Here I am back in Prague much earlier than planned and without having gone to Croatia. "How come? what happened Erik?" I hear the sorrowing multitude implore. Well, it seemed as if the gods themselves were conspiring against us (OK, I'm an atheist, but I like the fatalistic sound of that phrase).
As I mentioned in my previous post it was already a battle to get to Slovenia, but once there we had pretty much the same problems that we had in Slovakia. None of the connections and transport possibilities down to Croatia were favourable for us. We had even managed to figure out a super itinerary, but when we got to the train station at 6:30 in the morning (which meant that we had to get up at 5:20 to pack the (wet) tent, pay for the camping and get a bus into town) to get the train to Pula we were told that it only ran on the weekends; aaarrrggghhh! Anyway, we decided that, instead of making some half-assed compromise to get down there in a round about way, we thought it would be better to cut our losses and return to Prague. On the way back, not to be completely defeated, we also stopped at a Slovenian town called Bled (which the francophones I'm sure will find amusing, at least I did anyway) with a castle (on a hill, of course), which was overpriced (no student reductions!), and a lovely little lake with a tiny island monastery in the middle.
Despite the trip going pear-shaped towards the end, I am an eternal optimist and like to see the good in everything, and therefore am not wholly disappointed with the trip. Along the way I got to see some pretty amazing sights and learnt more about two countries of which I knew very little to begin with. Anyway, here's the lowdown on Slovenia:
- Slovenia is not at all what I thought it would be like. I thought it would be like Czech, but in fact both the people and the country are more akin to the Austrians and the Germans than the Slavs. The country is far tidier and well kept, people are more respectful of rules and regulations, there's a great attention to detail and, as Yann mentioned to me on several occasions, the Slovenes physically resemble the Germans more than they do the Czechs (more on that later). Slovenia is also by far and away the most developed of the ex-communist countries (I wouldn't be surprised if it was more developed than even Greece or Portugal) and therefore should not be your first choice for a cheap holiday, as the prices are very similar to those in western Europe. Topographically it is also mainly hills, mountains and forests, which were quite beautiful as we drove through.
- Ljubljana is a pretty little city (barely bigger than Aberdeen with a quarter of a million inhabitants) that probably draws many comparisons with Venice (I won't compare it to Venice as I have never been there, although it is on my list...) due to the buildings and bridges by the river (the Ljubljanica). It has a ubiquitous castle on a hill which is worth a visit as well and the tourist information service is exemplary. All in all, for those of you with jobs, it makes a charming weekend break destination.
- I also learnt a few choice phrases, thanks to Mitja, that are apparently intelligible in Serbo-Croat as well: picko materno (peechko maternoh) and prokleto srane (prokletoh sranyeh). Although I can't remember exactly what they mean, they appeared to be in the local vernacular.
As I mentioned in my previous post it was already a battle to get to Slovenia, but once there we had pretty much the same problems that we had in Slovakia. None of the connections and transport possibilities down to Croatia were favourable for us. We had even managed to figure out a super itinerary, but when we got to the train station at 6:30 in the morning (which meant that we had to get up at 5:20 to pack the (wet) tent, pay for the camping and get a bus into town) to get the train to Pula we were told that it only ran on the weekends; aaarrrggghhh! Anyway, we decided that, instead of making some half-assed compromise to get down there in a round about way, we thought it would be better to cut our losses and return to Prague. On the way back, not to be completely defeated, we also stopped at a Slovenian town called Bled (which the francophones I'm sure will find amusing, at least I did anyway) with a castle (on a hill, of course), which was overpriced (no student reductions!), and a lovely little lake with a tiny island monastery in the middle.
Despite the trip going pear-shaped towards the end, I am an eternal optimist and like to see the good in everything, and therefore am not wholly disappointed with the trip. Along the way I got to see some pretty amazing sights and learnt more about two countries of which I knew very little to begin with. Anyway, here's the lowdown on Slovenia:
- Slovenia is not at all what I thought it would be like. I thought it would be like Czech, but in fact both the people and the country are more akin to the Austrians and the Germans than the Slavs. The country is far tidier and well kept, people are more respectful of rules and regulations, there's a great attention to detail and, as Yann mentioned to me on several occasions, the Slovenes physically resemble the Germans more than they do the Czechs (more on that later). Slovenia is also by far and away the most developed of the ex-communist countries (I wouldn't be surprised if it was more developed than even Greece or Portugal) and therefore should not be your first choice for a cheap holiday, as the prices are very similar to those in western Europe. Topographically it is also mainly hills, mountains and forests, which were quite beautiful as we drove through.
- Ljubljana is a pretty little city (barely bigger than Aberdeen with a quarter of a million inhabitants) that probably draws many comparisons with Venice (I won't compare it to Venice as I have never been there, although it is on my list...) due to the buildings and bridges by the river (the Ljubljanica). It has a ubiquitous castle on a hill which is worth a visit as well and the tourist information service is exemplary. All in all, for those of you with jobs, it makes a charming weekend break destination.
- I also learnt a few choice phrases, thanks to Mitja, that are apparently intelligible in Serbo-Croat as well: picko materno (peechko maternoh) and prokleto srane (prokletoh sranyeh). Although I can't remember exactly what they mean, they appeared to be in the local vernacular.
- And finally, and this one I really like, if you look closely, Slovenia looks like a chicken. By that I mean the outline of the country brings to mind a chicken. And on that note I'll let you go off to consult your atlases.
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