Traveling To Slovenia During a Pandemic

One of X Bar Zagreb’s bartenders had family from Ljubljana, Slovenia. Before I left Croatia, I asked her to give me some information to dispute a claim I’d heard that Ljubljana is “The Most Boring City In Europe.” I had two places, Klub K4, a rock club, and Metelkova Mesto Art Complex, as the places for whatever late Ljubljana nightlife offered while COVID restrictions continued. How boring would Ljubljana be?

Of course, I already had a list of craft beer places to start the evenings.

I was slightly apprehensive about entering Slovenia. It was in the proper European Union, within the Schengen Zone, and their borders had only opened to vaccinated Americans in the first week of July, a week before I entered. The rest of the European Union was still, like the COVID virus, up in the air.

Like my flight before from the USA to Croatia, my worrying was for nothing. The bus ride was a short 2 ½ hours, with a brief 20 minute wait on the border. At the border crossing, I presented my massive folder with seven forms of documentation to the customs agent. He ignored it and asked if I was vaccinated. I pulled out my American vaccine card. He glanced at it for a few seconds – without checking the dates – then handed it back to me. I crossed the border, far too easily.

Yes, success. Slovenia’s customs are very Balkan… But this little country is different from the rest of former Yugoslavia.

Europe’s Little Green Capital

First, Slovenia is expensive. My AirBnb apartment was in Ljubljana’s center, but for the low price I paid in Euros, it was tiny compared to places I had stayed at in Croatian cities. [To be fair, the host honestly wrote “TINY apartment” in the description.]

Second, Slovenia is more orderly. While walking the 10 minutes from the bus station to the apartment, I noted that practically every business establishment had signs which banned entry to unmasked customers. The Ljubljanica River that I strolled along methodically had a bridge every 100 meters, which gave it an air of an Italian city, like Venice. There are 17 bridges total in the city.

Ljubljana has 17 bridges crossing its two rivers

When I arrived at my AirBnb, the host was outside wearing a mask. She asked me to put mine on while she registered my entry and exit dates. We sat at a tiny table on a pavement – the “patio”- in front of the entrance. She explained a complicated recycling process which requires a special keycard in order to open two of four separate public trash bins which were on the street corners. There are so many rules. I was confused.

Ljubljana won Europe’s “Green Capital” award in 2016 and is very proud to be a “green city.”

Ljubljana reminds me of Amsterdam. Bicycle paths, full of bicyclists and scooters, trace every sidewalk of the city. Electronic boards clearly display the schedules for all public transportation, something which I didn’t encounter in Croatia, Serbia or Bosnia. But like former Yugoslav countries, Ljubljana is covered in graffiti, and many of its buildings are in a state of disrepair. Yet, the clearly marked transportation, orderliness of the city and the higher prices are more like Germany or Holland. In fact, other Balkan nations often derisively refer to Slovens as “Wannabee Germans.”

However, after a month of baking in Croatia’s 90 (35) plus degree summer temperatures, Slovenia felt heavenly. Since Ljubljana is at a higher elevation, right at the foot of The Italian Alps, it was on average around 10 degrees cooler than in Zagreb or Rijeka.

I looked forward to a week of drinking beers without sweating them out immediately. And, despite the nickname, Ljubljana did not turn out to be boring at all.