This week, M. had to go to Slovenia for work, and I joined her. We went there by train, which takes longer than a plane flight, but saves zou the time & trouble of going to Schiphol, checking in, waiting, being searched & checked, more waiting… For European flights, all of this usually takes more time than the flight itself. So, the train. We left at 9.30 pm in a sleeping wagon. We had a small sleeping coupé all for ourselves: two beds, two chairs and a table, and a tiny bathroom with shower. A purser welcomed us with a complementary bottle of prosecco, and in the morning he brought us breakfast. We changed trains at 7.30 the following morning, then arrived in Ljubljana at 2 pm. I always thought it couldn’t get more romantic than that: a train ride right across Europe; well, it was romantic allright, even though the coupé was a lot smaller than the one in From Russia With Love, and we were too tired to have long, meaningful conversations like they did in Before Sunrise. It was definitely worth a 16 hour ride though, as we arrived here very relaxed.

Location of Slovenia, our route in red

We’ve had some time to visit the city’s highlights, like the castle overlooking the city from the top of a hill. Then there was the city museum, which has recently been renovated but is not quite finished yet. A lot of empty rooms, though you get a good impression of what the place will eventually be like when they’re done. It does look promising: their key message is “Single people make historic events.” Or: what’s really interesting about history isn’t wars and politics and learning in what year Leiden was freed from the Spaniards; it’s much more intriguing to find out how ordinary people lived their day-to-day life, doing the things we do, thinking the things we think, but, say, two thousand years ago, or even fifty years ago. The Ljubljana city museum focuses around this theme. I’ll sure want to come back to see it finished.