It's been a few days since updating the blog,

This is been written from a prison, (I lie not) Ok, it once was a prison used in the communist era & as I checked in at reception three Slovenian police men came thru the door behind me, sorta made me think maybe it's still used partly. It's a bit of a weird situation, having to pay good money to go to prison! That would be the first time I've had to do that! (oops I mean the only time, no, well you know what I mean!)

Here's a few pics;

The city I'm in is called Lubljana (pronounced something like “Lub dyana”) the backpackers called Hostel Celica. They did a fantastic job on the re fit, a great place to hang out on a rainy day.

Bled was a great place to see even if it is a bit of a tourist trap. The weather wasn't the best & finally the sun came out on the day I was sposed to leave, so I stayed another day. Still it was neat to look at the snow on the mountains.

Lubljana is only about an hour or so from Bled & on the way to Croatia. It's not the usual tourist trap, seemed more like a real city & even a little scruffy... still, expensive as! I bought a bagel from a cafe / resteraunt last night, it had a very thin slice of cheese, & equally thin slice of salami that you could spit thru & the bun / bagel thingy without butter, 3 Euro!! That bought a tear to the eye...

Not all food is horrendously expensive, but it definitely ain't cheap!

I can't wait to get back to Bulgaria.

As I write the weather has turned foul again, this time with thunder & lightning, I like it been cool thou, much better for hoofing it around the town.

Tonight I catch the train to Split (Croatia) it's going to be a grueling journey with a 2 hour wait in Zagreb around midnight & a rough sleep till 7am.

Having the laptop & Google Earth has been a bonus! Nothing like flipping the laptop open at the airport or any public WiFi node or hostel & checking the weather & accommodation. Google Earth is great for a map & shows real time weather maps, also terrain & points of intrest, with photos uploaded by other users so you can see what's in the area.

The broadband here is very quick too, makes NZ look like a third world nation. Too bad the laptop weighs a ton to lug around, although the briefcase where I store it is most of the weight. I might ditch it in Bulgaria & find something better to store the laptop in. It's very handy to be able to download images off the camera, edit them & have a clear memory card for the next excersion, this all been done when it;s raining outside, so I'm not sitting around been bored looking out the window. Last year I had to mess around finding somewhere to burn images to CD then hope they did it properly, I was also forever running out of memory on the camera, hunting thru other cards looking for a bit of spare room to stuff another pic, inadvertantly I'd have pictures of one city or attraction spread across 2 or more cards, really messy!

Wed 18 June

Ok another quick update!

I've made it to Croatia bleary eyed, sweaty & smelly, on the overnight train from Lubljana & successfully managed to escape the bad weather & am actually wearing shorts for the first time (in 12 mths wow!)

About 8:15am I rang the doorbell of the hostel thinking "Great" I get to have a shower & do some much needed laundry & relax before hitting the streets of Split, only to be greeted by a very grumpy older lady in her night gown.... Oh oh! & started wandering if I made a good choice of accommodation ... too late because I had all ready pre booked & paid my deposit. She let me put my pack in the door & booted me out for another 5hrs.. Sniff!

So I had to wander the streets all tired & stinking, lol! Now I've checked in & it's all good. This lady really reminds me of my old Biology teacher Mrs Mitchell, same build, same mannerism, & you daren't cross swords with her.

I think she's a good stick thou.

I'm in a place called Split & will put in more detail in a day or 2.

Looks like I opened my mouth too soon about the merits of a laptop, because you can't get a wireless connection anywhere without paying for it! 20 Kuna / hour!!! ($6.00) a rip off if you ask me.

It does seem though that Split is somewhat cheaper then Slovenia for food etc, even though it's quite a nice place on the coast.

Ok I'll jet for now, this is costing me... lol!

20-06-08

Ok I'm still in Croatia, actually on an island in the Adriatic which I forget the name of sorry. Split was ok & the hostel with the grumpy old lady turned out to be pretty good, Split thou is to me just another tourist trap, pretty by all accounts & the old Roman palace & labyrinth of alleyways in the city was very cool, but the whole place has the TT factor (tourist trap) & the people aren't the most welcoming, & of course everything you do costs $$$, the beaches are pretty average & crowded... I'll pass on the place thanks. I've ended up on this island mainly to get away from Split, It does feel a bit more laid back, internet access for free but the coffee cost $6.00! not that I had to buy it. Sorta thought I'd hang around here for a few hours & if I like it stay a night & catch a ferry further South.

To be honest the whole touristy sights / & traps are boreing me a bit & now I'm seriously considering trying to get accross Albania, Serbia & Romania to get to Bulgaria. It's a bit alternative & I haven't met anyone else going that way at this stage, so I don't know if I'll run into trouble at the boarders... I know people drive freely through Serbia, just Albania that I'm not sure of.

Ok I best be off & see what this place has to offer.

Will try & upload pics later on.