Monthly Archives: March 2016
Spring life in Ljubljana
What can I say, we have put away the heavy jackets and it’s now time to pull out the a bit lighter jackets with colour and enjoy the amazing Spring. Slovenia being a small country, is an advantage for those who wish to drive to nearby countries to change the environment.
As for us who stayed in Ljubljana center the beginning of Spring looked more like this…
Sun coming out, means getting out of the houses or apartments. Taking a walk, walking a dog, jogging, and the best one is meeting friends for coffee around the famous Ljubljanica.
Prešeren square is the most common meeting point in the center Ljubljana. If you are new and have not yet mastered the pronunciation or no one has told you the story behind the Slovenian poet, then you can’t have missed the well known 3 bridges.
During sunny days, coffee shops and restaurants around Ljubljanica have their outside extensions full with both tourists and locals enjoying coffee, tea, ice cream or lunch outside in an amazing sun, looking over the river.
It is also a chance for street musicians to fill the city with melodies and stall sellers to exhibit their products which range from crafts to antics.
If you are new, or you are tourist just passing through, welcome to Slovenia and Ljubljana in particular. It is clean, small, safe, the people are friendly and even if the language seems to be a nightmare to some of us, quite a number of Slovenes speak English.
If you are coming from a busy country or city, this is your only chance to drive smoothly without worrying about traffic jam. When did you last walk in the street alone, all by yourself? If never, then you can have that chance here in Slovenia.
You can even learn some few words in Slovene, to go with your experience here………….
Oprositite (excuse me)
Kava z mlekom prosim (coffee with milk please)
Račun prosim (the bill please)
Dobrodošli (welcome) to the city of peace and the land of Dragons.
Traveling
I have not so far travelled a lot, but I have managed to get around the places I could afford without putting a whole in my pocket or in that of the person taking care of the expenses.
Traveling in general is quite expensive. It needs saving, researching and preparation especially if you are traveling to the country for the first time. People save for years to be able to make a trip of a lifetime and others just wakeup in the morning, choose a place to go and just go.
All these decisions to travel depend on people and experience. Those who have been traveling before, it takes them minutes to decide where to go next and their planning for a journey might seem so easy. If you have not been traveling, taking more time to plan is not bad at all but you have to decide at a certain moment and just go.
When I started out to travel, I could not afford a ticket or a visa to travel to other continents, not even to some other countries within the African continent. I wanted to travel far away to exotic places I show in magazines and movies.
I knew I did not stand a chance so I brought my expectations down and thought of how many places had I visited within my country. I was working in a hotel and everyday we receive tourists from all over the world eager to visit a lot of places I only knew by names but had never visited.
The tourists wanted the basic recommendations and I had no idea how these places looked like except looking at them in pictures and reading about them. I had to set my priorities right and my first trip was rafting in the Nile. I had an amazing experience, met lovely people who invited me for a trip to Bwindi. From there I went around to almost all game parks and reserves, I enjoyed every minute of everyday and I knew I wanted to travel again and again.
All these were road trips, I had never stepped on a plane and I was not bothered at all. There was a lot to see and I was grateful for the moments. After being comfortable with my country and even visiting some places more than once. I decided to go out to Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Sudan all by bus though somewhere I got a chance to step on a plane.
What am I saying, do not wait for ever to travel, start small within your comfort and that will create a foundation for other travels you have never even imagined. Do not go to a place because all your friends have gone there, if you can not afford it, put it a side and reach for those you are comfortable with and you will be surprised what you can accomplish when you trust yourself.
You know what they say, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page”
The choice is yours , to open the book or to leave it closed making up excuses.