12 Lessons on the Road in the Balkans

1) Looking at unexpected places

While bouncing around ideas for places to visit, Ravi and I decided to look into destinations a little less traditional for a couple of North American dudes to visit. From a shortlist of primarily Eastern and Central European cities, we chose Trieste and Ljubljana. 

2) It ain't easy to get to Trieste

It is not easy to make this trip from the Dorf on a budget. I flew to Milan from Dusseldorf-Weeze Airport on Ryan-Air. In the Ryan-Air airport definition book, this means Weeze is nowhere near Dusseldorf, unless spending over an hour on a train and bus is considered close.

3) Bergamo is not Milan

Ryanair needs to do something about how it addresses its destinations, because Bergamo is not Milan. It is Bergamo. Weeze is not Dusseldorf. This isn't the first time I've fallen for this trick. Every time I fly with these jerks I promise not to do it again, until the next trip when I fall for the same thing again. 

4) Bergamo, briefly

Bergamo seems pretty with its beautiful old town up on a hill. It looks pretty from a distance, because with only an hour to wait for my train I couldn’t reach it and had to settle with an assessment from a distance.

5) Brescia. College or town?

All I knew about Brescia was that a women’s college at my alma later was named after it. I had less than an hour to see the city before my connecting train arrived, so now all I know about Brescia is that there is nothing within walking distance of its train station and it has a women's college at my alma mater named after it.

6) Trieste doesn't feel like Italy

If you’re thinking about a trip to Europe (that’s if you’re not already living in Europe) and you’ve already crossed the giants (London, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin,  Rome, et al.) then I recommend a stopover in Trieste.

It's no resort town and it's definitely not a glamorous place. It is a working-class town, built around a port, which gives it a more grounded feeling than Venice, let's say. It's also affordable compared to the more touristic Italian cities and, aside from the good coffee, Italian shouts in traffic, and the gelato, it feels more Austro-Hungarian than Italian.

7) The most complicated way to flee Italy is often the best

Our trip into Slovenia involved a funicular train to Villa Opicina. Then a one-hour wait for our next train, so we went to a bar that, to our surprise, was holding a basketball tournament in the backyard. 

Figuring we could watch a game before our train, we settled in and waited for them to finish the warm up. But they kept on warming up. One team almost seemed ready to play, but then a teammate brought some beers over to them. 

We never found out what was happening, we boarded our train and went five minutes to Sezana, just across the Slovenia border. No train was running, because nothing stays on the plan on a trip into the East, so we hopped on a replacement bus to Ljubljana.

8) When in Ljubljana...

What's the first thing on the to do list when you arrive to the Ljub? Wandering the old town in the centre? Climbing Castle Hill? Drinks by the river? How about its squatter city? Yep, we spent a night out in Metelkova City, an army barracks which was abandoned and taken over by squatters.

It has some art galleries, graffiti on every available surface, a few bars, and a club with really, really good music that wouldn't admit us because we're guys and it was a lesbian bar. All in all, pretty cool.

Stealth photo in Metelkova City.

9) Ljubljana by Canoe

Let's say you're anywhere in the world other than Ljubljana and you're going to rent a canoe. You'll have to leave a deposit, or provide your credit card number, or give them an organ before you can go on your way. Right?

Not in the Ljub. All you need is a handshake and 20€ to rent a canoe and see the city from the river for a couple of hours. Highly recommended.

Under the glass bridge.

The Ljub!

10) Bringing a Vegetarian to the East

The toil of a vegetarian in Central Europe can be a hard, lonely one. On our first night in the Ljub, we grabbed a table at a traditional looking Slovenian tavern. We looked at the menu of meat stews, grilled meat, and sausage. Ravi looked up from the menu and said, "Maybe we should just get a drink here and get Italian."


11) Rome in Pula

Those Romans built some solid stuff. The roads the traveled on, temples they worshipped in, and the buildings where they sought entertainment were all built to last. Mostlyyou're left with carefully maintained ruins, but it's also refreshing to see Pula's Colosseum still in use to this day.

The centre of attention is different,
but the Pula Colosseum is still used for the same thing

12) Croatia is Cool

An evening dip at Pula.