Don’t Pronounce the J

9. Februar 2015

DAY 2-3: RUŠE – LJUBLJANA

I WAS ALMOST fined by police, got kicked out of a bar for no reason and spent a cultural day in the Slovenian capital.

80 kilometers of snow are exhausting if you–like me–don’t have skis. (photo by Nejc)

The whole of Thursday I spend riding through Slovenian winterland. I make
it to Celje at dawn, which is about halfway between Maribor and
Ljubljana, and decide to take a train. 80 kilometers of snow
are exhausting (that is, if you–like me–don’t have skis). Another 80 kilometers in the dark do not sound compelling to me, Ergo, the train.

In Ljubljana (don’t pronounce the J if you want to sound local), Anže awaits me. His flat is close to
the city center and offers a view on the LJ castle. He’s been working a
lot lately, he tells me (job description: theatre dramaturg and light designer), but yet he did not hesitate to host me. 

Anže knows a lot about Yugoslawian
history, politics and philosophy and we spend half of the evening in
conversation, the other half going out.

Metelkova is an alternative quarter built from former military baracks that were occupied by punks in the 90s.

I was almost fined by police and got kicked out of a bar

Together with a few
friends of his, we go to some club. That is until all of a sudden a
security guy drags me out of the facility for reasons unknown to
humanity. His Slovenian explanation is impossible to understand, but I
don’t even argue with him. I still don’t know what it was all about. Obviously they had to kick somebody out, so why not pick the tall foreigner?

Only
half an hour before that, Anže and I, walking to that very dancing facility,
were held up by police. The claimed reason: Crossing a red light. We crossed a green one and it turned red halfway. The police
officer acknowledges that. We are spared the fine. Our names are noted though. Being on the Ljubljana blacklist feels naughty.

The old town architecture is a mixture of Medieval, Socialist and Art Nouveau.

TGIFriday

Due to the hurricane at the
seaside, I decide to stay in Ljubljana until Saturday. Hence, Friday is a
rest day, spent visiting the castle, the old town and the
alternative quarter “Metelkova”–former military baracks that were
occupied by punks in the 90s and are now illegal, but tolerated, clubs
and bars.

Anže and the puppet theatre.

All in all, Ljubljana was a fine place to spend this weather break. While the storm blew at 150kph at the coast, I had a pleasant stay with Anže. Next stop: Rijeka, Croatia!