Day 3: Salzburg, Ljubljana, Zagreb

I managed to get a shower and some sleep on the train, but sleeper trains are sadly not that restful. The two ladies I was sharing with (Aleen and Suzie) were lovely, though, and we had a lot in common, so we had a nice chat before the beds were put down.

Salzburg station was boring, and I only had access to the ÖBB lounge for 90 minutes, so I got an earlier train and decided to see Villach, where I would have to change anyway.

Villach was super cute, and set out in such a way that I couldn’t get lost, with the station at the top of the hill at the end of the main street, like Innsbruck. Austria knows how not to confuse me.

It’s like The Good Place if all the frozen yoghurt shops were ice cream shops and it wasn’t full of Americans. I ordered a mini eiskafe in a square with a relaxing fountain, and that turned out to mean afogatto 😀

I only had an hour in Villach before it was time to get back on a train. A guy in first class watched videos without headphones (albeit quietly). I think you should get bumped down to second class for that.

Ljubljana, my next stop, did not make a great first impression, since the train station was a building site!

But once I dumped my bag and got down to the riverside it was much nicer. More modern than I expected, though.

It was also hot! Villach had been pleasantly warm but by this far south I had to switch from Scottish to Albanian conditioning and start seeking out the shade instead of the sun.

Lunch with wine in Ljubljana was cheaper than coffee and cake in Villach. Ah Eastern European prices, how I have missed you! The centre of Ljubljana is very small so I was able to see a few interesting bridges, including the Dragon Bridge, before heading back up to the station.

I made the mistake of having a quick iced coffee at the sloth-themed cafe where I had left my bag. As a cafe, it makes a great left luggage office 😖 Then I guessed a platform at random in the station (where there was no information board) and found the Zagreb train at my first attempt. Hooray! But the carriage was full of whiny children watching tablets with no headphones, and one cheerful child watching a tablet with headphones, but doing that thing of speaking really loudly because he has headphones on 😂 I’m anaesthetising myself with red wine, because they don’t have any white left. The stewardess just came round with lollypops for the kids, bless her, so that has given us all a bit of respite.

So now I’m in Zagreb. I like it more than I expected to. It’s lively and friendly and seems safe. I don’t know how anything works, however. Fortunately everyone so far has spoken English. It’s been a very long day, covering four countries, so I’m away to bed.