…no one’s heard of Rakia and the trains are on time. (!)
Where: Ljubljana – Bled – Vienna
When: 16.7.09 – 23.07.09
So, last time you heard from me I was typing in the lovely, if boring, city of Ljubljana. Not much has happened since, taking it slow. We stayed over at the place of the two Slovenian girls we met through Igor K. during Exit in Novi Sad. It was really low-key and relaxing, enjoying movies, visiting lakes and caves. Oh, and we ran into Grant and Alicia from Morocco by Lake Bohinj! RANDOM. Noura and I were in shock for so long. We chatted for about 3 minutes and then off they went, before we knew it.
One of the most beautiful natural things I have ever seen is the Stocjan caves in south-west Slovenia. The lamps brimmed like spotlights on the rope bridges we climbed, peering down into the half-lit, flooded underground canyon.
Anyway, we hitchhiked about 7 tiems all the way to Vienna, which didn’t take that long, maybe 6-7 hours. Met our host, the red-bearded, shaolin kung fu master known as Hannes, who lives about ten minutes north of the city center, in Taborstrasse. Vienna is quite grandiose, beautiful, with a wealth of cultural and artistic things to offer. Noura and I explored the old town, the Leopold museum and Kunst Haus Wien, a digital museum and a film museum, parks and bridges. Ah! Bliss. I could live here, definitely. People are not as approachable in the Balkans, but there is so much diversity!
Last night, our final night as an adventuring duo, Hannes took us up out of Wien to the lower peaks of Kahlenburg, where we watched the sunset and sat in the darkness looking down over the bespeckled city. Could spot the Riesenrad from where we were. Not far from our lookout we wandered into the darkness to the Circle of Trees, where stands several trees and bushes around one, each one representing a birth period of three weeks. Noura is the lustful hazelnut, I the crafty tannenbaum.
Anyway, there was much emotion in these last few days, Noura and I parted ways with gentle and promising hearts. She left this morning around 7am to catch a bus to Prague (spent a whole morning running around looking for the bus station by the way), and I stayed here and biked around the city for a while with the free city bikes available.
The chapter of our Balkan adventure has closed. It was wonderful, sweet, amazing, incredible, breathtaking, challenging, exhausting, exhilarating.
No one has caused me look so differently at myself and the world as has my companion for these past two months.
As she has said, our time travelling has not been a tour, but has developed into a lifestyle.
May the chapter of my final year at university begin.
But not until I squeeze a few more countries in over the next 3 weeks. 
VIVE LA VIE!
