Wednesday, and time to check out of the Hostel Celica.
Did have a walk into the city last night after a bowl of vegie soup and bread shouted by a couple of Aussie guys who over-did the stock, but had bought heaps of fresh vegetables at the market and filled up a pot. Yum! On the way in to see the lights of the city we found and internet cafe that was closing but they did sell me half an hour of WiFi (€1.50). We had to sit outside in the dark (first time I was really glad that the MacBook keys light up!) on the footpath while checking email and uploading a few days of blog...
The prison hostel sure was interesting, a real hostel with lots of people coming and going, backpacks everywhere and the three computers/internet always being used. You can hire bikes, which is a great way to get around and see the city. The idea to give free reign to some designers to convert an old building with that particular configuration was surely inspired. While the rooms are small and a fixed space to work in, the challenge was taken up and they’ve done an admiral job. Lots of timber and nice touches like designer handrails (carved out of natural timber/branches), unique spaces made to fit in under the slope of the roof and modular furniture. The top floor has dorms, the middle floor two, three and four bed cells and then the ground floor has reception, lounge (a sort of dark retreat with reed/woven cushions for seating), cafe/bar dining area and outdoor space. There are toilets on each floor and also a kitchen up stairs as well as a meditation room. It’s a pity you can still smoke in designated areas in the building because the smell wafts every where. They did have some live music last night and it seems to be a regular feature. A guitar, piano accordion, clarinet, drum and guitar - they went till after 12 and seemed to be improvising and playing songs 20 minutes long. It wasn’t too bad, and had gypsy & Mediterranean themes.
Happy birthday Wendy! After a good breakfast we celebrated by heading off to the charming/picturesque town of Bled, one and a bit hours out of Ljubljana. Buses go every hour on the hour and forked out €18.90. Also bought our train ticket for tomorrow - just need to pay for the bit inside Slovenia, from Ljubljana to Maribor.
It was only about 50 kms to Bled and a nice, quite ride. Walked down to the lake from the bus stop and found a place to have a coffee at. Ash rang the hostel (Jakelj Backpackers House) and the guy offered to come and pick our bags up and then collect us at the end of the day, great! So we set off around the lake (about 6kms). Made it a bit of an amble and just enjoyed the pleasant weather (slightly overcast and cool in the shade). The lake is beautiful with clear emerald green water and surrounded by forest. Stopped halfway for some soup and then hired a clinker dingy to row out to the island with the baroque Church of the Assumption on it (you’ll get the idea if you look up Bled, Slovenia on Google Earth). Really enjoyed being on the water and hearing the oars splashing as we rowed the 10 minutes out to the island. An amazing stairway leads up from the water to the church (roof under restoration) and makes for a special place and a very nice way to spend the afternoon. You can hear the church bells ringing regularly and it all makes for a nice ambience and it’s good to be alive and in good company.
Damian came and picked us up at 7 pm and took us to the hostel and we had a three course home cooked meal for dinner. He likes to chat and speaks English quite well, gave us a few anecdotes and a potted history of Slovenia and his life.
Did have a walk into the city last night after a bowl of vegie soup and bread shouted by a couple of Aussie guys who over-did the stock, but had bought heaps of fresh vegetables at the market and filled up a pot. Yum! On the way in to see the lights of the city we found and internet cafe that was closing but they did sell me half an hour of WiFi (€1.50). We had to sit outside in the dark (first time I was really glad that the MacBook keys light up!) on the footpath while checking email and uploading a few days of blog...
The prison hostel sure was interesting, a real hostel with lots of people coming and going, backpacks everywhere and the three computers/internet always being used. You can hire bikes, which is a great way to get around and see the city. The idea to give free reign to some designers to convert an old building with that particular configuration was surely inspired. While the rooms are small and a fixed space to work in, the challenge was taken up and they’ve done an admiral job. Lots of timber and nice touches like designer handrails (carved out of natural timber/branches), unique spaces made to fit in under the slope of the roof and modular furniture. The top floor has dorms, the middle floor two, three and four bed cells and then the ground floor has reception, lounge (a sort of dark retreat with reed/woven cushions for seating), cafe/bar dining area and outdoor space. There are toilets on each floor and also a kitchen up stairs as well as a meditation room. It’s a pity you can still smoke in designated areas in the building because the smell wafts every where. They did have some live music last night and it seems to be a regular feature. A guitar, piano accordion, clarinet, drum and guitar - they went till after 12 and seemed to be improvising and playing songs 20 minutes long. It wasn’t too bad, and had gypsy & Mediterranean themes.
Happy birthday Wendy! After a good breakfast we celebrated by heading off to the charming/picturesque town of Bled, one and a bit hours out of Ljubljana. Buses go every hour on the hour and forked out €18.90. Also bought our train ticket for tomorrow - just need to pay for the bit inside Slovenia, from Ljubljana to Maribor.
It was only about 50 kms to Bled and a nice, quite ride. Walked down to the lake from the bus stop and found a place to have a coffee at. Ash rang the hostel (Jakelj Backpackers House) and the guy offered to come and pick our bags up and then collect us at the end of the day, great! So we set off around the lake (about 6kms). Made it a bit of an amble and just enjoyed the pleasant weather (slightly overcast and cool in the shade). The lake is beautiful with clear emerald green water and surrounded by forest. Stopped halfway for some soup and then hired a clinker dingy to row out to the island with the baroque Church of the Assumption on it (you’ll get the idea if you look up Bled, Slovenia on Google Earth). Really enjoyed being on the water and hearing the oars splashing as we rowed the 10 minutes out to the island. An amazing stairway leads up from the water to the church (roof under restoration) and makes for a special place and a very nice way to spend the afternoon. You can hear the church bells ringing regularly and it all makes for a nice ambience and it’s good to be alive and in good company.
Damian came and picked us up at 7 pm and took us to the hostel and we had a three course home cooked meal for dinner. He likes to chat and speaks English quite well, gave us a few anecdotes and a potted history of Slovenia and his life.
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