Today an interview with Jost Derlink, Spotter for our Ljubljana Cityblog. Our youngest Spotter with 18 years old, but one of the most experienced!
Tell us about you!
Of course we have to start with the hardest question :). OK let me try.
This year I finished my beloved high school and started with studying landscape architecture. Thinking about the fact that I became student still gives me creeps but I’ll get use to it…eventually.
In my dream world where a day would have more than just 24 hours I would add to my studies French and ethnology, but hey! You can’t have it all! I couldn’t survive a day without music. Bossa nova helps me to get through cold and rainy days, Slovenian ethno music takes care that I don’t forget my origin and on the other side indie rock or electronic tells me that I’m still enjoying my youth. When I have an inspiration and of course the time, I also make music and you can listen to some of my songs on www.myspace.com/rumenibonboni.
Whenever I can, I like to travel. For me, Couchsurfing and Spotted by Locals are 2 of the best things you can find on Internet! I think that trains are great, you can travel with some comfort, but hitchhiking is perfect. Meeting new people when you hitchhike is as great experience as getting to your destination.
Do you like being a Spotter?
I like my city and I like telling others about it. So being a spotter is perfect for me. I decided to sign up for a spotter with the same reason as I decided to become a Couchsurfer. 2 years ago, when I was in Brussels I had no idea what to do. I felt so lost and didn’t know any local. When I came home I found out for Couchsurfing and about year latter I started to write for Spotted by Locals.
Thanks to Brussels I started to do something that really makes me happy and if it would be possible this would be a perfect job for me. Sometimes it’s hard to find the time for update the articles, especially now, when I’m still a bit lost at the university, but it’s all worth it when someone tells you that he likes your spots. Of course I got a few negative responses but it’s normal that everybody doesn’t have the same taste.
About a month ago I got a mail via CS from one Mexican. I taught that she needs a place to sleep, but she just wanted to tell me that my articles are great. It felt so nice to hear that from someone from the other part of the globe. That was the moment when I realized there are other people beside my friends that read my articles!
Why Ljubljana?
Sometimes I ask myself what I would think about Ljubljana, if it wasn’t my hometown. I don’t know. Maybe I would say that it’s too small or that the traffic is bad, but because I live here since the beginning I see it different. I like that everything in the center is in walking distance. And bad traffic makes me use my bicycle and that’s good for my health right? You see how Ljubljana takes care of me 😉
I like that the city is big enough to (almost always) have something to do, but small enough to have it in control. I also don’t know how this is possible, but Ljubljana is always beautiful. Not just on a cliché sunny day in the old part, but also in the rain, when it’s snowing, when you are driving through the suburbs, when you are on a concert in an old industrial hall… It’s a city with a spirit, sometimes really melancholic but when you at least expect and you have a bad day it can cheer you up.
When you are in Ljubljana you shouldn’t hurry too much! Take it easy (uzem si ga na izi). I hate it when someone comes to Ljubljana just for a day and then leaves because it’s not much to see, but in Ljubljana sightseeing is not the point. You should sit down for hours and drink your coffee, beer, wine etc and enjoy in the sun or watching people go by.
Every visitor in Ljubljana wants to go to the castle and that’s quite normal, regarding the spectacular view from the top. But please…don’t go with the “train” or the funicular… it’s only a 5 minutes walk through the forest and fresh air is good for you.
No tourist will ever know where the best hitch spots in Ljubljana are. But if we are talking about travelers and not tourists in big groups and a guide with an umbrella (how I hate those umbrellas) it get’s more difficult. They are almost like detectives and we (spotters) help them by revealing our secrets.
What’s the most popular neighborhood in Ljubljana?
The most popular neighborhood always was and always will be the Center. It has the best bars, restaurants, clubs, galleries etc. Center is the heart and soul of Ljubljana. You can see that on our page – almost everything is in center and barely any spot outside the inner ring.
But I think that Šiška is becoming a nice place to live. Especially now, when we got Kino Šiška, a new center of urban culture (article coming soon).
What’s the perfect Ljubljana day for you?
I would start my perfect sunny and summer day in Ljubljana with a morning coffee in Činkole. We spent so many nice moments there during high school breaks. After morning coffee I would check SEM or National Gallery…I have been there for a gazillion times but I could never get tired of them.
I can only wish that one of former exhibitions in SEM about Slovenian traditional music, which ended before I found the time to check it (arghh!) would become a permanent exhibition. At lunch time I would check the menu at Lunch café. I really like this one. Although I wish they repainted walls inside.
Because it’s a perfect day it would stay sunny all day long and I would take my red blanket and go with my friends to Tivoli park and buy some ice cream on the way. Latter on we would go and watch a movie in Kinoteka…but this time it wouldn’t be in Japanese with Serbo-Croatian subtitles!
For a drink after the film we would walk through the old town and go to Pri Zelenem zajcu and at around midnight there would be somewhere in the center ( Metelkova or Orto bar) an 80’s music party or on even more perfect day I would have a concert somewhere.
Anything you want to say?
If you want to check my spot and would like company, don’t hesitate to contact me! I’m always keen on meeting new people.
Read all of Jost’s Ljubljana tips here
Check out the other interviews with our Spotters