Relaxation

I ate breakfast with Teri before she headed out to Postojna Caves with her parents, and then spent a little time relaxing and reading a book before walking around the city. I got a little lost but found my way back to the hostel after a while of walking in what seemed to be circles... After this I figured I would go upstairs and read some more, and ended up falling asleep! I awoke 2 hours later and actually felt refreshed for the first time in a few days! Good sleep is definitely worth a few hours of lost daylight.

I went out to find something to eat and ended up grabbing a cheap meal at a little food stand type place. It was basically a chicken wrap with veggies, and tasted a little funny, but wasn't bad. On the way back to the hostel, I heard a guy shout, "Emily!" I was startled, thinking... who in the city of Ljubljana knows me? I looked up and saw Irwin, a guy that I met at the hostel in Bled! He's from the Netherlands and is driving around Europe for 3 weeks. We stood and talked for a little while and realized that we are staying in the same hostel. He mentioned his plans for going to the Skocjan caves in the morning, which happens to be mine and Teri's plan as well. He offered to drive us there to save the money for the train ticket, which sounded perfect! He went on his way after we agreed to meet up the next day to head to the caves.

On my way into the hostel, a guy asked me if I wanted to get a cup of tea with him. This seemed rather sketchy until I realized that he was friends with the people staying in my room, and that they were all going out together. I agreed to tag along and we headed out to an Indian restaurant a mile or so away. I drank a really good Mango Lassi, which is some authentic Indian yogurt drink. It was delicious! The group of us just sat there awhile talking about our travels, our work, and anything that came to mind. It was nice to just sit and listen to everyone :)

Overall, it was another uneventful day, but was still quite pleasant!

Ljubljana, the City of Dragons

Ljubljana (loo-blah-nah) is the capital of Slovenia,  and is considered the only large town in the country with approximately 280,000 inhabitants. The symbol of the city is the dragon. It is depicted on the coat of arms,  the tower of the Ljubljana castle, and on the dragon bridge. 

Today, I met Teri, Mary, and Rudy at the bus stop to leave Bled and it's serene beauty. We traded a peaceful and quiet place for the hustle and bustle of a city. The more I travel, the more cynical I become. A city is a city... in reality, they are really all very similar! We walked around the city awhile and saw all the monuments and interesting things... Below,  you'll see a picture of a bridge railing with locks all over it. No, this isn't Paris... apparently this eternal love stuff is taking over the world! 

There is a hostel in Ljubljana that has been converted from an old prison. They brought in artists from all over Europe and gave them each a budget, and a room. Each room has a completely different look, feel, and idea attached to it! The owners of the building also left the original "dungeon" or solitary confinement area, and you can walk down into it if you aren't afraid of the dark!

From the hostel, we headed over to the Ljubljana castle, which sits high over the city. A funicular is provided (for a small fee of course) to take you up to the castle, where you are then free to explore on your own. For the most part, the castle has been somewhat modernized, which makes it feel less authentic.

Rudy and Mary went back to their hotel, while Teri and I went out to dinner, as we are both staying in a hostel together. We tried some Slovenian pasta that was similar to ravioli (but a lot tastier) and also a sausage and potato dish. The food was great, and the conversation was even better. We sat for a few hours just eating and talking. It was awesome!

Nature at it's finest

This morning I went out to meet up with my new American friends, Teri, Mary, and Rudy. Lake Bled doesn't look very large until you begin the 6 kilometer walk around it! The hotel they are staying at is on the opposite side of the lake, and the walk ended up being 1.5 miles. I got there, asked the concierge about them, and he said they had just left a short while ago... I knew the biggest thing on their list was to walk around the lake, so I just (not at all stalker like) continued my journey around the beautiful Lake Bled. I stopped and had a little picnic, stopped and took a short nap in the sun, and just mosied my way around the lake until I reached my initial startint point. By now, I had decided that as nice as it was meeting the family, I just wasn't going to see them again. Then, as I was coming up on the end of my circle, I found them all sitting on a bench! It was such a pleasant surprise, and honestly made my day. We all ended up going to Vintgar Gorge together, which took quite a long time to walk through, and then walked back to Bled, which took an even longer time! In total, we walked/hiked 15 miles. The gorge was beautiful, with wooden bridges scattered throughout. At one point, a little rainbow popped up out of nowhere, surprising us all.

Through this whole time, Teri and I just talked about all kinds of topics, most of which revolved around travel. We both love to travel, and have the same taste for it. One of the top things on her list is going into a cage and down into the water with Great Whites off the coast of South Africa... well hello... that's on my list too! Hopefully we can travel a bit together, because being on this trip alone has really worn on me. I love experiencing new things, but its hard not having anyone to share the experiences with. I think that's why I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with Teri and her parents. I don't have to worry about using words that they might not know in English... I can talk fast and the conversation isn't labored... it was so nice!

After we made it back to Bled, we went to a restaurant to get some cream cake and coffee. We just sat, relaxed, and enjoyed the sunset as it was going down over the lake. We finished our dessert and went our separate ways, with plans to meet again in the morning to head to Ljubljana, Slovenia. As beautiful as Bled is, it's truly a small place, and we saw what there was to see all in one long, LONG, day.

Another Day, Another Country

After staying out so late last night, getting up at 9 o'clock wasn't really part of my plan. My body said otherwise, and I woke up bright eyed and not so bushy tailed. I didn't have any plans for the day other than catching the train to Slovenia, so it was a relaxing morning full of laughs and good food. My hosts and I ate breakfast while they gave me a hard time about the guy that I was talking to for most of the evening. What can I say, he was cute!

I packed up all my stuff (which is actually quite little) and headed to the train station around 11am. I caught the train to Bled, changed trains at some random station, and didn't realize that I actually had to change again later... I almost missed this because the train only stops for a few minutes before taking off again. Luckily, I was able to get on the right one and finally made it to Bled, Slovenia around 6pm. While I was waiting for the bus, a group of 3 Americans walked up and we started chatting. We all got on the bus together, and talked on the way into the city center. Before going separate ways, we exchanged phone numbers in hopes of meeting up the next day.

I came to Bled earlier than planned so I ended up getting another hostel instead of couch surfing. Luckily, things aren't so expensive here so it wasn't too bad. I walked to the Mercator (market) and bought some bread, mozzarella, and a tomato for dinner. Since I have no silverware I just took a bite of tomato, a bite of mozzarella, and then tore off a hunk of bread. It was a simple yet delicious meal!

Although the day was rather uneventful, I am tired, and ready for bed... I have a full day ahead of me, and want to get an early start! E.KEY out.

Two is better than one

This post includes two days due to the amount of NOTHING that I've done, seen, etc. The city of Innsbruck does not have anything for tourists other than the mountains. I came for the bungy, and planned to go paragliding but it was cancelled due to the early snow...but there isn't enough snow for a lot of skiing and snowboarding...So basically I've just been hanging out with my hosts, cooking, reading, sleeping... it's been nice. Today we went up to a point on the mountain where you can see the entire city, nestled between all the mountains. The fog was just enough that photos can't show it well, but it was pretty either way. We walked around a bit, and headed back to the apartment, and here I am, relaxing some more. I think I'll actually move on to Slovenia tomorrow instead of Thursday because I feel like I'm wasting my days... relaxing is great, but I'm being downright pathetic!

Ok so I posted this before the day was over, because I really had no idea that I'd actually get off my butt!  My hosts got home and invited me to an irish pub to hang out and meet their friends. We ended up at a completely different place, with music and dancing... I know what you're thinking..."some club where everyone is groping each other, dancing to crude music..." Well, I thought that's what it was too at first, but then I started hearing songs like, Summer of '69, Sweet Home Alabama,  I'm Gonna Be (500 miles),  Black of White by Michael Jackson... I mean, they were playing awesome music, and everyone was loving it! One guy was dancing exactly like Michael Jackson when Black or White came on... it was ridiculously impressive. We spent hours there just talking and getting to know each other. An evening out with new friends completely turned my day around. 

Almost forgot (don't freak out, mother)... So I don't smoke cigarettes or do drugs, but last night I  smoked hookah. It's flavored tobacco and the smoke vapor goes through water before you inhale. I didn't inhale it at all (I like my lungs) but I had to try to blow smoke rings. My hosts kept trying and trying, and it didn't look very hard... so after not participating for awhile, they were all surprised when I took it and tried. I succeeded on first try, and my curiosity was satisfied. I felt like Gandalf!! Ok, my smoke rings have nothing on Gandalf... 

Murphy's Law

Anything that could go wrong yesterday, went wrong. Ok, well.... Not quite EVERYTHING, or I wouldn't be typing this post right now! I woke up early to catch my train to Innsbruck, Austria. Fortunately, it wasn't raining, so I was able to wait for the tram in the gray, early morning light. The tram ride was short, and we got to the train station right on time. I made it onto the train with no problems, and I settled into my seat to begin the journey. I pulled my kindle out of my bag and.....it wouldn't turn on. I figured it was dead, so I plugged it in... Still not turning on. I don't really sleep on trains because they move too much, so I ended up just sitting there staring out of the window for 3 hours. When I was able to get internet, I found out that holding the power button for 30 seconds will reset the kindle. It worked!

One problem down, many more to go.

The bungy jumping company had emailed me and given the exact name of the bus that goes out to the bridge... I couldn't find it, as nothing here is labeled like you'd expect. After grabbing some lunch (9 euro got me a huge plate of schnitzel and fries, which is amazing compared to the prices I've been dealing with!) I asked someone where it was, and showed them the name of the bus, and they put me on it! It was only 30 minutes later, when I thought, "We should be at the bridge by now..." that I found out I was on the wrong bus. I got off, and walked for 15 minutes or so until I found another bus stop. I made it back to the train station, and called the bungy operator. The time was 2:15, and she told me they stop jumping at 3. The bus takes 30 minutes to get there, and at this point, I still had no idea where the bus was. For the first time on this entire trip, I broke down and paid for a taxi. "Now I'll get there on time!"

Two problems dow.....wait... blue lights....behind us... The taxi driver was speeding and got pulled over. Are you kidding me? We went through the whole charade, license, registration, etc. The only unusual thing for me is that the cab driver pulled out some cash and paid for the ticket right there! That's definitely different than how we do it in the US.

Ok so we finally made it to the bridge, I run run run to the bungy operator and pull out my wallet to pay for the bungy. They don't take credit card. It's over $200 and they don't take credit card? Ridiculous! She tells me there is an atm in the little village nearby, so I take off. Luckily, it really wasn't that far away. I get the cash and head back.

What number problem are we on? Whatever, another problem down.

This bungy was different than any other that I've done. You have to walk across the bridge out to the middle, and then attach your harness to a cord running next to one of those ladders on the side of the bridge... You know, the ones you see and think "Who in their right mind would ever go down that?" Well, that is the way down to the bungy platform. The wind is blowing, and the big buses driving by send up a gust of wind even stronger. I am not lying when I say that going down this ladder was scarier than the bungy itself. Seriously. I make it down the ladder alive, get suited up, and the next thing I hear is 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, bungyyyy! I leap off, soar through the air like a graceful rock, and hit the end of the cord. The recoil on this bungy was so much more than the other 2 jumps. I felt entirely weightless for quite awhile! As they explained beforehand, they lowered an orange ball to me with 2 big clips. The first, I attached to my harness, and the second was to be attached to another cord that they were lowering. The probelm arose when the wind kept moving the cord to where I couldn't reach it. We all know how short my arms are... In the video on Facebook, (I'll try to get it on here eventually) you can hear the guys yelling at me to try and grab the rope. I guess to them it looked like it was close enough and that I wasn't trying to get it... On my end, it was never close enough for me to bother reaching for it! I wasn't sure what this meant... Can they pull me up without it? Idk! After a little whIle of trying to get the rope to me, they finally started pulling me up without the second clip attached. I made it to the platform alive, so that's another problem down.

I asked the bungy people where to catch the bus and they said it was about a 15 minute walk away in the next town over. I begin walking, and about 30 minutes later, I ask the first person I see if I'm on the right track. "Yea! It's about 10 minutes that way!" I continue trekking along, uphill, in snow, with my bookbag... I stopped a few times to eat some snow (not the yellow kind) and as I continue, I finally see what might be a bus stop. It was a tiny pavilion, unmarked other than 2 bus schedules posted on the inside. I got on the bus, made it back to Innsbruck, and began looking for the bus that my host told me would take me to their area of town. I finally find it, and show a guy on the bus the name of the stop. He told me when to get off, and I thought, wow, that was nice... Well, it was the wrong stop. I got off 2 stops early! The bus wouldn't be back by for another 30 minutes so I just started walking in the direction the bus went. I called my hosts and they started walking towards me until we found each other. This, my friends, happens to be the final problem solved.

I'm staying with 3 college students who live a little bit up a mountain, with gorgeous scenery all around. It's all just so beautiful!

When we got back to the apartment, we made pizza with corn, onion, some kind of meat (salami maybe?) green bell pepper, and mozzarella. Yummmmmm! We sat and talked about different places we've been, and I had the pleasure of telling them about Iceland since they're planning a trip for next year! The 2 girls went to Ireland last year and told me how beautiful it is... If people living in the mountains of Austria think it's that beautiful, I can only imagine what I'll think!!

Since I was unable to find a congregation to worship with here, I tried to watch the live stream from a church in Birmingham. I was able to hear a few songs and part of the lesson before the internet crashed. I miss my church family, and I look forward to being able to worship with them!

Traveling isn't always butterflies and rainbows... But I welcome any experience, good or bad. I've learned to take what comes at you, and keep on going. The moral of the of story is more about the fact that I solved each problem...not that the problems occurred in the first place. Being a problem solver has helped me in every aspect of my life, and I look forward to the problems of the future. I can handle anything.

Titlus

Since I'm not much of a city person, I was quite excited to head out into nature for the day. First stop was Lucerne, a small yet beautiful town south of Zurich. It was quiet and peaceful, but since today is Saturday, the streets were full of booths and stalls with people selling vegetables, meat, flowers, and all kinds of other stuff. It reminded me of being in Knoxville with my cousin Linda (ya, you. I know you're reading this!). I love morning markets, even if I don't buy anything!

In Lucerne, there is a monument to commemorate the Swiss guards that were massacred during the French revolution. It was hewn into the rock in the early 1800s and is still in pristine condition. It's quite impressive! This art is better than anything I saw in the Louvre.

From Lucerne, we headed up to Mt.Titlus, elevation 10,000ft. The mountain is a part of the Alps, and is known for it's hiking more than for skiing. It has the first rotating cable car ever built, as well as the highest suspension bridge. Being in the snow and beauty of the Alps was refreshing after being around so many people/cars/buses/trams/trains for so long. Up on the mountain, the temperature was -10°C. Even with all my layers, I was freezing! I met a few people on the bus, and we spent the day together. It was great to sip a nice hot chocolate while staring out across the clouds, at the snow covered mountains.

Altstadt

I spent most of my day walking in the Altstadt, or Old Town. The cobblestone streets were full of both locals and tourists, all busy shopping, taking photos, and just enjoying the sunshine. Today is the first day in close to a week that I've seen that marvelous globe that I'm always complaining about back home. I welcomed it's rays, as it heated me from the outside, in.

After walking for a few hours, I decided to get something to drink and read for a little while. I finally found a host, so I'm free of that hostel! Last night, a woman in my room was snoring all night. Usually this doesn't bother me, but her snoring wasn't steady at all. It kept waking me up, until I finally put my headphones on. Needless to say, I'm sleepy today! Relaxing with a good book (or e-book) was a good way to spend some time. I had a few hours to 'kill' while waiting for my host to meet me, so I just relaxed and watched the world pass by. A few chapters into my book, I heard a noise and looked up... a family was bringing their dog into McDonalds! It was a beautiful yet rambunctious dog, and the owners just tied his leash and walked away to order. I wish dogs were allowed in more places in the states... Sumi could go everywhere with me! The only place I can think of that she can go is Lowe's... which is where I spend all my time anyways so I don't know why I'm complaining.

Finally it was time to go meet my host at the train station. I got there early and stood around for awhile until I noticed a guy kinda looking at me as if he recognized me, but wasn't sure... I spoke up and it turned out to be him. We walked a few miles to his apartment where I was finally able to put my bag down. We decided to go out to eat, and I asked him what he would recommend as a good Swiss dish. In the French speaking area of Switzerland, fondu is the specialty, but here in the German part, I was recommended to try Rösti. It sounded foreign and exotic so I was excited to experience it!! Well... It's actually just a plate of hashbrowns covered in cheese, ham, and whatever else you want. Is it just me, or does that sound a bit too much like something you'd find on a menu at Cracker Barrel?

After we returned to the apartment, Daniel and I put in a movie and relaxed. I was tired from walking aimlessly all day, and he was tired after a long day at work! 

Just like in Paris, people have started putting locks on this bridge.