The start to my 3 week former-Yugoslavic-country adventure began with a hitch hiking excursion and an obsession with the tiny country Slovenia that unfortunately is overshadowed by larger destination spots in the region.

Cherrie and I cycled around the 6.5km/ 4mile lake of the same namesake in the town Bled, pausing for photo ops and coffee- served at a fraction of the hefty Salzburg prices that we’re familiar with. The environment, lush with greens and bird calls, transported us to a place that felt much further than we actually were.

Our hostel was about 2km from the lake and town but we didn’t mind the mini trek as we got to experience the landscape more intimately there. We walked a long, straight, desolate road situated between mountains speckled with evergreens and vast open fields blooming with Spring trees. As lovely and quaint as the area around the lake is, this felt much more genuine to the country as our walk lacked the Swarovski stores and gelato shops that the town boasted.

Parting ways with Cherrie who had to return to Austria for work, I continue on my way by bus to the capital city Ljubljana. Contently on a local bus, my rucksack resting on the seat next to me, my head resting on the window pane, I soak in every street sign, every blooming tree, every passing car heading to a destination of their own. I realize that most things I have never seen before are wholly and intrinsically beautiful for that reason alone; they are a gift to my eyes. I can’t imagine that it is well accepted notion that the motorways of Slovenia are particularly breathtakingly beautiful, but in that moment, on that bus, with that trashy pop song playing on the radio, it was really really pretty.

I made a pit stop in the town Radovljica where, by a stroke of luck in my timing, a festival dedicated solely to the product of gods, chocolate, was taking place. Overwhelmed with cacao, I walked away happy. The town was sweet- both literally and figuratively, and I left with a few too many calories consumed and several old photographs I thrifted at a used book store. Also, there is such a concoction in existence as the “chocolate kebab” which I will refrain from describing because the thought of it alone is enough to give you diabetes.