Ljubljana

Ljubljana travel highlights

Ljubljana riverfront - cultivatedrambler.comstayed: Our one and only hostel, Hostel Celica which was a converted Soviet jail. Each cell was designed by a local artist and ours included bunk beds with intricately carved wood work. Although a bit of a walk from the main core, it included breakfast and offered inexpensive dinner options too. You guys, having breakfast = key to success. I never had to wait for a shower in the mornings and they even gave you a fan in the room. This is a well-run establishment folks. Highly recommended even if you don’t think you’re a hostel person. Try it!

Lake Bled, Slovenia - cultivatedrambler.comBled Castle, Slovenia - cultivatedrambler.comPredjama Castle, Slovenia - cultivatedrambler.comPostojna Cave, Slovenia - cultivatedrambler.comsaw: Slovenia in One Day Tour. Highly recommended! It is a bit steep on the price side, but I think you get your money’s worth seeing some of the most spectacular sights in the country. Stops included: Bled Island, Bled Castle, Predjama Castle and a spooky trip to the Postojna Cave.

Ljubljana graffiti - cultivatedrambler.comWe took a free walking tour the second day we were there. Local architect Jože Plečnik pretty much designed everything in the city including the funky bridges. His name comes up A LOT. I will ace this Jeopardy question one day…Also, graffiti is a thing here. It’s everywhere and VERY cool.

A milk machine kiosk! Local farmers bring their unpasteurized milk and literally dump it in the machine for people to purchase. They even had a variety of bottles for you to choose from. Mind blown.

conquered: An 8 hour bus ride with two border crossings. With the train situation being a bit sketchy while we were there, I opted to book us a bus to Slovenia. We had to cross the Croatian border twice during that trip so there was a lot of getting on and off the bus with passports. I’d say half the drive was just getting on and off the bus.

Dragon Bridge Ljubljana - cultivatedrambler.comLjubljana has a thing for dragons and the Dragon Bridge fully represents that!

Ljubljana farmer's market - cultivatedrambler.comBe still my beating heart! A Farmer’s Market you say? Open every day? I’m packing up my bags and moving here right now.

Ljubljana Castle - cultivatedrambler.comLjubljana Castle, which is also a beautifully renovated event space too. Get outta here. This event planner liked that.

other travel notes: This was by far our favorite city. Note to travelers – If you plan on being in this neck of the woods, give this country a few days. I wish we’d had more! What beautiful countryside ready for exploring!

I’m pretty sure we ate at a restaurant with foul (aka baby horse) on the menu :-/ Sorry Liz.

They are on the euro, which is nice IF you remember that AND kept your euros from Amsterdam. Yeah, we didn’t.

Ljubljana Main Square, Slovenia - cultivatedrambler.comThe statue in their main square is of a local poet and his topless muse. Not a war hero gallantly riding his steed, but a poet. Notice the tree to the left – planted to keep her lovely nude figure hidden out of site when you exit the church after services. That right there sums up this country.

At this point in the trip, we were OVER paying for bathrooms and water. Ljubljana was a breath of fresh air with free bathrooms and free water fountains!

Try those greasy bureks. Yum. And they make this red pepper spread that’s the bomb too.Ljubljana art - cultivatedrambler.com

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Decisions, decisions

image1The most common question I got prior to our trip was, “Why did you choose those countries?” When people think of Europe, I suspect London, Paris or any city in Italy comes to mind. Slovenia and Bosnia probably aren’t on most people’s radars and granted, they weren’t on mine either at first.

But in comes my most favorite of all favorite shows, Game of Thrones. Many of the scenes in recent seasons have been filmed in Croatia and that got me thinking…what ABOUT Croatia? I started doing some research and I came across my dear friend Rick Steves Eastern Europe itinerary. After googling a few of the places, we were sold! History, castles, coastline and cheap accommodations? Sign us up.

I basically took his suggested itinerary and adjusted it to the amount of time we were going to be there. Here’s what we ended up with:

Amsterdam, Netherlands – This stop was an add-on more than anything as the cheapest flight was found through here so we added two days to our trip. The flight from Seattle (with a quick stop in Iceland) was really an easy flight. Highly recommended flying into Amsterdam.

Prague, Czech Republic – Seemed only fitting to really start our trip with a visit to the “Paris of the East!” Plus, it’s one of the few cities that was untouched by the war.

Krakow, Poland – Per my hubby’s request. I should have given us a bit more time here, but it’s hard to narrow it down.

Budapest, Hungary – Also seemed to be a “not to miss” place. Like Krakow, another day would have been great here.

Ljubljana, Slovenia – Recommended by a colleague of mine. She said to add a day to this stop and she was SO right. Give this country at least 3 days.

Zagreb, Croatia – The capitol of Croatia. Not a ton to see, but it worked well logistically in our travel plans. It was a good place to reorganize and pick up our rental car for the drive down the coast.

Split, Croatia – Featured on the Game of Thrones. Enough said.

Mostar, Bosnia – A quick side trip that was the biggest unknown. Will it be safe? How’s the drive? What will we do there? All valid questions that were immediately answered as soon as we crossed the border from Croatia. Yes. Easy. Eat, drink and sight see!

Dubrovnik, Croatia – Also a Game of Thrones filming location not to mention a VERY romantic city. A great place to end our journey!

We spent anywhere from 2 to 3 days in each city, which was fine for some and not enough time for others. It was definitely an ambitious itinerary to say the least. As soon as you got semi-comfortable, it was time to pack up and run to the next train. I’m pretty sure we’ll never travel like this again, but it was a memorable learning experience all around!

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