A recollection: Ljubljana

So before I begin let me clarify what happened to me. Uni. Friends. Bier. Work. More bier. Life. So this is my attempt at a re-do. I'm turning this into a travel blog as of this moment. I will now recount the last few adventures I've had in their respective cities and countries. Get over the gap and read along because it will still have the same type of cleverness with a bit more reflection into who the people of the Balkans are. Buckle down.

My first stop on this grand journey was the capital city of Slovenia, Ljubljana. Yes, it is as difficult to pronounce as it looks. However, I instantly fell in love with the city the few short hours I was there. The train ride from Munich took six hours, and although I had a growing fear of forgetting my German on the trip, of course I was in a compartment with a student from Salzburg and we were rambling off for much of the ride. So much for getting away from the Germans.

Anyways, once I arrived at night in Slovenia the city was lit up and the bridges across the main canal enchanted me. It was a place that reminded me of the beauty of an 19th-century European city with the smallness that comes from being in well, Ljubljana.

Then it happened again. I met another German. This time she was the only other one in my hostel, called H2Ostel (It was right on the water. SO clever) She was happy to have someone there because all her friends had left the day before and I mean who else rolls in but me, a German-speaking fresh-off-the-train tourist.


The following day we saw the sights. All the sights. And I do mean all. Ljubljana is wonderful but it is a tiny city. We did almost every tourist attraction in that first day. I even had time to go grab a horse burger at the local hot spot, Hot Horse. So yes, that means I ate horse meat on purpose, despite the recent frozen pasta scandal in Europe.

Not to take anything away from its beauty or the calm ambiance but one could probably pass through here and get a good feeling for the city. The coolest thing about the city is its complete clash of grunge graffiti with the high-class looks of its bridges and stores. It was rather odd to see these paved streets and pretty buildings with clusters of shoes dangling from the power lines. It definitely gave the city an artsy feel, which I greatly enjoyed as well. There is even a few blocks in the northwest corner of the city center that is some kind of artist community and the entire area is splattered with murals of cowboys, guns and aliens. If you ever visit, look for the lizard man crouching on one of the rooftops.

Now to get political. It has to be done, especially following the route I am on.

I couldn't help but notice how many EU flags are waving in the winds around Ljubljana. Obviously it is the government capital and heart of the country, but something tells me the Slovenians take much pride in being the only member state from the former Yugoslavia. It is the only former Yugoslav state to be in the Euro Zone and as you walk the streets it's clear this is a feat they lavish in. It goes naturally with their history. Slovenia has always been more connected with the West. The Austro-Hungarians dominated the area for a long while. Clearly this is where the city gets its look from.

Perhaps it was just the fact that it is the off-season but I saw a lot of closed up shops and houses crumbling down even in the city center. Something tells me there is a deeper negative impact on the country from the sacrifices it makes to be an EU member. Does it lose its history by conforming to the strict standards now preached by the mega-house of European power? Perhaps nothing so dramatic, but when I left Ljubljana I described it to the next person I met on the train to Zagreb (another German, go figure) in such a way that I think fits.

Ljubljana is crumbling, but it does it beautifully.