Blue Hour in Zagreb, Croatia

Noticed it has become my new favourite.
Sunrise. Sunset. And now....
Blue Hour.

I come to realised, I took alot of blue hours photos during my Balkan trip and I thank Edgar for this. I used to be fixated and contemplated with sunrise and sunset but this new 'finding', I have more rooms to play, more options and more sense of appreciation. I also realised that not all countries are fortunate to have beautiful sunrise or mesmerizing sunset all year round, but as god is fair, these countries have been awarded with the tranquility of blue hour. Allah is great.

Entries on Blue Hours in Slovenia and Philippines as well as Croatia blog below.
Vigan at night | Philippines (#UNESCO)
Ljubljana at Blue Hour
#TravelTips | Lake Plitvice, Croatia
#TravelTips | Money-changers in Zagreb, Croatia

The blue hour looks stunning with the city in bright yellow light huh *smile*. So now you guys know what to do, stay near the city, take a stroll just before sunset and wait for the blue hour...

Ljubljana at Blue Hour

Blue Hour?
Curious much?


I waited for sunset patiently and what I got was even better, Ljubljana at blue hour. Gosh, this reminded me of my trip to Vigan City in the Philippines whereby we rushed just to get a couple of blue hour shots (view here). I was very satisfied with my pictures, after all, it was taken with my trusty old junk Canon S95.

Well, take a look and share your thoughts on the blue hour shots or my old trusty junk *wink. cheeky smile*.

Background
The blue hour is the period of twilight each morning and evening when the sun is a significant distance below the horizon and the residual, indirect sunlight takes on a predominantly blue hue. This effect is caused by the relative diffusability of short blue wavelengths of light versus the longer red wavelengths. During the blue "hour" (typically the period is about 40 minutes in length), red light passes straight into space while blue light is scattered in the atmosphere and therefore reaches the earth's surface. 

Source : Wikipedia

More stories on Slovenia
Ljubljana Castle / Ljubljanski Grad
Slovenia Day trip to Lake Bled, Slovenia (did toboggan ride too!)
Ljubljana Free Tour, Slovenia

My advise is to stay in the this old medieval town itself as it will make night crawling more eventful. Not to worry, it is hard to get lost here even if you tried very hard *smile*.

Ljubljana Free Tour, Slovenia

Ljubljana is pronounced lub-lee-yana.

As you know, I have the weirdest reason when picking a country, of which I feel it is rather inconsistent as it can be for whatever reason at that point of time. And for Slovenia, it was because of the dragon. Yup! DRAGON! Very loman hor. Hehehehheee...

There is so many version and I shall share the one I like most, or perhaps I should just create one. *wink*

Story 1 

Legend has it that Ljubljana was founded by the Greek mythological hero Jason and his companions, the Argonauts, who had stolen the golden fleece from King Aetes and fled from him across the Black Sea and up the Danube, Sava and Ljubljanica rivers.

At a large lake in the marshes near the source of the Ljubljanica they stopped and disassembled their ship to be able to carry it to the Adriatic Sea, put it together again, and return to Greece. The lake was the dwelling place of a monster, which Jason fought, defeated and killed. The monster, now referred to as the Ljubljana Dragon, found its place atop the castle tower depicted on the Ljubljana coat of arms.  From Visit Ljubljana

Story 2
According to the Slavic myth the slaying of dragon releases the waters and ensures the fertility of the earth, and it is thought the myth in this area is tied to the Ljubljana Marshes, the expansive area that has been threatening because of frequent flooding that reached Ljubljana. According to the celebrated Greek legend, the Argonauts on their return home after having taken the Golden Fleece found a large lake surrounded by a marsh between the present-day towns of Vrhnika and Ljubljana. It is there that Jason struck down a monster. This monster has become the dragon that today is present on the city coat of arms and flag. From Wikipedia

I like Story 2 better, but no lomance wan?

Franciscan Church of the Annunciation

Here's the thing, Ljubluna city is pretty small a quaint, technically one can cover it within one day and I found the best to do this and get to mingle with fellow travelers as well.

#TravelTips 1 : I found a Ljubljana Free Walking Tour website where by the walking tour itself is free (great for budget travelers) and takes approximately 2.5hours or so. At the end of the tour, if feels that the guide did an excellent job you can reward them with tips as they very much rely on this tips.

#TravelTips 2 : Don't stinge on the tour guide tips just because it is free, kemut pun jangan lah sampai ambil kesempatan yek.

#Travel 3 : You can stop at any point of time but make sure the tour guide is well informed, jangan blah senapas.

Aside from the free walking tour, they also do chargeable tour, pick one you like. I personally enjoyed the free walking tour... I just wish the weather was better and the sky is bluer.

The starting for this walking tour is from the town center itself, we waited for the guide at the steps of Franciscan Church of the Annunciation. No way you can miss it, its the orange colour church *smile*. Briefing will be conducted then off we go.

#TravelTips 4 : Make sure you camera, smartphone, good walking shoes and water handy, And keep close to the guide when he explains the buildings and history. Semua orang tunggu part dragon tuh ajer arituh, hehehheee...

Some of the building is really amazing and I am sure there's a beautiful story wrap around it. but it not be a heavy weight in history. So tangkap jer gambar sambil gawk (yup, yang gawk to adalah saya).

Not to worry, within the 2.5hours walking tour, they will take you to the famous dragon bridge.

Background
The bridge was originally named The Jubilee Bridge of the Emperor Franz Josef I. In July 1919, it was renamed to Dragon Bridge. The Dragon Bridge, although significantly modeled after the Nußdorf weir, is often regarded as the most beautiful bridge produced by the Vienna Secession.[7] It is the first bridge in Slovenia paved with asphalt, the first reinforced concrete bridge in Ljubljana, and one of Europe's earliest reinforced concrete bridges. When opened in 1901, it had the third largest arch in Europe at that time.

From Wikipedia

#TravelTips 5 : My suggestion is to allocate between 3 -4 days if you plan to wonder outskirt of Ljubljuna as well, else a 2 full day trip here is sufficient. 2 full day tau, bukan 2D1N.

There are a few key places that you should cover this medieval city.

• Wander the medieval town
• Walking down Ljubljanica River
• Experience the hustle and bustle of the central/flea market 
• Ljubljana Castle
• Night crawler (night performances and buskers everywhere)

I missed out the boat cruise when i was there though. Sigh.

The walking tour ends at the Križanke Open Air Theatre, it is most active during summer festivals, Located at the French Revolution Square, it was once the courtyard of the former Monastery of the Holy Cross. There are cafes around this area for you to chill after the walk *smile*.

6 months after this trip, I head to the land of "How to train your dragon". Wanna take a guess which country I visited?


More stories on Slovenia
Ljubljana Castle / Ljubljanski Grad, Slovenia
Day trip to Lake Bled, Slovenia (did toboggan ride too!)

Ljubljana Castle / Ljubljanski Grad, Slovenia

Castle. Castle. Castle.
Princessy much?

I am beginning to realize that this trip I took in August 2014 was full of hills and castle, but… where’s my prince charming lah? Ahaks.

It was almost a must, to hike up the nearest hill or building in the city to capture the city or town view, been doing this a lot in few of the recent trip, I could have sworn it’s a trend now. Or maybe it have been (?), just that I was too caught up with the city to notice, nevertheless, a hike in great weather with new surrounding is definitely welcoming and refreshing.

Many might not know that back in 1991, Slovenia split from Yugoslavia and became an independent country. The previous Yugoslavia state consist of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, hence the history, culture and heritage are truly diversified. Having occupied by Germany, Italy, Croatia, and Hungary thus one can only understand why Slovenia is heavily influenced these country. Aside from this, Slovenia also shares many commonalities with their neighbouring country such as Austria in terms of architecture and cuisine; among others.

Viewing Tower offers spectacular views of the old town.

For those that prefers an easy way up, one can also take the Ljubljana Castle funicular to the top of Castle Hill which started its operation in 2006. 

Located majestically on Castle Hill in Ljubljana; overlooking the famous old town, this medieval fortress was built to defend the against the invasion of Ottoman Empire invasion which later was turn into an arsenal and a military hospital, a prison as well as poor families settlement. Now, owned by Municipality of Ljubljana, it is being converted into a city museum. 35 years of later; in 1990s, it finally being opened and used for weddings and events and of course a museum when they also hold a number of exhibitions throughout the years.

Truthfully, I was rather a tired from the climb despite that I did enjoy myself immensely. We lepak-ed by the courtyard, drink and munch some left over titbits. There were people practising fire-dance, I think there is a performance later that night or perhaps over the weekend unfortunately we have to give it a miss as we depart the day after. Families just hanging out with their kids enjoying the view, food, weather and exhibition... a bunch of local and international travelers wandered and explored the castle before heading back to the old town.http://www.ljubljanskigrad.si/home/

This are shows and performance being played at the courtyard during the warmer month.

National Geographic exhibition during our trip to Ljubljana.

Some of the path around the castle.

I don't know how we did it but we somehow came down from a different path we took, I think this is at the outskirt of old town... Kinda easy actually, all you need to do is follow the sound from the town. Ahaks.

For opening hours and entrance fee, please CLICK here.

#TravelTips | Money-changers in Zagreb, Croatia

I was compelled to blog about this.
Truthfully, I was rather annoyed, frustrated and crossed when I first step foot in the city thus leaving a bad impression on Zagreb.

This was how it started...

It was pretty much of an overland trip right from Frankfurt to Salzburg, followed by Vienna and Ljubljana till where I am now, Zagreb. All the cities I covered was using Euro currency except for Croatia and Bosnia, and since these two currencies were not available in Malaysia, I figure (and this works like charm in all the countries I visited so far) we can either change in at the bus or train station we disembark in (or the airport for some of you). We have everything pretty much figure out but as usual, Murphy Law decided to step in and stir things for abit, adding spices (and perhaps some herbs too) into our trip. 

And there goes the Pandora box... Sigh.

Due to the timing when we arrived, the money changers at the Autobusni bus station were all closed so we head down to our hotel straight away. After settling our stuff, we venture into the town to shop, sightseeing and of cause, look for money changer. If you have been traveling for quite a bit, your mind tends to function like a clockwork, first location you'll seek for is the Tourism Information Centre, this is the one place that will never fail you. Until today. In Zagreb.

We walked in and enquire on where to go, what to see and how to get to Lake Plitvice the next day, our questions were handled not in a friendly manner nor was it full heartedly, in fact very unwelcoming to my personal opinion. One country that I was excitedly looking forward to (merely because of Lake Plitvice) now being smeared by the tourism inhospitality. To add on, the direction to the money changer wasn't the nearest nor was it the best direction given (the public gave a better direction, seriously) and as we were walking, we found few more money changers within a min or two walk from the Tourism Information Centre. Someone is not doing their homework well. Hem...

What done is done.

So, here is what I would like to do, I shall share the locations of money changers within walking distance to the square. Some I might not capture the road name but you can back track by the pictures and ask around. Boleh kan? *smile*



1. Autobusni Bus Station
It is located at the same floor as the ticket counter. That's is the only direction you need to know, unless they renovated the bus station lah. Ahaks.



2. Glavni Train Station
There is one located inside the train station - near the luggage storage area. If I remembered correctly, it is on the right side from the main entrance.

#TravelTips : There are a few backpacker hostel and guesthouses near this area.

3. Cvjetni Shopping Center (Bogovićeva ulica 5)
It is a walking distance from the Ban Jelačić Square (main square). The money changer is located one level below, near the lift.

Money changer on the left (written 'exchange').

4. Behind Tourism Centre (Vlaška ulica Street/near Zangreb Catherdral)

I fail to get the exact street name but base from the picture below and the landmark (Zagreb Cathedral), it should be within this proximity. You bound to stroll to this area if you are heading to the Zangreb Cathedral.

5. Airport

This is very obvious, you can get money changer in almost all airports *smile*.

Well, hope this helps.

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Day trip to Lake Bled, Slovenia (did toboggan ride too!)

Castle, princess and fairy tales.

The biggest mistake I did was to give myself 2 full days to discover Slovenia. Worry not, this decision was made carefully after doing a few researches, having said that, I should know myself better; 3-4 days would be more ideal. Especially after seeing the landscapes we passed by during our journey to Lake Bled, I knew immediately this country will be a definite repeat (matilah kalau semua negara nak repeat), obviously with keywords such as castle, princesses and fairy tales *smile*.

A few things that I have taken note of, loads of outdoor activities that I would like and can experience here; white water rafting (WWR) for one, paragliding (with a scenery like this, it is almost a must), canyoning, trekking and so many more. Doesn't help when I kept seeing all the promos and rivers (turquoise blue mind you!) for WWR during our journey to Bled. Oh! Not to forget cycling at the country sites, I bet I will enjoy this too. Hem... a bucket list for Slovenia building up.

The journey took 2 hours or so, and the station was rather small. Just ask around and they will direct you to Lake Bled, almost everyone is heading to that direction. I will be superbly amaze if one got lost. Ahaks.

There is a shuttle at the train station and it'll lead you to the Lake Bled bus station, from there, you walk to your heart content. For me? Am heading to the castle lah (mana lagi yek). The bus journey takes about 10 mins the most.

#TravelTips 1 : Allow 1 full day for Lake Bled for those who love nature and walking, or some outdoor activities.

Can you see the castle? That's where I am heading *grin*.

#TravelTips 2 : Bring money, lots of them. Nahh.... not because it's expensive but because you would love to snack by the lack and enjoy the view, or swim by the lake, or go into the castle. 

#TravelTips 3 : They have hotels here and backpacker lodges too (nearby). That would be my next plan, stay here and experience everything.

I, again, walked up (did this in a few cities during this trip of mine, kurus few kilos kot). One thing I regretted is not having enough stamina, beginning to realise that this trip requires alot of walking, like a great lot!

#TravelTips 4 : Most Europe countries require alot of walking, my suggestion is to do a little bit of exercise before traveling, stamina building katanya.

We went up, took some pictures and we left. There is an entrance fee of EU9 for adult (RM40 dah tuh, leh kayap wor), so I decided to be abit 'jimat cermat' and forgo the trip inside.

Entrance fee details HERE.

I absolutely love the walk by the lake. Love. Love. Love, and Love.

Must. Come. Again.

Then we so this....

And this! 

For those who know me by now, I will lavish myself on a ride like this. Fun apa.... kannnnnnn! Sumpah lawa and best. SUMPAH.

Details on price HERE.

Chairlift + toboggan 1 ride = EU 8-9 (adult)
Chairlift + toboggan 2 rides = EU 11-12 (adult)
Chairlift + toboggan 3 rides = EU 14-15 (adult)
Chairlift 1 ride = EU 4 (adult)

The view while taking the chair-lift and tobonggan! Me loike!!!

You can get this view at the top of the toboggan ride, they have also prepared a 'frame' that focuses on this scene for your Kodak moment.

#TravelTips 5 : You can walk up just for this view (without paying nor playing the ride), personally I think the view here is nicer than the one from Bled Castle. Prepare to climb both hills heh!

That's the castle we climbed. Gigih dak? 

Cam nih lah I nak lepak lain kali, sambil makan eskrem. 

Some might wonder whether did I try to take any pictures during the toboggan ride, the answer is yes and the result is as below....

Melelong okayyyyyy.... Hahhahahhahah.....