Cheers to the Slovenians

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Let's be honest. Before reading this blog, how many of you knew where Slovenia was? Or perhaps a better question -- how many of you knew where Ljubljana was?

And how unfortunate. But get ready to start hearing about Slovenia and Ljubljana. Bet you didn't know this little country is the 2nd richest in the EU. Bet you didn't know that Ljubljana is the new rave on the European backpackers' tour. So much in fact that when Damon and I arrived yesterday afternoon, we could not find a spot in any of the local hostels.

Nestled among the Alps and on a quaint little river, Ljubljana is very scenic. The city is rather small (about 290,000) and this might explain why the hostel/hotel industry has not caught up with the sudden tourist boom. Without a room and lugging around huge packs, we ended up in the tourist office in the city center and luckily gained a spot in a local private home for 35 euros per night. Unfortunately, the house is located about 3 km outside of the center. Thus, we had to book it over there last night.

Mind you, this is after a rather long day of travels and fresh off of a sleepless night (remember, we took the night train from Belgrade to Zagreb). We were tired and hungry and so the hike across town did not appeal to us. Yet we did it. I will be honest at this point: I think that it was the most miserable that Damon has ever been in his life (definitely on this trip). He wanted to get a taxi, but I pressed on.

I could feel his eyes bearing through my backpack as I trekked on. The kid was tired but we finally made it to our cute little bungalow. We were greeted by the friendly caretaker. He speaks about 6 words of English, but that was enough to give off a hospitable greeting and welcome.

After unpacking and a quick shower, we headed to the local sports bar. We wanted to watch the USA basketball team play Argentina and according to the tourist office, the sports bar was sure to have it. Ha. We caught a few highlights of the Olympics, but no USA basketball. I guess it's better that we didn't!

We had a relaxing day in this beautiful Slovenian weather. I am currently wearing khakis and a sweater; there is a fresh breeze cooling this little cafe along the river. We are about to head out on a two-hour evening tour of the city. Tomorrow we are going spelunking in a cave about 50 km from here.

By the way, I fixed the link to the pictures (for those that were having trouble). I will put up more soon. The ones from Athens are great, and I look forward to sharing them.

Also, the blog got its 2000th hit today.