Hvala, Slovenia!

How strange to wake up early in the morning in Ljubljana and shop at Trader Joes the same evening in San Francisco! A trip that a mere 100 years ago would probably have taken several months. 

 

So here I am, back home in San Francisco, happy to do my own shopping and cooking and even the summer fog doesn’t dampen the pleasure of returning home after the pleasure of traveling. True to form, it’s my ritual practice to thank the country I’ve left and note what makes it distinctive from my home territory. Both to appreciate it and to remind us that the broadening travel promises can be more than mere novelty. It’s a way to remind us that what we come to believe as the only way a society can be organized in fact is far from the only way. That if we approach it with open minds, we can consider, “Hey, if what is so impressive can happen over there, why can’t it happen over here?” 

Of course, not all practices are simply transferable given the complexity of factors in any given political, social or culture system. But they do remind us when we’re stuck in some toxic systems we’ve inherited that there indeed is another way and if we’re but humble enough to see how others do it better, why, we can as well. So here’s my list of things I noticed were different in Slovenia, from the profound to the whimsical. Some clearly better, some just different, some that can learn something from us. 

 

• Outdoor dining with hundreds of folks enjoying the conviviality of shared food and drink.

 

• Uniformity amongst restaurant prices, the typical entrée 16 Euros. Hard liquor very cheap (2 to 3 Euros), beer and wine 2 to 5, gelato ice cream from 1.80 to 3.50. 

 

• No tipping expected and when you do, rarely more than 10% and usually just a few coins. In only one credit card purchase did I see an option for a tip and the choices were 5% or 10%.

 

• Waiters never brought the bill unless you asked for it. They expect you to hang out a long time.

 

• Pure water from the tap (it’s a law!) and though some countries charge for tap water at restaurants, Slovenia doesn’t.

 

• No privacy little wall in public men’s urinals.

 

• No overwhelming background music in restaurants, but usually something and always with that damn disco beat. But generally not loud enough to be obtrusive. (Still, Slovenia, consider jazz or bossa nova!)

 

• Saw perhaps 5 beggars total in Salzburg and Slovenia and not a single person who was obviously homeless.

 

• Streets and sidewalks in both places immaculately clean, clean, clean.

 

• High taxes, but free education and health care. 

 

• Bike paths and walking paths in both the city and the country.

 

• Beautiful land well-cared for. 

 

And so “hvala!”(thanks!) to Slovenia and its people for being such gracious hosts to these five wandering Americans. Minus the bus in Piran and the obtrusive blasting disco beat in the park in Ljubljana, every day was a grand pleasure. 

 

Long live Slovenia!