Slovenia - Tucked Away Beautifully At The Corner Of The Adriatic
Posted On Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at at 11:16 PM by Alvin
Arriving from Zagreb after a 3 hours' train ride, we found the laid-back Slovenian capital, Ljubljana was even quieter on the Sunday than we had expected. Although lacking in grandeur and un-forgettable historical monuments compared to the previous capital cities we had visited in central Europe, Ljubljana was nonetheless charming, compact and the River Ljubljanica played a central role to its many attractions. There were many bridges criss-crossing this river and the most interesting and famous being the Three Bridges; yep, where not only the tourists hang out to buy their souvenirs, ice-creams and took their river cruises etc. but also where many university students gathered and lazed around in the sun to discuss homework (?) or may be passing a few joints more like ...
We also took a day-trip out to Lake Bled where we had a picnic lunch right in front of the famous Assumption Church on the central island. It took us 3 hours at snail pace to complete the lake circuit and we took a hike up to the castle for a bird-eyes' view of the surrounding valleys. We managed to join a gathering of 4 other passengers (2 Taiwanese pensioners, one Canadian of Slovenian origins and a local girl) to charter a taxi back to Ljubljana. The middle-age taxi man spoke fluent English and he reminisced on the good old days of the Tito (pre-EU) era and gave us loads of stories of how things "were just better in those days" ... We listened with interest and did think about the country's affinity towards joining the EU. This contemplation about the EU could not have been better (worse) timed as we heard with shock after we arrived back to Ljubljana, that the French Air Traffic Controllers were calling a strike in response to EU's plans to reform the management of the European air-space. Perhaps the taxi man was right afterall ... Luckily at the end we only had a day's delay in getting home - and luckily a sunny day which we spent on a long stroll along the lovely River Ljubljanica, a mega-pleasant way to end our journey in this part of Europe !
Crossing The Croatian / Bosnian Boarder To The Picturesque Town Of Bihac
Posted On Saturday, June 8, 2013 at at 2:59 AM by Alvin
We said our fond farewell to the landlady, Ana early in the morning and caught the 810 A.M. (punctual as usual) bus at the head of the Rastovaca village and crossed the border into Bosnia Herzegovina territories - our destination being the lovely riverside town of Bihac. Crossing over was just formalities and our bus driver was one jolly fellow who would become our SAME driver for our journeys in these parts of the world. I called him Driver Adios as he kept saying goodbye to us in Spanish but we would later board his bus again back to Croatia ! What a small world ! Bihac was blessedly tranquil and incredibly picturesque with the Una River as its centrepiece. The most interesting fact was that we came by a number of mosques for the first time during this trip and we knew that unlike the past few weeks, we had entered a co-religion country with Christians and Muslims all noticeably visible in town. 
We walked along the River Una for a few hours, passing weekend fishermen casting their lines, a few lonely men sharing a bottle of (wake-up) wine and we spent time admiring the gushing mini-waterfalls amongst the river locks and barges and we later headed into the main squares and what did we find ? More outdoor cafes and ice-cream parlours decked out on the sunny day and the local residents relaxing over a cup of morning coffee, chatting amongst themselves about the weather and the topics of the day, as well as housewives going about their shoppings for the family dinners. Just a very relaxing and peaceful experience strolling around this town and we would be mighty proud if our town had a river like Una - emerald green, crystal clear and the residents conscientiously kept it clean that way !
Croatia Against Scotland (!) And On To The Stunning Plitvice National Park
Posted On Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at at 9:20 PM by Alvin
.. Choo And Choo A Train, Chugging Down The Track .. and so the song went .. and at last after another 7 hours' train journey (passing the many holiday resorts alongside the long and thin Lake Balaton) and once again after 23 years (!), we arrived in Croatia. So, Zagreb at 8 P.M., but hey, did I just see a group of men in skirts ? Yep ! The Scottish football fans (mostly in Scottish kilts) were in town as Croatia hosted Scotland in their World Cup Qualifier in Zagreb - that meant rooms were scarce to come by ! Yikes ! Luck was luckily on our side as we found Chic Hostel - a brand new (could not have opened for more than a week) hostel with every amenity in sparkling conditions and stuffed with colorful furnitures and what's more, we had the whole room (8 beds) all to ourselves for the night - clearly the secret of this gem of a hostel was not out yet ! Zagreb was friendly and pleasant with loads of interesting monuments, colorful markets, charming winding streets and tonnes of side-streets cafes coming out of its ears ... but first we made our way to one of the highlights of the trip - The Plitvice National Park, 3 hours' bus away towards Bosnia. 
We found an absolute ace of an apartment at House Ana in the nearby village, Rastovaca, about 10 minutes' walk from Entrance 1 of Plitvice. The landlady, presumably, Ana, was friendly and welcoming, even though we only communicated by hand signs. Plitvice was full of turquoise green lakes, emerald blue clear streams and gushing waterfalls - the whole area was one picturesque postcard perfect wonderland. The park was well-organised and we walked the longest available route to experience the park fully and that took us almost 8 hours that included a boat ride (with an assembly of nationals from Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Holland, all speaking in their own tongue excitedly and at the same time admiring the fantastic lake views). At the end of the day, we rested our tired limbs at a picnic table outside the entrance, enjoying a Coke Zero and watched the throngs of tourists all looking happy and satisfied as they exited the park - best moments of this trip !
Following The Danube To Hungary And Digging Into A Turkish Buffet !
Posted On Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at at 12:43 AM by Alvin
Starting from The Black Forest to the Danube Delta in Romania and its eventual exit into The Black Sea, the Danube would pass through the grand city of the once-mighty Habsburg Empire - Budapest. We arrived close to sunset at the Keleti train station and walked towards the river to find shelter for the night. We found an apartment by chance in the Oktogon area in Pest, which overlooked the Buda Hills on the western side of the Danube. Perhaps as a result of the Ottoman heritage (Hungary was ruled under the Ottoman Empire), we found a Turkish buffet restaurant and we had a much needed satisfying dinner after all
the hours of train journeys from Slovakia; we did skip the tantalising-looking but over-the-top sugary Turkish desserts, though.
The following two days were spent crossing the many beautifully-built Danube bridges (a few of which were mostly destroyed during the WWII battles), walking up the Buda Hill to the majestic castle, fighting off hordes of tourists to take a clear shot of the Parliament, admiring the countless classical buildings, enjoying our Zero-Cokes in the many leafy squares, visiting the huge 300 acres City Park on the eastern edge of Pest where we briefly walked around the lakes and the zoo (we also bumped into a gang of about 50 middle-age motorbikers holding an impromptu concert near the Park, blaring out Born To Be Wild and such ...), as well as winding our way down the back of the Buda Hills to the Deli train station to fix our tickets for our next destination of Zagreb - now, that's busy !
Slovakia - Meeting Up With The Danube After All These Years !
Posted On Sunday, June 2, 2013 at at 12:01 AM by Alvin
Reluctantly leaving the pleasant atmosphere of Krakow, we boarded a 7 hours' train to the Slovakian capital, Bratislava. Initially without much high hopes after the glorious experience of Poland, but Bratislava was nonetheless very pretty, especially with the mighty Danube showing off in the background. We had fond memories of The Danube, as Mandy worked in Vienna for 2 years and together with my frequent visits, we explored that part of the "blue" river with joy and merriment. Meeting up with The Danube after all these years filled us with energy and we explored this city with vigour - the many historical buildings, the "up-side-down-table" castle, the central old town squares and of course crossing the many bridges; even though the weather was unseasonably windy and we had to struggle against the Alpine winds !
