DONDE ESTA ESLOVENIA?

This question was the opening line of a book I read a few months back, Veronika Decide Morir bz Paulo Cuehlo. Now can say I know where Slovenia is, but it certainly is not in "Eastern Europe", or at least it didnt correspond to my notions of EE. The 6 days spent in Slovenia were not sufficient to reveal any significant flaws or cause any complaints. Well, outside of the fact that most slovenians appeared to be gone on summer vacations, and had been replaced by vacationers from other parts.

Ljubljana, the capital, is nicely tucked in between the fading mountains of the Alps. From the castle atop the city, it is quite easy to make out the old city full with the impressive architecture and design, the communist concrete block buildings beyond that, and the rebirth of modern buildings towards the outskirts. The whole of the country is green and fertile, trees, farms, and every house was impeccably well kept, down to the flowers on the porch and in the balconys. Bled, in the northwest corner, is on the edge of the Julian Alps, no different than the Swiss or Austrian variety. A lake in the town has a castle overlooking it and an island just big enough to have a church and nothing else in the middle of it. Spent three nights here in the house of a Dutch woman, along with a German man and an Aussie couple. Set off on a few hikes thru a river gorge, hills, and a nice steep climp of 1000m or so. And devoured a good few portions of Slovenia goulash with meat and potatoes. From there it was off to the eastern side to the town on Ptuj, pronounced Puh-too-eey. Nothing more than a stopover on the way to Budapest, but none the less conformed to our prior notions of slovenia being a picturesque and flawless country.

Not feeling to inspired at the keyboard at the moment, and didnt really do any justice to the week in Slovenia with the blurb above. In Budapest now and for a few more nights before heading down to Bucharest and Romania.