Slovenia
I couldn't understand how I should be able to pronounce a capital that is spelled Ljubljana and it immediately stuck in my mind because of this. When I also understood how hard it was to get there for a reasonable price from Sweden I got even more interested, you always fall in love with those who plays hard to get. And finally when I heard that there is a freetown called Metelkova in the center of the Slovenian capital that goes by its own rules, much like Christiania in Copenhagen, then I knew I had to go.
But how would I get there? I tried to find the best route and in the end it ended up with me and my girlfriend Felicia flying to Switzerland to then go by train to Liechtenstein and then on to Slovenia. We were probably asleep when we entered Slovenia by night train so unfortunately we missed out on seeing Bled go by outside our window. Bled is a beautiful town by a lake which is a popular tourist destination because of its scenery. My friend Jeremy had been there and had praised it so I really wanted to see it but instead I lied in my miserable bed on the night train cursing in my sleep. Me and Felicia had thought we had paid extra to get the best room on the train to celebrate Valentine's Day in a doublebed. Instead we had to sleep in a bunk bed in a small and filthy room, and you got the feeling you were gonna get robbed or murdered when you had to go to the disgusting toilet through the corridors on the train that felt like a ghost train. Maybe we accidentally celebrated Halloween instead?
I was only half asleep the whole train ride so I was tired when we heard a knock on the door in the early morning. It was time for breakfast because we would soon arrive at Ljubljana railway station. We had gotten the impression that we had paid for a nice breakfast where we would mark on a piece of paper what we would like, before we got served. Instead an angry looking man threw in two trays with a bun each on it, and nothing to drink. It felt like something you would serve a prisoner, so I can't say I was on the best mood when we finally arrived. I wished that Ljubljana wouldn't let me down, because I had so high hopes, maybe even too high hopes for a city that is so unknown to the rest of the world.
The first steps off the train and I got a gray, cold feeling and it felt more like I would get robbed than I was on a cozy holiday. Damn, I had thought Switzerland was OK, Liechtenstein was really boring and now I would finally get my payoff, or so I thought, but instead I wished I could bord the train again and continue down to wonderful Croatia.
It turned out it was just the area around the railway station that wasn't the place with the best vibes and when we got to the Hotel Center Ljubljana everything turned around because we met the best hotel staff ever. They were so friendly, happy and helpful in a genuine way, and we got as much free fruit and bottled water as we wanted during our stay, which is a small but greatly appreciated gesture. If the hotel was 3 stars then the staff was 5 stars.
We had a problem one of the days with a bad smell drenching our room and it turned out it came from the ventilation because of construction work out back of the hotel, and there was nothing the staff could do about it, but they were still so serviceminded in their attempt to help us that we couldn't be upset and we just went out in the fresh air of the city instead.
Ljubljana is full of nice architecture as the Ursuline Church Of The Holy Trinity and the Franciscan Church Of The Annunciation. The latter one I had as a desktop image on my computer for a long time to dream myself away to Slovenia before I went there. It was weird to suddenly stand in that image, with the cozy canal going by, it was like there was a glitch in reality, was I now inside my laptop? The hotel had a quote on the wall that said "Not all those who wander are lost" by J.R.R. Tolkien but now I felt kinda lost.
It's hard to get lost in the city center though, because it's small and the canal is there as your friend beside you the whole way through. When I stood on the Dragon Bridge with the castle upon the hill behind me it felt like I was in the world of Harry Potter, the town is cozy and scary at the same time. Not scary as in a bad vibe but the statues of dragons and a dark ancient castle overlooking the small cozy city tells the classic story of good vs. evil, if you've got as much imagination as I have. So it's in a good way and not in a threatening way, it just feels like you're in a good fantasy book.
I had been right all the time, Ljubljana was as good as I had hoped for, or even better, but now it was time to ruin it by eating at a restaurant. The food is never good in poorer countries like these, and so we went to an Indian restaurant called Namaste Indian Express, because it's harder to mess up Indian food. The staff recommended me to order a dish that I wouldn't have chosen myself, but I went along with it to experience something new. I always do this mistake of wanting to try everything instead of taking the safe choice so I knew that I would be jealous of Felicia's safe choice when the food would arrive. Instead it was the best Indian food I've ever tasted, damn it was good! I can't remember exactly what it was but some kind of deep fried pastry with vegetables inside and a tasty mint sauce to accompany it. It may not sound amazing, but I love Indian food and have been eaten it all over Europe and this was definitely the best I've ever had, I was blown away, and my prejudice that the food wouldn't be good was blown away too.
The plan was to go to the freetown Metelkova by night to party but I couldn't wait to go there so we went there during daytime instead.
Unfortunately the whole place was empty of people except for us and two more tourists so we weren't there during the peak I guess. It still looked amazing from the outside even if all the buildings were closed so we couldn't go inside to grab a snack or drink.
As a contrast to Metelkova you have the stiff Republic Square in the other side of town which looks like you arrived in Soviet in the 80's. I love this rigid and boring environment as much as the free spirit of a place like Metelkova, because I love contrasts, and I liked that Ljubljana had it all.
When I thought of Slovenia before I went there I thought of it as a country in the same spirit as the other Balkan countries, but actually it feels much more progressive. They seem to care about the environment, have parking spaces for electrical cars, lots of vegetarian food and graffiti that says stuff like "Trump Is A Pig". You can't argue with that, so I would really recommend you to go to the hidden gem that is Slovenia!
* Best things about Slovenia – the architecture of the unique buildings and the cozy feeling of the canal slowly running by as a friend by your side wherever you walk, the hotel staff can sometimes make or break your visit to a country and the staff at Hotel Center Ljubljana did more than needed to help us have a great time, Metelkova is amazing and a must-see if you visit Ljubljana, which you should!
* Most mediocre thing about Slovenia – the city center is cozy and picturesque, but it's also very small, so you can get tired of it pretty quickly even though it's a charming place
* Worst things about Slovenia – I never thought I would say this for a trip together with Felicia, but the only bad thing about this trip was the company, she was wonderful most of the time but when she decided to cause pointless drama and say horrible things out of the blue, that just dragged everything down and it even got to the point where I almost left her there and went home on my own, so what could have been a great memory is now a great memory with a thorn in its side
Best countries in the world according to the nerd (will be updated with every post):
1. Croatia
2. Montenegro
3. Andorra
4. Cyprus
5. Greece
6. Italy
7. Monaco
8. Malta
9. Netherlands
10. Iceland
11. Denmark
12. Lithuania
13. Macedonia
14. Portugal
15. Slovakia
16. Slovenia
17. New Zealand
18. Ireland
19. Belgium
20. Poland
21. Estonia
22. Switzerland
23. San Marino
24. Kosovo
25. Romania
26. Finland
27. Latvia
28. Moldova
29. Norway
30. France
31. Bulgaria
32. Luxembourg
33. Liechtenstein
34. China
35. Serbia
36. Bosnia And Herzegovina
37. Albania
But how would I get there? I tried to find the best route and in the end it ended up with me and my girlfriend Felicia flying to Switzerland to then go by train to Liechtenstein and then on to Slovenia. We were probably asleep when we entered Slovenia by night train so unfortunately we missed out on seeing Bled go by outside our window. Bled is a beautiful town by a lake which is a popular tourist destination because of its scenery. My friend Jeremy had been there and had praised it so I really wanted to see it but instead I lied in my miserable bed on the night train cursing in my sleep. Me and Felicia had thought we had paid extra to get the best room on the train to celebrate Valentine's Day in a doublebed. Instead we had to sleep in a bunk bed in a small and filthy room, and you got the feeling you were gonna get robbed or murdered when you had to go to the disgusting toilet through the corridors on the train that felt like a ghost train. Maybe we accidentally celebrated Halloween instead?
I was only half asleep the whole train ride so I was tired when we heard a knock on the door in the early morning. It was time for breakfast because we would soon arrive at Ljubljana railway station. We had gotten the impression that we had paid for a nice breakfast where we would mark on a piece of paper what we would like, before we got served. Instead an angry looking man threw in two trays with a bun each on it, and nothing to drink. It felt like something you would serve a prisoner, so I can't say I was on the best mood when we finally arrived. I wished that Ljubljana wouldn't let me down, because I had so high hopes, maybe even too high hopes for a city that is so unknown to the rest of the world.
The first steps off the train and I got a gray, cold feeling and it felt more like I would get robbed than I was on a cozy holiday. Damn, I had thought Switzerland was OK, Liechtenstein was really boring and now I would finally get my payoff, or so I thought, but instead I wished I could bord the train again and continue down to wonderful Croatia.
It turned out it was just the area around the railway station that wasn't the place with the best vibes and when we got to the Hotel Center Ljubljana everything turned around because we met the best hotel staff ever. They were so friendly, happy and helpful in a genuine way, and we got as much free fruit and bottled water as we wanted during our stay, which is a small but greatly appreciated gesture. If the hotel was 3 stars then the staff was 5 stars.
We had a problem one of the days with a bad smell drenching our room and it turned out it came from the ventilation because of construction work out back of the hotel, and there was nothing the staff could do about it, but they were still so serviceminded in their attempt to help us that we couldn't be upset and we just went out in the fresh air of the city instead.
Ljubljana is full of nice architecture as the Ursuline Church Of The Holy Trinity and the Franciscan Church Of The Annunciation. The latter one I had as a desktop image on my computer for a long time to dream myself away to Slovenia before I went there. It was weird to suddenly stand in that image, with the cozy canal going by, it was like there was a glitch in reality, was I now inside my laptop? The hotel had a quote on the wall that said "Not all those who wander are lost" by J.R.R. Tolkien but now I felt kinda lost.
It's hard to get lost in the city center though, because it's small and the canal is there as your friend beside you the whole way through. When I stood on the Dragon Bridge with the castle upon the hill behind me it felt like I was in the world of Harry Potter, the town is cozy and scary at the same time. Not scary as in a bad vibe but the statues of dragons and a dark ancient castle overlooking the small cozy city tells the classic story of good vs. evil, if you've got as much imagination as I have. So it's in a good way and not in a threatening way, it just feels like you're in a good fantasy book.
The plan was to go to the freetown Metelkova by night to party but I couldn't wait to go there so we went there during daytime instead.
Unfortunately the whole place was empty of people except for us and two more tourists so we weren't there during the peak I guess. It still looked amazing from the outside even if all the buildings were closed so we couldn't go inside to grab a snack or drink.
It's like organized chaos with all the art and sculptures mixing and blending all styles, and it just screams creativity compared to dull boring cities that all looks the same. I also love the history of the place, that Metelkova used to be military barracks but was squatted for a more friendly cause in 1993, even though some of the art looks the opposite of peaceful.
As a contrast to Metelkova you have the stiff Republic Square in the other side of town which looks like you arrived in Soviet in the 80's. I love this rigid and boring environment as much as the free spirit of a place like Metelkova, because I love contrasts, and I liked that Ljubljana had it all.
When I thought of Slovenia before I went there I thought of it as a country in the same spirit as the other Balkan countries, but actually it feels much more progressive. They seem to care about the environment, have parking spaces for electrical cars, lots of vegetarian food and graffiti that says stuff like "Trump Is A Pig". You can't argue with that, so I would really recommend you to go to the hidden gem that is Slovenia!
* Best things about Slovenia – the architecture of the unique buildings and the cozy feeling of the canal slowly running by as a friend by your side wherever you walk, the hotel staff can sometimes make or break your visit to a country and the staff at Hotel Center Ljubljana did more than needed to help us have a great time, Metelkova is amazing and a must-see if you visit Ljubljana, which you should!
* Most mediocre thing about Slovenia – the city center is cozy and picturesque, but it's also very small, so you can get tired of it pretty quickly even though it's a charming place
* Worst things about Slovenia – I never thought I would say this for a trip together with Felicia, but the only bad thing about this trip was the company, she was wonderful most of the time but when she decided to cause pointless drama and say horrible things out of the blue, that just dragged everything down and it even got to the point where I almost left her there and went home on my own, so what could have been a great memory is now a great memory with a thorn in its side
Best countries in the world according to the nerd (will be updated with every post):
1. Croatia
2. Montenegro
3. Andorra
4. Cyprus
5. Greece
6. Italy
7. Monaco
8. Malta
9. Netherlands
10. Iceland
11. Denmark
12. Lithuania
13. Macedonia
14. Portugal
15. Slovakia
16. Slovenia
17. New Zealand
18. Ireland
19. Belgium
20. Poland
21. Estonia
22. Switzerland
23. San Marino
24. Kosovo
25. Romania
26. Finland
27. Latvia
28. Moldova
29. Norway
30. France
31. Bulgaria
32. Luxembourg
33. Liechtenstein
34. China
35. Serbia
36. Bosnia And Herzegovina
37. Albania
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