The train to Slovenia was a hungarian train, very comfortable, and well appointed. The new eastern European trains tend to be like that -- every thought to comfort, lots of little details. The new WEstern european trains tend to be like airplanes.

The train went through Trieste, actually we changed trains there, but it only took 2 minutes... I am disappointed we didn't get to spend some time in that really really cool looking city!

Once over the mountains along the coast we got into Slovenia and it is GORGOUS. Very bucolic, villages and valleys and lots of green and big mountains. It looks very much like Switzerland in many places, (and the end of the alps do come through here)! There were a couple of lost looking loud americans on the train, one of which had the micro mini laptop i have been lusting after!

We did not have plans for aplace to stay once we arrived, but the tourist information guy was WONDERFULY helpful and friendly and (and as usual, the guide books were compltely wrong!) and within a few minutes, while the loud americans were still looking lost, we were walking to the house were going to stay in.

The woman was 94 years old, and very cute, and we checked in auf Deutch. Then we walked around this GORGOUS city. We had a little crisis... we got scared about the language, and walked out of a resturant when we should have plowed through and tried to make it work, but we made it up by finding a Gyro stand and working extensively with the woman there to udnerstand everything!

© Copyright Mark Canizaro 2000