I left the hotel refreshed, cooled, and
spoken to my mum. It was still awkwardly hot and I had decided that I would go
into town to eat, so I passed the train station, and series of squares, north
at night. Surprisingly they were quite busy. The main square was also rammed
with people. I turned west from there, buying a drink on the way, and arrived
at the small square I visited this morning and afternoon. I found a table near
to where I sat for lunch and ordered water and wine. I’m quite partial to a
carbonated water now. I read whilst my order of chicken and bacon skewers was
cooked. I ate, then read more in the bustling square, as it was at 21:00. I
finished my wine and decided I’d had enough, so walked back to the hotel. The
square in front of the train station was also busy. I had a lovely nights rest.
I woke up before my alarm, so I went for
breakfast straight away whilst it was fresh. Fully fuelled, I went to bed and
relaxed until 11:00. I then jumped in the shower, changed, and then packed.
That thing gets heavier, but I managed to cram it all in. I departed the hotel,
paying the 20kn ‘City Tax’ then made it to the train station for 11:55. I
bought a sandwich at a kiosk at the underground shopping ‘mall’. The sweat was
pouring off me. I went into Konzum and bought crisps, water and flavoured iced
tea.
I then went to the tracks as the board still
said that the train would arrive at 12:30. As I ate, a lad approached me to see
if it was platform 1, and whether the train was going to Slovenia. I confirmed
the two queries. He was South Korean, 21 and got chatting. He had started in
Dubrovnik 2 weeks ago and went up the coast until Zagreb. He will finish in
Budapest. He was studying Business Management. He sat by me and when the train
arrived we boarded together he sat in front of me. It was like a decade old
Pendolino with proper seats, air con and curtains. I learned through the
journey that there were also refreshments on offer and clean toilets! Wow!
I bought the Guardian again, seizing the
chance, and settled down to read that when three police officers came up and
were checking passports. How efficient. After stamping mine, the ticket
conductor waived me past once I flashed my Interrail pass. Within 40 minutes I
was having my pass checked, and passport, by border crossing. I’m not used to
the speeds the train was doing. I was now in Slovenia. However, this was the
first time I saw someone getting chucked off. A woman of 30-odd was asked to
leave. Don’t know why, but she was in tears as she departed.
Slovenia was more hilly than mountainous at
first. Lovely green trees filled the small valleys surrounding the river
running parallel to us. We arrived at Ljubljana at 15:00. So I got off, walked
10 mins to locate cash, then returned to eat at the train station. I then took
a rip off taxi to the hostel charging me €15 for a 10 minute trip. I arrived,
checked in, then had a quick rest.
