Nova Gorica & Solkan

On my last full day here spent my day in Slovenia for a change. I visited the Kostanjevica monastery which is south of here on a hill (the white building). You may remember from my previous blogs that that is where the last French king is buried as well as a few other French royalty. Then went to the railway station, which is a very elaborate building , in front of which was where the border fence once stood. Then went to Solkan, a village/suburb that predates Nova Gorica and is north of here near the Soca river. I went part way on a new bike track that follows high above the river. Very picturesque and a change from all the towns.

As you will see from the photos, Nova Gorica is not very scenic. But it's functional and it's sits in a very pretty area. I also like that it has plenty of places to sit in the shade and that it's not busy plus it's made for cycling with cycling paths everywhere. It's a university town and also a gambling one. Most of the big hotels, including the one I am staying in, have a casino. Their main purpose appears to be to collect donations to the Slovenian economy from Italians. The Chinese also seem to be getting into the act based on the number I have seen here. They are particularly interesting at breakfast; they eat as if they haven't eaten for a week. I have breakfast around 7.30 and I was surprised on my first day here the number of people not heading for breakfast but the poker machines. Also in this hotel you can open the windows, at least part way, which is unusual. However, this afternoon a pidgeon decided to perch on the sill, I tried to scare it away but it kept bagging its head on the window. Finally, it took a few minutes to think about it and worked out the way to go to avoid any further concussion.

The other day I had problems trying to find a place to eat. The first place was closed even though its notice in the window said it' was supposed to be open. The second place didn't open until 7pm even though its website said 6pm. And the place I did eat at, cleverly hid its restaurant behind its cafe. But that was not enough to stop me, I found it as I was desperate by this stage.

Also I like the way they do roadworks here. None of these barriers and men with stop signs, OH&S etc. No time for that. Here there is a no nonsense approach; if people can't see big trucks laying asphalt in the middle of the road then that's their problem. No pandering to knuckleheads here.

And here are the photos from today...