Ljubljana, Slovenia

Fri 27h June

As I'm lying here in the sticky heat, listening to the thunderous disco base echoing from the volleyball tournament next door that's still going at 12:25am, it's hitting me that we're in Eastern Europe. This is definitely not what I expected.

I think Bevan adores this camp site because it's hosting a beach volleyball tournament and most of the occupants are wearing nothing but sports bras and hot pants, whereas I'm just annoyed that they're playing Slovenian dance music at 'shake the van volume' after midnight. But not all is bad – the Australian Men's Beach Volleyball Team is here too and they're in Speedos.

We're in the capital city of Slovenia and it's beautiful, but neither of us feels like leaving the camp site, much less learning how to pronounce the city's name. But we have new bikes so we might as well peddle into town and have a look around.

Even the guidebooks admit that there aren't really any star attractions to visit in Ljubljana, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth a visit. It's actually kind of refreshing to arrive in a town with no itinerary or agenda other than to explore the streets. And what a lovely place to do it! The old town is small enough that it doesn't take hours to walk through and there is the usual small sprinkling of buildings to note (i.e. a castle, a cathedral, the market, and a building by the innovative local architect). But what makes it special is that you can still feel like you've discovered a secret town that is perfect for tourism, yet there aren't many people here yet. The old town feels like a very mini version of Amsterdam, only cleaner, with more sunshine, brighter house colours and a flare for Italian piazzas. Food & drink prices were the lowest we've seen yet at only €2.50 for a salmon, cream cheese, and leek ciabatta sandwich and €1.80 for a ½ litre of beer at Paninoteka. And this was at a cafe with umbrella seating on the river running through the heart of the old town!

Bevan enjoying his very cheap sandwich at Paninoteka

Unfortunately our camp site wasn't so cheap thanks to the volleyball tournament so we had to move on after only one day, but I could see how some tourists spend upwards of a week just getting lost in the sheer contentment of Ljubljana. (By the way, it's pronounced loo-blee-yah-nah.)

View Ljubljana Photo Album