Thursday, May 7, 2026
Route: Salzburg, Austria → Ljubljana, Slovenia → Sedra Holiday Resort, Croatia

The road trip began with optimism, which is always dangerous.

Daniel and I were leaving Salzburg and starting the big drive south. Up to this point, much of the trip had involved trains, flights, cruise ships, taxis, and other forms of transportation where someone else was at least pretending to be in charge. Now it was just us, a car, a map, and the kind of confidence that comes from not yet knowing what the roads will do to you.

Provisioning for the Road

Before leaving, we did what all responsible road-trippers do. We provisioned. Snacks, water, bags, charging cables, and enough miscellaneous items to make the car look organized for approximately 18 minutes.

Daniel looked at the back seat.

“Looks good.”

“It will never look this good again,” I said.

A Parking-Garage Puzzle in Ljubljana

We left Salzburg and headed toward Slovenia. The drive to Ljubljana was smooth enough, and by the time we arrived, the city felt like a perfect first stop. Ljubljana has a relaxed charm that does not try too hard. It has bridges, a river, cafés, old streets, castle views, and dragons on the Dragon Bridge, which is frankly a strong choice for civic branding. Some cities use flowers. Ljubljana uses dragons. Respect.

We wandered through the center, enjoying the old town and the Ljubljanica River. It was the kind of place where you can walk without needing a strict plan. One bridge leads to another. A narrow street opens into a square. A café appears exactly where your feet think one should be. It felt friendly and easy, which was a nice way to begin the road trip.

Naturally, we still managed to create a small crisis.

The parking ticket was in the car.

The car was inside the parkade.

We were outside the parkade.

This meant the parking ticket, suddenly the most important object in Slovenia, was unavailable.

Daniel looked at the locked entrance.

“So how do we get back in?”

“We wait for someone smarter than us.”

That became the plan. We stood near the door with the casual posture of people who definitely knew what they were doing, while waiting for someone else to open it. Eventually, someone did, and we re-entered the parkade with the quiet dignity of men rescued by another person’s competence.

After walking around a bit more and enjoying ice cream, we continued south toward Croatia and Sedra Holiday Resort. This was our staging point for Plitvice Lakes the next day, which made us feel like mature planners again. Nothing restores confidence like arriving somewhere before total darkness.

Pool, Played Badly

That evening, we played pool.

This sounds harmless, but it quickly became clear that neither of us had maintained our skills over the last 30 years. There was a lot of aiming, some hopeful silence, and several shots that seemed to surprise both the players and the balls.

Daniel lined up a shot.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” I asked.

“I remember being better at this.”

“That is not the same thing.”

A few balls went in. Many did not. Some traveled with purpose. Others appeared to be exploring. It was less a game of pool and more an archaeological study of former ability.

Still, it was the perfect first night of the road trip: Slovenia, ice cream, a parking-garage puzzle, a drive into Croatia, and a game of pool played by two men whose memories had exaggerated their talent.

The road trip had begun.

Not smoothly.

But properly.