We heard of Slovenia through Alberto, who works the campus gate here at Instituto Filipin and also organizes and plans affordable and efficient transportation for the students studying at CIMBA. Due to our first travel/hostel experience, we decided we wanted to take a weekend off and let someone else transport us to Slovenia. Many other CIMBA students had the same idea, and around 80 students gathered, piled on 2 charter buses, and headed off.
Step #1: Find "Hostel Celica"
Luckily for us, we knew of other people that were staying in the same hostel so we could all walk together. Interestingly, we had heard of this particular hostel being quite infamous because it was an old converted jail. Which although sounds a little creepy, it was anything but that. It is actually ranked "#1 Hippest Hostel" according to Lonely Planet. Megan and I had reserved 2 beds in an 8 person room, but when we arrived they had actually given us a 2 bed "cell" which we were thrilled about. It had many of the cell features, including bars on the door and window, but was modernized with wood floors and a "real" door for privacy. We had a nice loft bed, closet, and a community bathroom down the hall. This hostel is actually so popular that we could only reserve beds for one night, so we switched to another hostel the following morning. The experience was well worth the slight hassle of moving.
Step #2-Explore Ljubljana
Ljubljana is beautiful. It has that "European feel" and is a great place to walk around and explore. After we had moved our stuff to our next hostel, we spent the morning entering shops and stores (H&M was fun to run across :)), and we settled on a cafe located by the river for lunch. Before we left, we had heard that Ljubljana had Mexican food and we were SET on finding it. Surprisingly, there were a couple restaurants that served Mexican food, and since not everyone in our group wanted Mexican, we settled on a cafe with a little bit of everything...including quesadillas and burritos. I am spoiled to El Rodeo back home, but wow, did this food taste good. It was definitely a "twist" on what I'm used to (the burrito contained cauliflower), but we left full and happy.
That afternoon we headed up to a castle, which can be seen from just about anywhere in Ljubljana. It is on the top of a hill and has breathtaking views. The inside was much more modern than what I had envisioned, but still a very worthwhile trek up the hill. We climbed up the tower, discovered a chapel, and spent a while exploring the various hallways and lookouts.
Step #3 - Fun Evening Out
Due to the cold temperature, we concluded that we better head back to our hostel to warm up and get ready for a night out. After dinner, the group staying at the hostel gathered together and went to a night club that was recommended to us. It was called "Cirkus," and as the name implies, had a circus theme. It was a CIMBA take-over which made for a comfortable and fun environment. We danced the night away, and after stopping at a pita window for a late night snack, headed back to our hostel.
Step #5-Enjoy the Day
We had seen most of the sights of Ljubljana the day before (and it was freezing cold), therefore, Megan and I decided to lay low the following day. Since we are both suckers for good food and coffee, we spent the day "cafe hopping" before heading home.
Still feeling extremely blessed by this opportunity, and looking forward to the weeks ahead!
-Hannah
I love all of the pictures!! Beautiful!!
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