Slovenia... our first bad experience in 7 years

[mom]

Hello all!

I just wanted to mention our latest little trip, to Slovenia, 2 weeks ago.  We hadn't expected to be in Slovenia, destined originally for Austria.  But the weather was so bad there that we jumped onto an Internet weather report and followed the sun to Slovenia.  Our first time.  Probably our last!

We had always wanted to go to Slovenia, and so we arrived unexpectedly and unprepared, but in high spirits.  We found the Bled and Bohinj area absolutely wonderful, except for one thing.  Perhaps we were unlucky!, but I got an immediate feeling that in every conversation, the minute someone realised we were English, we weren't welcome.  It wasn't paranoia, though at that point I was willing to consider that I was just imagining it.  We both noticed it, though. 

The other thing I noticed was the intense hunger for the euro.  Campsites were quite expensive, we had to buy a motorway vignette at 35 euros, minimum period 6 months when we needed it for only a few days with minimal travel on motorways, and every action we performed seemed to cost money. 

We were driving along the shore of Lake Bohinj, for example, and pulled over into a stopping bay which had a bench seat looking onto that most beautiful lake.  We made some plates of salad and sat mesmerized by the beauty in front of us.  Along came a warden, who was about to fine us until we convinced him we were on our way in 5 minutes.  There was no warning, no signs, it was a man-made stopping area.  I could see no other reason for the effort of creating that gravel stopping area, except to stop!  And use the bench seat to admire the lake.  The guy who parked next to us and had gone for a walk, got a fine!

Next up, Ljubljana.  We enjoyed a lovely day wandering around, went to the market, had a seafood lunch (which was hideously expensive for a plate of nothing, but anyway!), we still stayed in high sprints.  Got back to the van.  Clamped!  In 7 years of exploring most of the western, central and several eastern European countries, we've always parked carefully and never been fined or clamped.  After an hour finding the clamping office, and having it explained to us that we had parked in a permit-only street, we tried to explain the situation to the clerk.  We told him that there was a parking meter right at the space we had parked in, and we displayed the ticket properly.  Not interested.  When I asked him "why the meter" if it is permit-parking, he had no answer. We told him that there were no symbols or obvious signs explaining to a visitor that this was a permit-only street.  Not interested.  We explained that a fellow Slovenian lady had advised us that it was ok to park in that street.  Not interested.  I asked him if many tourists were being clamped in Ljubljana.  "Oh, lots and lots!", was his gleeful reply.  He was actually happy about it.  "Don't you think that might be a problem for future tourist development in Slovenia?", I went on.  He replied with "you should be thankful you weren't towed away". 

At this point our high-spirits left us.  We know defeat when we see it.  We paid 35 euros (could have been worse), then walked back to the van to await the un-clamping guy.  That was when things turned bad!  My dearest was pointing at the car of the lady who'd advised us it was ok to park there (she'd been clamped as well!!) when I noticed another car pull in behind us. We were in the first parking bay in the row, and anyone who parked too close behind would have prevented us from getting out.  And of course there wasn't a spot to park there anyway.  I jumped out of the car to ask them to keep their distance, and the husband passenger jumped out of the car and began a tirade in broken English.  "You English", he started, "you come to our country and steal our parking places".  He pointed to his permit in the car window.  "You must not park there, we have paid, you haven't...." and so on.  I started to speak, to apologise, to explain that we didn't know, and say we'll be off once the un-clamping guy arrives.  "I don't want to listen to your excuses", he went on, refusing to allow me to finish any sentence.  It was amazing, bordering on frenzied and crazed, as he put his hands over his ears to stop me talking and went on and on loudly about once visiting England and hating the English!   Of course this only served to confirm our earlier suspicions!  By this time I was standing behind our van, at a distance enough to allow us to back out, trying to physically stop his wife from parking at our bumper.  They were trying to block us deliberately.  I truly couldn't believe it!!  There were several other available parking spots 30 feet away!!!  "You must move, now", he kept repeating.  "I can't, I'm clam...", and he would interrupt me with "I don't want to know your excuses".  At this point, his wife was now on her mobile phone to the authorities, making big hand motions as she dialed.  It was weird!!!

I then got my dearest to bring over the clamping notice that had been taped to our side window, and held it up.  He read it, then restarted his tirade. Then he stopped abruptly and read it again.  I motioned him towards our front wheel.  That shut him up, finally.  He then spent 10 minutes trying to calm his wife and convince her to hang up!  My guess is she was attempting to have us clamped!  She would, of course, have to wait in line.

Eventually we were unclamped, and left after taking "quite a long time" to get those pesky satnav co-ordinates just right!  I will never forget us driving away, still hearing the tirade go on behind us!

We headed down to the Slovenian coast, stayed there a night, now noticing at all times a background level of dislike whenever we spoke,and then decided enough was enough and headed for Switzerland and the time of our lives in Ticino and the Bernese Oberland.  I have no doubt that we have allowed our bad experiences to "tar all with the same brush", and that at some point along the way we passed an emotional "point of no return", but eventually you have to call it quits and get on with something better.

Our first truly negative experience abroad.  In a country we wanted so much to visit.  Sad.  Goodbuy Slovenia!

Notes on Slovenia:
Countryside in the National Parks is beautiful.  On balance, a lovely country to visit.
Fuel is very cheap
A vignette is now compulsory for the main roads, 35 Euro for 6 months
This from the clamping clerk... only ever, ever, ever park on white parking lines.  Not blue, not yellow.  Only white!  Yellow is 15 - 30 mins and many get fined for going over.  Blue is permit only, despite lack of signage or the apparent availability of meters.
Most car parks have barriers or are underground.  By mid morning, in Ljubljana, there are no parking spaces available, anywhere.
Coffee is excellent.  This is important to us ;-))
Market and supermarket food is really cheap.  Eat in.  Eating out is expensive, and not value for money.
Signs to sights and features like waterfalls etc are unlikely to explain the full extent of the walk or climb ahead.  Very little is free viewing, you always have to pay someone something as you pass Go.

[catinou]

You poor things, how awful for you to experience all that. Contrast with our recent visit to Italy - we parked by mistake in a residents blue lined parking area within the walls of Lucca. When I approached a local policeman to check if we were OK to park for a couple of hours, he was very kind and helpful whilst explaining that we shouldn't, and directed us to the best place to park, insisting we park on the left side of the road - "to keep in the shadow" - very welcome tip when it was 34 degrees at the time. B-)

 

Note to self - keep visiting Italy and avoid Slovenia like the plague >:-)

[panagah]

Well it's strange really. I want to be sympathetic, and am but can't help thinking the only thing you have taught me is that I ought to check out parking arrangements before I go somewhere I havent been.

 

If you parked on my permit only spot that I had paid x ammount of pounds for then I would be annoyed too. If this was a common problem then I would be more annoyed and I too would telephone the authorities to have you moved.

 

In this country as Im sure you know, everybody either claims to be parked correctly or it was an injustice I was only going to be 5 mins, so the chances are whatever you were saying ot the guy he had heard a 1000 times before.

 

Im glad you enjoyed the rest of hte experience and thanks for sharing it.

[chas]

Hi mom- Sorry to hear of your ordeal in Slovenia, and putting parking problems to one side, it does make me wonder of this intolerance to the British. Is Slovenia not the same country that our troops had to try and rescue from genercide a few years ago and help feed them save them eating grass ? Perhaps this irate motorist had a bad experiance in England down at the local Social Sucurity centre >:-( Glad you enjoyed the rest of your holiday anyway. chas

[mom]

Yeah, you're right Panagah.  Deep down I know, and I agree totally.  I'd be a little miffed if roles were reversed.  But our experiences exploring most of the rest of Europe, including northern Poland and the Baltic countries, tells me that people can be nicer and more understanding about things if they want to.

 

What we did do, while motoring down towards Slovenia, was look in the 2008 Caravan Club Europe book.  It mentioned white and yellow lines.  Not blue.  So we had made "some" attempt, I guess. 

 

I think it was the package of things that got to us.  A charge at every turn, a feeling of being disliked, nearly fined, clamped, mislead by informational signs.  And what I didn't mention, actually, was motorist aggression.  It was described in Lonely Planet as "Aggressive, yet courteous drivers" or words to that effect.  Very aggressive driving, so that is also something to be aware of. 

 

Oh, and one last thing, not a complaint, but a note... their roundabouts are like the old French ones... cars entering the roundabout have right of way.  Takes a little bit of getting used to!

 

[colin]

chas - 2008-10-01 2:47 PM

Is Slovenia not the same country that our troops had to try and rescue from genercide a few years ago and help feed them save them eating grass ?

 

No Slovenia was the country we offered no assistance to during it's fight for independance, in fact we told them that we prefered to deal with Slobodan Miloševic, so maybe some lingering dislike?

[libby]

We have two Australian friends who cycled through that area this year. They were thought to be English many times and were scowled at.

 

We won't get much support for the Eurovision song contest then !

[mom]

I'm actually Australian, believe it or not.  And yep, they thought I was English.  Sounds like the scowling is not just my imagination! 

 

Also, I was reading on another forum earlier today that others have already formed opinions that Slovenia is a tourist trap for Euros. 

 

 

[Usinmyknaus]

Sounds like we need to be more selective as to who we let in the EU......... ;-)

 

Bob

[Brambles]

Hi Mom,

sorry to hear of your experience re parking.

We were there this summer but tend to avoid the real tiorist spots - e,g bled. Although did go to Lubjiana and northish of there. Maybe the places you went people are not so tolerant, but we found everyone extremely friendly and helpful.

 

Re the Vignette for main roads - I should point out and clarify you only need a vignette for the Motorways. Failry easy to avoid although a little extra planning required and use of maps.

 

 

[Guest peter]

Don't feel too bad, the Slovenians don't like anybody, particularly the Austrians. They gave them a real bad time when the Winter Olympics were held in Kranska Gora. I've heard the French don't go much on us either but the ones we've met have been very friendly. Don't let one bad parking experience colour your perception of a whole country.