Blaine catches himself in the mirror and he looks like he just rolled out of bed, which is fairly accurate. He didn’t even gel his hair. He looks like a mess and he considers refreshing himself up, but Kurt is waiting for him, so Blaine rushes back to the park.

Kurt sees him immediately.

“Well hello stranger,” he says with a smile.

They are practically strangers, that’s true.

“Hello yourself. Long time no see.”

Kurt claps his hands.

“I am not a tour guide, but I am a fellow American living in the city, so I can already take you to the best burger place in town,” Kurt jokes and Blaine barks out a laugh. Kurt then asks what Blaine has already seen from the city, and Blaine shamefully admits that he’s only seen the road from his apartment to Park Zvezda.

“And this big road from the inside of the taxi,” Blaine nods towards the road. All the busses and taxi’s pass it. The Mercator that he saw yesterday evening is also on this road.

“Slovenska Cesta,” Kurt tells him, “I am pretty certain that cesta means street. Same goes for ulica. Let’s start there, yeah.”

“Are you learning Slovene?” Blaine asks as they walk down the Slovenska Cesta.

Kurt shakes his head.

“No, I am only here for six months and everyone speaks English,” he says, “Of course I am picking up things as I go from context, like the cesta and ulica. I already know that vse means all, and popusti is sale. So popusti vse or vse popusti means that everything is on sale!”

“Ah yes, priorities,” Blaine laughs.

“Exactly.”

They turn right on Čopova ulica, the street that leads to Prešeren Square, or Prešernov trg in Slovene. Blaine can understand that trg probably means plaza or square. Prešeren Square is one of the most well-known places in Ljubljana, Blaine does know that. He isn’t fully unprepared. Before his departure he looked up some information about the city and the country.

Seeing the places in real life is still different. The square is surrounded by beautiful buildings with detailed decorations. There is a statue of Prešeren, where people can sit underneath, and also a city model of Ljubljana’s city centre. You can cross the Ljubljanica, the river, to go to the other part of the city centre through the Triple Bridges, the Tromostovje. They walk over the middle bridge.

Also actually living here is different. Blaine isn’t here as a tourist, which is the main target for all the travel blogs he’s read beforehand. No, he’s here for serious business.

Kurt gives him a small to do list, based on his first week here.

“Get an Urbana card for public transport,” he starts, “I get student discount and I travel for max €20 a month, but usually a bus trip is €1,30 for 90 minutes. This includes transfers.”

“Alright.”

“And apply for a Temporary Resident Permit as soon as possible,” Kurt continues, “Print the forms at home, fill them in, and hand them in. You can’t do this digitally, so be prepared to wait eight hours for a small ten minute conversation.”

“What the fuck.”

Kurt nods.

“Yes, I now understand why there was already a line before opening hours and why people took lunch and books and pillows with them. It’s rough.”

“It sounds rough.”

“I also highly recommend downloading the Travana app for the bus schedule and the Bicikel app for BicikeLJ, the bike share system, although I also must add that biking here seems to be hazardous.”

“… Fun.”

“Oh, and a fun tip, but every first Sunday of the month, entrance to museums is free!”

“That is legitimately fun.”

“My last life tip is for the Boni, but you’re not a student, so it doesn’t apply to you.”

“The… what?”

“The študentska prehrana. Boni. Whatever you want to call it,” Kurt says with a shrug, “It’s a student meal system. Students can get cheap food at most restaurants for a small price, twice a day with a four hour interval between them. I think it’s a max price of €4,30 for a main course, side course, something healthy and water.”

Blaine lets out a whistle. The travel blog writers did write about Slovenian food, but he didn’t really pay attention to them. He went for pizza as his first meal. God, he truly is an American. He should take up on Kurt’s offer to see the burger place.

Kurt shows Blaine around. The city centre is very small compared to other big cities. Kurt jokes that the city centre is basically two large streets, divided by the river. Blaine would argue that there are at least four streets!

Of course there is much more to Ljubljana centre than those two or four streets, but it is indeed small.

Kurt shows him some of the more well-known places, like the Town Hall and the market place and of course the Dragon bridge. Ljubljana loves dragons.

They walk for hours and Blaine is parched.

“Can I buy you a drink?” he asks Kurt.

Kurt looks surprised.

“Oh?”

Blaine nods.

“As a thank you for the tour. It’s the least I can do.”

“Well, how can I refuse?”

They walk back to the Prešeren Square. There are a lot of cafes at the river on both sides. Kurt recommends Slovenska Hiša, so that’s where they’re heading.

Once they sit down and their drinks have arrived, they get to know each other some more. Blaine honestly didn’t expect to make a potential friend on his first full day in the country. He hadn’t really planned on it, since he’s here temporarily and for business, but he’s glad that Kurt decided to save his pizza. His actual life is back in Los Angeles, but it is nice to take a break from it. After all, that’s why he’s here.

Life in Los Angeles doesn’t stop, though.

It must be early morning in Los Angeles, because Quinn is awake and she’s calling.

“Oh, sorry about that,” Blaine shoots Kurt an apologetic look, “It’s my girlfriend.”

“Your girlfriend,” Kurt says quietly.

Blaine nods.

“Be right back.”