Ljubljana/Bled

Ljubljana turned out to be a great stop to recharge my batteries (sort of, but I'll get to that a little bit later). 

Most people know little of Slovenia.  It's the eastern- and northernmost country of the former Yugoslavia.  It was also the first to declare and achieve independence (following a brief 10-day war when the other Yugoslavs didn't particularly like that idea).  Slovenia has been a member of the EU for years now, and even uses the Euro as the currency (something that even Poland, and the Czech Republic can't even claim).  I've read that some people ascribe the invention of democracy to the 7th century Slovenia. 

Howver, Slovenia is tiny, with only 2 million inhabitants, and Ljubljana, it's biggest city and capital only has about 275,000 residents, many of them students.  Ljubljana has also been a provincial capital for Napoleon, and the Habsburgs, and as such, is the home to some wonderful architecture and squares, as well as a castle. 

Because of this, it's a small and lovely city to stroll around in (except when it's raining), with actually quite a quirky little nightlife to go along with it.

While travelling alone for this portion of my trip (until I get to London for KlezFest), I've been fortunate to meet up with some really interesting people, especially in Ljubljana, which seems to attract a more hardy and inquisitive visitor than somewhere like Venice (which is an expected stop on the European tour). 

Heading to Bled (see more below), I met up with a couple of Australian law students and spent the day with them, and then killing time in the hostel before my train to Venice on my last night in Ljubljana, I found Maria and her cousin Max from England, and Matt, a Malaysian living in Hawaii with whom to hit the town.

Bled was absolutely everything that people say it is.  One of the most beautiful places I've ever been.  It's a small-ish lake (remember, I compare lakes to Lake Ontario), apparently about 6k in circumference, with a small island in the middle which houses a medieval church.  There's also a castle in Bled overlooking said lake.  Bled is also a great place to start hiking in the Julian Alps (the ones that Slovenia shares).  ALSO, Bled is the home of a particular cream cake that is out of this world.  So, to sum up -  Reasons to go to Bled: Pretty lake.  Cool island with church in the middle.  Castle.  Mountains.  CAKE.

But unfortunately, as you can see from the pictures, there's no sun, and around 3pm, the skies opened up and didn't stop for the rest of the day.

The next day, my last in Slovenia, was grueling.  Having to check out of the hostel (although I could leave my stuff there) at 10am, and having until 2:30am until my train to Venice, there was a LOT of time to kill, and it was raining in the morning.