Archives for September 3rd, 2007

My wife and I (pictured above) having some fun in the sun. [source]

Our summer vacation was a bit different this year. For one thing, we took a scattershot approach. Instead of staying in one place for a week, we went on a ten-day rampage through Vienna, Piran, Celje, Štanjel and for the coup de grâce: Olimije. The other difference is that we also took our first vacation alone (so, without children) for the weekend. Here are some quick impressions:

Vienna: Best. Zoo. Ever. Some zoos in this part of Europe are more like concentration camps for animals, but Schönbrunn is loaded with healthy, beautiful animals in comfortable surroundings. A++++. Would gawk there again!!!!1!!

Piran: It’s beautiful, of course, but what really blew my mind was when I found a ticket on my car — and it was only a warning. I feel warm and fuzzy just thinking about that beautiful moment. Unlike other cities in Slovenia, where your car gets towed the second you turn off the ignition, regardless of whether you parked illegally or not, here’s a place that has the friendliness to just warn you. Everyone in Piran for president!!

Celje: Slovenes universally underestimate Celje. I’ve always liked it, but now it seems to be booming more than a boombox that transforms into a giant robot. Celje for capital of Slovenia!

Štanjel: A very pleasant, dilapidated town in what is invariably referred to as “the mysterious Karst.” The biggest mystery, I think, is why everyone keeps calling it “mysterious”.

Olimije: Awesome. They don’t have a magic fish spa yet, but otherwise they’ve got it all. This is the first place in Slovenia that struck me as really, really having its shit together, at least when it comes to tourism. Instead of the old technique of: “Dear dumb turist, please to make spend much forreign denominations of your currencies here; in the meantime we will quietly grimace at you,” I really got the sense that authorities are thinking of the big picture and trying to provide as much as they possibly can. And they do. They’ve even got cows, for chrissakes. What more do you need?

And that was my awesome summer vacation. How was yours?