(Ex)changed Forever

"Where are you going, Slovakia?"  No, that's a completely different country.

"Sylvania?" No, that's a lightbulb.

 

Piran and the Adriatic Coast

These are some of the conversations I would have when I told people that I was going to live in Slovenia for the school year.  At the time it seemed pretty funny.  I myself didn't really have any knowledge of the little European country and wasn't the least bit surprised that most people had never heard of it.  I would vaguely describe to them how it was away between Italy and Austria and carry on without any further thought.  But now, having lived here, met the people, hiked through knee deep snow in the Alps, swam in the warm waters of the Adriatic, criss-crossed the country several times, and had so many other experiences that couldn’t possibly list them all, I have a feeling that answering these same questions will now come with a bit of a sting.

I still can’t quite comprehend how a place that just months ago was little more than a place on the map can be the setting of so many of my memories and been such a huge part of my life over the last year.  It’s equally hard for me to understand how Slovenia is not world famous.  Almost everyone around the world knows its neighbours well and yet it still seems to get forgotten, lost in the shadows of the Alps perhaps.  It’s centrally located on the continent and more akin to countries of Western Europe and yet it typically gets thrown in as part of Eastern Europe.  But no matter how much or how little people know about Slovenia, it will forever be one of my favourite places. 

The city hall and one of the main square of the Old Town

 While it is way too early to pick out what I will remember most about Ljubljana, I can already tell that some things are just simply unforgettable.  I know I will never forget the city’s stunning view of the snow-capped Alps and the feeling of being repeatedly amazed every time I caught a glimpse of them between buildings or at the end of a street.  The rocky peaks tower above the surrounding hills and seem to occupy the entire northern fringes of Ljubljana.  They are their best at sunset, when the fading evening sun illuminates them as if giant flood lights have been set up to mirror the light shining on the city’s castle.

Restaurants in the Old Town are right on the street

 I know I will never forget the history and how old everything is.  This year is the 2000^th anniversary of the founding of the Roman city of Emona on the same site; remnants of which can still be seen amongst the much newer (but still old) buildings.  Then of course there’s the castle which sits on top of the hill as a testament to the city’s medieval past and watches over the Old Town, tucked away just below it and lining the banks of the slowly ambling Ljubljanica river.  A patchwork of buildings from various centuries and in various styles, this part of the city is a largely pedestrianized area and the narrow alleyways and open squares are an obstacle course of tables and chairs set out by the many cafes, bars, and restaurants.  Wandering through these streets it’s easy to come across a church or some other building which has been there since the 13^th century or even earlier.

The main Preseren Square with a statue of Franc Preseren,
the national poet and the Franciscan Church

I know I will never forget the simple things like how the street signs not only point you in the direction of the city’s different neighbourhoods but also to other countries.   It still seems weird to me that at a traffic light you can just take a right to Croatia or a left to Austria.  I won’t forget Union beer and always arguing with some Lasko drinker about which of Slovenia’s two brews was better.  Also being able to buy them just about anywhere and enjoy them on the lawn in Kongresni Trg or sitting by the river at the “beach” (actually just concrete steps leading down to the water) with a few friends.

 Also, I’m certain I will never forget how the city and the country felt like home.  After arriving late at night at the end of some long road trip and being able to put away the maps because we already know where to go and how to get there.  Knowing which streets are One Ways and which traffic lights were particularly long.  Which streets were only for busses and knowing that you have to shoulder check because there’s more than likely someone on a bicycle beside you.  Not having to look up the bus schedule or find out which number I needed to take and how the language, even though I still don’t understand it, sounded so familiar that it was almost as if I could.  Coming ‘home’ felt particularly nice after a brutal day of hitch hiking in torrential rain from Budapest, and after ten days in the chaos and strangeness of Morocco.  It surprised me every time how this foreign city wasn’t so foreign.

Ljubljana's historic Opera House

Leaving my life in Slovenia behind truly won’t be easy, and on my last Friday the city made it that much harder to leave.  There was the weekly Open Kitchen event where the stalls from the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market are taken over local restaurants, wineries, and breweries who turn some of their specialities into street food;  people all over downtown walk around with a plate of food in one hand and a glass of beer or wine in the other.  On top of this, there were no less than ten different live bands, street theatres, entertainers and musicians playing in every corner of the Old Town, crowds of enthusiastic audiences surrounding each of them.  At six o’clock there was the Germany-France game of the World Cup and so literally every bar with a TV screen was full to capacity with rowdy ‘Football’ fans.  We had to move down our list of preferred places a couple different times before we actually found somewhere with enough room.  To cap things all off it was the end of the Ljubljana Festival which over the course of the last week had organized numerous concerts, operas, movies, and other events on a large stage in one of the main squares. 

The end result of all these events in addition to the perfect weather was that the city had a vibrancy to it the likes of which I have never seen before and I was left with the feeling that I would be perfectly happy to stay here forever.  But that, of course, isn’t realistic and while having a day like this as one of my last may make it harder to leave, it might just be the perfect way to do so.  This is the way I will remember Ljubljana and this will be what I look forward to seeing again when I come back to this city at some point in the future, whenever that may be.