Slovenia

I can't believe this lightening speed internet!







 this is the Canal Police Station!




Morning in Venice, with a Flix Bus to catch. Economy of Travel Part II. A bus from Venice to Slovenia (Ljubljana) is 19 euro. The bus was at 8:45 so, planning on potentially getting lost, I left the hotel at 7 - the journey, the journey- walk with cobbled rattling bag to the canal taxi (ligne 2A) to get to the bus station. I love it - imagine living in Venice and going to work by canal taxi (because that's what the other people on the taxi were doing).

The next part was a bit hit and miss because the buses were hidden and it took a while and a bit of circling to find them. And it wasn't just me - i met an English woman who was circling in the other direction trying to find Venice!

Four hours later (and what a gorgeous looking city Trieste is!) I arrived in Ljubljana. Who knew that my hotel would be only a 5 minute walk down the road, (thank you google maps) and who knew it could be so delightfully close to the historic centre of the town - what luck!

I did a dump and run again (it was 1 pm and I hadn't eaten or had coffee - which indeed was a plus because a coffee may have made me need to use the toilet on the bus-) strolled into town and sat in a cafe people watching until just before 3 when i joined a walking tour. Two hours of great information and suggestions for food and other sightseeing.

Slovenia was the first country to become independent from what was Jugoslavia -  it was strong economically - but when it indicated that it wanted to leave the collective Slav country, Croatia quickly indicated that it would also leave, and there ensued the war which rocked the Balkan area from 1990 to 1995, although  interestingly, the war only lasted for 10 days in Slovenia.





The architecture is part renaissance, part baroque. Two beautiful churches, and the fact that these exist is a point of difference - the people of former Jugoslavia were free to worship and to travel which shows a much more relaxed approach to communism than in Russia for example.





Check out the cathedral.
The river Ljubjanica runs through the main street - there are open markets with fresh produce, delicious sausages, cakes and flowers. There are people everywhere just sitting chatting in cafes, strolling. It is absolutely enchanting, and more than i had expected. I"m going to enjoy the next few days here!






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