Recently, I took the train, all by myself, for the first time in over 25 years. It was actually a bit tensive for me and took some getting used to.

I’ve taken a train in Slovenia once. We did this for Larsen, who was still young at the time, and had never traveled by train before. We took a short trip from Podhom, where Bine grew up and his parents still lived then. Growing up in the Netherlands, I rarely took the train either. I did take the bus regularly during my studies. Because Larsen and Manca are currently back in the country for a while and like to be mobile, I always lend them my car. They often stay with Manca’s parents, so I’m without a car during that time. Usually, it’s not a big problem because I don’t have to go out by myself that often. But because Bine and I had to go to Ljubljana, and he works in Grosuplje, which is close to Ljubljana, it wasn’t convenient for him to drive home after work, pick me up, and then drive back. I therefor suggested walking to Žužemberk, taking the bus to Ivančna Gorica, and then the train to Grosuplje to then walk to Bine’s work, so we could drive to Ljubljana together.

Yes, that’s how it goes here when you live kind of “in the middle of nowhere” 😊. In our village, a bus runs twice a day: early in the morning around 6 a.m. to take students to Novo Mesto, and in the afternoon, around 3:30 p.m., to bring them back. That’s not much use to me. From Žužemberk, a larger town, there are a few more buses running between Ljubljana and Novo Mesto. But then you have to get to Žužemberk first, which is 5 kilometers from our place. Cycling isn’t really an option here. Cycling to Žužemberk would be possible or me because it’s almost all downhill. But then you have to go back as well, and that’s a different story. I’m just not Primož Roglič or Tadej Pogačar 😉. So I’ll just walk, which is doable.

The bus ride of about 20 kilometers to Ivančna Gorica costed €5.50, one way. The train ticket from there to Grosuplje, a 15-minute ride, I could buy online and costed €2.80. I had 10 minutes between arriving by bus and departing by train, and since it’s a tiny station, this wasn’t a problem at all. The train was already there, but all the doors were closed. Hmmm, strange. I walked over and saw the conductor standing at the front of the train, gestured to the door, and shrugged my shoulders. He gestured back for me to press the button on the door. What do I know? Back then in the Netherlands, the doors were always open when standing on a station, waiting for people to get in and out. So I pressed the button, and indeed, the door opened promptly, accompanied by a series of annoying beeps.

The train looked quite new and was pretty comfortable. There were even power outlets because, well, people need to be able to charge their phones and laptops.

There was hardly anyone there, and I had the compartment to myself. Nice and relaxing. Despite the heat that day, the temperature on the train was pleasant. Station announcements were also made, so I didn’t have to worry about getting off too late or too early. A great experience, but you do need to allow yourself some time.

A week or two later, I drove to Ljubljana in the morning with Larsen and Manca, where both they and I had appointments. However, they wouldn’t be returning until the evening, and I wanted to be home by 1:30 after my appointment. So I took the train to Bine’s work again, this time from Ljubljana to Grosuplje. The fare was the same. Larsen and Manca dropped me off at the train station in Ljubljana, where I bought a ticket.

The train was already waiting, but this time it was an older model. It did also have a button to open the door, though. It was quite hot that day too, but this time it was hot also inside the train. Phew, it either didn’t have air conditioning at all or it was broken. I had to wait about 10 minutes before the train departed, and I was getting increasingly hotter inside. This was also because the train was filling up with a lot of schoolchildren and students. A few windows were open, but that didn’t help. It didn’t really help during the journey either, because during the short journey of about 25 minutes, the train stopped three times and didn’t really gain any speed to let in a nice breeze.

This experience obviously was not as nice as the first one. I’m quite glad I rarely have to use public transport, since we usually each have our own car. A bit of luxury doesn’t hurt, right😉.