Sunny day in Piran

Today the sun came out. And we greeted it at the perfect setting.

Part of my plan with making Ljubljana my base is to take a few day trips to nearby cities worth checking out. On a beautiful day, Lake Bled is one of the most renowned lakes in the region, with a picturesque church on a tiny island in the middle of the lake, overlooked by a taunting Castle on top of a cliff. In the background, on a clear day, sits the Julian Alps. Of course, it wasn't a clear day when I went. So no Alps. But a gentle stroll up to the castle (didn't pay the 10E to go in...) and along the lake was quite worth the effort of the 1.5 hour bus ride to get there...

But my day trip to Piran was quite different. After days of overcast skies, the sun came out with a vengeance. I spent the day roaming around and getting lost in back alleys with an exchange law student from France, (Anais, her name was, which I had trouble pronouncing all day). Part of the joy of travelling yourself is that you meet fellow travellers and make new connections in strange places. Usually these connections are short lived. Occasionally they become lifelong Facebook background buddies. But all the time their presence became lifelong stories in my mind and fond memories of the brief encounters. Quite often, within minutes you hang like old friends, chat about all kinds of stuff and goof around like colleague buddies. And then, when your day ends, you bid each other farewell, and walk away with a warmth in your heart that is hard to ignore.

Piran was beautiful indeed. Small but beautiful, just perfect for a day long excursion. In fact, it took us a little no more than half an hour to cover the old town. A small climb to the nearby city wall grant us a postcard view of the coastal city, with red tiles and all, including the classic Venetian clock tower (a smaller version of that standing in St. Mark's square in Venice two hours across the Adriatic Sea). In fact, it seems most old towns of this coast are lined with vintage Venetian architecture, owning to over half a millennium of their ruling. Piran is wonderfully well preserved, and the rich blue sea coast gives it a very laid back easy feel. Sunbather and causal swimmers dip themselves in the somewhat cool water to soak up the last bit of pseudo-summer. Anais was smart enough to wear a bathing suit with her. I told her I thought about it, but was too lazy to pack it. I made do with sun-tanning on the edge of the sea wall dangling my feel over and diving into a small up of Italian hazelnut gelato.

It was a prefect sunny day, on a beautiful coast lined by charming old streets. It's quite worth the three hour bus ride each way to get here.

Ljubli what?

"So, why are you going to Ljubljana?", asked the border agent as I entered Europe via Zurich, wearing a somewhat surprised look on her face.

"oh, just travelling..."

"Do you know anyone there?", asked the agent, still somewhat suspicious in her glance.

"Hmm... No."

"Hmm..... How much cash do you have on?"

I paused. Leaned closer as to not announce my possessions, "well I exchanged a few hundred Euros in case I need some, but I was just assuming I could use an ATM..."

"Oh good", she quickly interrupted, looking more at ease. "You'll be alright."

"hmm..", I paused again, "should I be worried?"

She smiled and waved me through.

I walked through, slightly rattled, but more amused.

And so I embarked on my two week solo backpacking trip through four selected countries in Eastern Europe (because I had already done most of the more visited destinations a few years back with Doris and Ollie). For some reason, that trip had me yearning for more. So when I discovered I had two weeks of unplanned time off due the quirkiness of my shift schedules, I entertained a few destinations, but inside, I wanted to come explore some more. So simply based on geographical sensibility, I chose to start at Slovenia, then crossing into Budapest, then Bratislava in Slovakia, ending in a few days in Poland covering Kraków, Wroclaw, and Warsaw (because I couldn't decide which one to let go..". It shouldn't be too rush. I don't plan to do much in each city. In fact, apart from flight and hostel bookings, I hardly did any research or planned anything at all....

But before Europe, came my triple legged flight from Vancouver to Ljubljana, changing planes in Toronto and Zurich. Because of that, what would have been merely 13 hour flight became a 17+ hour journey. By the time I arrived, even though it was barely past noon, I could hardly get myself to explore my surroundings. The castle would have to wait. My earlier ambition of taking the 1.5 hour bus trip to nearby Lake Bled have vanished too. But I forced myself to drag my tired legs and sleepy eye along the lovely cobblerstones of the old town. Ljubljana was once part of the former Yugoslavia, country that dissolved shortly after I had moved to Canada. There's a distinctive romantic feel to all these old communist regime Buildings. Think scenes from some of the Bourne movies. Without the spy works and all the explosions.

But Ljubljana (apparently it's pronounced "Liubliana... Much easier if you replace the "j" with an "i".. ) feels remarkably peaceful. "Thing are changing, and every year it feels more crime," the locals would say. But in its heart it's still a relatively small country with a deep history and lots of natural wonders to offer. The people are genuinely nice and friend, the street clean and old town kept well. The weather has been a little grey, which dulled the festive mood, but you could imagine in the heat of summers thousands would flock to this little town and sit and mingle in the numerous street lined cafes by the beautiful canal. It's a little like Amsterdam, only much much smaller, and way less pot. The food is nice (seems to be focused on comfort food variety with sausages and stews and soups and potato dishes). I feel remarkably at ease wandering the streets in day or in dawn or dust, camera in hand, without my spidey senses perking up too much. Although heavily jet lagged, I managed to make up for my laziliness by bussing out to the beautiful Lake Bled the next day (marred by yet more clouds, unfortunately), the return to conquered the high riding Ljubljana castle to get a birds eye view of the city. The hostel is nice. A little too quiet for my liking. But that may not be a bad thing. My next stop, Budapest, will sure be much more of a party town, so I'll be careful what I ask for.

Another early morning rise, owe to my Jet Lagged. Off to Piran on a day trip by bus today. Reports says it's gonna be sunny. Can't wait to catch some Venetian artitecture and a glimpse of the beautiful Adriatic coast.