Howl

Can anyone explain to me why supposedly grown men need to make Wooooo-wooooo-whooppie at 4am? Well, rather they started much earlier, but continued until 4am and some even later. Other than having a contest for bird imitations, it is beyond my scope of imagination. Yet, there were what seemed to be hundreds outside last night making these and other such noises from next behind our place.

We wandered down for breakfast still with eyelids sealed from lack of sleep, even a shower could not dissolve the sleep glue. Breakfast here is nice, with lunch meats, cereals, and a coffee machine that makes a variety of choices. Lovely! I hit the double espresso button multiple times. Beyond eating, we had plans to do the free walking tour, but with time to spare we went to investigate the source of our nocturnal dismay. 

You will see the 'compound' in the photos, but it looked like a ghost town taken over by wayward sculptors and artists who have very active graffiti friends. I have never seen anything like it, but it heralded as the best alternative place in the country. At night, ten different pubs open offering different brands of music.

We walked on our own waiting for the free walking tour to begin. It was supposed to be 2 hours, but went close to 3. There is something about Slovenians speaking English. They drop the prepositions. The guide said for example "I explain you what we are seeing here." There were multiple prepositions that were missing in the 3 hours. Now before someone excuses them by saying well in their language... I just need to say that when I studied French and later Spanish, if I used that excuse, the teacher reminded me I was learning a foreign language and needed to learn the rules of the language, not depend on my own. The group was large, so at times it was difficult to hear, but she still did a good job. It really bugged me at the paltry tips people gave at the end when that is what they work for.

By 4pm, it was nap time to try to rescue some of the rest that escaped us last night. Although it was quiet, it was hot. When we dragged ourselves up after 2 hours, we ventured to the castle here in the city called (duh) Ljubljanski grad, the Ljubljana Castle. Entrance for the castle itself is 9 Euros, but the lookout above is an additional 5. We were warned against it by our tour guide. There are two choices: walk up or take the funicular. The distance up is about 2 times that of Budapest Castle, so you darn well know we took the funicular and at 3 Euros round trip, it is a bargain compared to Budapest. The ride lasts quite a bit longer too. We were allowed to venture all throughout to see the different rooms, some reappointed with dummies to recreate a scene. At least I hope that guy hanging in the torture chamber was just a dummy, a fake one at that.

Our hostel offers all you can eat dinners for 4.90 Euros. Tonight was Bar-B-Que, translating in my mind to dripping with a sauce. Their interpretation was meat grilled on a grill, sans sauce. They had pork steaks and two different types of pork sausages. I had no complaints since pork it my favorite, but we did wonder about those with religious restrictions.

After dinner was over, they had live music. Ron found that the group came from 6 different countries as far as Scotland. They played violins,  french horn, guitars, and an accordian. They had an hour to practice playing together and then brought it all together. They were magnificent playing everything from some classical pieces to some hillbilly rock.  

Photos will be in the photo blog once we get home.

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