Italy but I'm still eating ridiculous goblets of ice cream for dinner. |
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| They like their dragons here. |
Although very pretty and full of character, it could have been easy for Ljubljana to have just become "another city." But Ljubljana will always be in my fond memories now because of a particular night where I decided to be social, go out on a pub crawl with these two Scottish guys I just met in my hostel, and ended up on a fourth story night club trying to run away from shady European men who kept trying to dance with me. But the Scottish dudes were awesome, really fun, and completely sane. More on them in later posts - I met up with them a couple more times in other countries and can confirm that there were not serial killers.
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| The mojito cost as much as the meatball plate and salad (€4.50) |
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| Hilarious bachelor party happening on the Ljubljanica. |
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| Oh look, a pretty castle on a hill. What you can't see from this picture is the super steep incline one is required to overcome in order to reach the top. Well, you could also pay like €10 for an elevator, but who wants to do that? |
On my third day here, I took a day trip to the beautiful Lake Bled, home of the cream cake (pictured below). Bled castle, like Ljubljana castle, was also situated on top of a very steep mountain (requiring a 15 minute hike). But once you do reach the top, the view is stunning.
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| Frankfurter plate. I wasn't expecting this exactly when I ordered it, but was amused nonetheless. |
