I don't know what it's like in other parts of the world, but in Europe there is a thing where everyone who is under 25 years old is deemed a student and has a free or discounted entry to most museums. Keeping that in mind, one would be a fool not to take advantage of that opportunity. Some time ago, I joined my sister on a visit to the Koper Regional Museum. As it was a Sunday, the museum was open for a very short period of time, and we got there an hour before closing, which resulted in us walking around an empty museum, free to our own will.

The exhibits held artifacts from the age of Ancient Rome, to the Benetian Republic, Austrian monarchy... There is also a small music hall and an exhibit dedicated to the life and work of Giuseppe Tartini, a well known italian violinist and composer, who was born in the slovenian city Piran. The liberty of walking around an empty museum made the usually relatively bland experience very unique and worthwile. To top it all off, that day was the first sunny day of spring, which meant hot sun shining down, bees buzzing around, and raspberry and bourbon vanilla ice cream.

Afterwards, when I returned home I went through all the pamphlets I acquired at the museum and stumbled upon another very pleasant surprise. On one of said pamphlets was a list of certain museums in Slovenia and Italy. Among those was the natural park of the Miramare castle, a thing I've been constantly saying I must visit, but never got around to actually doing it. The magic that this piece of paper holds is the reduction of the price of the ticket to 1€, so long as you visit another museum within 20 days time and show your ticket at the ticket counter. Guess where I went next?

Have you rediscovered your home town recently?

x, Valens

Travelling is a beautiful thing. We spend hours getting to different ends of the world with different cultures and traditions in hopes of relaxation and/or adventure, to further recognise parts of ourselves we never knew existed. As Marco Polo in Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities said:

Thus a traveller returns home with new experiences and great new memories, which affect their everyday life by changing their point of view and teaching them to be more open and accepting to differences. However, in order to do and become that person, one doesn't necessarily have to travel far; very often it is the things that we pass everyday that hide beauty. There is a thing that many inspire to do: being a tourist in your own city. 

A couple of days ago, I accompanied my sister to Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital city. I had been in this city before, but I never got to see all of it. Because my sister had errands to attend to, and it was a beautiful day, I found myself free and full of energy in the very centre of the city. Thus, I grasped the opportunity and explored it. I had a great time; I saw beautiful buildings, found many antique bookshops, found new photo spots and got to explore the interior of the National and University Library - the largest library in Slovenia.

So I encourage you to go out and take advantage of the place you live/work/spend a lot of time in. Take note of the little things, have some coffee in a cafe you've never been in, but most of all, learn to take joy in little things.

Below are some photos I took whilst in Ljubljana.

x, Valens