slovenia in retrospect
its easy to talk lovingly about a place when you are writing on a stomach full of home-cooked italian food (and especially so when it is that of the bianchi's!). yes, i am in italy and i understand why most italian men have a 'paunch' - otherwise known as a pot belly
i write now in the sweet lethargy that arises from the combination of past exhaustion and present relaxation. after 3 packed days of sight-seeing and wonderful hospitaltiy in vienna we took an overnight train to bled overloaded like south-american packhorses with snacks ranging from fruit salad to practical 3-course meal sandwiches courtesy of our australian/viennese livnig host donna. 9 hours and 2 changes (including an accidental busride) later we arrived to a lake bled sunrise and a full hostel. the biggest stroke of luck turned into a double-hit when the australian couple who's hostel beds we usurped mentioned that they were heading to zagreb. lucy's face shod its sleepless gloom and opportunistically put on its most earnest grin upon the realisation that we may be able to relieve ourselves of not only our weary feet, but of the 13 stamped croatian postcards we had been carrying since we forgot to post in zagreb 2 weeks prior.
we made the most of our one day in bled, walking many steps up to the top of the picturesque castle that overlooks a picturesque town before walking around the picturesque lake with the picturesque island on which there is built a picturesque church. this may sound sarcastic but it is the only way to describe bled - only photos can do justice to its beauty and i am glad we ventured there before heading into ljubljana, which was an entirely different experience (thought in no way bad!). we managed to get away with an hour long nap in the afternoon before exploring further and then returning to our hostel that evening where we engaged in some fine conversation with some other aussie's that we were to share the room with. we weren't suprised to learn that hamish and anna live and work in london - which seems to be the city of choice for most australians we have met...
decided, despite all warning, to head into ljibljana with no booked accomodation and took the morning bus in the next day. to our semi-dismay there was not a scrap of cheap hostel accomodation in the joint. so to stay true to our budget we decided to take the overnight option on the train and ride the time until the 3am departure our in the city... this would have been fine except that the baggage stowage at the trainstation consisted of self-stowage lockers that were all occupied. we tried finding another way out of ljubljana but the only one suitable left at 4pm and arrived at 2 in the morning - which was a little too early for my cousin to venture out to pick us up. it was at this point of realisation that the lockers emptied themselves due to a train departure and we were able to dump our bags and explore the town.
i will post more on ljibljana - the non-tourist town - tomorrow. for now my bed screams out to me. a second all-nighter has hit me harder than expected!
i write now in the sweet lethargy that arises from the combination of past exhaustion and present relaxation. after 3 packed days of sight-seeing and wonderful hospitaltiy in vienna we took an overnight train to bled overloaded like south-american packhorses with snacks ranging from fruit salad to practical 3-course meal sandwiches courtesy of our australian/viennese livnig host donna. 9 hours and 2 changes (including an accidental busride) later we arrived to a lake bled sunrise and a full hostel. the biggest stroke of luck turned into a double-hit when the australian couple who's hostel beds we usurped mentioned that they were heading to zagreb. lucy's face shod its sleepless gloom and opportunistically put on its most earnest grin upon the realisation that we may be able to relieve ourselves of not only our weary feet, but of the 13 stamped croatian postcards we had been carrying since we forgot to post in zagreb 2 weeks prior.
we made the most of our one day in bled, walking many steps up to the top of the picturesque castle that overlooks a picturesque town before walking around the picturesque lake with the picturesque island on which there is built a picturesque church. this may sound sarcastic but it is the only way to describe bled - only photos can do justice to its beauty and i am glad we ventured there before heading into ljubljana, which was an entirely different experience (thought in no way bad!). we managed to get away with an hour long nap in the afternoon before exploring further and then returning to our hostel that evening where we engaged in some fine conversation with some other aussie's that we were to share the room with. we weren't suprised to learn that hamish and anna live and work in london - which seems to be the city of choice for most australians we have met...
decided, despite all warning, to head into ljibljana with no booked accomodation and took the morning bus in the next day. to our semi-dismay there was not a scrap of cheap hostel accomodation in the joint. so to stay true to our budget we decided to take the overnight option on the train and ride the time until the 3am departure our in the city... this would have been fine except that the baggage stowage at the trainstation consisted of self-stowage lockers that were all occupied. we tried finding another way out of ljubljana but the only one suitable left at 4pm and arrived at 2 in the morning - which was a little too early for my cousin to venture out to pick us up. it was at this point of realisation that the lockers emptied themselves due to a train departure and we were able to dump our bags and explore the town.
i will post more on ljibljana - the non-tourist town - tomorrow. for now my bed screams out to me. a second all-nighter has hit me harder than expected!
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