Day 22: Ljubljana

Highlights:

• Sax Bar
• Tivoli Park
• Slovenian Swing Dancers

The hostel I'm staying at is called Hostel Sax on Eipprova ulica. The hostel is above and behind a small bar called Sax, which was opened in the 80s and hosts jazz nights. It's a tiny bar, and not too busy, but it's got a great warm atmosphere. The bar and hostel are run by the same people, so they're alternately staffed. It's all very trusting out in Eastern Europe. The hostel has copied the Jazz style; the walls are full of records, and the rooms are named Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong etc. It's a new hostel so the decor is lovely, and the beds are comfy. It's super cool.

I dragged myself out of bed and into town, heading for Neboticnik 'The Skyscraper' (it doesn't so much scrape the sky, as just about rise above all other building in Ljubljana). The skyscraper has a bar and cafe, so I took a seat on the roof balcony and had some traditional Slovenian Bled Cake; pastry filled with a thick, sweet, eggy cream. It was good. From the roof you can look across the city and see the raised castle and idyllic streets. Someone told me the Brothers Grimm set a lot of their stories in Slovenia, and Ljubljana looks exactly like a Fairytale town. With the courtyards, river and then castle on a hill in the centre, it sort of looks very Sleeping Beauty-esque.

I had a look at the map to plan my day, and gleefully (yes, gleefully) noticed a park on the west of town called Tivoli. Show me a city which is circled with parks, and I'll bang on about it on here, and stay well and truly beyond the recommended stay duration. The whole city is pretty compact, so you can walk everywhere, and it only took a few minutes to find the main walkway. It was lined with a National Geographic display, highlighting the importance of protecting the world's natural heritage. It alternated large photos of world sites with Slovenian photos.

Bloody hell, Slovenia is beautiful. Overwhelmingly so. With a National Park and lakes and rocky gorges, it looks absolutely stunning. I sat and read my book (a Hungarian author that Andrew recommended), and like in that scene in Snow White, all these squirrels and birds just came and sat next to me. Pretty sure they were one step away from helping out with my laundry and chores. Lovely.

I spent most of the day there, completely guiltlessly. It was warm and sunny. Birds were tweeting. I made friends with the squirrels.

I headed back to the hostel around 5pm and met some of my dormmates. The place was fully booked, and as I'd extended my stay, I'd had to move to the larger dorm (from Armstrong to Ray Charles). I was staying with a Kiwi called Simon and an Aussie called Debbie. They'd met a month ago and had been travelling together since (not like that. Simon - "Debbie's a lesbian, otherwise we would have probably slept together"). They joined me in the Sax bar a bit later for a glass of cold red wine (seems to be the only way they serve red wine in Eastern Europe). Billie Holiday was playing in the background. It was getting foggy out, but the bar was warm and cosy.

We were joined by some other dormmates; Carly and Brianna from Idaho, and Rosie from New Zealand. We headed into town for dinner, deciding against the ridiculously cool and expensive Sushi bar, and stopping at a place near the main square when a young woman in zigzag leggings and a red beanie offered us the student price menu, and warned us the inside was "a bit crazy". It was a bit visually wacky. There was an upside-down cow in the entrance, and then a mixture of mosaic chairs and nude bronze ladies bent over into tables. There were cartoons playing on a tv in the background (Jetsons). I loved it.

So Rosie had studied Biomedical Sciences at Uni but had ended up working in a Winery. She'd needed her science degree to get the job, but said a lot of her colleagues had decided to study Oenology at Univeristy at the age of 18. Leaving yourself a bit isolated if you decided you didn't want to work in a Winery after that...she loved it though, and was able to return to that after travelling.

Brianna and Carly had met at University, though Carly was now a hair stylist (she really loved her job) and Brianna had been working on a Dude Ranch to save money for travelling. This was in Wyoming, in somewhere called Jacksonhole ("No, sorry. I've not heard of it") and basically gave Eastern tourists the opportunity to experience the ranch lifestyle, with horseriding etc. Apparently the place was worth $100m. Big money.

After dinner (Sangria and dinner coming to about €10. Since returning to a Euro country, you definitely notice an increase in prices), we headed to an area that was supposed to be lively with bars. Turned out to be dead, except for a busy bar playing swing music. We went in and found all these couples (generally early 20s to about early 30s) well and truly going for it on the dance floor. It was amazing. They just threw each other around and seemed to all know various routines. You didn't see one second of hesitation, even when they all swapped partners. It was a mixed bunch too, with alternative, pierced and tattooed couples going for it as much as the nerdy looking couples. Amazing. We were all enthralled.

We headed back around 11.30 and Ljubljana was in a complete fog. You could see people emerging out of the fog only 10m in front of you. It would have been creepy if you were alone.

End of day 22.