Spider man: Zagreb, Croatia

It’s not just the crumbling buildings, or the constant screams of police sirens. It’s not just the insanely crazy food, or the groups of Goth kids playing retro 80’s American rock at insane levels. It’s not just the hilarious “train station,” or large quantity of graffiti. It has to be the smell.
I’m not saying that Ljubljana had a rank smell to it, just that-- I don't know, just something. There was simply a slight dankness to it, other than that? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
I thought that when my train arrived in town, that I had entered a whole new world. Sad was I when McDonalds was the absolute first visual corporation out of the gate. I was also surprised when I got to my hostel, and Vietnam War American classics were playing on the radio. Not only that, but my roommate (says he’s from Spain) has his laptop play list set to Backstreet Boys, N-Synch, and Rihanna. I planned to visit Slovenia to ESCAPE these things, not to have their smelly remnants rubbed in my face.
I feel like I’ve gone back in time.
All hail our new McDonald overlords!

I’ll tell you one thing, my hostel was very easy to find. The building is considered a tourist attraction, and there were directional signs posted on every street corner. The attraction is that the hostel used to be a military prison, and has since been refurbished into (very bright) cheap living quarters. They did a fantastic job of sprucing up the place, while still retaining some of the historic “I’m in a prison” feel (and don't forget the "dank!").

I was finally able to get myself out of the rut I was in, and hit the town with both guns blazing (not literally of course--too many cops). There was a fair sized hill, with a castle on top. I took a funicular train to the top, where I enjoyed the “view” of Ljubljana. The traffic control within the downtown area is crazy. Tollbooths littered almost every street, and the smaller ones had rent-a-cop’s standing by. The old town district was the most interesting part of town. It was small in size (so small in fact, the old town was about 3 blocks in size), but brimming with character. Another highlight was the amazingly unnecessary “triple bridge” at the main square. As the name would suggest, there were three identical bridges, built over the same patch of river. Each bridge was within one or two metres from each other. I’m not sure why they did it, but hey, it looked cool, so kudos to them. Speaking of cool, the icon of Ljubljana would be the dragon. Sadly however, the only place I ever saw one (a dragon, yes, a real one) was on the “Dragon Bridge.” Kyle appreciates obviously named architecture.

Ah! How could I almost forget!
On my second day in the city, I awoke to find (after inspection) ten large (very large) bug bites on my body. A few of the bites (on my arm) were excessively large (covering half my arm) and turning a delicious yellow colour in the middle (I HOPE you’re eating right now as you read this. Muahahah). I initially suspected bed bugs (even though I have no idea what they look like, or more importantly, what a bite looks like), but my theory was soon squashed. After talking to my hostel receptionist, she sent me to the (Dun Dun Dunnnnnn) local clinic, to get them checked out.

This was my brain wave for that exact moment:
“Medical clinic in Slovenia, EH? Well I guess Malaria couldn’t be THAT bad, could it?”
Once again, my theory was completely blow out of the water (you sunk my battleship!), as the clinic turned out to be even better than what I’ve seen in Saskatoon. They spoke very good English, were fast, and extremely professional. When I showed the two doctors the bites on my arm, I couldn’t help but laugh at their bug eyed response though. I’ll never forget the “well it’s obviously toxic,” followed by “but don’t worry, you won’t die.” The general prognosis was that as I slept, a (and I quote) “massive spider” must have gone to town on my skin. To give you an idea of the damage, there are two bites on my feet (one on the middle toe, other on the heel, which is the most irritating), four bites on my leg (three on the left, one on the right), three bites on my left arm (right on the main artery), and one on my forehead. I could still see the little bite marks on my skin, and the distance between the two was likely 4mm-5mm.
The whole clinic experience took about 40 minutes, and twenty of my euros (ten for exam, ten for the drugs I got). And that was without my blue cross insurance (which they wouldn’t accept anyway).
That spider should be happy I never found it, for if I did…

After the clinic, I took one last run around the city (local highlights, such as the town hall, parliament, university and galleries). Even though it was raining, my batteries were on full, and no small bit of precipitation was gonna’ break my stride. Given the small taste of Slovenia that is Ljubljana, I look forward to seeing more of these crazy eastern European countries.

Oh, and it might just be me, but whenever I look down one of the more run down streets, all I hear in my mind is cliché Communist Russia, Red Army Men’s Choir music playing in the background. Makes me laugh every time.

P.S. If I ever find that spider, there will be hell to pay.

Kyle-soon to be a star of Prison Break-out