I found walking around Ljubljana to be very easy when I first got here, which allowed me to get my bearings for where important landmarks and places around the city are located in relation to where I am staying. Nonetheless, while the public transportation system is very easy to use now that I'm used to it, it was very difficult to pick up at first. I was a bit overwhelmed in the beginning, as all of the signs from the bus routes, entrance and exit signs on the buses, such as wait times and how to buy/re-fill bus cards were posted only in Slovenian. It's always a bit difficult getting around somewhere you are unfamiliar with, but doing it when everything is in a different language that you don't understand adds a whole other level of d,ifficulty. One thing in particular that was hard for me to figure out was how to pay when you're on a bus. In most places I've been before, you are able to pay the bus driver in cash. However, in Ljubljana you absolutely have a pre-purchased bus pass. This was frustrating at first, but it does allow for very fast loading and unloading of the buses. Once I was able to figure out how to get one, things went more smoothly.
Slovenians love the outdoors and are very conscious of all of the abundant, beautiful nature in their relatively small country. The environment is a very important thing to their culture as a whole, and that is reflected in the way they choose to get around.
