We arrived in Slovenia by bus from Zagreb to Bled. We immediately noticed the change from Croatia. Slovenia seemed more like Austria or Switzerland with its snow capped alps, green pastures, summer flowers and cute historical villages. We stepped off the bus and for the first time in months we felt cold, but as the girls were reaching for their jackets I was soaking in the chilly breeze and enjoying the short relief from the heat.
We stayed in Zasip, a tiny picturesque village 3 km from the resort town of Bled. Our Air BnB host was kind enough to pick us up from the main bus station and drive us out to the accommodation, but he may have underestimated how much luggage 4 people would have when he arrived in his tiny Charade. After a quick game of tetris with the bags we managed to squeeze in but must have looked like clowns in a circus act when we got out of the tiny car with all of our stuff at the house. We wanted to make the most of the day with the cooler weather so we walked to the nearby Vintgar Gorge for a hike. There was a bit of a walk to actually get to the gorge and after a couple of wrong turns we found ourselves not on a trail anymore in what seemed to me like prime bear country. After a bit of good old aussie bush bashing led by Karen, we found the track again and continued down to the gorge. It was a beautiful walk along the river with some of the bluest water you could ever see and some amazing scenery. The one pub in town served tasty food but since Slovenia uses euros, it wasn't as cheap as in other parts of Eastern Europe (mains at around E 10). Interestingly wine was charged by the 100 mL so it wasn't as cheap as it first appeared on the menu when they automatically pour you a double. Nice wine though and still reasonably priced.
The next day we walked the 3km into Bled where we enjoyed a coffee in one of the many cafes overlooking the lake and castle. We went for a walk around the lake and hired a row boat for an hour to go across to the little island that had a monastery on it. It was a lot cheaper than paying for the bigger boats that make the trip but the strong head winds made for an extremely exhausting workout. After about 30 minutes of intense rowing with the girls relaxing in the back of the boat like ladies of leisure we docked at the island in the middle of the lake. We only had 10 minutes to look around the Monastery as we didn't want to pay for an extra hour of boat hire, but this seemed to be enough time on the tiny island. We made it back in record time with a good tail wind and a bit more experience under my belt. We walked up to the castle on the way home and checked out the stunning St Martin church and local art market.
On the way home Karen was looking for a toilet but there seemed to be a lack of facilities short of paying for a drink in a restaurant for the privilege. As the search continued the situation was getting critical and after a lot of dancing on the spot she got to the point where she just needed to find somewhere, anywhere... we came to a driveway that looked very unused with just enough weeds for a bit of modesty and to Karen's relief no-one happened to walk by while the deed was being done. There was a noticeable spring in her step after that for the rest of the way home.
The next day we caught one of the hourly buses that go between Bled and Ljubljana where we bought our tickets to Budapest for the following day at the station. Not all tickets are available online so sometimes it's easiest to just go into the station. We were shocked at the price of an overnight train (E143 with a change of train in Salzburg) so decided to leave by bus the following afternoon a few hours earlier than intended instead (a more respectable E23).
We then settled into our AirBnB accommodation before walking up to the Ljubljana Castle for a look around and dinner at the restaurant for Kan's birthday. Kaz and I both had the much talked about Slovenian sausage in a broth and local red wine and we shared grape brandy shots. It was a lovely restaurant in an amazing setting with very good service (not always a given in this part of the world despite the expectation to tip) with surprisingly reasonable prices. After a few drinks and feeling quite cheery we started the long walk home, stopping by a wine shop where the girls indulged in some tastings while I was more amused by the accordian playing bear in the window.
The next morning we saw the sights of Ljubljana. The old part of town was charming with its location along the river, the pastel painted buildings, fountains, churches, Dragon bridge and of course the castle overlooking it all. Being a Sunday, the town was pretty sleepy so we weren't too rushed in seeing the highlights before our 3 pm bus to Budapest, Hungary.
The bus journey didn't go as smoothly as it could have, with the bus arriving 45 minutes late and 2 long border crossings (back into Croatia before entering Hungary) meaning we arrived in Budapest 2 hours late at 12:30 am. The taxis at the bus station were running a scam, trying to charge unsuspecting tourists E25 to get the 5km into the town centre but luckily a bus came along that we noticed everyone else getting on and hoped it would take us closer to where we needed to go. For a nice change the bus driver was really friendly and still let us on even though we didn't have quite enough for 2 tickets. You need to learn to cherish these moments while travelling in Eastern Europe.
The first day in Budapest was a frustrating one spent running around trying to organize train or bus tickets to Brasov and moving accommodation into a place big enough for the four of us since Kan and Leah joined us there a day later. The evening was good though, as we made it to see the stunning Parliament House and enjoyed dinner of goulash soup at a nice restaurant in Pest looking over the river at the sights on the Buda side of town.
The next day we walked past the impressive St Stephen Bascilica on our way to explore more of Buda, walking over a bridge, through the Royal Palace where Leah and Kaz tried their hands at archery and up to the fairytale Fisherman's Bastion and colorful Matthias church. While Leah went off to drive a tank, Kaz and I walked up Gellert Hill where there was a fort with an interesting history, a liberty statue and markets. The views over the city from there were spectacular!
Crossing back to Pest we strolled across the Chain Bridge, picked up our bags and caught a Metro to the Keleti train station where we boarded our overnight sleeper train to Brasov. We opted for a 6 berth cabin rather than 4 to save some money but were lucky enough to have the whole cabin to ourselves anyway. The border crossing was quick and smooth, we didn't even have to get off the train which was a nice change from our previous border crossings on a bus. We all had a suprisingly good night sleep with the gentle rocking of the train.
While our time in these countries was a bit rushed due to time constraints, they were worth doing and remain on our lists to revisit one day.
