Slovenija je super

I hate to use the tour guide phrases that seem to get stuck in my head all the time despite never going on guided tours throughout this entire summer, but Slovenia deserves the title of hidden gem.

Quick, where is Slovenia on a map of Europe? 

If you knew where to look without searching, I applaud you for being infinitely more knowledgeable about it than I was a few months ago, when I first found out I'd be coming here for the summer. Here's a quick guide that my bosses sent me when they realized they wouldn't be at their former office in Munich anymore by the time I got there, anticipating that I wouldn't even be able to find it on a map, and another article as supplemental encouragement of its awesomeness a little later on. And it is not Slovakia.

"Due to name confusion, staff of the Slovak and Slovenian embassies meet once a month to exchange wrongly addressed mail."

I'm a huge fan of the Slovenian flag, which is superbly naturey. The coat of arms shows Mt. Triglav (TREE-glau), the country's highest peak (which I unfortunately didn't find the time to climb, "you're not a true Slovene until you climb Mt. Triglav"), some six-pointed stars from the coat of arms of a 14-15th century dynastic house, and wavy lines representing the Adriatic Sea (which I did swim in).

The country itself is certainly naturey: driving or taking a train through the countryside, you see that the majority of it is mountains, forests, rivers, and fields. You could pretty much take a photo of any part of the countryside and turn it into a postcard, it's so picturesque. Like seriously, look at this casual snap from the train window. And there isn't even a river in this shot.

And then you have the cities. Ljubljana (like the rest of the country) is relatively small, with a population of about 300,000 (roughly the population of Iceland, which of course is the first metric to pop in my mind), but jam-packed with things that make it wonderful and livable like awesome public transportation, tons of festivals throughout the year, a castle, a huge park/mountainous hills 5 minutes from my doorstep, miles of cafes along the Ljubljanica River (which runs through the city center), and the recurring motif of dragons.

Some flavors of Ljubljana for your enjoyment:

It pretty much matches my ideal conception of "quaint old European town".

Metelkova, art commune.

Any day is a perfect cafe day. Much of its cafe culture came from its northern neighbor, Austria.

People seem to like their pink churches. One in the center and one on a hill by Tivoli Park.

Everyone here seems to be incredibly friendly and polite...and multilingual. One of the guys at work speaks six languages, what. And I can't think of a single time when I felt unsafe or threatened throughout my entire two months here - I'm more comfortable walking by myself at any hour here than I ever am at home. Slovenians also seem to be super active - regardless of when I go out, there are always people going on walks with their pets and/or kids, roller blading (it's such a big thing here), biking, or jogging. Guess you've got to enjoy the awesome nature and Mediterranean summer.

Speaking now from my last day in Slovenia, I can definitely say I'll miss this lovely little country, and am super grateful that I got the chance to get to know it. Adijo, Slovenija! Until we meet again.