FORTIETH MOVEMENT:  SLOVENIA

Ljubljana, Slovenia

I woke up at 10:00 today, showered, dressed, packed my bags, and checked out of the hostel at 11:00. I then walked to the Zagreb Railway Station and bought a ticket to Ljubljana for 12:35. I then hung around the station, bought some water, iced tea, and two sausages wrapped in dough. I ate this meal and then read some until the train finally arrived. At 12:35, the train departed the station and made its way to Ljubljana. At 13:10, the train reached the Slovenian border and I had my passport scrutinized by the Croatian authorities (evidently, I don’t look anything like my picture anymore); the Slovenian authorities then looked at it and stamped me in to their country.

At 13:39, the train passed through the border and we traveled through the Slovenian countryside, toward the capital city. We reached Ljubljana at 15:08 and upon departing the railway station, I spotted the New Zealander I had met at the hostel in Sarajevo. We then talked as we walked to our separate hostels. Upon reaching the hostel I had made a reservation with, I checked in, was given an access key, and then I made my way up to the dorm room. I then stowed my bags in the room and walked out to the city to take care of some necessary business. First, I found an ATM (after running in to the New Zealander again) and grabbed some much needed euros; then I walked to the McDonalds next to the hostel and had a bacon double cheeseburger, French fries, and a Sprite; next, I walked to a pharmacy and bought some cough medicine to help alleviate a cough I’ve had for a while now; finally, I walked to a marketplace (for some reason, convenience stores and markets are not plentiful in Slovenia like most of the rest of the world (based on my experience anyway); I guess citizens here drink tap water and grow their own food, which may explain why many are healthy and why the fairer sex is gorgeous, but it sucks for tourists who just want some quick supplies). At the marketplace, I bought some juice, an aloe drink (very tasty), a bottle of Slovenian Muscat wine, and water. Next, I returned to the hostel, drank the aloe drink and juice, researched the city, and then drank the Slovenian Muscat (it tasted of citrus fruits and flowers and was quite pleasant). While finishing up the bottle of wine, I met the man from New Hampshire (from the hostel in Sarajevo); he was staying at this same hostel in Ljubljana and he convinced to come out to the pub crawl at 10:00 (as well as two women from Finland and two Aussie men). Sure, I had just drunk a bottle of wine, but I felt up to the challenge. So, I showered, changed my clothes, and got ready for the pub crawl. At 21:55, the Aussies, Finlanders, and I left the hostel, walked to the meeting point at Congress Square, and joined the other enthusiastic crawlers (we had a large group of thirty or so). The New Hampshire man showed up, as well as an Englishman from our hostel, and at this first bar, I had a beer and a shot (through a plastic syringe) of some green mixture. We then walked to the second bar where we all had a shot of apple liqueur and then had to flip our plastic cups over, ensuring it landed on one of its ends. Then, at this same bar, we all performed the limbo and the winner got a free drink. Next, several of the partyers played beer pong. We then moved on to the third bar where I had two draught beers with the New Hampshire man and where we watched the other drunk crawlers perform very bad karaoke (it was atrocious). We then moved on to the fourth place and while walking through the streets of Ljubljana, we passed by an ice cream stall and both the New Hampshire man and I looked at each other and had the exact same thought: “even the girls serving ice cream are smoking hot here” – she really was, like many young maidens in this city. The fourth place was a crowded club, and I had a beer as well as a couple of shots of vodka, served through a small water pistol operated by one of the pub crawl guides. Finally, we moved to the fifth – and I’m assuming final – place, a club on the top floor of a building (possibly the seventh floor?). At this club, I had two beers before deciding to join the New Hampshire man in calling it quits (at 03:30) and walking back to the hostel. We reached the hostel, said farewell, and I then went up to my room and laid down in bed, managing to fall asleep sometime around 05:00.