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My First Trip to Slovenia-Slovenija (November, 2000)

Slovenia

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2004-04-05 13:06:59

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I park the car and get out. Still, no street sign. No landmarks that are on the map! I give up and leave to try elsewhere. I need to either find the rental place by 7:00 and give my host a call, or simply find a landmark near a public phone from which to call (the relevance of owning a cell phone becomes ever clearer). I randomly drive and turn this way and that, becoming as aggressive as the locals now that I have no concern about where I am heading. 6:50. Time to simply find a public phone. I park the car. Look around for a phone and then spy… the car rental agency, right in front of me. Two hours of diligent searching and I find it by accident. Amazing!

Of course, I had trouble finding my host by phone. 45 minutes later, as I’m about to give up, there he is, standing in front of me (this seems to be a theme, and it only gets worse). They arrived at 7:00 to pick me up, but somehow we had missed each other. He suggests dinner so we head off towards the restaurant. We walk 100 yards and we come upon road construction that looks familiar. It is the spot I earlier had parked to search for a street sign. I look up and there is the “landmark” building that should have been on the map but wasn’t. I look behind me and see the block that I had circled at least five times while desperately looking for a street sign—my default circle till I found one, a randomly selected quarter of Ljubljana. And there, in plain site was, not a street sign, but the rental agency!!!! That evening I ate like a king, drank like a lush, slept like a baby.

The next day I flew out of Slovenia and, suddenly, there I was in the airport in Frankfurt, Germany. I’m surrounded by North-American accents. What a change. Returning to a land where everyone speaks English. What a concept.

Return trips are always boring and at best uneventful. This so far is no exception. I have two long layovers, one in Frankfurt and the other in Toronto. Still, it takes me only one “day” to return to Ohio, starting at about 7:00 AM from the airport in Ljubljana and arriving at our door in Ohio the same evening. What a trip. Can’t wait to return (can’t wait even more to take my first shower in days). For those of you who are into money, the total trip has cost me, out of pocket, less than $200, with most of that money spent during the last two days. Thanks to everyone for your support, especially Asher and the Stopars. Best to all of you. See you soon.