Kamnik > Kamnik w/ a visit to Ljubljana

August 17, 2014

Kamnik > Kamnik w/ a visit to Ljubljana

[Originally posted Aug 17, 2014]

Ljubljana - the coolest capital city in Europe you've never been to. And this isn't just the "doctrine according to Clayton". Lonely Planet released their "Best of Europe 2014" and #2 on the list was Ljubljana, Slovenia. To help with your slavic language pronunciation: the letter j makes the "ya" sound, so Ljubljana is loob-lee-on-uh.

Right now we are sitting in the kitchen with Ales and Mojca. Dinner just finished and Ales is making some energy bars. When Mojca got out a bag of nuts, she said, and what do you call these? Those are walnuts, Katy said rather matter of factly. Yes, she said, but in Slovenia we have Walnuts and we have American Walnuts. Hmm, but in America we only have one type of Walnut, Katy responded. Then after a look online (often the source of fixing these types of problems) we had our answer: American walnuts are what we know as Pecans.

Today no cycling. R and R. Hanging out in Ljubljana. Such an awesome city. Free public WiFi throughout the city, a downtown area closed off to traffic (this seems to be the standard here in Europe and one of the great downfalls of American cities), lots of musicians performing in the streets (Ann Arbor only has the werewolf dude), a castle high on the hill, a nice river running through town. When Katy and I left on this trip we had one goal (among many others) to find a city to come back and live in for a couple years, and to be completely honest, Ljubljana jumped to the top of our list today. Close to the mountains, close to the Adriatic Sea. The best thing about new places is when you expect nothing and get so much in return.

Eating. It happens. A lot. But today gave me a little insight into our "habits". Cycling for an average of 4-5 hours a day, 6 days a week, gives us an additional 12,000 calories or so to consume each week. This should be broken up over 7 days, leading to a steady (but rather large) diet. But this is often not the case. After a long day of cycling, and especially when it is very hot out, my appetite lags behind my need for calories. Sometimes lunch is just a giant watermelon (not the necessary 1500 calories a lunch should be, right?). But then rest days happen. And the appetite surges. Breakfast was normal, but large. Then lunch was delicious Falafel (I ordered the extra large one with all the toppings - made me think of Haifa Falafel in AA - how I miss you). And then we had an ice cream cone. It was good. But then we stumbled upon Cacao, an ice cream specialty shop. We decided we'd have another cone. It was awesome. Then another. And then we said, why not? let's have another. (I think this is the internal dialogue you were hinting at Marcy, am I right?). And so by the time lunch ended we were $25 deep into ice cream. I would say I know my way around an ice cream cone, I have been to the factories in Tillamook, Oregon and the Ben and Jerry's Factory in Vermont, I even have been known to enjoy a nice carton of Woo Pig Chewie from time to time (who knows where that one is from?)

Last but not least. Went to Catholic Mass with Mojca and Ales this morning (we are staying at their place for 2 nights, and they let us sleep in their master bed while they take the other room, which I always feel so bad about but never turn down). Major takeaways: they hold much more reverence for their chapel than us Mormons. As soon as we entered a quiet reverence was present. Children were held quietly in parents arms and not allowed to prance up and down the aisles. Granted we were told many families go to the other Catholic church in town. When the meeting ended the room remained perfectly quiet (similar to when a session of Bikram ends) and as people left a slight bow, hands to the cross and then they silently left the building (outside is where kids were running wild and catching up among church members occurred). It made me think about the somewhat routine manner in which we all too often fall into when we attend church and take the sacrament (for example: the phrase "we'd like to thank the Priesthood for the reverent way in which they passed the sacrament and now excuse them to sit with their families - uggh, can't stand hearing this every week). The only other really cool thing was that I am pretty sure the Priest was the same guy from Princess Bridge (Mawage, mawage is what bwings us together today).

Side Note: yesterday Katy and I passed through the town of Jesenice. The significance? This is the hometown of Jure Robic, the 5 time winner of The Race Across America. The Race Across America is just that, a race across America, recently the route has been from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD. Anyways, during his 2004 victory, Jure completed the ride in 8 days 9 hours 51 min and only slept a total of 8 hours during the entire race (this of course led to hallucinations and the feeling that mailboxes were turning into dogs and chasing him). And since RAAM is on my "list of lifetime things I should do" it's just a little thing I thought I would add.

Expenses: €12.40 Bus, €3.64 Roasted Almonds, €9 Falafel, €14.70 Ice Cream, €4.50 Hamburger, €3.30 Bakery Items