My Camino
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Part 1 - Underpants & Shampoo
Introduction | Before Leaving | Hungary to Slovenia
Hungary to Slovenia
THE JOURNEY BEGINS
We set off on the 11th of July from Gyula, the city where I live - only a few streets away from Gábor. Andi, Csaba and Gergő arrived the day before, and spent the night at my place. We get up at about 8 in the morning to find my mother has taken charge of packing the car. It’s stuffed with our baggage and what seems like vast amounts of food. I’m immediately worried there may not be room for the passengers.
Do you remember the last time your parents said something sensible? Do you think they can remember the last time you said something sensible??
I think people are always afraid of starvation, that’s why they buy too much food before leaving. Okay, add to this that, as my mother said... “For Hungarians, it’s rather expensive to subsist in countries like Italy or France, and if we can buy the food for a cheaper price, why not do that?” Sometimes my mother and father’s logic is indisputable!
By the way, you can see my Dad in this picture. He’s got his hand up to his face and looks like he’s crying. He must be sad to see us go ;) NOT!!
AND WE’RE OFF!!!!
It’s quite a warm day and we are grateful that our Skoda has super-deluxe air-conditioning technology, i.e. pulling your socks off!!
It takes hours of driving through the Great Plains of Hungary (mostly flat farming land) before the hills of Transdanubia indicate we’re making progress towards the Slovenian border.
Only Gábor and myself have driving licences, so we will always be in the front seats, leaving Csaba, Andi and Gergő squashed-up in the back. I wonder how long they will be able to cope with that.
SLOVENIA
At last we’re in Slovenia 
- a small country, considered by some to be the pearl of Europe. I’d never been to this country even though it’s a neighbour of Hungary and it came as a pleasant surprise. The scenery is beautiful, the roads very good, the people cheerful. We don’t spend too much time there but I want to return at one point.
Here you can see Gábor and Csaba performing their Dance of Joy – to celebrate our arrival. Or are they practicing their karate?
Why do you think the ‘pilgrims’ were so anxious to help the little old lady? Would you have helped her like that? Would you have been so happy to help her home if she’d lived twenty miles away? Would you have accepted the strawberry juice?
When we arrive in the outskirts of Ljubljana, the capital, we stop and ask an old lady where the city centre is. She doesn’t speak Hungarian or English so we try German and she does her best to reply. Andi notices that the lady has just been to the supermarket and is almost sinking under the weight of the plastic bags containing some heavy bottles of various juices. We offer to help her with them and walk her down a street to her home. She’s very grateful, and offers us a bottle of strawberry juice. Being polite and well brought-up Hungarians (wink) we tell her that we don’t expect a reward but she insists and we eventually relent. It was the best strawberry juice I ever tasted.
LJUBLJANA
We cross the bridge over the river, with weeping willows lining its banks. The city centre is attractive. But wait, there’s a small passage here, let’s go through that. Oh, it’s a miracle! The river’s two banks, with numerous cafés and an endless yet not too hectic flow of young people.
Small spotlights and candles reflect on the water. It’s excellent. The city’s ‘totem’ animal is the dragon, we can see the sculptures of four bronze dragons on one of the bridges.
We find a open-air tavern and settle down for a much-welcomed cold drink.
WE'RE DEFINITELY NOT IN HUNGARY ANY MORE.
It’s an interesting time when you find yourself in a new country. The language you hear around you is unfamiliar and often unintelligible.
It’s a feeling I find exciting – I might even say exhilarating but I also have to confess that sometimes it’s daunting. I am so aware that there are many miles to go before we get to Spain. In terms of actual distances it’s about the same as someone in England travelling to North Africa.
We’ve had a really good start but what will the rest of the journey have in store for us? We’re on the road – in our own private road movie – to who knows what!
End of Part 1. Back to the Main menu.
LINKS
Part 1: Introduction | Before Leaving | Hungary to Slovenia