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Slovenia, and Krakow, Poland (28 May - 5 June 2011)

If you were to take a map and colour in every European country I've visited in the last four years and nine months, you'd have a lot of white space left on the east, but otherwise western and central Europe would be pretty well coloured in! One exception though is Slovenia - that would still be white (and Portugal). With that being the case, and with my remaining days left in Europe fast depleting, it was the obvious choice for my (29th) birthday trip this year :) Now that I think about it I've got no idea why I've never made it to Slovenia before. I had always heard really good things about it but for whatever reason I've only ever been around it and not through it. Regardless, I had planned to spend five days split between two main spots in Slovenia, leaving me a few days spare at the end of the week to go somewhere else. Seeing as that map above has everything around Slovenia coloured in, it took me a while to think of where else I could go. The other big gaping white space is Poland. I did do a random one-day road trip into Poland as part of my birthday trip last year but that doesn't really cut the mustard, and the biggest tourist spot in Poland that is kind of close to Slovenia is Krakow - another spot I'd heard good things about. Sorted!

Typically grey old England.		Sunny and warm Slovenia.
Another language I don't have a hope in hell of coming to grips with (and Polish was to follow). This is Ljubljana Airport (pronounced “lyoob-lyAH-nah” hehe, or “Lubba-Jubba” as I called it), with Ljubljana being the capital of Slovenia and my first stop for a couple days.		And this was my hostel - a former military prison, brilliant! This whole area, known as Metelkova, was a military barracks dating back to the 19th century, and is now an autonomous social centre after the barracks were abandoned in the early 1990s and squatters moved in around 1993.

Looking down the hall of dorm cells. Each cell is completely unique and a work of art.		This was one just a common room (all the dorms are locked so I couldn't get a look inside), but it sure does look like a cell!		As for my dorm, it was up in the attic. The cell dorms only have a handful of beds and are usually booked out months in advance (such is the popularity of the hostel, and of Slovenia I guess).

I had arrived in the evening and so had a quick scout around before finding some dinner. The first thing I noticed was the borderline-pornographic advertising billboards everywhere.				This chick was pointing at her bush, so to speak.

The second thing I noticed was the bloody graffiti everywhere, and I do mean everywhere - it's unreal and makes Paris look positively spotless! So lots of roadside porn and lots of graffiti - not looking promising so far.				They do have a sense of humour though ;)

My hostel was a short walk north of the central city, and during that walk I noticed a third thing: dedicated cycle lanes everywhere! Always earns a city a few points with me that does ;) Except there are often people walking all over them here - nothing the air horn can't resolve.

A short while later I reached one of the more famous bridges of the city: Dragon Bridge. I'm not entirely sure what all the hype is about though - it's just a little bridge over a river. Legend has it that some guy called Jason (I'm not making this up) and his cronies killed a dragon in Ljubljana way back in the day, so there is dragon stuff everywhere. Legend also has it that when a virgin crosses the bridge, the dragons will wag their tails hehe.

The river Ljubljanica around which the city centre is located. Evidently a very romantic spot with the love locks everywhere and a good spot for a bit of this!

Ljubljana really rolls off the tongue nicely once you've worked out how to pronounce it, and is home to just 270,000 people. Slovenia itself only has a population of around two million. Ljubljana has very few attractions, so between the porn, the graffiti, and the fact there's nothing to see, one might wonder why you'd bother as there are other places worth visiting in the country. Regardless, I'd come here on Kristina's recommendation, and the fact there are very few must-sees make it a great spot to just meander around at your own pace which is exactly what I did.				Rock on! This is Butchers' Bridge, decorated with works by a Slovenian sculptor.

Another famous city bridge: Triple Bridge. Originally just a single vehicle bridge across the river, it was extended into the Triple Bridge in 1929 when two narrower pedestrian bridges were added on either side. However, the area was converted into a pedestrian zone in 2008 which has effectively created three pedestrian bridges.

The river is loaded with bars, cafes and restaurants along its length, and wee alleyways extending off it into the back streets.

And overlooking it all, way up there on the hill, is the Ljubljana Castle (more on that later).

Time for dinner, and this place is supposedly the oldest restaurant in Lubba Jubba. I asked for the most typically local thing on the menu, and this is what was brought out - a couple logs of poo on sauerkraut and mash :) But it was really good. Then later out came the Slovenian entertainment - sweet! Videos here and here.

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