Over The River And Through The Woods... To Ljubljana We Go

Erika and I made our way to Ljubljana this weekend. It was a last minute decision I will never regret. There are no trains that travel from Italy to Slovenia, which made it difficult for planning. We had to take train from Trieste to Gorizia in Italy, walk 30 minutes to the boarder of Slovenia then get on the train from Nova Gorcia to Jesenice, transfer trains and then head to Ljubljana. We partially thought that we were literally going to have to hop the fence from Italy to Slovenia but we just had to continue following the sidewalk. In Nova Gorcia we waited for the train for about an hour and at the time of departure we had to run across the tracks to get to our train. In a weird way, I could tell that I was no longer in Italy. Thirty feet away was the familiar Italy and here in Nova Gorcia, everyone was speaking Slovene. Once on the small regional train in Slovenia, we could feel the cold drifting the train by the condensation on the windows. Until the dreary fog rolled into the Alp’s, we were able to see the perfectly clear rivers rushing down the mountainside. The river was turquoise. After four hours of train we finally arrived in Ljubljana, the capitol of Slovenia. We had no idea of what to expect. We began our journey to our hostel when stumbling upon old town Ljubljana. It was decorated like the North Pole. Little street booths covered the street with homemade food and handmade gift. The smell of hot wine filled our nostrils. Christmas lights covered every tree and deep blue lights illuminated the building facade. We stayed at the Sax Hostel, which was in the attic above a small jazz bar. We headed back out into the town after we left our bags behind at the hostel. Our stomachs gurgled for anything to devour. We had only eaten croissants and cappuccinos that morning. We found a street vendor selling giant hamburgers, only they weren't the typical "American hamburger." They smothered mustered and onions on top of the greasy sausage patty. It was phenomenal. We couldn't wait any longer to eat. After enjoying the sights and sounds, we decided to quench our thirst with the hot wine that we smelled earlier. 
The following morning consisted of street shopping and enjoying the traditional Slovenian dish of beans and sausage called "Pasulj s

Klobaso" with Kuhano Vino (belo/rdece) with lemon. I think Ljubljana was a lovely surprise. It was definitely a city I could see myself returning to in my future traveling excursions.

To view more photos from Ljubljana please view Hannah Swick Photograpraphy- Ljubljana, Slovenia