When a friend asked to pick a favorite country from this trip, I was torn between Estonia and Slovenia. After further reflection, I think Slovenia is my favorite. There’s no world-famous attractions there – just the way I like it – and the crowds are consequently small, especially in winter. Nevertheless, it’s as beautiful as any of the cities I visited in the Baltic States, and their New Year’s lights are fantastic. I arrived after dark, so everything was already lit, including the castle (in the background of the photo below), which had floodlights that changed colors. Over the main square, a variety of illuminated shapes were suspended on invisible wires, creating a 3D effect that just can’t be captured properly in photos.
During the entirety of my stay, the weather was fantastic and the views were excellent.
On my first full day, I had a horseburger for lunch. I’ve never had horsemeat before, so this was an interesting experience. Before I even bit in, I was surprised by how big this thing was, and it came with fries!
I wasn’t too impressed by horsemeat. It’s relatively lean and chewy, which doesn’t make for a particularly good burger. I did like the flavor, so perhaps I’d be willing to try a horse steak if the opportunity presented itself.
On the walk back, I stopped at the Museum of Modern Slovenian History. It covers the nation’s history since 1900. Since it was Sunday, admission was free, though it didn’t seem too popular. They had a great exhibition, with most things translated into English. A walk-through reconstruction of a WWI trench was definitely a highlight. Slovenia actually saw serious fighting between Austria-Hungary and Italy during the war, but this front has been largely forgotten by modern historians. In most respects, fighting was similar to the western front. Battle lines barely moved, trench warfare was the tactic of choice, and the local civilians were the only true losers in a military stalemate.
I took a few photos on the way back too.
After a day of relaxing and regrouping (much needed after three weeks of travel), I went up to the castle at night for a 360-degree view of Ljubljana.
In all the countries I visited, graffiti seemed to be everywhere. But in Slovenia, they seemed to have a fondness for English-language graffiti and various inspirational quotes. Their spelling ability wasn’t always the best though.
Virtually every regional train in Slovenia looked like these two.
And then I was off to Croatia!
