A month in Slovenia
Slovenia ? Where is that? I thought the same thing when I knew I was about to go there. How was I going there before knowing where it is? Truth is, I never imagined going to Slovenia for any reason. Until I was.
I’d like to shout out “BaseballJobsOverseas” for this opportunity. I had heard of this company that helps baseball players play baseball around the world, but I always thought it was a scam. I was playing baseball in Georgia for the “Macon Bacon” for a “breakfast bowl series” against the “Savannah Bananas” when a teammate I had confirmed he knew someone who signed up for an account through BaseballJobsOverseas and went to Europe to play. So I impulsively made an account that night, and within three days I had an offer to go play in Slovenia; and a couple weeks later I was there.
This was during COVID, and I agreed to go back to college for an extra year since I had an agreement with my coach I could stay at home in the fall and do my classes online while I was playing wherever. A very rare occurrence for a college baseball player. I remember I attended a zoom accounting class in the Rome airport on my way there. My coach didn’t even know I was going until after I went actually. He had known I was playing in Georgia but one thing led to another. I figured he’d be happy because I’m finding ways to play. And it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission sometimes.
So I went to Slovenia, my mom had decided to fly with me and go meet one of her sisters in Italy. We landed in Venice and my uncle picked us up and drove us to Slovenia. It was my first time driving across a border, I don’t remember there even being a border control which is crazy. I regret not making my mom stay there with me a couple days so we could’ve had a Slovenian experience. But I was so concerned about playing baseball I wasn’t looking at it like a vacation. But at the end of it, it was. I knew it was once I got to the field. This field was like 200 feet in left field, (which is the size field I played on when I was 12 years old), and like 350 feet in right field. The first practice only had about six guys, a couple were teenagers and a couple were 40 year old dads. I should also add the coach paying me, also was a player. We had beers after practice and they started talking to me about Slovenian tradition and what to expect. A great time but not what I had envisioned to say the least. I signed a contract to play in this post season tournament and I was supposed to be there for six weeks.
I was in Škofja Loka, Slovenia, which was a medieval-esque village about a half hour from the capital Ljubljana. It’s one of the oldest and best-preserved towns in the country. It really does give fairy tale vibes, it was awesome roaming these streets daily. Baseball was minimal as we only practiced twice a week at night, so I had nothing but free time in this random city in Slovenia. I made friends with the guys on the team and usually grabbed a coffee, beer or a joint with one of them at some point in the day. I was staying in an airBnb by myself on the outskirts of the village. It’d only take me 10-15 minutes walking to get into the city center. No one lived in this building, but in the couple weeks I was there a few different parties of people stayed in the rooms next door. I remember this couple of old men that stayed next to me for maybe three or four days. One of them only spoke Slovenian while the other spoke a few languages, and we conversed in Italian. At this point, this was my first abroad experience all by my lonesome, so I’m having a lot of first time experiences. I remember this man had told me never to mention I’m American if I don’t need to because I mentioned I’m Italian American, but he had assumed I was just Italian. He said Europeans don’t like Americans usually, but he wasn’t being rude, it seemed like genuine advice. One afternoon I was about to go for a walk and he was sitting on the bench outside and asked if I wanted to smoke a joint. So I sit down and he lets me roll it and I do and we had a conversation, and then I went on my way into the town. Škofja Loka is very small and quiet town. There was no night life or anything hectic going on. I hadn’t gotten into photography as much yet at that point. There were several castles to visit and the architecture was something out of a movie. Later that evening I remember seeing a restaurant open with a to go window, and I wanted to get some food. I remember trying to make an order with the girl working. I tried in English, then in Italian, and then in Spanish. She looked at me crazy and got her co worker who was an old lady, and I tried again in all three languages, for her to also look at me confused. I ended up leaving with no food that night. When I got back to the Airbnb the man was outside on the bench, and asked if I wanted to smoke another joint before going to bed. He offered if I wanted to roll the joint again and then told me not to roll it “American style” and to mix it with tobacco. My last moments with this man and his friend came the next morning when they were leaving and asked if I wanted to grab a coffee with them before they left, so I did. I remember they ordered some type of clear liquor, comparable to Sambucca, and I had to rip a shot at like 9:30 that morning and then we said our goodbyes.
Unfortunately I don’t remember the names of those men but I do remember some of the friends I made had cool names such as Tevz, Zan, and Ziga. I spent a good amount of time with Tevz and Zan as they showed me around their neighborhoods and we practiced together daily since the field was close to their house. Ziga also showed me a castle of Ljubljana one night where it overlooked the entire city. I remember at the top there was a guy rolling a joint sitting at the edge of the castle so I asked to join and got to share this sesh overlooking the capital of Ljubljana sitting on the edge of a castle. Something that never crossed my mind that I’d ever be doing.
As mentioned earlier, this was peak Covid season, so the schedule for baseball was also being impacted daily. I wasn’t vaccinated so I had to get tested at JFK (for $250, that the team reimbursed, but what a scam).Our first weekend of games got cancelled because the other team couldn’t field enough players. The second weekend got cancelled because of rain. The third week the team imported another American to the team and we lived together. His name was Wiggz. What an interesting teammate, as he was full of energy at all times. He would make random noises consistently and said it regulated his nervous system. It always caught me off guard but it was funny. We had several adventures just the two of us. Such as going to the capital of Ljubljana, and exploring the area of Metelkova which is a self proclaimed free world. Some would consider this sketchy as the locals I mentioned had said so themselves. I’d probably say if you like to smoke you’d love a to take a seat in Metelkova, but if you don’t you’d probably still enjoy a walk through if you enjoy street art, but then you’d keep it moving.
Ljubiana is the capital of Slovenia and is a beautiful city with midevial architecture, and canals, and bridges. There was one bridge called the “Dragon Bridge” with two big dragons at the entrance of it. I found it unique and fasnicating. The castle overlooking the entire city was also another beautiful feature of the city.
Another side mission of this trip was my solo day trip to Lake Bled. Lake Bled is a known lake in Slovenia, where a castle sits in the middle of the lake. I remember being at home and googling things to see in Slovenia and this place popped up, and I told myself if I only see one thing in Slovenia it has to be this. The thing was, I could only get to Lake Bled by bus and it was an hour away, with a pit stop in a city called Kranj. It was a little overwhelming being that I had to take a stop in this city I’ve never heard of while having minimal luck with communicating with the locals. However I went for it, and I’m glad I did. At the end of the day if you have service on your phone you shouldn’t get lost, at least that’s what I think. The switch in Kranj was easier than expected, and I got to Lake Bled no problem. It was as breathtaking as the pictures. I would’ve loved to be there on a hot day so I could’ve jumped into this lake. There was a path around the whole lake that was very enjoyable to walk. I looped the entire Lake, and then took a seat for a sesh overlooking the castle. Definitely one of the most cool, and beautiful spots I’ve got to enjoy a sesh at. From there I continued to venture around until it was late and I got a pizza at a restaurant before taking the bus back to Škofja Loka.
The third weekend there, a COVID outbreak happened and shut down sports again in Europe. So I had gone to Slovenia to play in this tournament, and didn’t even play one game. So it really was a paid vacation, I had 3 more weeks until my return flight from Italy so I went to Italy and stayed with family for the remainder of my trip. I had gone to my uncles in Venice and stayed the last few weeks there. I had texted a few baseball coaches in the Italian league and used the opportunity to work out for a few coaches which then led to my next opportunity a year later in Italy. So even though I didn’t get to play any games this was a crucial trip for helping my continue my baseball career in Europe. Overall this trip was a lot of fun and a great learning experience, and led me to a lot of new opportunities and I still keep in touch with the few friends I made there in case I ever get to pass through again. One thing I took with me from this trip, was there is beauty everywhere in the world, especially in places you didn’t know existed.
Article by JohnnyViaggi