Back to tent which had now dried and packed away all the camping gear.
As I was packing a girl from a tent close by came over and asked if I would like a coffee before I go.
They were a young couple from Paris on their three week holiday. She was white and he was from an indian background though of French nationality. It made me feel quite at home to see another mixed race couple. Their names were Stephan, Kristina and they had a large friendly alsatian dog with them called Nara. On ther day before when I had pitched my tent the dog came out from the shade and proceeded to come towards me but it was on a lead. At the time not knowing it was friendly I wondered just how long the lead was going to be , but it turned out that the dog remained some 4-5 metres short of my tent!
Kritina was a PA in Paris, and Stephan was self employed. His family connections with India was from the east side of the country not the west where Savi originates.
Set off for Ljubljana and checked out the location of the Suzuki dealer so I could get the bike serviced in the morning. Looked at the guidebook and decided to try the Alibi Hostel right in the centre of the old town. This was fine and a bed for ther night in an eight bed dorm cost €18 (three girls, two spanish guys and myself)
Went out to find the National Contempary Museum in Tivoli Park which tells the story of Slovinia throughout the 20th Century. Not a good museum from my perspective, it seemed to focus more on the 1914-18 war and the fall of the Austro- Hungarian empire than Tito and communism. Eventually I did find a bust of Tito and a photograph album of all the dignitaries he had met and factories he had opened etc. Difficult to tell but I got a distinct feel that he was still held in some high esteem by the slovinian people even though he did preside over Yugoslavia throughout the communist period. ( Later I learned that this is how Tito is thought of, even though communism was rejected Tito had been a partisan and fought against the Nazis, and throughout the soviet period of influence Tito had managed to keep Yugoslavia as a much more free state than the other eastern european countries behind the iron curtain. The degree of occupation that the Yugoslavian people had incurred over the preceding years made me reflect on just how lucky we were in Britain to be an island.
Later texted Savi and got in touch ( but could not call her directly mobile to mobile for some unknown reason) and realised that June and Franz Kuzma in fact lived some 30km back towards Bled in a place called Hotomaze and I had almost passed through their village in going from Bled to Ljubljana.
Went for a meal in a restaurant recommended in the "In your pocket" guide to Ljubljana I picked up at the hostel that was called "Lunch Box Marley and Me" and had a superb meal of peppered salmon!
Back to bed
More later
TOR
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