I Feel Slovenia! ^^

Why did you choose to go to Ljubljana, Slovenia?

My faculty only had an Erasmus exchange available in three European cities: one in Belgium, one in Italy and one in Slovenia. I always knew that I wanted to be able to go out onto the street of my destination city and it be really obvious that I wasn't in Spain anymore, due to the climate, the language, the countryside and the architecture. I therefore chose the option most different to Spain: Slovenia. I wasn't disappointed.

How long did your exchange last? How much were you paid?

The exchanges last for one or two semesters. You receive your grant in two or three installments, meaning that while you're on your Erasmus exchange, it's not at all easy to calculate how much you can afford to spend per month, but when it comes to an end, you've received more or less 500 euros a month.

You're paid for the first time at Christmas, the second time in March or April and again after you've returned home (in September).

What's the student life like in Ljubljana?

Ljubljana is a small capital city and one full of life. Tens of thousands of students, both Slovenian and Erasmus, fill the streets during the week. Activities are organised, and you'll meet young people everywhere, be it in the beautiful city centre or in the huge Tivoli park.

At the weekends, the city is quieter, since the majority of the Slovenian students go home to their respective towns. Still, you can always go out for drinks or to the cinema.

Would you recommend the city and the University of Ljubljana to other students?

Definitely. The city is very beautiful, and above all, welcoming. It's the capital city, but its relatively small size makes it perfect for getting around on foot. Biking is also a very common mode of transport here, used by young and old. The urban buses run very good services in terms of affordability for students, frequency and punctuality.

In terms of the university, I can say that they'll help you whenever they can to solve your problems, in person or via email. I only have good things to say about the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana, which helped me with everything I needed during my stay of almost ten months.

What's Slovenian food like?

In general, it's pretty good, though this of course depends on your personal tastes. They have some typical dishes such as 'gulash', which are worth trying, as are their delicious desserts and cakes. In any case, the city has lots of international restaurants too, such as Mexican, Italian, Thai, etc. The only difficulty is deciding where to eat!

How did you find your accommodation?

Before I went to Ljubljana I filled out some papers concerning my accommodation and said when I would be able to start paying the rent. It's very likely that as an Erasmus student you'll be given a room in one of the many student halls of residences in the city. Once you've arrived, you should go to Rozna Dolina's office to be assigned your hall of residence and your room.

You have to remember the office's opening hours, which are until 2pm daily if I remember rightly. If you're arriving in the city later than this, you should book a room in a hostel for your first night.

Once you've been assigned your hall of residence, you should make your way there and speak to the concierge, who'll give you your room key, sheets, pillow, etc., and will explain how the washing machine and dryer work.

As in every other city, you can rent a shared flat with other students, but this option is of course more expensive, and you should search for a flat only when you're already in Ljubljana.

What are the accommodation prices like? How high are the prices in general?

The residences have vary varied prices. The cheapest is around 40 euros a month. Some have shared rooms which also share bathrooms and showers with the other rooms on the floor, other have a kitchen, which is also shared.

In your rent, light, water, and internet connection (broadband) are all included. If you're in a residence where the bathrooms and kitchen are shared between the floor, you only need to worry about cleaning your part of the room, since there is a cleaning service that comes to clean the shared areas.

Prices in general are similar to what they are in Spain. There's a notable difference with some things, for better or worse, but it evens out in the end. Obviously, before you buy anything, it's a good idea to look and compare products, and if you can, ask a Slovenian where to buy a particular item so you can find it cheaply.

How are you finding the language? Have you signed up to a language course at the university?

The language is difficult, but if you can speak English, you can use this to get by all over the country. Even the middle-aged supermarket workers will understand you if you speak English, though only basic phrases.

In any case, it's easy to learn basic expressions like 'thank you', 'good morning' and 'see you later'. Living with Slovenians is the best way to learn the phrases you'll need to use everyday.

I didn't go to a language course, but thanks to having a lot of Slovenian friends, I learned to read Slovenian (useful when you're getting a taxi and need to tell them the name of the street you're on) and a few everyday expressions, which I still use sometimes now - they just slip out!

What's the cheapest way of getting to Ljubljana from your home city?

From Alicante, there are various ways of getting to Ljubljana:

• Travel to Barcelona and fly from there to Venice, then get a train to Ljubljana.
• Travel to Barcelona and fly with Adria Airways from there to Ljubljana.
• Travel to madrid (by train or plane) and fly with Adria Airways from there to Ljubljana.
• Fly to London with a low-cost airline and fly from there to Ljubljana.

You can also fly there or get a train there from other cities such as Munich or Vienna.

You have to remember that prices will vary a lot depending on how far in advance you look at them, and the flexibility of dates is also important. Because of this, it's hard to recommend one way of getting there, since the price depends on certain factors.

In any case, I understand the value of not having to get a connecting flight when you're carrying a lot of luggage around with you. Sometimes, then, it can be more worth it to choose a more expensive but direct flight so that you don't waste time waiting for connecting flights (perhaps even including spending the night at the airport).

What are the best places for partying in Ljubljana?

KMŠ and Metelkova are the two most popular places for going out to. They're also cheap and casual/alternative.

The former is a chilled-out club, whose entrance price is one euro. It has two floors: one where they play international pop, rock and Slovenian music, and one with electro music. The drinks are quite cheap, and it closes at 5am. It's near the city centre, ten minutes walk away. It's got a good atmosphere, is open almost every day and usually gets pretty full on Thursdays. During the daytime, it's a bar and cybercafe.

The latter is a group of diverse pubs and little bars with different music styles, congregated around one area. It's quite alternative, and the entrance price is usually entirely free, apart from the occasional times when they have performances on. It's near the train and bus station. It's worth visiting by day too, since it's quite an original-looking place on the outside.

There's also K4 and Bachus (pronounced 'bakus'), which you have to pay to enter and dress up for.

Orto Bar is usually quite rocky, and has free entry. It's slightly further than the train station, past Metelkova.

The Erasmus parties take place on Mondays and Thursdays in Parlament and Compañeros respectively. The former is more a bar to have drinks at, and very small. The latter is better for dancing, though it's not much bigger than Parlament.

Once you're there, you'll also hear about parties at the bunker: don't miss these! The location is so individual, and entrance is usually free. The students organise these parties themselves.

What about eating out in Ljubljana? What are your favourite places?

The first thing I should point out is that Slovenia runs a food coupon system for students. Every month, you can buy a maximum of 20 to 23 coupons (depending on the month). Every coupon costs between one to four euros. There's a list of 150 restaurants around the city who participate in this offer (from kebab stands to Mexican restaurants) which have student menus, and you can use the coupons to pay for your meal in the restaurant.

The menus usually involve a starter/salad, a main meal and a dessert. They're huge portions and very tasty.

My favourite places are:

• Joe Peñas - Mexican food for very good prices. Varied menus, great food and lots of it.
• Lovec - Slovenian and international food for very good prices. The salads are prepared individually.
• Emonska Klet - pizzeria and a daily menu. Huge tasty pizzas. You can choose your own salad.
• Fresco - Italian food, pizzas and a daily menu. Everything great.
• Thai Inn - Thai food for very good prices, and very tasty. Huge portions.
• Novi Sanghai - Chinese food menu, or open buffet (until 4pm)
• Foculus - Italian food, large tasty pizzas, and great salads too.
• Maximarket - mainly Slovenian food, for great prices, large portions and yummy desserts.
• Akčaj (pronounced 'akchai') - Kebab place with a full menu for a great price.

The faculties often have their own restaurants too with delivery service, which is worth bearing in mind: sometimes due to the weather it's quite nice to have dinner delivered to your door.

What does Ljubljana have to offer in terms of culture?

Ljubljana is the capital city, meaning it has numerous museums, expositions and activities on all year round. It's worth visiting a webpage which will tell you what's on each season, such as http://www.visitljubljana.si.

An interesting visit is the house slash museum of the famous Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik. The library building and the city castle are also very interesting.

Do you have any advice for future students coming to Ljubljana?

My first piece of advice would be not to limit yourself to just spending time with other Erasmus students. Slovenians are by nature very hospitable people, always happy to help, and throw a party! It's worth getting to know them, and making friends in the country.

On the other hand, it's worth remembering that Slovenia isn't a third world country, meaning that there are shopping centres and shops where you can buy everything you need. You don't need to schlep everything with you from home.

Another piece of advice would be this: travel around the whole country, since although it's small, it's very charming (Vintgar, Predjama castle, the Škocjan and Postojna caves, etc. ).

Last but not least, not a piece of advice, but a request: 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do. ' Slovenians are generally very clean people, so you won't see bits of paper or empty cans hanging around on the streets. They're usually very respectful people too.