Goodbye, Slovenia

June 17, 2022

Today, we would say goodbye to Slovenia and head back to Austria to our next destination, Graz. We were still a little attached to this beautiful medieval town of Piran, and before leaving, we went out to walk around the town and climb up and down the hill one more time. There were two ways to return to Ljubljana, either by bus or train. We came to Piran by bus and bought a round-trip ticket. But after a bus ride to Piran, we decided to return to Ljubljana by train because the train had a lot of space and was more comfortable; plus, it took a different route that allowed us to see other parts of the country. The train station was in another town, a dozen miles away from Piran. When our Airbnb host learned that we were planning to take the train back, he kindly offered us a ride and dropped us off at the train station early in the morning. However, when we arrived at the station, we found that due to railway maintenance and other reasons, we first had to take a bus to a small train station to board a train and then transfer to a bus again. Ironically, the original idea of avoiding the bus ride was replaced with two buses plus a train. Fortunately, there was no delay in returning to Ljubljana.

We had more than three hours in Ljubljana to spare to catch the train to Graz, Austria. We stored our luggage in the train station's locker and returned to the city center. We stopped by a Chinese restaurant that may be the smallest in the world. It had only a tiny table with two chairs outside. We ordered stir-fried beef chow fun and Sichuan beef; both tasted pretty good. After lunch, we walked along the river and came to the crowded Central Market as if it was a food festival. Although we just had lunch, we could not pass the freshly roasted pig without trying it out. It was impossible to find a chair to sit down, so we sat on the stone stairs like everybody else at the central market and had our second lunch.

When we were back at the train station, to our surprise, we were told that the last third of our train route to Graz had to be replaced by a bus due to railway repairs. Somehow, today was not a good day to travel by train. After arriving at a small station, everyone hurried to catch the bus provided by the train company. When we got on the bus, no seats were available, and we had to stand in the aisle. There were more people still trying to get on the bus. It was chaos. There was only one bus for the entire train. The staff was busy making phone calls, and finally, another bus arrived to seat everyone. When we were in Switzerland, our German friend reminded us that the other part of the European railway system was not as good as Switzerland. To us it felt like Austria's train system was slightly older than Switzerland's, and Slovenia's was much older and less convenient than Austria's. It was as if it was proportional to the price of coffee, from four to five Euros for a cup of coffee in Switzerland to three to four Euros in Austria, then two to three Euros a cup in Slovenia, and €1.2 in the small town of Piran.

Arriving in Graz, Austria, we took Uber to the hotel. The hotel room was unique, with the bathtub and the sinks all made from trees. We went to the hotel's rooftop restaurant for Schnitzel, salad, and beer. The hotel was not far from the city's center, and we went there after dinner. It was Friday night, and the music in the square was loud and lively. Everyone was drinking, chatting, and having a good time. Life was so beautiful.

欧洲游第二十八天: 今天又要换个地方，早上起床后对这个中世纪小镇还有点依依不舍，又去镇里转了一圈。回卢布尔雅那可以坐公交车也可以坐火车，我们是坐公交车来皮兰的，且买了来回票。但来皮兰后决定坐火车回去，一则火车空间大，会舒服一点，二则换一条路线走走。民舍房东特别热心，一早把我们送到离皮兰十几英里的火车站。到车站才发现由于铁路维修和其它原因，我们先要坐汽车到一个小站再坐一段火车然后再换成汽车，原本以火车代替公交车，现在反而坐了二段汽车再加火车。还好路上没耽搁准时回到卢布尔雅那。有三个多小时要打发，我们把行李寄存在火车站，又回到市中心找了一家可能是世界上最小的中餐馆要了干炒牛河和四川牛，味道不错。饭后又到河边走走，来到中央市场，那里是人山人海，好像是个小吃节什么的。看到现烤的乳猪实在是憋不住了，要了一份尝个鲜。下午四点去奥地利的格拉茨（Graz)的火车又是因为铁路维修的原因，直达的火车最后三分之一又必须改乘汽车了。到一小站后，大家匆匆忙忙赶着上火车公司提供的大巴。一列火车就来了一辆转运大巴，当我们到了车上时已找不到空位，大家只能站着，一片混乱。工作人员忙着打电话，最后总算又来一辆大巴才把大家安顿下来。在瑞士时，朋友就提醒我们不是整个欧洲铁路系统像瑞士那样好。感觉奥地利的要比瑞士差一级，斯洛维尼亚的比奥地利又差一级。就好像与咖啡的价钱成正比😀，从瑞士的四，五块一杯咖啡，到了奥地利就变成了三，四块一杯，在斯洛维尼亚咖啡变成二，三个欧元一杯，在皮兰小镇上，咖啡是€1.2。

抵达奥地利的Graz，坐Uber到了旅馆后上旅馆屋顶餐厅要了炸猪排，蔬菜色拉加啤酒。客房有特色，浴缸和水池都是用树木🪵制成的。旅馆离市区中心不远，饭后去那里转转，广场上音乐震耳，热闹非凡，大家喝酒聊天，生活就是这样的美好。