4 Am

We got off the train in Ljubljana at 2AM to pouring rain. It was real rain, with drops the size of the diamond on my mother's wedding ring. Our fearless leader Amelia was sick to her stomach, trying not to writhe in pain. So it was up to Ale and I to find a way to our hostel 40 minutes away. An older couple from Portland got off the train with us. When they learned where we were trying to go, they were worried. "You can stay in our hotel room if you want". It was really sweet of them. But we weren't scared and were determined to go to our hostel.
We found out that the buses weren't running. So it was either sleep in the bus station or take a taxi. We wandered around the train station until we spotted the little yellow signs that universally mean taxi. The taxis were dark and empty. Next to them I spotted glowing orange circles. The cigarettes the cabbies were smoking. Ale and I walked up to them,
"How much to get to Bled?"
"One euro one kilometer"
"So how much for Bled?"
"ehhhh 65 or 70 Euros"
"No more than 70 Euros?"
"You want fixed price?"
"Yes. Fixed price of 70 Euros."
"ehhh okay."
The cabbies conversed among themselves. The chosen one emerged from the group and led us to his silver Mercedes station wagon. We filled his trunk with out luggage and got in. Ale sat in the front, Mika, Amelia and I in the back. We showed the driver our hostel's address. He nodded and started driving. We were all exhausted but awake. The driver soon made it very clear that he didn't speak English. But he wanted to communicate. I don't know why, it was too early in the morning to be communicating. His greatest effort consisted of:
"Obama gut! Bush nicht gut. Clinton gut!"
We laughed and tried to stay conscious. The signs along the freeway were saying nearby town names. After 25 minutes, Bled appeared. 16 Km away. The driver stopped to get out his "naveegashion" system. While he was out of the car Ale turned around, "Guys I am worried that this is going to be more expensive than we thought. It is already at 89 Euros and we still have 16 KM to go." Before we could reply the taxi driver was back in the car. He continued driving. It was 3 AM by now. I had a headache from being to tired. I hadn't had one of those since school. It wasn't a welcome feeling.Down a dirt road we went. He decided it was wrong and decided to put the address in his GPS.Oh good I thought we'll get there soon. FALSE. He pushed buttons, but he couldn't work his GPS. He pointed to Ale to work it. In Slovenian. Needless to say she couldn't work it either. So we were lost.
The driver decided to turn around and drive down another. He decided that wasn't right so he drove down another. That one wasn't right either. After 15 minutes of being lost and turning around we said "telephone" and communicated that we had the hostel's number. He called the hostel and started speaking. We're going to get there soon I thought again. The driver hung up the phone and drove more. And turned around more. And got lost more.
15 minutes later we had him call the hostel again. He got directions again. He got lost again.
So Ale took his phone and talked to the hostel. Oh wait. The guy on the phone was "f***ing 400 miles away" and had "already given the taxi driver directions twice". He gave Ale the directions again.
So Ale directed our useless driver to the hostel. The taxi meter read 135. Twice the arranged price. We got our bags out and knocked on the door. Nothing. Waited. Nothing. Another door. Nothing. After 5 minutes an old woman stuck her head out the window and pointed to a door. We knocked on that. Nothing. A few minutes later the same old woman opened the door. We were saved. She motioned for us to come in. But we had to pay the taxi driver first. I handed him 75 euros. He was furious. He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote 135 and circled it. We were all furious with him at this point. "No. You got lost. Your fault. We won't pay." He crossed out the 135 and wrote 100. "No. You said 70 Euros." He was not happy. He was yelling in Slovenian.
The old woman motioned for us to come in. She stood in the doorway and talked to the driver. Then a bald man came out. He took over talking to the driver and the woman lead us to our rooms. They were wonderful. And she communicated that we could have breakfast whenever we woke up.
The next day we got up at 11:45. We were downstairs by noon. The old woman had breakfast laid out, and she even made us eggs. I want to move in to that hostel.