Combining these two countries together is an interesting move. They are so different. But I’m going to do it anyway. Let’s break it down.

SLOVENIA:

What an enchanting country. I got into town early evening after a long but beautiful drive in from Croatia in my little rental car. I will not miss Croatian toll roads though, they were alarmingly expensive and I am anti-toll road on principle. Anyways. Slovenia. That part of the drive was windy, tiny, gorgeous mountain roads through the countryside. No toll. I ended up meeting a cool British journalist who became my primary travel pal for my three days in Ljubljana after we met in the hostel common room on my first night. I stayed in Hostel Celica, which is a hostel that was previously a military prison. The rooms are old cells and also art projects. It was really neat.

On day two, we went on a free walking tour, which was such a great information dump.

I wrote out a list of interesting facts that I learned on the tour, which is today’s history lesson of the moment:

-Their anthem is a song by a poet about wine

-They were Austrian for 600 years

-Slovenia is absolutely covered in vineyards (the wine is good, too)

-Dragons are really big here and based off of two dragons/tales – a medeival dragon and a modern 17th century dragon

-A tour guide called Slovenia’s exit from Yugoslavia, which happened a short ten days into the beginning of the war in 1991, “Slexit”

-Mushrooms are big here (the kind for eating, not tripping – I’m unsure about the popularity of the fun mushrooms)

-Slovenia is the 8th safest country in the world

-Slovenia is really big on the punk rock scene

Then we met a German guy on the walking tour who was getting his masters degree in sustainability management. He has since inspired me to take less flights and take more trains and buses for the remainder of my trip. Unless there is an ocean in the way or the train/bus option is ridiculously long or expensive, I will go for the train/bus option. My upcoming flight to Berlin from Belgrade is my first flight since arriving in Istanbul five weeks ago.

The German, the Brit, and I ended up spending the next fourteen or so hours together. Did we just become best friends? I also promised them they would be in the blog (hello gentlemen, you’re in the blog!!!). We continued our extended walking tour. First, we went and had coffee and tea at a local cafe that our tour guide recommended where we proceeded to discuss international politics for about two hours. The usual. Then we went for a long stroll in the city’s main park, which we also learned from the tour is larger than central park. Neat. Afterwards, we drank mediocre mulled wine at a local bar by the castle, then we met up with some of the German’s Canadian friends for dinner. Then we all went to a pub to finish up the night with some additional drinks. The Canadians were extremely Canadian. It was a really fun time. 

My last full day, we went to the Contemporary History Museum of Slovenia, and it was one of my favorite museums of the trip (nothing beats The Red Flat in Sofia, though). The rapid changing of the map of the Balkans was the most interesting part. We did the museum backwards, starting in the present day and going backwards to the beginning of WWI. I actually preferred it that way. The map was constantly changing. How on earth could anyone keep up? At one point, the map changed drastically on under one month. Wild.

Here’s some photos from Slovenia, featuring lots of intriguing architecture and graffiti:

SERBIA:

What an interesting, edgy, punky country. Although I only went to Belgrade, it is their capital and cultural center. It was way more artsy than I was expecting. Streets lined with graffiti, cute cafes, funky art galleries, and cool speakeasy-style bars that are actually affordable.

Much like in Istanbul, I met some really interesting people in the Balkans. Here’s a non-exhaustive list:

Bartender from Split who has stolen my heart (I still miss u, Vito); slightly pompous Irish man who started a company where they plant lots of trees; British journalist who was equally as into geopolitics as I am and had a knack for getting me to answer questions I normally wouldn’t; goofy German who has since inspired me to be more sustainable during my travels; quirky guy from Chicago who lost his passport and his necklace while on a date with a punk Serbian girl (he said it was “worth it”); cool lad from Oklahoma who always wore a beret and carried around business cards with a mustache and his socials on it; fun gal from Phoenix with really cool tattoos who may be the only person I have ever met who can pull off shorter bangs and she also loves Halloween just as much as I do; guy from Seattle who inspired me to go to a Serbian basketball game and also played some NFL during our hostel Thanksgiving meal (I was thankful for that); French man who was a little too chatty and asked me why I “quit my husband” which was a hilarious thing to ask; extremely Serbian hostel owner with a twisted sense of humor and some hot takes on politics who cooked us a proper Thanksgiving dinner; hostel owner’s cat named Toma who was the most quintessential cat I have met in a long time; sweet hostel volunteer from Oaxaca who gave me some awesome recommendations for Mexican soap operas to improve my Spanish; guy from Cleveland who was surprised by how much I knew about Cleveland and accompanied me for an afternoon wander around the fortress overlooking the river; Norwegian photographer who is also writing a book and spent seven hours in a Serbian prison last Thursday for taking pictures where he wasn’t supposed to (he also loves Storage Wars and is intrigued by the concept/culture of Waffle House); Indian gal who now lives in London who is one of the most interesting and effortlessly fashionable people I have met; hilarious Kiwi girl who has been travelling for eight months and our dads are the same age and both from Auckland so we had to double check whether they know each other; adorable hostel volunteer who checks everyone’s zodiac sign from their passport scan when they check in “you’re a Gemini!” he said on a night out (impressive); Greek/Albanian gal who now works for an NGO in London and who told me that a lot of the nationalist graffiti around Belgrade is actually government sponsored.

And many more! I was surprised in Belgrade at just how many Americans I met and liked. Prior to my time in Serbia, I had met next to zero Americans, and I was mostly fine with that. I know enough of them, and making friends around the world has been one of the best parts of this trip. However, the Americans in Belgrade were all very cool Americans. Not regular Americans. The nose ring Americans. The weird hat Americans. The self-aware Americans. We are all still loud though.

The first night when I got to the hostel, I was frazzled from trying to navigate the bus system because I am really bad at buses. I took the wrong bus twice. I was tired from my drive from Slovenia. But immediately, everyone at the hostel was so welcoming and I felt at home. My mood instantly changed. I stayed at El Diablo Hostel, and I’d highly recommend it. It is cozy and small, but the people were some of the coolest I have met on the trip. The owner was an absolute hoot and he always gave the best recommendations for where to eat. He cooked us all a proper Thanksgiving dinner, and it was delightful. I love Serbians, I’ve decided.

I wrote out a list of some things to do in Belgrade based off of my wandering around:

-Lots of funky cafes with good snacks and great coffee;

-Free fortress on the side of the city that overlooks the Danube River;

-The National Museum is free on Sundays;

-Area called ‘The Parking Lot’ full of hip bars, including a jazz club we went to the first night after our Thanksgiving dinner;

-Interesting bars – we went to one called ‘The Apartment’ which was literally just some guy’s apartment that was turned into a bar. The wine was $1.50 per glass and the beer was even cheaper. 20/10.

Event of the moment: Belgrade Red Star basketball. I met up with a friend from Montenegro and his French friend and we went to a Serbian Euro League basketball game on Friday night. It was an absolute blast. The chants, the enthusiasm, the atmosphere was like nothing I’ve ever experienced at an NBA game. Everyone was standing up the entire time. Also, Belgrade beat Munich and they were the underdogs.

On the last night, I went to Witch Bar, which was recommended by my witchy hostel. They do free tarot readings if you buy a drink there. A perfect Sunday activity, I figured. And it was. I paid for my drink and started chatting with a local, Lena, who was studying anthropology at a university in Belgrade. Then I got my reading done by Duga, who was recommended by the hostel peeps. Duga means rainbow in Serbian. They had her come to the hostel for readings for a Halloween party (and now I am sad I missed it). For fun, I asked Duga during my tarot card reading whether I would get married again. She said it looked like a yes, that I would gain social status and money, but that I would likely get divorced again. Neat!

“My chart has said the same thing,” Duga told me, “we are both Geminis. with Leo rising,” Lol. Astrology is so goofy, I love it.

I ended up talking with the Serbian tarot/astrology girlies for hours at the bar and just asking about their lives, their culture, their politics, anything they would divulge. I love meeting locals for this reason. We got to talking about how all the Balkan nations low-key hate each other, and Duga said, “we do all hate each other, but at the same time we all love each other because we are all Balkan people.”

I asked one of them who they hated the most. I needed the tea. They said a few years back it would have been Croatia, but now it was Bulgaria. “They have always been screwing us over in wars,” one of the Serbian gals said. Fair assessment. 

Later that night, I went with a couple of the cool hostel people to the local Russian bar. You had to go up a random flight of stairs and through a strange alley to get there. We tried an assortment of strange but delicious Russian liquors. There are tons of Russian ex-pats in Serbia. The bar which was tiny, quirky, and had a DJ spinning house music on a Sunday. It was a good final night. 

Here’s some random photos from Belgrade:

Snack of the moment: BUREK BUREK BUREK. I am obsessed. I have had one almost everyday since I arrived in Slovenia, and I’m just sad that I hadn’t discovered them sooner. I preferred the burek in Slovenia to the burke in Serbia, but only slightly. It’s a very cheap pastry type snack with several different filling options: soft cheese, pizza (ham and cheese and tomato), spinach and cottage cheese, minced meat, and potatoes. I tried all of them except for the potato one. The pizza burek in Slovenia was by far my favorite. I never took a photo of any of my burek snacks because I just started eating them immediately every damn time and I forgot. Regardless, highly recommend. Go get some burek.

Song of the moment: tv off – Kendrick Lamar

Why? Because the way he screams ‘mustard’ cracks me up every time. His whole new album is full of bops. Fun fact: my two favorite artists are Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar. Jack Antonoff produced both of their latest albums. Respect.

Featured lyrics:

MUSTARD!

Shit gets crazy, scary, spooky, hilarious

Crazy, scary, spooky, hilarious

Ok, listen to the song:

Next stop: Berlin. Time to get proper weird. My rental car has been turned in and I miss it already, but I’m looking forward to more TRAINS! I LOVE TRAINS!!