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Jul on 6 May 2009 |
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Slovenia is full of famous caves. We had been warned that Postojnska, the one we chose to visit (based on its proximity to our planned route) was the most disneyfied of the major caves, but we figured it was still worth a visit. Indeed, the rumors of disneyfication were only slightly exaggerated. It’s not like they dressed the stalagmites up in character costumes or anything.
The giant crowds, souvenir stands, and cheap restaurants around the entrance to the caves certainly gave off the air of a big tourist trap. We bought our overpriced (20 EUR) tickets and were filtered onto a giant people-mover. It inspired us to start singing “It’s a small world”; that is, until it started moving. The speed and lack of safety features made it clear we weren’t in an American theme park at all. The temptation to put one’s hands up roller-coaster-style was tempered by the fear of stalactites and occasional low ceilings.
Such massive people-moving capacity is necessary when your cave is visited by 600,000 visitors per year (it was a lot more pre-1989). Luckily the cave is absolutely massive. None of the photos we took began to capture the scale of the large caverns. The tour took us through about 4 kilometers of the more than 10-kilometer-long cave. Luckily we were allowed to walk through a good part of it so we could actually admire the scenery. And my goodness was it worthy of admiration.
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Tags: Eastern Europe, travel
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Jul on 5 May 2009 |
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Ljubljana (4 hours by car or 6 hours by train from Munich) not only fulfilled my love of places with silly names, but it also turned out to be charming little city and a fun place to hang out.
Ljubljana is quite small for a capital city, so it’s not long in the ‘touristy things to see and do’ category. Which is nice, really, because one can just focus on soaking up the atmosphere without feeling tied to a schedule of things to see and do. If we had been slightly more organized we probably would have gone on a walking tour; as it was we just wandered around and enjoyed the place, making the hilltop castle our only specific destination.
During a thunderstorm we ducked into a wine bar and discovered that Slovenia produces some very delicious whites.
One guidebook compared Ljubljana to Salzburg. We did notice a few similarities, particularly how both cities prefer to honor their famous dead citizens with chocolate balls.
Our food choices tended towards the Italian, since we were told that Slovenian food was very meat-centered. Indeed, the word “stallion” did appear multiple times on pretty much every menu we scoped out.
Evening is when this city really turns on the charm. The river is lined with lively outdoor bars and cafes, and the bridges and buildings are lit up just so. In the main square we were treated to a live performance of Slovenian pop music which had us singing all the way back to the hotel.
Slovenia is the first eastern European country to adopt the euro, making a quick trip there pleasantly free of currency exchanging. Prices are still lower than in many western European cities. We stayed at the Hotel Slon, which was very central, a good value, and had a great breakfast buffet.
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Tags: Eastern Europe, Ljubljana, Slovenia, travel
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Jul on 3 May 2009 |
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Slovenia is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Munich, yet it doesn’t often show up on a traveler’s radar. Unfortunate that, because as we found out this weekend, it’s definitely worth a visit.
Train connections are plentiful, but this time we tagged along with some friends who have a car. Driving to Slovenia from Munich requires purchasing a sticker (vignette) for both the Austrian and Slovenian highway systems, and then paying a couple additional tolls for tunnels.
The former Cold War checkpoint between Slovenia and Austria is now an abandoned bit of funky architecture denoting the border between two EU member countries.
The other detail that made our border crossing slightly more dramatic was the fact that the car’s navigation system failed to recognize that Slovenia has roads.
Our first stop in Slovenia was Bled, a small mountain lake town on the way to Ljubljana. Absolutely adorable, from the besteepled island to the boats criss-crossing the lake. Even the communist architecture diving tower had some sort of charm.
Next stop: Ljubljana.
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Tags: Eastern Europe, Europe, travel
