Eh, it is Only One Olive

We arrived late in Ljubljana, with a near full moon shining down upon the town. If I had been quicker, that photo would be really spiffy, as some sort of comet trail was following the moon. I was lucky enough to get the crappy shot I did. In any case we pulled out the Rough Guide for some eating advice. After a bit of searching, we found a pizza place with promised atmosphere and headed underground. The restaurant was in the lower portion of some huge old building, with brick vaulted arches everywhere. Medievel paintings (at least in subject matter) were ensconced along the walls. The place was huge enough that the smokers, despite their best efforts, couldn't fill the place with choke, in fact if not for one other nearby party, it would have almost been private. I became a bit concerned after looking over the menu. I wasn't bothered by the fact that the only thing they had to offer was pizza, but that every pizza offered olives. My request to remove them met with a chuckle from our server "Eh...I wouldn't worry, it is only one olive". Sure enough, the food came with one big olive right smack in the center, easy enough to pluck out. After dinner, we strolled the streets a bit. Both sides of the river that flow through the town (the Ljubljanica) were spotted with cafes serving beer, wine and coffee, so we sat down for a night cap. The town is a popular destination spot with students, and there were many around staying in cheap looking hostel type spots near the river. We got handed all sorts of flyers for late night discos and dance clubs promising all sorts of wacky high octone drinks. Not my thing, and since we were prety wiped, we decided to rest up for the day of exploration to follow.

Slovenia is for Slovers

After securing a rental car at the local tram station (nowhere near as painful as I thought it would be) Cheese and I set off down the A2 towards Ljubljana. You know how previously cooped-up krauts drive on open roads? Before long we were passing through Klagnefurt and by the beautiful Lake Worthesee. Worth way more than a see, it looked loverly enough to warrant a vacation on its own. As you can see from the picture, we were right in the middle of a valley that started at the lake, went up the forested hills to the spectacular mountains in the background. Look at that picture and be jealous! Occasionaly you could see a little castle or small fortification up in the hills. They looked like they hadn't been touched for centuries. There was certainly no easy access to any of them.

Eastern Block

Soon enough, it was time to cross over into the forbidden land: Slovenia, stronghold of the Eastern Bloc and my conjured childhood foes, The Commies. Two things immediately went wrong: First, the iPod broadcast station was taken over by some (I'm assuming here) commie talk radio and couldn't regain the signal. This was the start of our love/hate relationship that made me appreciate the fact that I still have a cassette player, and therefore a cassette adaptor, for my iPod. This broadcast stuff (iTrip) is for creeps like ClearChannel. Secondly, after passing through the pictured passage, we hit the worst weather of the trip. The pass between steep slopes shuts out the sun, and a fog, at first just misty, quickly turned to rain. Not far in, we found some promised cheaper-than-EU-price gas. I tell you, there is nothing like a quickie-mart to make an American feel at home. This one came complete with white trash family (his shirt: Porn Star; her shirt: Love Sucks; kids shirts: dirty; Cheese quote "At least they agree about something") and every kind of salted product you could ask for. Naturally, I went for some chocolate to bolster the days dwindling supply. I felt like I was on the road between Charleston WVa and Gallipolis OH. The only thing missing were coal seams in the cut -away mountains.

This bit of gloomy was immediatley gone upon arrival in Ljubljana, but that's for the morrow.