Pokey is amazed by all the

snow in Ljubljana!

Pokey graffiti.

Christmas lights along the

Ljubljanica River.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

The countries that made up the former Yugoslavia are certainly beautiful and have great cities. Slovenia was the first of that group of newly independent nations to jump back into free market economy, and it is the only one of those nations that is a full member of the European Union, complete with euro currency and prices. It is also a Schengen Treaty member, which for me meant as soon as I crossed the border into Slovenia, my allowable Schengen days started ticking away again. I had 72 left when I got to Ljubljana, and I could see that I was going to have to be really careful about how I managed the remaining days.

Ljubljana is yet another very beautiful city, with strong influence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in its architecture and monuments. The Ljubljanica River arcs through the middle of the city with the lovely, tiny old town on one side, connectedto the opposite side by a beautiful pedestrian bridge. The Christmas Market was in full swing when I was there, and so there were numerous stalls selling handmade items and hot mulled wine, beer, and wurst. The most impressive visual feature of the city is the Ljubljana Castle which watches over from atop a steep hill just behind the old town. It is an easy enough walk up the partially paved walkway, but if you want to save your energy for other events, one can take the short fenicular railway to the summit for a mere 3 Euros. That doesn't buy much (about 5 bucks), but I sure wasn't going to fork out that kind of cash! No, I'd rather save the money for groceries. Besides, I needed the exercise.

Of course, it was raining and snowing and cold, but there is a warmth and friendliness to the place that I found endearing. There is a university and so there are a lot of students adding their own fresh energy to the historical grace of the once mighty Hapsburg era. In the university area there is an interesting compound situated behind a high cement wall. It was formerly military barracks, built and used during the bad old days of communism, and then abandoned after the collapse of the regime. It was slated for demolition, but had been occupied by students needing cheap accommodation and alternative art and music studios. So, now it is looking quite neglected again, but there is still evidence of occupation and creativity taking place, including some very colourful graffiti on the otherwise grim cement walls. I was delighted to see images of Pokey, who is Gumby's pony. They happen to be MY partners in adventure, going everywhere with me in a dedicated mesh pocket in my shoulder bag. The graffiti inspired me to start including them in some photos of my trip, and they are happy to oblige!

I almost forgot to tell you about a day trip that I made to the town of Postojna, about 2 hours bus trip from Ljubljana. Why, you might ask, would I bother with such a place? Well, because of the caves. That's why. I was more pretty skeptical upon arrival at the entrance to the cave. First of all, the only way you can enter the cave system is by taking the guided tour. Second, the guided tour starts out with a mini-train ride into the deep caverns of the system. Cheesy, or what? My skepticism lasted not even 30 seconds into the train ride. It was absolutely mind blowing. To say that this cave, which isn't the biggest in Slovenia, is vast is an understatement. It is gargantuan, and quite fantasmagorical. Spellcheck doesn't know that word yet, but that is what it is. Taking photos was prohibited, so the best I can do is invite you to check out some photos at this web-site:

http://images.google.de/images?rlz=1C1GGLS_enCA334CA334&sourceid=chrome&q=postojna+caves&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=3TdWS9-_MdaisQaipsHYCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CDIQsAQwBA

I made plans to go to Bled, which is reputed to be a fabulously beautiful town in the Julian Alps, north of Ljubljana. An hour and a half on the bus gets you there.