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For the first time in the trip we woke to the sound of rain, we should count ourselves lucky that it has taken until day 46 for this to happen. Today we were heading to Ljubljana in Slovenia which required a bus to Villach, Austria to connect with the train. There was an option of an overnight train the whole way but as we've discovered, it may double as nights accommodation but can leave you exhausted for the following day.
We took the camp shuttle back into Venice which actually drops you off at the Tronchetto Island bus terminal, more of a bus car park than anything else. Perhaps it's a work in progress as there is no interior areas to wait in, just a little marquee next to the bus stop and a small yellow timetable which assured us we were waiting in the right place. With the wind and rain pelting down we decided to take cover under an adjacent walkway while we waited for our 11:20am bus.
Our Eurail tickets got us a First Class seat on the bus, an interesting experience for bus travel. Big leather seats that recline much further than normal, self service tea/coffee/juice and plenty of room. The bus ride took us through the Southern Limestone Mountain range on the boarder of Italy and Austria where we watched the scenery turn to a brilliant Christmas fairytale, it started snowing. The view out the window truly looked like a Christmas snow dome had been shaken up. At 2:50pm we pulled into the train station at Villach, right on schedule, and made our way onto the connecting train due to leave at 3:10pm. We literally walked less than 50m from bus to train.
This is where the smooth travel day ended. We were soon advised that the train would be delayed by 30-40mins due to the heavy snow, not long after this we were advised that the train was cancelled and a replacement bus would be arriving out front. The conductor was about to have a really bad day. It's amazing how quickly some people can assign blame, as if the conductor was in some way responsible for the heavy snow that had blocked the tracks further on. He did his best to answer questions as patiently as possible (and in more than one language), we had to admire his ability to do this with so many self-important people demanding to know when the tracks would be cleared. He was going to ride the bus with us to the nearest connecting train station which was about an hour away, he wasn't leaving anyone stranded.
As we went passed another station the bus filled up as more trains were cancelled and more buses were scrambled to ferry people along, to us this was simply adding to our experience and giving is wonderfully scenic bus ride through the snowy hills. We finished the bus ride at a station, can't recall the name, and the conductor set about finding out where people needed to end up, when the train would be here and what further connections they'd need. Those bound for Ljubljana on platform 2 at 6pm, about 45mins from now. Unfortunately he was still being hassled by some passengers who were unhappy about this disruption and he finally cracked. We don't speak Slovenian but we think his hand gestures were clearly saying "I've escorted you to the nearest station, found out about the trains for you, do you think I caused the snow? i have to find my way home too you know!" He had earned the right to this little vent.....
We chatted with an Aussie girl trying to get to Zagreb, which was no longer possible today, and an older Canadian man going to Ljubljana on a whim with no place to stay. A few hostels would be taking late bookings tonight.
Fortunately the walk from the train station to the hostel in only about 800m, however in the dark and pouring rain it took us a little longer than it should've. We walked with the older Canadian man, at least then he'd have a starting point to finding accommodation, but the last thing we heard after we'd checked in was the lady saying to him "sorry we are completely full". With 21 Hotels, 13 Hostels and a number of B&B's in Ljubljana we're sure he would've found a bed soon enough.
We're staying at Hotel Park, essentially a hotel with a number of floors dedicated to Hostel type accommodation, our Private room being in the hotel section as it has an ensuite but still only €25 a night each. After todays adventure all that was left to do was eat and sleep, which we did in quick succession.
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