Yesterday was Day 26, and we were on the move again. Our target was Ljubljana, Slovenia, and to get there, we had to change trains in Vienna, Austria.

In terms of our itinerary, reaching Ljubljana would put us back in line with what we'd originally planned in 2020. I explained here how we'd had to modify that template in order to circumvent Serbia (which is how Bucharest and Budapest came into things). But we'd also made a change by omitting Zagreb (because the train from Budapest got in later than we felt comfortable with). So that's how we came to be in Bratislava. Ljubljana, on the other hand, was always part of the plan.

Our departure morning in Bratislava was very cold. Luckily, our really nice apartment -- which I was very sorry to be leaving -- was pretty close to the station.



You can't reserve seats on this first leg, which wasn't a problem as there was plenty of room. The only source of stress was the very tight connection time. According to the schedule, we would leave Bratislava at 0637, get into Vienna at 0744, and leave again at 0758. This was how the itinerary was sold. The railway company obviously thought it was doable. But two stations into the journey, and we're already running five minutes late...



We rattled past at a great rate of knots, so I didn't get a picture, but we went through Deutsch-Wagram... When I was still in my twenties, two summers running, I worked for a few weeks with a youth organization here. Later, both Nigel and I went back to stay with some friends:


And, finally, Vienna... Wien Hauptbahnhof... My first visit here was in 1979, on a rail trip from my base in Erlangen, Germany...

But there was no time to reminisce about any of this, because the clock was ticking, ticking, ticking.

We were loaded up and ready to get off as soon as our train from Bratislava arrived; we'd pre-checked the departure platform on line; and we hotfooted it (well, as hot as a rucksack front and back plus a picnic bag will permit) to the relevant point.

We find the right carriage, and climb aboard -- with literally just a couple of minutes to spare. Phew... Very relieved. Don't think we'll ever risk such a tight connection again though (unless we're in Japan...)

This part of the journey incorporates Austria's UNESCO-recognized Semmeringbahn, which was built between 1848 and 1854, and is regarded as "one of the greatest feats of civil engineering from this pioneering phase of railway building". This is dramatic stuff, with tunnels and viaducts and very mountainy mountains. But the whole route is picturesque. These photos are from the Austrian side:






We had our passports checked (on the train) on entering Slovenia. Not sure why, as this is all Schengen territory, and it was quite a cursory inspection.

It's not long before the Slovenian scenery becomes quite dramatic, too, and for a long while you follow a tight river valley, winding in and out of the mountain spurs:




Our Ljubljana accommodation is a 30-minute walk from the station. It's a suburban walk, but it was made special by a better view of the snow-capped mountains that we'd already glimpsed from the train:


This flat is fairly small, but it's bright and jolly, and it definitely contains all we're likely to need for the four nights we're here:



This morning we went off in search of more views of snowy mountains. But there was lots of interesting stuff en route:





As we gained a little altitude (on the hill where the castle perches), the city started to drop away:


And finally we got our mountains, looking stunning on this cold but gorgeous day:



We actually spent some time sitting in the sun today. The temperature in the shade was not much above zero, but in the sun, with no wind -- perfect:


According to legend, Ljubljana was founded by Jason (as in Jason and the Argonauts): "[They sailed] across the Black Sea and up the Danube and the Sava until they reached the Ljubljanica. There they dismantled their ship in order to carry it overland to the Adriatic coast, where they rebuilt the vessel and set sail back to Greece. On their way to the coast, they stopped at a large lake in the marshes near the source of the Ljubljanica, where a dragon was said to dwell, whereupon Jason fought, defeated and killed the monster."

Jeez, it's tough being a dragon in Western mythology... But how nice to catch up with old Jason again, whom we'd encountered in Chios and in Batumi, Georgia...

And here, on the Franz Joseph I Jubilee Bridge (1900), we find not lions, as initially planned, but dragons:



To close, a couple more pics from our wanderings:




There was a lovely vibe abroad today. Perhaps it was due to the weather; perhaps to the peace of the extensive pedestrianized areas; perhaps to the numbers of people out and about (enough to make the place look lively, but not enough for it to feel crowded).

Another very attractive capital, then. Looking forward to another couple of days of exploration.