Stop over in Slovenia

We got to Ljubljana (the capital of Slovenia) in the afternoon after a nice 2 hour train ride. You could notice the difference in the landscape straight away. It was very green compared to Croatia’s rocky hills, with flat paddocks and forest going up to the mountains. Ljubljana is quite a buzzing small city – and we were surprised that there were only 300,000 people living here as there was so much going on! The large student population here probably contributes to this. Also we later found out that there was a street performance festival in the city which was why it was so busy. There was something new around every corner.

Shoes of students hanging up over a street in Ljubljana..

View down the canal in Ljubljana

We had a great airbnb place to stay at with David who was happy to tell us all about his country which was cool. We enjoyed a free walking tour on our first full day in the city where we learnt a lot about the history of the place. Slovenia has been under rule of other countries (including Austria & former Yugoslavia) for much of its history. It gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and managed to avoid a serious war (unlike Croatia). The guide told us a cool story about how the Slovenian army showed great tactics by piling up cars on the border to stop the Yugoslavian army getting through with their tanks when they declared independence. The war only lasted 10 days partly due to the fact that there were not many Serbs in Slovenia & the Yugoslav army deciding to put all their focus to Croatia.

Dragon - the symbol of Slovenia.

The food in Ljubljana was pretty tasty, and cheap too which was a bonus. One of my favourites was a cake made with fresh cherries and you could get a massive slab from the bakery for only €1 – it was similar to a blueberry muffin. We visited the markets each day to get fruit and on Saturday the locals all seem to head there also as it was packed!

We got quite a bit of walking done while we were there as there are quite a few things to see. One day we walked to the forest which creeps into the city, where apparently you can sometimes see bears. Didn’t see any bears that day but ran into a turtle crossing the path on our way back – something you don’t see very often.. It froze on the spot and went into its shell when we approached it. After a few photos we didn’t really know what to do with it as it was still in its shell. I ended up lifting over to a nearby creek so hopefully it is still happy there.

Walking through the Slovenian forest

The turtle just chilling

Random turtle in the middle of a park in Ljubljana

We went up to the castle another day where you get a really good view over the city. There was a man doing calligraphy writing up the top so (after watching him for a bit) got our names drawn up. He could even do Lord of the Rings style which was not bad!

It was off to Lake Bled for our last full day here. As Slovenia is so small it is possible to go anywhere in a day trip from the capital – and Bled was only a 1.5hour bus ride away. It was very nice here – a clear flat lake with an amazing backdrop. It has Slovenia’s only island in the middle and a flash looking castle up on a cliff next to it. We walked around and climbed up to the castle to get some great views over the lake. As we were sick of castles we didn’t pay to go inside, but found a path which led to an awesome lookout point around the side of the castle. After our trek we went down to the Park Hotel and had a coffee with some of the famous Bled Cream Cake – which was worth it! Apparently they have made over 15 million cakes since it was developed in 1953 so it must be good.

View across Lake Bled to the castle

Lake Bled from up high..

The only island in Slovenia!

Haylee enjoying the famous Bled cream cake

It would have been nice to see a bit more of this small country but after 4 days we had a pretty good feel of the place. The people here really made our stay enjoyable and one of the highlights was hanging out with the Slovenians - drinking a few beers with David (our airbnb host) & his mates.

Next we are back in Italy next to check out Venice before we fly to Turkey..