Day 3 - Zagreb, Croatia, Ljubljana, Slovenia and Klagenfurt, Austria (oh my!)

We headed for the train station at 6AM...wow, that's a challenge for someone as non-morning person-y as me...but when you're hitting 3 countries in one day you have to hustle! We got to relax on the train and chow down from our snack bag for breakfast. One funny part of the ride was when we crossed the border from Croatia to Slovenia and the guard called out our passport names with a bunch of "Slovenian" words...We heard, "Grazen Alifia Ichaz Grazen Elaraz" then "Lora" (picture it with a heavy Slovenian accent). Thankfully none of us were "wanted" in the country, so they let us in. We arrived in Ljubljana after a really nice train ride where we got to see many tiny villages in the hills. We also went along a river for a while where it was really picturesque.

We had no clue where to start here...none of us had really researched the town, other than it was easy enough to do in a day. We put our bags in a locker at the train and we hit the pavement...or really the cobblestones. We just followed our gut (no map in hand) where it looked like there was a little action. We sat down at a cafe, ready to order breakfast and the waiter let us know NO ONE in Ljubljana is up and eating out yet...and the kitchen wouldn't open until noon. So, we hungrily walked toward the castle and thought we'd have to hit the snack bag again. When we crossed over the river into the old town, we were greeted by a huge outdoor market. They had clothes, flowers, fruits, vegetables and tons of other food! So much for no one in the city eating that early. There were bread, dried fruits & nuts and butcher's shops. Alison and I had a great spinach pizza/pastry and Bill had a fancy sausage in a bun. We also tried dried apples (so yummy), dried melon (pretty good, but a little too sweet) and fresh cookies from an outdoor oven (delish too). We wandered around the market for a while then headed over to the funicular to go up to the castle on the hill.
The funicular gave us a great view of the entire city b/c it was glass all around. When we got to the top it was a little surprising. The exterior of the castle was old and historic, but they had renovated the interior and it was very modern. It was full or glass and rust colored metal beams. It was odd, but pretty in a way too. We also climbed the main tower and I had a tiny bit of a panic attack. The spiral staircase was nice and new but it was so tall and you could see straight down to the ground through the stairs and in the center. My smart self then took a peak and the vertigo hit. I made it to the top...it really wasn't that far and I was elated to see the view. That was until I saw that it was a little mini wall that came to your mid thigh with big open slats. UGH. So I chilled in the middle while Alison took all the pretty panoramic pics. :) Once we headed down, I wanted to conquer the feeling a little so we went over to another wall and I did much better...yea! The next stop was the gift shop and we could hear an accordion playing downstairs...what an atmosphere!
Next we went back down the hill and walked through the center of town. Saw a ton of museums and beautiful old buildings. We stopped and sat to listen to a group of Mohican Indians play tribal music...it was so pretty, I bought the CD for my dad.

After our break, we walked toward a park area and happen to catch an outdoor photography exhibit. It was a collection of animal pics from everywhere; they were so beautiful. Maybe one day I can snap one like those!
From there, we headed for the middle of town again and weren't sure what else to do. Along the way we saw an Opera House being renovated. There was a lot of restoration happening there and it was cool to see. The Opera House was only the facade standing with a big construction site in the center. I hope I get to go back and see it completed someday!

We also passed the American Embassy (which was closed on Sunday) and their Parliament where we got a nice laugh. Surrounding the entire entrance was a group of bronze statues, all nude (not so funny) and representing, we're guessing, all the industries in the building(kind of funny). They had nude people fishing, holding babies and the best was 3 guys holding hands in the air (hmmm, very funny)! See if you can find them!

From there, we walked through the shops in town and it started to barely sprinkle. We popped into an open air cafe to have a 'hot chocolate' and were surprised when they gave us warm, thick pudding in a coffee mug. I guess this isn't the same thing in Slovenia! It was delicious, but no way we could finish it...it was so rich. After our first cup it started to pour. Who knew all these people would have umbrellas, but they did...in all shapes and colors. We waited out the rain (with the help of one of those warming torches) and set off for the train to wish Bill well on his travels back to the US.

That evening Alison and I took the train to Klagenfurt, Austria. The train ride there was stunning. We went through the Austrian Alps and about 15 minutes before we were to arrive, there was a gorgeous lake. It seemed to go on forever and had villages all around it were very quaint. We kept hoping the train would stop at anytime. As we had no clue what to expect of Klagenfurt either! It was about 5 minutes past the lake, so definitely taking note of this for summertime. We enjoyed the view and chatted with 2 new friends, an older man from Croatia that didn't speak English, but we'd use sign language to communicate and laugh. And a young kid of about 22 from Germany who helped us by asking for directions on when to switch trains and also entertained us with stories of his hitchhiking for the last few weeks and how much he likes to "make party"! It was fun and the ride just flew by!
Once in Klagenfurt, we found the hotel by looking it up on a kiosk in the very nice train terminal and set off walking. It took us about 15 minutes and we checked in and checked email VERY quickly as it was super expensive. I think it was 11 euro for 30 minutes! Ouch! But look how cute the hotel was! This was our reflection in the mirrored building across the street...see if you can spot Alison and me!
We got a few recommendations from the front desk on places to eat and walked the cute, teeny town. We went to a historic restaurant with native food and stuffed ourselves yet again.

This pic was too hard to pass up. Uhren is pretty close to Uhran and we're kinda schmucks. :) I think it literally means decorations and clocks.

As we were wrapping up an adorable English lady came up and asked us where we were from. She was shocked Americans had even found their town on the map. We explained that we wanted to cross the border and it was closest...so there we were! She had met her Austrian husband in South Africa years ago and moved to Klagenfurt with him. They and their other 2 friends were so fun and even called another friend who was supposed to come out that night and was originally from Temple, TX! Alison entertained him with her pretend Texas-y accent!
After dinner, we decided to have one drink at the hotel bar and surprise, there were our new Klagenfurtian friends! We sat and had a few drinks...chatted about politics, travel and they laughed their arses off when Alison described Temple as the armpit for Texas (with a charming visual too). He also told us stories of a couple of years ago when the big lake we had passed froze over and they skaed it end to end. Must have been stunning!

It's so fun to meet new friends in far off places! Hope you're still awake and with me at this point!! :) Off to Venice tomorrow!