After being among thousands of other tourists in Greece and Italy, waking up in Slovenia during their off season is rather lonely.
Turns out we are lost without other tourists. Where should we go? Follow the crowd. Where should we eat? Follow the crowd. Where is the shopping? Follow the crowd. Which are the iconic bridges? Follow the crowd. Humans are as annoyed by lines as they are desperate to be around them. Crowds are our guideposts. They give us confidence we are headed in the right direction and that we are going to experience the things we are venturing out for. Sure, there are those of us who are more leader than follower. I dare say, when the leaders show up in a foreign country and they begin looking around, it is a crowd they are seeking, even if only subconsciously.
Lonely in the City Bonus #1: At check in we were upgraded for free to The Presidential Suite instead of two rooms, as per usual. This luxury suite was amazing. Two bedrooms, a living room, two hallways, a large bath with a jet spa and separate shower.
Caption: And all we got was a picture of the plethora of bath soaps and of James taking a nap in the living area. Take our word for it, the room was incredible.
Lonely in the City Bonus #2: Plenty of options at breakfast. The hotel worker said only 130 guests per side of the hotel (the historic side and the new side).
Lonely in the City Bonus #3: After breakfast we stumbled upon exactly one group of maybe fifteen people standing next to an umbrella that read, "Free Tours in English." Did we take advantage? No. Because it didn't seem that popular. We would not fully realize that those were our peeps and they knew what was up in Slovenia. So we had to walk the streets of Ljubljana blindly, sticking out like a sore thumb everywhere we went---we were The Tourists of Slovenia.
For those of you that have seen the movie, O Brother, Where Art Though? you will understand what we mean when we say Ljubljana is a "geographical oddity," except rather than being "two weeks from everywhere," starting at our hotel,The Grand Union, the rest of the city, in any direction is 400 yards from the hotel.
Lonely in the City Bonus #4: We went to the Museum of Illusions, which we had tried to get into while we were in Greece but the line was half way around the building. In Slovenia, for the first two hours we were the only guests, and then there was just one other couple after that. This was a good thing since the puzzles on the first floor took about an hour to solve.
Caption: Madeline always said she wished she had big brothers who could protect her.
Then, before walking 400 yards up to the castle that looks over the city, we stopped for our first authentic Slovenian meal of cakes. Yep, that's right. Slovenian food is an eclectic blend of every bordering country (Austrian, Hungarian, Italian, Croatian). They admit you will only find authentic food in their desserts, primarily two specific cakes. One is similar to a banana creme pie, without the banana flavor. The other cake is truly unique. It is warm and has a layer of apples, a layer of crushed nuts, and some kind of dough or cake.
The walk up to the castle is one of effort. It is accessed through narrow alleys, steep embankments, a rope bridge, uneven stone steps, and largely unkempt walkways....at least from the path we chose to follow. We wouldn't learn until much later that from the other side of the castle there is a gondola, plus an electric little train, and wide paved roads. If we were here during the high tourist season, we might have just followed the crowd to a path of least resistance.
We stopped for a restroom break by a dragon bridge, that led us to a street of shops and restaurants. From the souvenir shops we learned that Slovenia is known as the Dragon City. Some research online (since we failed to follow the small crowd on the free tour) explains that Ljubljana is a city of myths and legends that resulted in the slaying of a dragon.
From the shops we saw a love-lock bridge. We last hung a love-lock in Paris near the Eiffel Tower, and since there was evidence of a former crowd having partaken, we joined in the fun. This love-lock bridge has been collecting locks since 2008. And since Madeline is going off to college in the Fall, she got to secure the lock.
We had been up and over and back and forth through the city when we realized that our driver would be at our hotel shortly and it was time to head back to Venice. But first, we stopped for what was advertised as Slovenian dumplings (maybe not just cakes after all). Fantastic, of course. These dumplings are large rolls similar to dim sum but some are sweet and some are savory. We tried a meatloaf dumpling, a spinach and feta dumpling, a blueberry dumpling, and some kind of Slovenian raisin, cheese dumpling. Everyone fought over the meatloaf one after one taste, followed by the blueberry one.
We opted for a non-stop drive back to Venice so we could enjoy dinner in Venice. The ride lasted only two-and-a-half hours. Upon returning to Venice, our driver, invited us to return in the summer and enjoy: swimming, kayaking, hiking, biking, zip lining. And let's not forget, we also missed out on their very popular Lake Bled, which is 1.5 hours from the city in the opposite direction.
Morale of the story: It is not always best to tour cities in the winter that are well know for just one season, the summer.
Nevertheless we loved Slovenia and highly recommend visiting this small country in whichever season meets your needs.
Beginning Venice for the Second Time:
We came back to our crew of thousands of other tourists in Venice before dinner. Then realized our kids were tired of walking around. We opted to leave them in the hotel with WiFi babysitting to spend what was meant to be an hour shopping for gifts that turned out to be a bit more. We promised to return soon with pizza. We didn't realize the shopping extravaganza we would encounter.
Caption: We had too much fun shopping and forgot to take pictures except for this one, a shout out to my sister, Anna.
Get this, if you arrive at brightly lit shop named Nino, then expect to be pampered with more food samples than you can take in with two hands. Seriously. This place is a mix between Costco (samples) and Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. About six Italians in aprons are staggered in the shop waiting to shove samples in your face. If you make it to the back of the shop having only sampled half of their offerings and then dare to meander back toward the front, a second offering will come from drawers. A third pass (because you are contemplating what to buy) will come from higher shelves. From sweet to savory, they are ready to feed you.
Of course, you need a walk after that. Then you turn back and think of the store a couple of doors down from Nino's, to check out spices, when you are confronted by a server pushing liquor samples on you. Before you get out of that store you will have sampled five or six types of dessert liquors.
Oh, yeah, and don't forget the pizza for the kids on the way back to the hotel.
Caption: Pizza takeaway. 5 Euros less for two boxes instead of one large box.
While eating pizza and watching President Trump's address regarding Iran, Madeline received her second college admission acceptance from Cal State San Marcos in her email. This was cause for a night cap celebration, in the hotel. They offered us five free drinks for booking online. So, we tried a very Italian drink, Aperol spritzer with fruit and an olive. Dudes drink a similar but very different version of the spritzer. Neither are sweet.
Travel Note: Online research says that Ljubljana is comprised of 60% students. If Madeline chooses to study abroad, maybe we'll get a chance to visit Slovenia in the summer after all.
