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。

Piran, Slovenia

June 16, 2022

We left the apartment before five o'clock in the morning to see the sunrise. Surprisingly the first thing we saw was the supermoon hanging up high in the sky, which was beautiful. The sunrise on the Adriatic Sea was one of the prettiest and most complete sunrises we had ever seen.

Then we went to get some breakfast pastries from a bakery in the town. At the same square, there was a small farmers market selling small fresh tomatoes, vegetables, and other groceries. We were interested in small tomatoes and small pears. An old gentleman at the veggie booth was very friendly and enthusiastic but didn't seem to understand English. We tried to converse with him, and he responded with Italian words we didn't understand. We couldn't figure out how much money we should pay for the tomatoes and pears we wanted to buy, so we gave him a large bill that he didn't want, and then we simply let him take whatever he needed in a handful of changes. The tomatoes and pears cost only 1.6 euros, and they were very fresh and delicious.

After breakfast, we walked along the coastline to Portoroz, a Slovenian Adriatic seaside resort and spa town less than 3 miles away from Piran. Contrary to Piran, Portoroz is a modern resort town with large swimming pools, luxury hotel rooms, casinos, and spas everywhere. People were basking in the sun by the sea and sipping wine by the pools. We had a coffee break at the beach café and did a little bit of people-watching. It was a different scene in the small town of Piran, where we stayed, with almost no big hotels and just countless narrow alleys. From morning to night, everyone was leisurely drinking wine, drinking coffee, having ice cream, and eating endless seafood. Fewer people were basking in the sun and splashing in the water. We preferred Piran than Portoroz.

We took the bus back to Piran and had lunch at a small café in the neighborhood we stayed, specializing in street food, and the taste was as good as that of the popular café we had dined in yesterday. After a short nap, we went to the beach and enjoyed the slow pace of life there, a cup of coffee and a book, plus more people-watching and scenery. It was such a relaxing afternoon. Dinner was, of course, still seafood. While sitting outside the restaurant, one big truck came through the small alley and it was only about couple of inches away from our table. The waiter had to close the awning to let the truck passing through. we were amazed by the driver’s skill.

We didn't have much luck with the sunset yesterday. Today's weather was much better, giving us a second chance to see the sunset. After dinner, we went to the city wall and hiked up to the top. Tonight's sunset didn't disappoint us. Standing on the city walls, we graciously watched the sunset and the sky bursting into red and yellow over the Adriatic Sea. The view just couldn't get any better. There was nothing like a beautiful sunset to end a beautiful day. Tomorrow, we would return to the days of sausage and pork chops.

欧洲游第二十七天：今天五点不到就出门看日出去了，第一眼看见的是超级月亮高悬在天空，美极了。地中海上的旭日东升也是所看到日出中最漂亮，最完整的之一。镇里有个小小的集市，看到小番茄🍅很漂亮，还有小梨🍐。摊主态度非常热情，叽里呱啦地一通意大利语我们一句没听懂，搞不清多少钱，给了张大票子他不要，索性就让他自己在一堆零钱里拿，结果只收了我们1.6欧元💶，实在是太便宜了。早餐后，沿着海岸线走到了几英里外另一个渡假小镇。那里超级度假酒店遍地都是，人们都在海边暴晒太阳，典型的海边度假村。而在我们住的小镇（Piran），完全是另外一种景象，几乎没有大的酒店，有的只是数不尽的狭窄小巷。从早到晚大家都在悠闲地喝酒，喝咖啡，吃冰激凌🍦，当然还有吃不完的海鲜。相比之下晒太阳和戏水的要少得多。小镇上的海鲜店遍布各个角落，今天的午餐就在我们住的边上的一家小店，专卖街头小吃，味道不比网红店差。午睡后来到海边，享受这里的慢节奏，一杯咖啡一本书，再加看人与看景😜。晚餐当然还是海鲜，抓住最后的机会，明天开始又要回到香肠炸猪排的日子了。今晚的日落没让我们失望。站在城墙上，整个皮兰小镇尽收眼底。

Adriatic Sea 亚得里亚海

June 15, 2022

We went to Burek Olimpija to get a beef Burek for 2.60 Euros for breakfast. The Burek piece was huge and enough for two of us. After breakfast, we went to the bus station near the train station. We had purchased a round-trip bus ticket from Ljubljana to Piran, Slovenia, a small coastal town on the Gulf of Piran on the Adriatic Sea. Piran is a beautiful medieval-style town less than two hours of driving distance from Ljubljana and the best resort city in Slovenia, known for its long pier, Venetian architecture, and narrow streets with closely constructed houses. Another reason to visit this coastal town was to taste seafood from the Adriatic Sea. Our long-distance bus ride was smooth and pleasant, and we had a glance at the countryside of Slovenia.

We arrived at Piran around noon. It took us some time to find our Airbnb rental not too far away from the city square. We rented a private unit on the second floor of a house in a densely packed neighborhood. The owner lived on the third floor. The unit had a bathroom, kitchen, and small bedroom. The owner was friendly, and the rooms were clean and organized. After settling, we went out to have a seafood lunch at a popular café that was mentioned on social media. The seafood was excellent.

After lunch, we walked around the beach and then climbed up the hill behind Tartini square through narrow streets to visit the church of St. George. We climbed 147 steps to the top of the bell tower with a reward of a 360-degree view of Piran. The church was closed due to construction, but the yard surrounding the church was open. From there, we could see the rocky beaches surrounding the town and Italy and Croatia coastlines off in the distance.

The red roofs of Piran against the blue sky and blue ocean provide a perfect picture of the Mediterranean resort town. Wandering through narrow streets ascending from the hill, we returned to the beach and looked for the best seafood place for dinner. We dined at Pavel on the beach and ordered the fish feast plate, including fish, shrimp, octopus, and more. The food was delicious but a bit too much for the two of us to finish. We stayed late on the beach to see the sunset. Unfortunately, the cloud moved in at dusk. We hoped tomorrow would have better luck.

第二十六天: 今天来到了亚得里亚海边的小镇皮兰（Piran). 斯洛维尼亚一共只有47公里的海岸线，皮兰是一座美丽，中世纪风格的小镇。当然到海边，忘不了品尝地中海的海鲜。中午到了住地，放下行李就直接去了一家网红店。晚餐是海鲜大拼盘，味道不错。这里的日落非常漂亮，可惜今天晚上云太多没看成。希望明天有好运。

The City of Jože Plečnik 普莱奇尼克

June 14, 2022

We went to the old town farmers market again and got some fresh cherries, strawberries, and apricots. Since it was the harvest season for cherries, strawberries, and apricots, the fruits were fresh and sweet. We might have had apricot a couple of times before, and we thought apricot peaches didn't taste much but not those apricots. Guess the fruit freshness made a big difference. We had a spinach roll from a nearby bakery for breakfast. After breakfast, on the way to Jože Plečnik's house, we saw a community garden on the road that reminded us of the joyful time we spent in our community garden back in Marion, Iowa, many years ago.

The modern Ljubljana city and Jože Plečnik, a Slovene architect, are inseparable. Plečnik had a significant impact on the contemporary architecture of Ljubljana. Wherever you go in the city, you will see some buildings he designed. Ljubljana was his city and Plečnik was the favorite son of Ljubljana. We had no idea who he was before this trip until yesterday during our city tour. Once we got the feel of his impact on the city, we decided to pay a visit to Plečnik's House, where he lived and worked after he returned to the city in 1921. We went there on a bus. We got there a few minutes passed the hour, and the guided tour had already started, but the staff in the museum was very kind and allowed us to join the tour, which was just having another American couple. The tour guide took us through Plečnik's house, a complex of two neighboring buildings, and showed us his furniture, house interior design, and the refurbishing he did. He was a workaholic and eccentric by the modern standard. Everything he designed in the house was to maximize his ability to work. He created a chair used in the dining room, not for comfort but designed it so uncomfortable that he would not sit in the chair for a long time doing nothing. He also thought meeting people was wasting time and did all he could to reduce the meeting time. He set up a tiny room in the house to meet the guest. The room was just large enough to have a small table with two chairs, making his guest so uncomfortable that they would leave after completing business. He had no restroom for his students or guests in his house to limit anyone's visiting time. So many things in the house seemed weird, but it allowed him to increase his productivity. He appreciated nature and the open garden. His friend built a church next to his house. They had a handshake agreement not to put a fence between the church and his house so people could enjoy his garden. That agreement is intact today. He designed the entrance door to the garden so narrow and short that he had to bow to the natural every time he entered the garden. He was a minimalist. The refurbishment and extension work on his house, as well as other projects in the city, was often done using leftover materials from Plečnik's other projects.

Before its independence in 1991, as part of Yugoslavia, Slovenia came under communist rule for the bulk of the post-World War II period. When we planned this trip, we were curious to see any traces left from the communist era. Tito, the head of the Yugoslavia communist party, was one of a few foreign leaders' names we knew about when we were kids. This afternoon, we visited the National Museum of Slovenia and the National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia. We only found a small exhibition about that period and not many things about Tito in the National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia. We were surprised as Jože Plečnik's exhibit took up much more space in the museums.

Tonight's dinner was traditional Slovenia cuisine at Gostilna Sokol. The two main entries were country feast and risotto with prawns and octopus, with the dessert of walnut rolls with honey. The food was delicious except for black sausage, which was made of rice and pig blood. The walnut rolls were excellent and not too sweet. After dinner, we hopped on the green tourist tram in the square, and it took us around the city for one hour to see more places, and the city tourist card covered it.

第二十五天：一清早上城中集市买回新鲜的樱桃，草莓和杏桃，相当不错。早餐之后去了设计大师约热·普莱奇尼克（Jože Plečnik）的故居，他完全就是一个工作狂。性格古怪，他设计的家和家具都是能让他有更多时间工作，故居值得一访。下午去了国家博物馆和现代历史博物馆，想看一些关于铁托的事，但博物馆里没有太多铁托的介绍和评价。晚上再次去品尝斯洛维尼亚特色菜。黑色香肠味道不怎么样，据说是猪肉，米和猪血做成的。甜点不错，不是很甜。饭后，又跳上绿色旅游车，带着我们在城里转一个多小时。明天又要换地方了。

Ljubljana, Slovenia 卢布尔雅那

June 13, 2022

We used the city tourist cards in Innsbruck and Salzburg, Austria. Typically, the city tourist card covers all public transportation and city attractions with a choice of 24, 48, and 72 hours. We found those cards convenient and cost-effective, and we highly recommended buying them if you stayed in a place for more than two nights. After arriving in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, we each purchased a 48-hour city tourist card, which included a guided walking tour, free public transportation, and free city museums. This morning, we took the funicular lift up the hill to see the Ljubljana Castle first, a castle complex standing on Castle Hill above downtown Ljubljana. It is a central landmark of the town. From the towers was the spectacular panoramic view of the city. Originally a medieval fortress, it was built in the 11th century and rebuilt and expanded from the 12th century to the early 19th century. As we can see, the castle recently added a lot of modern ingredients, being a little too commercial. For that reason, we didn't appreciate it that much.

360 degree view from the castle tower

After the castle, we joined the city walking tour, and the tour guide took us around New Street, Old Street, and other attractions. Ljubljana is the home of Jože Plečnik, a master of modern minimalist design, where he lived and worked for his last thirty years, leaving countless of his masterpieces in the city, and most of the attractions that the tour guide took us to see were designed by him.

We went to the old town farmers' market to buy some local cherries at noon. There was a water station within the market for drinking water and washing the fruits, which was very helpful for people like us. We could enjoy the fresh fruits right on the spot. We tried Slovenian sausages for lunch at Klobasarna, a small café in the old town. They were delicious. The city tourist card we bought covered the river cruise we took in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day with a blue sky and white clouds, but the temperature was too high. Without the top cover on the boat, we all had a heat stroke feeling towards the end of the cruise. The view along the river was terrific, though. After the cruise, we returned to the apartment for a short nap. Recharged and recovered from the heat exhaustion, we headed to see an alternative culture center, Metelkova Mesto. It was an abandoned army complex and now was a thriving place for a free creative spirit. There was a bar on the campus. No pictures of the people were allowed there. It is not the place we would enjoy, but every big city shall tolerate and permit a free creative spirit place like this, for people with different artistic talents to express themselves and be creative.

Tonight's dinner was salad and our delicious home-style soup, the egg drop soup with tomato and mushroom. After dining out most of the time on this trip, once in a while, we would like to have a simple, comfy supper if possible. After dinner, we walked along the river in the city center and stopped for a cup of coffee and ice cream. Watching the sunset by the river, we enjoyed the most beautiful time in Ljubljana.

欧洲游第二十四天：到了斯洛维尼亚（Slovenia)的首都卢布尔雅那(Ljubljana)之后，买了48小时城市旅游卡，一般来说，旅游卡包括免费参观城市景点和公共交通，有24，48，72小时选择。之前我们在奥地利的Innsbruck 和萨尔茨堡都有用过。这些旅游卡又方便又省钱，大力推荐。先去看了城堡，但不知什么原因，城堡里加了不少现代建筑，有点太商业化，比以前看过的城堡差一些。然后参加了步行游，导游带着我们在新街，老街和其他景点转了一圈。卢布尔雅那是现代极简主义设计大师约热·普莱奇尼克（Jože Plečnik）的故乡，也是他最后三十几年生活和工作的地方，在这座城市里留下无数他的杰作，导游带我们去看的景点大半是他设计的。中午去集市买了点当地的樱桃，在集市里直接洗了吃，很不错。午餐继续品尝斯洛维尼亚香肠。下午坐观光游船，今天气温较高，加上太阳直晒，我们都有点中暑的感觉。坐完游船后，回家睡个午觉后去看了所谓＂艺术中心＂。今晚晚餐是蘑菇番茄鸡蛋汤和色拉，外面的饭吃多了，尤其是肉吃多后来点清淡的，胃感觉特别舒服。这是从同游瑞士二周的朋友那里学来的😀。饭后来到城中心的河边喝上一杯咖啡再来个冰淇淋，看着太阳落山，这个时候的卢布尔雅那最美。