EUROPE BLOG April 9th, 2023 - LJUBLJANA

 

4/9/23- After researching and getting night shots, I probably got around 4 hours of sleep. We did pack the night before, so it doesn’t take us long to check out of our apartment and find a ride to the bus station. Arriving thirty minutes early, we’re unsure if our mobile tickets are all that we need, but when I go into the station I see the ticket booth empty. Assuming we have everything, we wait by the sign showing our bus number. It pulls up, I show the tickets and voila we’re on the bus without even having to present ID. Interesting.

Our assigned seats are right at the door with the toilet in front of us. Not ideal and definitely not very comfortable, however, the bus is only partially full allowing us to spread out. This allows me a few more hours sleep, despite my pulled groin hampering me a bit. Oh did I not mention that before? I’ve had this nagging pull for about 6 weeks which mainly hits when I’m stationary for a bit (like a plane, sleeping or now a bus). I’m just glad it hasn’t hobbled me walking around cities.

The ride is a long six hours, with two stops (one being a gas station which wanted to charge to use their restroom) and we finally arrive in Ljubljana (Pronounced loo·bee·aa·nuh) Slovenia around 12:30pm. And of course, it’s raining. It was supposed to only be partially cloudy today, Ugh!

We duck inside the station and try to use the taxi app for the area, but it won’t allow me to sign up because my phone has a US number. We do find a taxi rank down the road, but stop to get cash from the ATM and a burger first. Wouldn’t you know it, one bite in and the rain suddenly stops.

We’ve already been notified that our AirBnb may not be ready until 3pm, so we weren’t in a rush, but hopefully we can store our bags until it is. At the taxi rank, we talk with the first one in line who pretty much refused to take us due to the short 5 minute distance for him. I thought he may relent until he said 20 Euros for the ride. I check the GPS to see it’s about 11 minutes away and Sharece quickly speaks up, “We’re good, we’ll walk it.” Wow, I was impressed as we have all of our luggage in tow.

Taking the load off, I grab her suitcase and roll it to our AirBnb. Last thing I want is Sharece pulling her back out for any period of time. We on vacation, my baby doesn’t work.

At the place, it takes a moment to follow the directions to find the key and soon realize our room is the first one inside the building on the first floor. Very convenient. The place looks very nicely done with a kitchenette, separate bedroom and pleasant décor. This one even has a microwave, unlike our last place, and a whole bowl of chocolate Easter eggs.

It takes us about thirty minutes to freshen up before we head out to explore the city. Our AirBnb is not far from the river that runs through the heart of town, so everything is very convenient to get to. There’s still an overcast looming, but we’re mainly getting our bearings for now.

The dragon bridge is first up as its just down the street. It’s called this due to the 4 dragons stationed on either side as if guarding against unwelcomed visitors. A unique bridge to say the least. We don’t even make it another block before being in love with the city already. The buildings have an old town charm that’s pleasing to the eye, and the town center (Preseren Square) is full of churches, cathedrals and shops. This is what my camera has been waiting for.

A few rain drops are felt and we begin to go towards a souvenir shop when out of nowhere the rain stops, the skies part, and sunlight hits us like a flashlight. Where did the bad weather go? Without delay, we continue down the river bank to take full advantage of the blue skies coming our way.

Our journey takes us through multiple streets and alleyways, and soon we come face to face with the uphill road to the castle. Not wanting to temp our legs much further, we decide to leave the rest for tomorrow, which is supposed to be another nice day, so we trek back toward our place and hit a few shops. We manage to find some souvenirs and a bottle of wine, but not much else. I know it’s Easter Sunday but how are all of the grocery stores closed? Asking for a friend.

Feeling the pit of our stomachs growl, we do spot an authentic Slovenian restaurant nearby. I get the goulash bread bowl and Sharece the sausage and sauerkraut and both were very good. A little too good as we ended up stuffed. We end our day grabbing a few bananas from a small farmers market. At least we have something for tomorrow. Oh, we did snag a few of the best ice creams we've ever had so there's that.

It’s time to bring up the notable differences with Europe and America. Stop lights are backwards as they turn from Red to Yellow to Green, which freaked me out the first time I saw our driver gun it on a red/yellow. The ground floor is 0 and not 1, if you get off at one you’ll be lost in a maze for a bit. People always like to sit on statue, and privacy is not a thing apparently as our current AirBnb has sheer curtains which allows anyone from outside to see right in our living room. The one thing that doesn’t change is a Big Mac always tastes like a Big Mac.