Amazing Slovenia

Von nzvr4poker, 22.05.2009, 4667 Aufrufe, 60 Kommentare | Kommentar hinzufügen

After travelling on the night train from Venice into the capital of Slovenia – Ljubljana, I only needed one word to describe the city; Beautiful!  The trip was a four and half hour trip in mostly complete darkness with one main stop near the Italy-Slovenia border in a town called Villa Opicina, where police came on board to check our passports before we crossed into Slovenia. After I got off in Ljubljana the train continued on through Zagreb in Croatia and into Hungary’s capital city, Budapest where the service stopped. 

Waking up in Ljubljana was very interesting. The full realisation that this was once a Yugoslav republic was evident with many old and historic buildings reflecting the shimmering sunlight. I decided to go for a walk in the city to see the main sights of the town including the Ljubljana Castle and the famous dragon bridge. During my walk I made a number of interesting observations to go with what I already know about Slovenia.

Slovenia is a very small country in terms of population with only around 2,000,000 people living here including just 300,000 living in Ljubljana. Population density is very low with the small towns and villages that do exist being spaced wide apart throughout the country. In terms of aesthetic value, Slovenia scores very highly. Throughout the country there are pretty stone or brick buildings, tree-lined streets and numerous parks and vibrant squares filled with cafes. Spectacular snow-capped mountains stand out in the distance. Most interestingly, there are a lot of people who use bicycles as their main form of transport compared with other countries in Europe that I have visited.

The people seem to be a friendly mix of Serbo-Croat, Russian and Italian. Slovenia has an extraordinary large number of young people who share a passion for socialising and embracing technology and this may be the reason that Slovenia’s economy and lateral thinking is very advanced in terms of Europe.

Another interesting observation is that Slovenia seems relatively clean to other European countries and that there appears to be less people who smoke here. Slovenians are very proud of their still young republic and this very nationalism is constantly on display with many buildings containing flags of Slovenia and Europe on their exterior. In addition to this nationalism, Slovenia seems to be a nation of “one” as it is devoid of lots of different people and cultures unlike some of their close European neighbours like Italy and France who have experienced a lot of immigration.

Here are some pictures from Slovenia:

The famous Dragon Bridge.

Another view of the Dragon Bridge.

The Dragon Bridge has been around for a while.

The breathtaking Ljubljana Castle.

Looking up to the Ljubljana Castle.

A monument in Ljubljana.

Ljubljanica River.

Ljubljana’s markets.

Well after my whirlwind visit to Slovenia, I am about to embark on the next leg of my journey to Austria’s capital Vienna. I would certainly like to spend more time in Slovenia, as it is a very beautiful country. It would be nice to come back here and see some more sights like the church on the island in the middle of the lake in Bled. Stay tuned for more updates from Europe as I discover Austria and the Czech Republic. Bye for now.