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Slovenia
Slovenia is a small country with ca. 2 million inhabitants. Lying south of Austria and north of Croatia it is geographically in the border zone between East and West and is a member of the EU. In 1991 Slovenia broke away from Yugoslavia as the first domino. Compared to the later dramas in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo it was rather peaceful and with little bloodshed - probably because 90% or more of the inhabitants are Slovenians. As a traveller you don't experience "southern disorder". Public transportation has a good standard and leaves on time. Toilets aren't (like further south) a hole in the ground, things look neat and prosperous and you're treated with honesty and kindness. Prices are kind to tourists. When Slovenia was a Yugoslavian republic prices were ridiculously low. In 1995 (when independent) we experienced that prices had gone sky-high - 75-80% of the Danish level. In 2002 things were cheap again compared to Denmark, probably due to heavy inflation and a weaker currency. But this is now history - Slovenia has joined the EU and adopted the Euro, so prices will soon climb to EU level. Most young people speak English, whilst older people speak better German. The Slovenian language is very difficult - and the grammar in particular. For instance you don't have just one form for the plural - it depends on how many (Thanks to Bogdan Glumac, Ljubljana, for helping me with this!):
On the links page you can find pages/sites with more facts about Slovenia.
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