Moving along

Dobry den !

We liked Ljubljana so much the first day we were here, we decided to cancel our plans to see Lake Bled (so we just have to see it some other time), and stay here one more night. Heading to Vienna tomorrow.

I'm very excited to be able to show Ania Vienna. Seeing my old buddy Kent (who we will stay with) is going to be cool too. It will be fun to have Ania meet some of my friends. It will also be a chance for me to upload some of my pictures, which I'm really anxious to share.

Ljublana is so nice. It's been fortunate we've had marvelous, sunny weather. Ironic that I'd be getting tan here, while in Albuquerque I tend to keep out of the sun. Things are extremely neat and tidy here - almost reminicent of the Netherlands in an odd way. And, since they are just on the verge of switching over to the Euro (you can use either the local currency - tolar - or Euros almost everywhere even though the Euro isn't quite official yet), the prices are incredible. Now is the time to be here. Food and drink is cheap, even compared to Croatia, and the room we have in this great little hotel is a fantastic value for the money. Even so, there is an air of affluence here that wasn't as obvious in Croatia, and generally it feels much more mainstream Europe than just across the border. Zagreb is still only about 150km away, but this feels in many ways like a different world. For one thing, it's very comfortable. I'm not constantly drenched in sweat as I had been just about everwhere in Croatia. We're up in the mountains, and you can tell. Ljubljana is ringed with hills, and off in the distance in just about every direction are extremely tall mountains.

Yesterday we toured the castle here, and had a nice history lesson in ˝virtual museum˝ with 3D glasses and everything. This city has been important since Roman times, and there is a lot of the same sort of connection to the Hapsburg world as you find in Vienna, Prague and other big cities in this part of Europe.

Amusingly, we found a really good Mexican restaurant here ! I was surprised, as normally Mexican food is pretty sketchy in Europe. But this is pretty good. Ania enjoyed it so much the first night, we went back again last night. And, she ate Jalepenos without flinching, and they were respectably hot (no, no New Mexican green chile, but what could one expect). Anyhow, the traditional food is good here too. Mostly what you would expect - a mix of Alpine and Mediterranean, with the ubiquitous gulasch and similar dishes. So far, I'd say I like Croatian beer better than what I've tried here, but that may just be because I haven't tried the right ones (yet!).

Ok, more of Ljubljana awaits.