Hamburgers and hot wine from Ljubljana, Slovenia street vendors

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This was largely a day off in Ljubljana, Slovenia for Masayo and I – a day off that resulted in some cabin fever as we sat around in our guesthouse room all day, but one that ended in a very cheerful dinner out in the festive Christmas atmosphere surrounding the Ljubljanica River. My blood sugars had some bright spots but I had some very high readings that were quite… regrettable.

My pre-breakfast reading was 150 mg/dL; we walked outside to a nearby cafe for breakfast. I had a brownie with coffee, and we split a large plate of fruit. I took my Humalog through my Bluff Works pants under the table into my leg, thinking to myself, I bet this brownie has more carbs than I suspect.

Then it was back to the hostel. Although we had managed to use a washing machine for a few of our clothes recently in Balatongyörök, Hungary, we hadn’t properly washed everything in a machine on the entire trip; we’ve just been using our Scrubba laundry bag. (I haven’t washed my outer cotton shirts since Warsaw, Poland – they take too long to dry!)

So since VIva Rooms has a washing machine and a drier we decided to take a day off, wash everything except a thin layer to wear around the room, and spend the day relaxing and (for me) catching up on some t1dwanderer.com blogging work. The machines cost €5 each to use, an expense I found annoying (we budget travelers must watch every cent), but on the plus side the girl behind the hostel desk said she’d do the actual work for us and charge us when we checked out.

I love hostels. You can have your indulgent resorts; give me proper humanity at its best.

Without enough layers to go out and face the Slovenian cold we stayed in the room. There’s a window so we didn’t go too crazy, but we were getting restive by the afternoon.

At 2:30 pm I checked my blood sugar to see how the brownie had treated me. Not well; I was 248. Masayo offered to go back to the breakfast cafe down the street and buy quiche for us to eat in the room.

She returned with the food booty and I took a Humalog shot that would a) take care of the 248, and b) handle the quiche. It was b) that was the hard part – I had no idea what carbs were lurking in this tasty looking snack. So I guessed.

As soon as our laundry was finished we wanted to go outside, and it seemed to take hours. Finally though a knock came – it was ready. And not only clean and fresh (despite the strong mildewy smell that emanates from the laundry space in the Viva Rooms hallway) but the girl had folded everything nicely and even paired our socks together.

So we put on some nice, warm, clean clothes and headed, finally, outside, after the hostel girl suggested we try some hot mulled wine outside. It was already dark, and as yesterday Ljubljana was enjoying another explosively festive Christmas market with vast lighted decorations and music and food by the famous bridges of the Ljubljanica River.

Masayo and I strolled down to the Dragon Bridge, one of the more well-known symbols of Ljubljana: a short bridge over the narrow and manageable river that has small but fierce-looking green dragon statues on the corners. Like the Lion Bridge back in Osaka.

While outside I checked my BG and was pleased that I had handled the quiche perfectly: I was 99 at 5:30 pm and got a nice diabetes travel-themed photo of me and my meter amongst the convivial river scenes.

Masayo, surprisingly, was the one to suggest that we indeed get some mulled wine. She never drinks alcohol (in fact, even a small amount makes her instantly sleepy) and I rarely drink wine. But at Christmas time in Slovenia amidst the happy, bundled-up crowds of merry people and cheerful street stalls – what choice do you have?

I got a cup of red wine, and Masayo got white. It was excellent – hot enough to fight off the cold air, sharp enough to snap you to attention, and cinnamony and sweet. I ended up drinking half of Masayo’s, but she’d done pretty well.

The wine had, unsurprisingly, made Masayo sleepy and she wanted to go back to the room. We did, and then she said she didn’t feel like going back out for dinner.

So I offered to walk back to the Christmas market and get some hamburgers: at a large and busy stall some guys were frying up gigantic burgers in big toasted pita-like buns for €7 each. They were covered in onions too, and the steam and scent rising from the grill was intoxicating. Two please!

I also stopped by a cafe to get a cupcake for Masayo and I to split, plus a big bottle of ultra-cheap sparkling water.

If you’re diabetic then you’ll know that a day of up and down blood sugars, capped off by a large hamburger, wine, and cupcakes is a recipe for mayhem. While the burger was fantastic – as spicy and delicious as you’d hope – and the cupcake scrumptious, my Humalog shot back in the room proved pitifully inadequate and I ended the day on a bad number.

I checked at 11:00 pm and was 293. Oh, 293, you hateful old number. I took some corrective Humalog, then my usual Lantus shot, and hit the sack.

Tomorrow will not be a day in – we want to get out and see more of Ljubljana which we still haven’t done yet. If my blood sugars are ok tomorrow it will make it that much better. But even if not, I’m loving the capital of Slovenia so far. What a great trip this is!

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