Last few days in Ljubljana and the sun has now come out and weather lovely. One of the wonders here is the Post Office – they actually provide a service and they still look like post offices, not toy shops or stationers… They are open from 8.00am to 7.00pm – yes, incredible! And when I was in there it wasn’t jammed packed with people; the staff were very helpful and even stuck the stamps on for you and whisked away the cards into the post bag….admittedly, there seemed a lot of account keeping involved in purchasing three stamps at a total cost of just over two euros…still, it was nice to relive a proper post office experience.
On the most perfect day so far my professor here and his wife took me out to Bled – possibly the most beautiful place in Slovenia and certainly breath-takingly lovely. The Alps in the background, a clear green/blue lake, an island with a monastery and church, beautiful woods and trees – it was all fabulous. We walked around the lake – a gentle, three hour stroll – and checked out the Villa Bled – a top notch hotel (was the King - not Elvis! - then Tito’s summer holiday spot)…I reckon this is the place to stay – it’s just great…about $500 night but for a couple of days on that special occasion….check it out http://www.vila-bled.com/ I should be paid for this! Was also very quiet on the day I was there though apparently heaving at the weekend – and you can see why.
On the way home stopped at a traditional restaurant and had a good meal – similar to Turkish in many ways…though noticed foal on the menu…hmm….and it’s not cheap either for you horse lovers!! Another thing, what is it with their word without vowels, or not in the right place…there’s heaps of them...how do you pronounce something that starts vklj, or the place called zdhivo ?? Dunno… I had enough trouble getting to grips with hello and thanks! But it doesn’t really matter – everyone speaks great English.
After this touristy stuff went to the Central Technical Library and spent an afternoon there – a very impressive, incredibly busy university library bang in the centre of town. An interesting discussion re their library software – they developed and maintain their own collection management system – finding commercial software with Slovenian interface not easy…so they did their own and it looks good. Though maintaining it is an issue.
No doubt for the less aware you are pondering the Teen Spirit reference...well, some closing trivia re Ljubljana – Nirvana played their last ever concert here – Kurt Cobain went home and killed himself shortly after apparently…they worry this creates a bad impression of the place – was it so bad he had to shoot himself??! It isn’t – it’s great and I’m looking forward to another visit…
On the most perfect day so far my professor here and his wife took me out to Bled – possibly the most beautiful place in Slovenia and certainly breath-takingly lovely. The Alps in the background, a clear green/blue lake, an island with a monastery and church, beautiful woods and trees – it was all fabulous. We walked around the lake – a gentle, three hour stroll – and checked out the Villa Bled – a top notch hotel (was the King - not Elvis! - then Tito’s summer holiday spot)…I reckon this is the place to stay – it’s just great…about $500 night but for a couple of days on that special occasion….check it out http://www.vila-bled.com/ I should be paid for this! Was also very quiet on the day I was there though apparently heaving at the weekend – and you can see why.
On the way home stopped at a traditional restaurant and had a good meal – similar to Turkish in many ways…though noticed foal on the menu…hmm….and it’s not cheap either for you horse lovers!! Another thing, what is it with their word without vowels, or not in the right place…there’s heaps of them...how do you pronounce something that starts vklj, or the place called zdhivo ?? Dunno… I had enough trouble getting to grips with hello and thanks! But it doesn’t really matter – everyone speaks great English.
After this touristy stuff went to the Central Technical Library and spent an afternoon there – a very impressive, incredibly busy university library bang in the centre of town. An interesting discussion re their library software – they developed and maintain their own collection management system – finding commercial software with Slovenian interface not easy…so they did their own and it looks good. Though maintaining it is an issue.
No doubt for the less aware you are pondering the Teen Spirit reference...well, some closing trivia re Ljubljana – Nirvana played their last ever concert here – Kurt Cobain went home and killed himself shortly after apparently…they worry this creates a bad impression of the place – was it so bad he had to shoot himself??! It isn’t – it’s great and I’m looking forward to another visit…
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