This trips are usually very cheap because the European Union pays for most of it. This Slovenia trip was no different. For transportation to and from Slovenia, a hostel, and 3 meals it was a total of 50 Euro or about $70. How can you say no to that? Even if it is Slove...wait, what's the country called again?
My boy Jake was going on the trip as well and seeing as how we had to be at the bus at 6,and we live in the same complex, we met up and walked together. Being the responsible chap I am, I figured we were on the same bus and did not read the email sent out the day before. I'd just go where Jake was going. Once we got there, I learned there were three total buses and Jake and I were not on the same one. Fortunately, the location of my bus was not too far off.
As I was standing with a bunch of students I did not know as well as rolling solo, I noticed a tall girl who appeared to be in the same situation. As I had Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on my Ipod, a fantastically self-packed lunch (ma, you taught me well), and it was a 6 hour bus ride, I was not looking to commit to a seating partner whom I did not know. I therefore turned my head as quickly as possible as to eliminate any possibility of striking up a convo that would result in a seating arrangement.
Once on the bus, it payed off not knowing anyone. I took an isle seat and put my backpack on the window seat. I then did a little role play and acted like those mean kids on the bus in Forest Gump. You remember, when little Forest is on the bus and he has the leg braces. There is more than ample seating but nobody wants to sit next to him. Yeah, I was one of the mean kids. I wouldn't have said no to anyone if they asked to sit next to me but I was by no means going to seem welcoming. (Come on, its a 6 hours bus ride. You would do the same if you could. Don't try to act like you enjoy having people next to you on the airplane)
I slept for most of the way but once we arrived, I still couldn't really believe I was there. Slovenia? I mean sh*t. Slovenia. I probably would have put Nebraska on my list of places to see before Slovenia. Actually, I take that back.
The hostel was okay. Nothing like the one in Rome. Sufficient bathrooms and fairly okay beds. After everyone dropped off their bags, we got the tour of the capital city we were in: Ljubljana (pronounced Lul-bin-yawn-ah) It was pretty whatever. "Here is this building that was built on this date, here is the park...etc." The highlight throughout the whole tour was seeing this German guy. He was in my group and every time I saw him, he was drinking beer. When we had our breakfast in Bologna before we left, he was drinking beer and then in Slovenia, he was drinking some more.
Every time he saw me looking at him, I gave the 'cheers' gesture as if I had an imaginary beer and was about to drink myself. This cat is about 6'6". He is from a small town in Germany and is studying in Bologna for the year. As the tour ended and we had free time, I walked over to him and struck up a convo. We talked about American & German politics, soccer, and food. As Jake and I wanted to go out to some bars, we knew this guy was down and he came with us.
This guy's name is David and while in the bar, he informed me that he had been drinking since 7 that morning. Mind you, this guy isn't a typical frat bro or something. He wasn't drinking to get 'hammered' but rather because, well, he really likes beer. After we left the first bar looking for the second one, we stumbled upon two Native Slovenians.
As Jake and I were talking about the directions we just received, one of the Slovenian guys stopped walking and asked:
Slovenian-"You speak English. Where you from?"
Jake- "New Jersey"
Me -"California"
Slovenian" Wow. Come with me. We go to bar"
As we were rolling three gentleman deep, we saw no problem with this and decided to join these two Slovs at the bar. Boy howdy, it turned out to be a great choice.
After two minutes of sitting down at a table, the guy who spoke English (the other one spoke zero English and would just mumble and gurgle sort of like Jabba the Hut) told us that he did the art work on two of the walls in the bar. I turned around to look at it and it was entirely of caricatures. You know, those goofy, overly exaggerated drawings of people. Well, this man did about 50 of them on two walls of this bar. Does anyone know what that means? It means he drinks for free. And that means anyone with him drinks for free, too.
We didn't really know whether or not to believe this guy. After all, we are in Slovenia, we just met this guy on the street, and who really does caricatures in a bar? Oh, and he looked like Nick Nolte's mug shot.
(If you haven't seen it, copy and paste this address immediately: http://z.about.com/d/crime/1/0/l/7/noltenick.jpg)
The server told us that it was indeed true that this man did the caricatures and does drink for free. From that point on, everything was cool. This guy spoke great English in addition to Italian, German, and Russian. At one point, Sittin on the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding came on. I started singing along thinking that nobody else would know it but sure enough, this caricature drawing Slovenian dude was right there with me. I'm not sure if he had drank before and was tipsy or he was like this in general but he proceeded to tell me he was "all about Black power" from that point on.
He told me, amongst other artists, that he liked Al Green, Otis Redding, and Marvin Gaye. He also told me these guys as well as other Black musicians had been there in Ljubljana and performed "multiple times". At this point, I thought he was yanking my chain and wanted to see if he was telling the truth. But, as I was ordering my second Jameson, and it was free, I kept my mouth closed and just responded with a lot of "Oh yea?" and "Wow".
The night continued with mass helpings to rather tasteless olives and plain potato chips. He would lecture me about Black musicians and White musicians and continued to state he was "all about Black power". It soon became time to part and we graciously thanked this mystery man. Once out of earshot, I turned to Jake and asked:
"Did that really just happen?"
Jake-"Sure did, man"
Sure did, indeed.
Every time he saw me looking at him, I gave the 'cheers' gesture as if I had an imaginary beer and was about to drink myself. This cat is about 6'6". He is from a small town in Germany and is studying in Bologna for the year. As the tour ended and we had free time, I walked over to him and struck up a convo. We talked about American & German politics, soccer, and food. As Jake and I wanted to go out to some bars, we knew this guy was down and he came with us.
This guy's name is David and while in the bar, he informed me that he had been drinking since 7 that morning. Mind you, this guy isn't a typical frat bro or something. He wasn't drinking to get 'hammered' but rather because, well, he really likes beer. After we left the first bar looking for the second one, we stumbled upon two Native Slovenians.
As Jake and I were talking about the directions we just received, one of the Slovenian guys stopped walking and asked:
Slovenian-"You speak English. Where you from?"
Jake- "New Jersey"
Me -"California"
Slovenian" Wow. Come with me. We go to bar"
As we were rolling three gentleman deep, we saw no problem with this and decided to join these two Slovs at the bar. Boy howdy, it turned out to be a great choice.
After two minutes of sitting down at a table, the guy who spoke English (the other one spoke zero English and would just mumble and gurgle sort of like Jabba the Hut) told us that he did the art work on two of the walls in the bar. I turned around to look at it and it was entirely of caricatures. You know, those goofy, overly exaggerated drawings of people. Well, this man did about 50 of them on two walls of this bar. Does anyone know what that means? It means he drinks for free. And that means anyone with him drinks for free, too.
We didn't really know whether or not to believe this guy. After all, we are in Slovenia, we just met this guy on the street, and who really does caricatures in a bar? Oh, and he looked like Nick Nolte's mug shot.
(If you haven't seen it, copy and paste this address immediately: http://z.about.com/d/crime/1/0/l/7/noltenick.jpg)
The server told us that it was indeed true that this man did the caricatures and does drink for free. From that point on, everything was cool. This guy spoke great English in addition to Italian, German, and Russian. At one point, Sittin on the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding came on. I started singing along thinking that nobody else would know it but sure enough, this caricature drawing Slovenian dude was right there with me. I'm not sure if he had drank before and was tipsy or he was like this in general but he proceeded to tell me he was "all about Black power" from that point on.
He told me, amongst other artists, that he liked Al Green, Otis Redding, and Marvin Gaye. He also told me these guys as well as other Black musicians had been there in Ljubljana and performed "multiple times". At this point, I thought he was yanking my chain and wanted to see if he was telling the truth. But, as I was ordering my second Jameson, and it was free, I kept my mouth closed and just responded with a lot of "Oh yea?" and "Wow".
The night continued with mass helpings to rather tasteless olives and plain potato chips. He would lecture me about Black musicians and White musicians and continued to state he was "all about Black power". It soon became time to part and we graciously thanked this mystery man. Once out of earshot, I turned to Jake and asked:
"Did that really just happen?"
Jake-"Sure did, man"
Sure did, indeed.
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