Monday, August 07, 2017

Lake Bohinj, Slovenia lovely national park!

So as I’ve been to Slovenia before, I wanted to get out of the city in the summer and get to one of the lakes. I’ve been to Lake Bled before for two quick day trips, and I realize how its so popular and thus very crowded, so I opted with the help of some friends to goto Lake Bohinj area instead. What a great decision that was.

It is a 2hr bus ride to Bohinj, which is located inside of the Triglav National Park(the only one in Slovenia), the bus from Ljubljana runs every hour and costs 9 Euros. You also pass thru Lake Bled town, so if you sit on the right side of the bus, you can get nice views of the church in the middle of the lake. There is a town Ribcev Laz at the beginning of the lake that has some hotels, restaurants, mini market, free Wi-Fi you know all the basics you need for your trip. I stayed at the very nice Hostel pod Voglom about a 20 minute(1.5km) walk from the town, and there is a bus you can take that drops you off in front of the hostel, but the walk is very nice as long as the weather is good. The Hostel itself has a floor of Dorm bed rooms, these are 4 beds to a room and I can’t recommend as the bathroom situation is not good, one stall, one shower per FLOOR of about 12-15 rooms. But they have a second building across the parking lot that has some single rooms connected with a shared bathroom to another single room, this was the way to go and how I stayed and basically enjoyed my own space.

You are right on the lake, you can walk the length of the lake as it’s an 12km trail, 4km on the side with the road, and then 8km on the opposite side that doesn’t have a car road so you get up and around in the nature a bit more. It’s a nice walk as I did the entire “south” side of the lake that has the driving road and a “sidewalk” that is separated from cars, as people do bike…

What to do here?, well just unwind, relax and enjoy the scenery, there are some small beaches on the lake, its rocky but the water is cold, crisp, fresh and clean. Lovely to take a dip in the water for sure. Also in the summer the ski resort Vogel, is a great trip. Take the cable car lift up 1500meters in about 4 minutes, and from there many chair lifts or hikes for gorgeous views of the Julian Alps, its also possible to hike the entire way from the lake area, but that was not in my plans..

Overall the area was not crowded, there is much more to see and do in the national park, but you really need a car as there is limited public transportation and even with a car, many of the trips due to lack of roads take 2 hours only to go a few km. I wanted to see the Soca River area, and Waterfalls but the weather was basically a wash out with rain 2 of the 3 days I was there, so weather permitting there is plenty to do. Lovely Slovenia, if I ever get my hiking skills together I will be back with proper boots and gear and take on some of the hour long hikes!!


Wednesday, August 02, 2017

Day 2 Ljubljana, Slovenia - City of Dragons!

Day 2 of my trip brings me back to Ljubljana, Slovenia. I visited this gem during my 2006 backpacking trip, I only stayed one night but the city made enough of an impression of me that I vowed to return and I did so for 3 days in 2010. This visit in 2017 was just a short visit as a stopping off point before going to explore to Triglav National Park. There are many reasons I love Ljubljana, one of which is that it is fairly empty most of the time, in a country of only 2 million people, I’ve seen that anywhere from 250 thousand to half a million live here, for someone who spends most of my days in the 8 million people plus tourist always crowded NYC this is a blessing. Despite the small size, they know how to have fun here in Ljubljana with many outdoor cafes and bars mostly packed around the old town on the river, which is closed off to cars. In fact many of the streets in the old town are closed off to cars, making this a great bicycling and walking city, its small enough to get around to most places in less than 30 minutes.

I arrived here by bus from Trieste, there are companies such as Hello and FlixBux that offer fares from 8 Euros for the short 2 hour ride, you can buy the tickets online and have the PDF sent to your phone, very easy and comfortable bus with air conditioning and wifi that works (sometimes), its always a worry where to get the bus in Trieste the Hello bus was late, and without any signs or representation, you had to keep your eyes out for it and you got on where it parked with the rest of the busses.

Tivoli Park is a lovely large park with nature hiking, artwork, performance space, cafes, childrens play areas located a short walk from the center of town. On a warm day it’s a great place for a picnic, with some views of the whole city. A worthy destination during your trip there.

On past trips I visited the majestic Castle which sits overlooking the river, on my one full day here this trip I spent some time walking around the huge Tivoli Park which is situated right in the city and is a lovely green space. I was lucky enough to randomly run into matches of the European Beach Volleyball tournament which was being played in one of the main squares just a short distance from the river walking area. As night falls onto the city, its time to walk around and find some music and a good bar, but before we do so, we have to respect the Dragon.. Yes Game of Thrones fans, while much of the show is filmed in Croatia, Iceland and other places, it would be right at home here. The city has a small obsession with Dragons, from the famous Dragon Bridge spanning the river, to logos used on craft beers and merchandise. So the mythical creatures live here for sure.

Walking around I happened upon the finals of the European Beach Volleyball championship which was being played on a court in one of the main squares. It was a fun atmosphere with a full crowd, DJ, announcer between points to get the crowd hyped up.

As for bars, you have your choices, but one I really enjoyed this time was Malakona, which is located downstairs, so you might miss it if you aren’t looking for it, but once you go downstairs you have a chance to sit and drink right on the railing of the river, just below the pedestrian traffic above you, it’s a really nice get away from the sometime hustle and bustle on the main drag. They also make their own microbrew Beer, which was tasty and a welcome relief from the city that seems to be dominated by the two large beer makers Lasko and Union beer, which are everywhere. Another nice find was the Begov, which is made in Austria but totally from Slovenian founders, I guess some tax issues or paperwork was the reason for the move, but the cans are awesome with again their dragon themed design.

Beers are well priced with a large 500ml draft going for between 2 and 3 Euros of the local choices, and cans of microbrew all under 4 Euros. So if you are ever in the area stop in Ljubljana stay a few ways and I’m sure you will enjoy it