Ljubljana, Slovenia (or Dubrovnic, Croatia: You Can´t Get There From Here)

Legend about the origin of Ljublijana involves Jason and the Argonauts who stopped here and killed a dragon.

Well...we were supposed to leave Split and take the ferry to Kortula island and then take a bus to Dubrovnic. After that we were to take a 6-hour bus ride back to Split to catch the train back to Zagreb...but at the time the train track is under repair (from Split to Zagreb). So they´re putting folks on a 7-hour bus ride. Thatś right...that would make a 13 hour bus ride in total. Umm, weŕe not going there. 

So we blew off Dubrovnic and took our long 7-hour bus ride to Zagreb. Actually that turned out to be pretty great because we´d taken the train in and never saw all the cities, only their train stations. By road, we saw what was behind the train stations - local folks and businesses.  In fact the bus driver rocked completely navigating little roads and tight turns. We saw little old farm houses, chickens, goats, sheep and old ladies in black dresses bringing in the laundry. Then when he finally got off the country roads and hit the brand-new freeway he FLOORED IT.  This guy actually got a round of applause.

Back in Zagrebś train station we read the Departures sign and had to make some decisions. The goal was to cross into Slovenia (and eventually get to Salzburg, Austria). 

Our only option was to kill two hours waiting for a train that would get us to Ljubljana (pronounced Loobie Yana) and show up in this Alpine city in the dark...without any hotel reservations. Visions of trudging with our now-heavier packs through the night and snow danced in our heads...

But remember the rules of being a Lifesurfer (see tab above): you might wipe out, but the ride is still a joyful one.  After a rather dramatic change of beautiful scenery, from Croatia to Slovenia (which is highly manicured farmland and Swiss-like homes and stave barns) the full moon showed up. 

Ljubljana is much, much larger than we had expected. We were told it was charming...what? where? City lights everywhere.  Luckily at 9 pm the information office at the train station was still open. We got a map and headed for The City Hotel only four blocks away. It turned out to be VERY nice. Itś a 3- Star hotel (we´d been staying in 2 -Star places which are usually quite OK, but sometimes noisy or without hot water unless you flip a switch or need some slight repair or may not have cable...or a TV).  So we happily paid the 100 Euros ($130) per night for two nights including breakfast.

Today we found the charming.

Ljubljana has TONS of museums and has a major University. Because of the horrors of World War II, this town is dedicated to peace and harmony.  In 2008 Readerś Digest listed it at the top of the world's most honest cities.

The charming is in the Old Town, with a castle on top of a hill  and the Alps in the background. Hope you enjoy the pix! : 

Those aren't clouds, they're Alps!

Ljubljana Castle on the hill. This is part of the University...the booths are selling books.

St. Nicholas Church

Human fish???