Our big summer trip, Part 1 - Slovenia

Day 1
We awoke to a very wet and windy Monday, London bidding us farewell in style. We were up at 7:30 to get an early start. Final pack and clean up the room for Hayden to arrive in a week.

Got down to Brixton in style on the 355 bus, the new backpack well up to the task. Next stop Baker street about 40min away on the tube.

Waiting at some random coach stop near Baker Street, for the Ezybus to arrive. We were told that it is a small bus, they weren’t wrong! It was about a 15 seat Mercedes bus! Hoon of a driver got us to Stanstead in less than an hour. Good work!

Got to the airport very early for a change, cruised through check-in and security, to eat our lunch before boarding the Ezyjet plane, next stop Ljubljana, Slovenia. There was a very impressive train system to get you out to the different gates (there are over 50!)

Fairly crammed on the plane, in the back row with no reclining but not to worry. Only a couple of hours to destination. Arrived to blue skies and some warmth, now that’s more like it! We were very impressed with the terminal and the efficiency getting through.

We found a coach that would take us into town only 5 minutes away from our accommodation. A lovely coach too! And the views of the mountains and corn crops were spectacular. A very nice introduction to the country. Our hostel is located right on the river, a couple of minutes walk from the famous Dragon Bridge. A very speccy bridge in a very pretty part of town right near the food market. Can’t wait to see this open tomorrow.

After checking in and setting up in our room, it was time to head out and get some dinner. We got the goss from the chick at the hostel about a restaurant nearby. It was really nice! Nat had a mushroom soup served in a bread bowl that you can eat! Next was pork fillet smothered in mushroom sauce and plenty of cold local beer. Very tasty and cheap! Nat ordered a white wine, and it is served in a tasting size glass, 100ml! Very unusual, but that seems to be the way it is here! Big beer, 500ml. Wine, 100ml.

After some sightseeing photos, it was time to head home.

Well that’s about it for today, tomorrow we will be checking out around the city for the day.

Day 2

We woke up keen as mustard! Out of the hostel about 9am, straight to the little café at the end of our road for breakfast. We ordered cappuccino and toast. The toast is actually a ham and cheese toastie! Very tasty and the waitress was very nice! Good service so early in the morning!

We then headed to the big market. Its open every day and its massive! A large range of stuff, from clothes and shoes to fruit and veggies. Everything looks so fresh! We were in heaven! Check out this mushroom, it is the size of a dinner plate. We purchased some fresh fruit for later and some salami, cheese and bread rolls. We took the funicular up to the castle. We went to the virtual museum and watched a 3D movie about the history of the city. After, we climbed the viewing tower, which is actually the big clock in this photo What a pretty city! We sat in the court yard and chilled out for a bit and Cam enjoyed his juicy peach. Next we headed down the hill on foot, gee it was a steep path! Pretty scary in parts!

We searched high and low for a public phone booth, its Cam’s Dad’s birthday today and we have absolutely no luck finding a phone booth. Very strange, but having said that, when we’ve found public phone booths in the past, they rarely work! We walked through the shopping street, which was very small compared to other cities. The shops don’t take away from the beauty of the buildings here, its quite brilliant. You will stumble past a shop that you didn’t realize was there. Come 3pm we gave up on our search for a phone box and Cam hired a bike, we headed to Tivoli Park to relax. On the way, we stopped by the river to make our salami and cheese rolls. What a beautiful place!

After Cam dropped off his bike, we went to a bar on the river, hidden away on the river bank, with a floating pontoon! Cam enjoyed another big beer and Nat her mini wine.

We headed back to our hostel, Nat had a nap and Cam chatted some guys in the common room. We dressed up and headed out for dinner. We went around the corner to a restaurant the hostel lady recommended. It was a very romantic little place with the best service we’ve ever had! The lighting was by candle light. We had vegetable soup which was amazing, such fresh ingredients! For mains we shared a big mixed grill. It had grilled veggies, cheese and mixed meats. Absolutely beautiful! And we were so full! Needless to say that we were feeling the effects into the next day…

Day 3

We woke up a little late after forgetting to set the alarm to a grey gloomy day. It had been raining and our plan of heading to Lake Bled had been put on hold. We had decided to go to Postjiana Caves, where it doesn’t matter if it rains.

This country relies a lot more on buses than trains, so we had to use the local transport. After a great homemade breakfast of muesli, yoghurt and delicious fresh pineapple from the market, it was off to the bus station. We dropped by a café on the way for a quick espresso. We bought our bus tickets, and the local bus is actually a lovely coach, after an hour on the road, a short 10 min walk and we were at the caves!

A little more expensive than we expected, but was it worth it! The caves are the largest in size and most visited in Europe. It is no wonder, as they are sooooooo impressive! First off it was about 10 minutes on a mini train through tunnels and a cave maze we departed our mini train into our language groups. We could not believe the amount of people on our 12pm tour. There must have been at least 1000 people in total. At 18 euro each there is some multiplication for you with 7 tours per day during the peak season. It was just a staggering cave, words cannot describe how big this cave is. After the train ride, we thought that was it, but then it was another hour and a half walking around the caves with the hoards of tourists along pristine concrete paths around, up and down, ending at the train station. Not after a lot of ooing and aahing over the amazing sights. We got to do a timed scream and the echo went for about 5 seconds after we stopped, it was truly amazing! Back on the train back out the cave.

After allowing our eyes to adjust it was a ½ hour walk back up to town and back into Ljubianja. It was a very beautiful drive even if it took 1 ½ hours back in.

Down to the market to get some mushrooms for our dinner. We have never seen so many different mushrooms in our life! Although they were a little pricey, we think worth the money. A couple more supplies, then time to finish the day with a couple of cheap drinks by the river. We are talking 1.70 for a beer and 1.00 euro for a wine! Good drinking too. A very way to finish the day. The rain was starting too fall so it was time to head home.

After checking in at the hostel and getting dinner out the way, Cam thought it would be best to get some photos of the dragon bridge, just up the road. Unfortunately the weather was not kind so it was a couple of quick snaps and then head back fairly drenched!

Tommorow it is time to leave Ljubljana and onto Bled for a night before heading south onto Croatia!

Day 4

Good morning! It was an early start to get out of Ljubljana and onto the bus out of here! It was a grey gloomy day but there were glimpses of blue in the distance.

The walk down uneventful and the cheap bus ride stress free. There were a couple of Aussie backpackers on the bus with us, one of them turned out to be from West Australia also! We arrived in Bled to rainy, gloomy skies. We really didn’t feel too lucky on arriving here. We wondered down getting our first glimpses of the lake the road stopping off for a coffee and the rain had decided to hold off. We needed to find somewhere to stay as we had nothing booked. Off to the tourist information office! They pointed us in the direction of the accommodation booking office. 21 euros for the room for the night, without breakfast too easy! They came and picked us up. Although a little out of town it was worth it as the view are stunning!

After unpacking it was time to head back into town to check out this amazing lake. And boy was it worth it! After some lunch we decided to do the touristy thing and get a row boat over to the island. It was just as I remembered Shelley doing it in the Great Outdoors about 2 years ago, and better! Although it had been raining on the way over, not long after arriving on the island the rain had stopped and the sun had decided to show up for us. Very nice timing! It was then time to head back to the mainland.

After a lot of convincing we headed off on a couple of bikes around the lake. It was probably the most picturesque bike ride I have ever been on. It was amazing. Lots of photos of course and many stops, we were in no rush. I had promised Nat a drink on the way. We found a small bar/café (there are many all over this country!) We stopped in for a beer and they offered some home made strudel which we couldn’t refuse. It was very tasty!

We made it around the rest of the lake and just as we returned the bikes, the rain set in. So we made it off to the closest bar for a quiet drink with views of the lake. You are just so spoilt here! We then had a look around a couple of the stores nearby and found the honey shop, picking up some honey liqueur. After working up an appetite we were looking for somewhere warm to tuck into a local meal.

A fair walk later we stumbled into the “Union Grill” A nice bar/restaurant on the corner. We were told it would be a wait, but after seeing a trout being grilled over coals we were happy to wait! Shuffled off the bar upstairs we met a lovely middle-aged couple from Esperance, WA. Having a good chat a couple of beers we were then ushered down for our meal. It was a fair wait for service but boy it was worth the wait! Te men had whole trout, Cam going for the grilled version. Very tasty indeed, the fish being flaky and falling off the bones so easily! Some nice local wine and a lot of laughs. It was really great to get some of the gossip from home and speak to someone in our native tongue!

We decided to head home in the pouring rain. We were certainly fairly wet by the time that we got home! But it was a memorable walk into the outskirts of town. The bed was sooooo comfortable! Pillows were great, a great nights’ sleep.

Day 5

Hello Bled! We were greeted with a smile and an amazing breakfast, which Cam tucked into with gusto. Cereal, bread, salami, cheese, yoghurt, eggs, fruit and juice. We were charged up and ready for a big day.

Unfortunately the weather was having none of that and it was a terrible wet gloomy day, not that it matters that much as we are on holiday! Got our lift up to the bus station, and then Cam was off in search of some postcards. On the bus for 1 ½ hours through some amazing countryside back into the city. We got talking to another West Australian, Johanna from Albany. Such a friendly girl! We got chatting about jobs, and life in general and found out that they have started work on a huge marina foreshore development down there. She is a manager of Albany backpackers, so if you are ever down there in need of a bed look them up!

Back in town we had a couple of hours to kill, so we were at a café writing out the postcards enjoying coffee and dodging the rain. It was then time to post the cards and kill some time at the train station across the road. Next stop Croatia!

Finding yet another bar to have a beer, this time being inside the station watching the world go by. After some time we met up with Joanna again for a beer while we wait for the train. And then along comes Agg and Emma on the same train also! So a group of West Aussies hanging out at the train station in Ljubianja, very nice. We were doing well until we realised that there was 5 minutes until the train departs. It was all aboard! We were split up but we all met some nice people on the train and the 2 ½ hours just flew by.

Aaron and Em got off a station earlier, and we went all the way to Rjyeka to a very wet city! We found a bar for the toilet and a quick drink before trying to find a cab out of this city. We didn’t know where we were staying so looked up a hotel in our Lonely Planet guide. The taxi ride was quite scary there in an old Mercedes that didn’t have a demister and the wipers were crap. Not what you need in a storm! But we got there safely in the end. Upon arrival, they advised that they have a villa next door that we could stay at. So we got into our room and were very disappointed. Cam went on the search for something better, with not much else around! Went out for a pretty non-eventful dinner. Off to bed.