Slovenia is Good Stuff

Slovenia was good times. Spent 4 nights and 3 days in Ljubljana and surroundings. The scenery around there is really amazing. I spent the entire first day tooling around the Julian Alps with my rental car. That part of the county was also one of the major spots of conflict on the eastern front of WWI. There was a really intersting museum and some other related sights to hit. In some spots you can actually still see some old military fortifications at the very top of some of the mountain peaks.

The one thing that was a bit of a drag is that I hit a rock about the size of a volleyball on the way back to Ljubljana and got a flat tire. Luckily the car had a full size spare, so I was able to get it changed out without too much difficulty (although the first time I jacked up the car I didn't have the parking break on--oops). The bigger problem is that I'm insured by my credit card, so know I'm going to have a big administive hastle to deal with when I get home.

Went and checked out a cave in the area the next day. It looked like something straight out of 'The Lord of the Rings'. One of the caverns was over 100 meters tall, and about 2oo meters long.

Ljubljana was really nice. It has lots of great little riverside cafes and a really pleasant old town. The last night I was there I met a couple German girls who were friends of a DJ that was spinning outside along the river. Afterwards we all checked out a nightlife zone a bit out of the center. It was interesting, but a little too bohemian for my tastes. A tad too much weed, dread locks, and vomit on the sidewalk to suite me.

After Ljubljana, I hit Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. Good stuff. I'll post snaps ASAP. After that I blew through Zagreb (the capital of Croatia), and got to Split yesterday afternoon. This place is now in the pole position for the 'best food' award. The seafood here is fantastic. The chicks are pretty nice, too, assuming you're into sexy, 6 ft tall Amazon women. It's also got a very nice, mellow Mediterranean vibe. Great for relaxing in a small cafe with a long meal and a good bottle of Croatian wine.

The one thing that has been a hassle here is the accomodations. Rooms are actually very expensive in Split. I was unable to find a hostel with a single room, so I decided to give a shared room a try and see if the social aspect would make up for the hassle for sharing a room with somebody. However, it looks like I picked the wrong place to try sharing a room. The place I ended up with had 4 rooms of 6 people, all packed cheek to jowl, with only 2 bathrooms for everyone. It also is lacking some basic items that could make it a little more livable like a hook to hang your towel on (you have to drap it over you bed headboard instead) or some minimal closet, drawer, or table space (you have to keep absolutely everything in your bags, which you have to shove under your bed). Despite having the 2 days already paid for and being past the cancellation deadline, I walked down to the bus stop and found somebody hawking rooms and grabbed one of them. It ain't exactly the Four Seasons either, but the location is good, it's relatively inexpensive, and I'm not living like an animial with a bunch of smelly college students.

I'm off to my final stop, Dubrovnik, tomorrow morning. So it looks like I'll be able to post pictures with weekend when I get back to Chicago.