Subject:   [adventure!] Put it in H!

Date:   3/20/2004 3:34:03 AM

 

 

 

 

More pictures (lots more)(HEAPS more, if you are Australian) can be found

at:

 

<weblink information removed>

 

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Folks,

 

I am in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Do you know anything about Slovenia? I didn't

know anything about Slovenia when I arrived a couple of nights ago. The

train in was delayed for some reason. Then border guards got on and started

checking passports. As the first demonstration of how little research I had

done on this destination, I was not expecting border guards. Now, right now

I am travelling with two passports, one Canadian and one UK. I quickly

decided to hand them the UK passport. As I was pulling it out of my money

belt (which, since Morocco, has been less of a belt and more of a 'bulky

thing in my pack', a category of things that I am quickly ridding myself of,

though for weight-saving, belts must also go too) ... where was I? Oh yeah,

as I was pulling out my UK passport, I became aware that the guy behind me

was getting hassled by the border guards. Hmmm ... I wonder where he's

from? Oh, he has a UK passport too. Just as I was thinking I had made the

wrong choice of passports, the guard said 'you are from Canada'. Oh shit.

He somehow knows I have two passports. There must be something wrong with

that. No, it says Canadian on my UK passport. They continued to hassle the

English guy, which was fine with me because I had to hear his conversation

about work for three damn hours. I'm not sure what he did for a living, but

it was something horrible that involved 'talking to Larry about the thing'

and 'reducing inter-structural consultation factors' or some mind-numbing

shit like that.

 

The next evidence of my state of unreadiness came when I got off the train

and discovered that right in front of the station, pasted on a platform for

everyone to see, there was not a map of the city. Also, there was not a map

on the bus stop nearby. Also (I love starting sentences with also), the

buses all had names on them like KRINCLFALDRIN or MRALDINFALCIN. Luckily,

the policemen standing nearby were able to tell me which bus to take to the

hostel, which I was hoping would not be full because I hadn't made an

arrangement and now it was getting closer to 9 pm. They said I should go in

and buy a bus token. I found the bus token desk and asked how much it was.

The nice woman said 'one hundred and eighty', so I handed her a two euro

coin. She said 'um ... one hundred and eighty'. There was a very brief

moment when I thought 'screw that, for a hundred and eighty euros, I'll

walk' (I was tired), and then I realized another level of unpreparedness.

Luckily (again) there was an exchange place right across from the bus token

place, and it was open! (further proof that you should never plan anything).

I got my money exchanged and took the Number 9 bus out to the hostel,

which wasn't actually a hostel, but a hotel with a fitness centre and bar

attached to it.

 

I've spent the past few days wandering around town, looking at the castle,

the dragon bridge, the beautiful slovenian people. Last night I went to

one of the two places to eat near the hotel, which was a Chinese restaurant.

I was really excited to order Chinese menu items that I can't read,

translated into another language that I don't understand. Unfortunately,

they had English written under the Slovenian words. I was a little let down

until I noticed some of the menu items:

 

Ants Climbed a Tree

Dragon's Eye

 

and my new all time personal favourite:

 

Palace of Chafing

 

I REALLY wanted to order the palace of chafing, but I am going hiking today

and thought best to put off the chafing for another day.

 

Yes, this morning I will head up to Bled, a beautiful lake area in the

North, with an Irish couple I met here yesterday who are renting a car to

drive around the country. I very intelligently mailed home my winter coat

from Italy the other day (sick of carrying it around), so that I can travel

North. Oh, and I won't be heading to Kosovo just yet, so don't worry about

that.

 

Hope you're all doing well and able to see grass.

jay