Slovenia, part III - Town Bled and Lake Bled, and last few of Ljubljana

My impression of the few short days that I spent in Slovenia were that the people were extraordinarily obliging and willing to help, the weather was ridiculously chilly, and that the country was not as beautiful as I'd been led to believe. I'm tentatively planning another sojourn in former Yugoslavia this winter so we will see if I revise my opinion. In fact I know it in my heart of hearts, I will go this winter. It's something that's been at the back of my head for quite some time now and it's only intensified since.

Loads of people were at the bus station for a day trip to Lake Bled. A lot of them were Korean and Chinese tourists/students on exchange schemes. Ten years ago if you'd told the Balkanians that their countries were going to be overrun by Koreans and Chinese..

The bus ride was nothing special, about an hour and a half. The bus said that they provided free WiFi but that all disappeared as soon as we left the city centre. That's okay though because who needs internet anyway.

When I got there I decided I was peckish and needed some sustenance, so I ducked into a local pub for some grub. The owner was Canadian-Slovenian and I had the usual conversation with him about why I sounded British. It perplexes everyone, and in some cases (well, most of them) it turns them on.

These dumplings tasted disgusting and in retrospect I really should have gotten the buckwheat with mushroom sauce

I was expecting Lake Bled to be something awesomely beautiful, but it was...okay. I did however have a very enjoyable walk there, so that's something. I only walked back because it was starting to get very cold, but then again this is what I came for, so I'm not complaining, oh no.

This is the next day, my last morning in Ljubljana before I went east and south to Zagreb. I popped in to Sokol for brunch, and the chicken noodle soup and Slovenian soup was still good.

And... it's adios Slovenia. I'd be back in two weeks though, surprise surprise.

Slovenia, part II - Slovene food at the Druga Violina and Sokol

Tapas

I spent most of my time in Ljubljana eating, because it was cold, there wasn't really that much to do in the city, and the food was nice. It wasn't like Polish or Slovakian food, which I really don't like that much - it was savoury Yugoslav food which came in sensible portions, which was much more up my alley. Polish and Slovakian food is a bit too heavy and salty for my liking.

Druga violina was very nice - it was recommended to me by a lovely American girl I'd met back at the hostel, who was a few years older than me. I went there with two American uni students who were taking a long weekend in Ljubljana, and whilst the boys meant no harm, their table manners really did leave something to be desired. The Slovene waiters shot glares at our table from the bar as the guys burped and put their iphones in my wine glass 'for better acoustics,' and when my chicken noodle soup came, one of the guys, who had ordered the exact same dish as I had, loudly complained that I had much more noodle than he did. I usually have a fairly thick skin, but I wanted to sink into the floor from embarrassment at my tablemates' manners.

Oh well, pictures galore.

Potica (Slovenian Nut Roll)

Rakija on the house

Chicken noodle soup

Buckwheat is always one of my favourite dishes

Comes in handy, I would imagine