Day 1 29 Aug - Bristol to Ljubljana in Slovenia

Photo above - view over the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana from our hotel room.

Off to the Balkans

So, the first day of a two and a half week trip through the Balkans in Eastern Europe starts with a 3.45am (!) departure from home to drive to Bristol Airport for our 6.15 flight to Amsterdam. We departed at 6.25 from a rain soaked Bristol, and an hour later we were navigating transfers at Amsterdam to catch our flight on to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, a total distance of 860 miles.

More border formalities at the airports

It was the first time I have had to pass through the new EES system for passengers enturing Europe which was introduced in April. You are required to scan your passport and provide finger prints and a photo. This is all automated, but supported by a small team of staff to sort any issues arising. There was a long queue to get to the EES terminals, but they were easy to use. After this, you are syphoned down one of two lanes, either to pass through an automated passport reader, or to go to a booth to see a customs officer to answer a few questions about the reason for your journey. There were huge queues for this part of the process, and lots of people had to be fast tracked due to impending flight departures.

Arrival in Slovenia

In the end, we got through in time to catch our 10.20am flight which actually left about 15 minutes late. The flight from Amsterdam is only about 1.5 hours. We arrived in Ljubljana, the capital and largest city in Slovenia at approximately midday.

Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is in central Europe, and has borders with Italy in the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the north east, and Croatia to the south. It also has a 29 mile coastline on the Adriatic Sea. It is a mountainous and forested country, with a largely Christian population of just over 2 million, in an area of 8,000 square miles (England has a population of 58 million in an area of 50,000 sq miles).

Some history

The area now known as Slovenia has previously been part of Hungary, the Republic of Venice, and Austria, amongst others. It was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1918, before becoming part of Yugoslavia after World War 2. I previously visited Slovenia in 1990, just before it gained independence from Yugoslavia in June 1991. The country is part of the EU and uses the Euro as it’s official currency.

Journey into the city

Having entered Europe in Amsterdam, there were no border control formalities at arrivals. The airport is very small, although it has been extended recently. Flying in, we saw a lot of alpine style villages and mountains. The airport is only about 20 minutes from the Austrian border. We had arranged for a transfer by car from the airport to the city centre. The drive took about 30 minutes through the very light Saturday afternoon traffic.

Our cab driver was very chatty, and we found out various interesting facts during the short journey. These included:

-He was a child when Yugoslavia started to splinter in the early 1990s and he remembers queueing for hours for a pint of milk rather than going to school. The war for independence only lasted two weeks in Slovenia, but was much longer and bloodier in other parts of the Balkans. His family come from what are now Serbia, Bosnia, and Montenegro.

-There are Electric cars in Slovenia, but it costs a lot to use a public charging point, and a lot of people live in apartments where charging is not possible

-Like all of Europe, it has been very hot here but yesterday there was a big thunderstorm so it has been a bit cooler here, although it is still 28c today

-The country has a lot of tourists from Germany and Austria due to the cheap prices. Locals tend to go to the beaches of Croatia for their holidays

A first look around Ljubljana

Once we had dumped our luggage at the hotel we went for a stroll into the old town a few minutes away. This area is pedestrianised, and lies in the shadow of it’s old castle and along the banks of the Ljubljanica River. There is lots of nice Germanic architecture, and small lanes to walk through. Every wall seems to be graffitied. There are also lots of hostels, tattoo Parlours and Cannabis shops. The population of the city is about 300,000. After a stroll around the immediate area, and a look at the famous ‘three bridges’, we found a riverside cafe to have a beer.

Spent the rest of the day chilling in the hotel after a day of negotiating airports. Tomorrow we explore the city a bit more and travel out to a lake area at the foot of the local Alps.