Let's Go, Jane!

After all of this city living, Ljubljana, Slovenia was like a breath of fresh mountain air. Unfortunately for me, it was hard to smell, since five weeks of travel and congregate housing caught up with me and I came down with a head cold. I started my first day with the usual free walking tour, but by afternoon I was lying in bed, binge-watching The Studio. I made it out once in the late afternoon, to the pharmacy where they sold me some fizzy tablets that contained a pain reliever, a decongestant, and vitamin C. They helped a little, but all week my ears have been so clogged that they both squeal when I blow my nose.

While I had little appetite and was too congested to taste anything, I did try the orange wine that I’d heard about. I’ve had blueberry wine, and cherry wine, why not orange wine? The server at the wine bar started talking about minutes of “skin contact” and managed to keep a straight face when I asked “You mean the skin of the orange?” As it turns out, orange wine is basically what you get when you use the process for making red wine, but use white grapes to do it. Despite the fact that I generally do not like white wine, it was actually quite delicious.

My second day in Ljubljana was a Wednesday, which is usually a work day for me. I spent a few hours in the morning working on a project, took a break to ride a funicular up to a castle, ate a bowl of goulash, and then returned to the hostel for a few more hours of work. Not a bad way to spend the day.

I was able to rally on my third and final day to take a day trip to nearby Lake Bled. What a stunning little lake. I had about four hours to explore. There’s a very high castle that is in desperate need of a funicular. I took my time climbing an eternal staircase and was rewarded by some amazing views. I didn’t end up going inside the castle. You’ve seen one castle, you’ve seen them all (kidding). I just wasn’t up for it.

When I got back down to the side of the lake, I asked how long the boat tours are, and found that I didn’t have the required 1.5 hours remaining before my return bus ride. Luckily, there was another option; rent a wooden row boat! I hopped on board and started rowing. There I was, in the middle of a picturesque lake, rowing along and minding my own beeswax, when I felt a searing pain on my jawline. A bee had landed on my face and stung me. It’s like I always say, if you’re going to get stung by a bee, do it while rowing across a lake in Slovenia. I can’t make this stuff up.

By the time I reached the bus stop, the sky had darkened and it started to pour. After searching in vain for the right bus, I realized that the return ticket I’d carefully pre-booked was for the airport—not the city center. I’d thought I was outsmarting the tourism industry by organizing my own Lake Bled trip for $50 instead of booking a $100 tour through Viator. As it turns out, there’s a perfectly good public bus that does the same route for €7 each way. A humbling lesson in the school of long-term travel.

Weeks like this are a reminder that the stories I share in these posts are the highlights, not the whole picture. Long-term travel isn’t all sunsets and serendipity. Some days it’s head colds, wrong tickets, and getting stung on the face by a bee. But even then, there’s something satisfying about figuring it out, learning to laugh at the missteps, and trusting that each week won’t look—or feel—the same.

Here’s what I’ve learned about Ljubljana. With a population of about 300,000, it is one of the greenest capital cities in Europe. There are no cars allowed in the city center, with the exception of delivery vehicles before 10 am. There are electric carts that cruise around and give people rides for free, you can flag them down or call to request one. For just €1 a week, you can borrow a bicycle for up to an hour at a time, for an unlimited number of times. There’s a river that runs through the city center, and under each pedestrian bridge there are free, clean bathrooms. Ljubljana was a wonderful place to convalesce—a city that asked nothing of me but to slow down, breathe, and remember that even when travel isn’t easy, it’s still a gift.