Two days in Ljubljana, Slovenia

I have to start my Ljubljana entry by saying that I was blown away.  It's one of the smallest European capital cities and yet I still felt like as though I was in a cosmopolitan city.  Secondly, between the police presence, lack of panhandlers and general cleanliness I never felt safer.  The workers at tourist attractions were friendly, as were cafe/shop workers.  The city is very pedestrian friendly.  Out of all the places I've been without kids, this is the city that I would love to take them to.

I caught the bus from Lake Bled to Ljubljana.  It stopped a couple of times (I have no clue where) before arriving at the Ljubljana bus/train station.  I found the way to my hotel, The Ginger Rooms, pretty quickly.  The hotel is the floor below a hostel, all recently renovated and new.  Smelled a bit like paint but I survived.  I was a tad worried about being below a hostel, given reviews I had read, but there was no reason to worry.  Or maybe I was just too tired after all the non-stop walking?  Beautiful city.  Wonderful people.  Lots of things to see.  I would go back on a moments notice.  

Franciscan Church of the Annunciation in Presernov Trg

This is the first photo I took in Ljubljana.  My hotel was blocks away from Presernov Trg, which is the main square in Ljubljana.  I'm on Triple Bridge here.  I had dumped my bag, washed my face and set out for the afternoon.  Persernov Trg was on the way to Ljubljana Grad (Castle).  I mentioned above that there was a lack of panhandlers.  There were your run of the mill 'drunks' right near this church yet they were completely chilled out and not bothering anyone.  

The view from Ljubljana Castle 

This is from the watch tower at Ljubljana Castle.  Entry to the grounds was free!  I paid the extra 8euro to go up the tower (up!) and gain entry into the castle's exhibit on Slovenian history, which was really interesting.  I admit that I knew very little going into this trip about the former Yugoslavia and the things that happened in the late 80's and early 90's.  The exhibition here was informative and gave me a basis of information that I would build upon the next day.

Plecnik's Pyramid

My understanding is that Plecnik was a city architect in the early-mid twentieth century.  His layout is what I was walking through.  So I think, if I remember correctly, this is an addition to the Roman wall already in situ.  I will always go out of my way to see ancient walls; these were sitting behind an office building outside of the city centre.  The pyramid is, of course, not ancient.

Looking back to Triple Bridge.

I knew there are locks on a bridge in Paris.  You write yours and your partners name on a bike-type lock and then throw the key into the Seine.  Via the Amazing Race, I know they do this in Moscow (or was it St Petersburg?) too.  I did not know that they did it in Ljubljana.  There is still a lot of space for locks, as seen in this photo.  Triple Bridge is a ways off in the photo, while Dragon Bridge is seen from the other side.  Walking along one side of the canal offers lots of restaurants (fairly touristy), while the other side houses the daily markets and cafes.  "Kava prosim" means "Coffee, please."  Probably the most important thing I learned.  I always try with different languages when I'm abroad, and coffee ranks HIGH in the words I need to know.

Dragon Bridge.

Dragon Bridge.

I still don't fully understand Ljubljana's affinity for dragons.  Dragon Bridge is beautiful and there is not a single photo that I took that does it justice.  Cars, tourists and the light just didn't work.  The mug that I brought back has a dragon on, which I decided on because of Dragon Bridge and because I knew my kids would love it.  It's one of those places that I know I could take my kids and they would think it's the coolest thing ever even though it's, relative to other things, just a bridge.

That was my first afternoon in Ljubljana.  I found a grocery store, bought food, and ate while watching E!, the only English channel I received that didn't revolve around 70's movies.

The next day was my 2nd ever "Museum Tuesday."  The first was in Paris in 2003 when I visited Musee de Rodin, Les Invalides and Musee d'Orsay in one day.  I thought that was impressive.  I didn't think I'd beat that mark by 2.  Thus begins Museum Tuesday in Ljubljana, wherein I visited City Museum, The National Museum of Slovenia, the Natural History Museum, the Modern Art Gallery and the Contemporary History of Slovenia Museum.

City Ljubljana Museum.

Whatever that sign is, it was in Slovenian and I could not read it.  So I didn't know that this was the museum.  And before you laugh and think I should have just known, the square (Trg Francoske Revolucije) was confusing.  It contained 2 libraries, one public (I think?) and one of the universities.  Hippies reading poetry to one another were all over the street and I didn't want to step over them to read doorway signs.  So it took me longer than it should have to realise that this was, in fact, the City Museum.

Once inside, however, it was amazing.  Roman history started in the basement with remnants of the Emona settlement.  It moved to modern city history.  Former Yugoslavian passports, lots of documents, import and exports big to the country.  For the 4euro I spent, it was well worth it. (but then when is a museum NOT worth it to me?  Yes, never.)

Oil Lamp with Pegasus decoration.  1st century CE.

I had never seem anything like this oil lamp.  I've seen a lot of ancient art, and studied a lot of it too.  I like when I see new things.  I saw leather shoe soles in the basement of the museum, this in the city part, and lots more throughout the day.  I went from the city rooms to the an exhibit outside that features photos locals have taken of their own city with their mobile phones.  Seeing photos through both local and tourist views is always really interesting.

Parliament in Trg Republike.

I'm pretty sure that this square is where the big announcement was made that Slovenia had passed the vote to become independent.  The building itself is actually really unimpressive, but that lower facade is nice.  The guard seemed a bit bored.  Right across the street from Parliament in a big parking lot, and then a grassy square in to the immediate left in this photo.  From the square you could see the National Museum of Slovenia/Slovenian Natural History Museum; aka my next stops.

Mummy in the hallway.

Alone with Roman era funerary inscriptions.

I saw some interesting things in the National Museum, but it was lacking.  The outer hallways were filled with Roman funerary inscriptions and a few busts.  There was one bronze statue.  There was a Egyptian mummy on display.  But the inner section was disjointed and I felt a bit lost.  I didn't know where to start and I felt overwhelmed with all the information in front of me.

Human fish!

I saw signs advertising "Human Fish" at a few restaurants near Presernov Trg.  Half my mind thought "Umm wtf?" and the other half "gross!"  So here's the Human Fish.  It's called so because of the colour of its skin.  It's found in caves in Slovenia and because it never comes into contact with light, its skin pigment doesn't change.  It's born black, if I recall correctly, but changes to this flesh colour early on and retains it through life.  This is a photo of a video that I had to start inside a cave in the Natural History Museum.  I think it was geared toward children, but oh well!

Avent Garde in the Modern Art Gallery.

I'll preface this with the fact that I generally do not like modern art.  I try, I really do, to respect all art but I just can't get on board with a neon light flashing against a white wall and being told it represents some sort of separatist movement or life evolving moment or whatever.  I do however appreciate Russian Constructivism and I what the Avent Garde was challenging.  This room was fantastically well done.  I liked the disjointedness of it (odd, after hating that at the National Museum!), and I liked the quotes on the walls.

My issue with the Modern Art Gallery was the supervision.  I'm used to being watched.  I'm not used to such incessant staring that I feel like I'm being judged on my opinion telepathically.  It was over the top, and it frustrated me because I already have a hard time with modern art...this just made it worse.  And seeing as it was most expensive entry of the day, I was disappointed.  Of everything I saw in Ljubljana, this is the only place I would not return.

Olympic Heroes in Tivoli Park.

I just loved this.  I can't say it enough.  Tivoli Park is the big city park (think Hyde Park, Central Park, etc).  I was walking through it to get the Contemporary History Museum.  What they've done here is put up photographs of every athlete that has represented Slovenia since Albertville in 1992, the first Olympics where Slovenia was its own country.  It didn't matter if they won a medal or not, they're there.  (It helps that I am BIG Olympics fan, so anything positive-Olympic related generally melts my heart.)

Museum of Contemporary History.

It's just impossible to take a photo of the whole museum without the trees.  And too close just doesn't look good.  I didn't take many photos inside.  It was heavy, very profound and this is where I learned the bulk of what I felt like I needed to learn.  The museum starts with WW1 history and moved right through to the modern day.  I came to Slovenia knowing that it was part of Yugoslavia and not much else, but this is where I finally gained some understanding of how it all happened and what the people had to go through - from voting to the army to deaths to now.  I left here with mixed feelings, both sombre and happy (if that makes sense?).  This was the museum I wanted to visit the most and this was the one I liked the best.

From here I went to Hot Horse.  Yes, I ate it.  Why not, right?  It's actually kind of funny given what was happening in the UK near the same time.  Horse meat was found in some horrible brands ready-made meals (ones I wouldn't touch with a stick), and then later found in some school diners.  My issue was that people didn't know.  If you know what you're eating, then you can't complain.  So I had a horse burger.  It was chewier than a beef burger but okay.  The 5 museums had taken me 6 or 7 hours to get through so I hadn't eaten since early that morning; that probably helped it to taste better.

Triple Bridge.

Triple Bridge is called such because there are three crossings.  It's pretty to stand on and pretty to look at but very hard to photograph.  I went back to Presernov Trg on the Tuesday afternoon on my way back up to Ljubljana Castle.  Bars surround the area and on a nice day, it was such a nice place to just be in.

The walk up to Ljubljana Castle.

I went back up to the castle to buy a coffee mug after not seeing anything I liked earlier in the day and in some of the gift shops in the city.  This is the path I walked through twice.  Not too shabby.  There's a funicular you can take up though I can't remember what it costs.  I was happy to take an extra 10min and walk up.

I made my way through a few squares in the old town, Stari Trg and Mestni Trg, before heading back to my hotel around dusk.  As much as I felt like I had seen a lot of Ljubljana and had gained an understanding of the city, I'd love to go back and spend more time.  It's so easy to get around and things are so close to one another that I know my children would love it.

I paid for my hotel that night and was instructed what to do with my key in the morning.  I settled in to watch more E! (far too much Kardashian for me) and went to sleep early knowing that I had to be up early to make the trip back to Italy.  Venice was waiting for me!

Lake Bled, Slovenia

Contrary to the impression several family members have of me, I like to go go go when I travel.  I say 'contrary' because I was known for loathing family walks back in the late 80's/90's, and my dad and step-mom used to refer to me as a cat (I love sleeping, chilling and being loved...is that so bad?!), which was a joke and I very much took/still take it as one.  I shot all that down the first time I went backpacking in 2003 when I walked all over Paris, never used public transport in Rome, only used it in Athens to get to the Piraeus, etc.  So a week to see Lake Bled, Ljubljana, Venice and Verona - no matter which was it was split, I was going to be busy.

So it started in Lake Bled.

I wandered off the train at Lesce Bled station around 8am.  I had no idea how to actually get to Lake Bled other than maybe a bus would be there (on an early Sunday morning, my expectation wasn't high on that one), a taxi...or I guess I would walk the 5km?  I crossed the train track and walked toward 2 Korean girls waiting at what appeared to be a bus stop.  Within moments, a taxi shuttle that had been parked next to the train station pulled up and gave us a ride to Lake Bled.  Free.  Sunday morning shuttle, perhaps?  I'm not entirely sure.  Note: I would not have gotten into that shuttle had those backpackers not been there.

I walked down the street toward the lake.

Bled Castle perched on the cliff.

The photo above is the first one I took.  Not great, but it was 8am, I had been up since 5:30am and barely slept the previous 2 nights.

Church of the Assumption with the Julian Alps as a backdrop.

Stunning, right?  It's one thing to see photos, and another to see it in person.  It's about a 6km walk around the lake and I did it three times (twice on the Sunday, once on the Monday).  I couldn't stop taking photos the first two times.

The bustling part of Lake Bled from Bled Castle

I knew, via Lonely Planet Slovenia, that there are three ways to get up to castle.  One is steep, one obscure and one via a road.  I saw a sign for "grad" (castle) and figured, why not?  So I followed it (this was closing in on 9am Sunday).  I thought I was taking the steep track.  Not so much...I was on the obscure path.  Thankfully signs with "grad" popped up here and there and I found myself at the castle.  8euro and well worth it.  The view was stunning.  The coffee was good, albeit expensive.  The castle has been turned into a museum, about Lake Bled history dating back to the Neolithic period.  It was small but informative and certainly worth visiting.

Bled Island from Bled Castle.

My new "thing" is to go up as high as possible.  The different viewpoint is always worth it.

Inside the Church of the Assumption on Bled Island.

Bled Island is reached by gondolas available from a few docks around the lake.  They don't leave until they're full, so I think I waited about 15min for mine to leave.  It took about 30min to get there, we had 30min on the island and another 30min back.  The gondola cost 12euro and entry to the church was 3euro.  The dock outside my hotel offered the shortest transport time, whereas I chose to take one of the furthest routes.  Same price, why not?

I got off the gondola and found myself buying cheese from a vendor on the street.  That was my 'dinner' around 2pm.  I timed a much needed nap with an hour of rain and then walked around the lake again.

Shall we assume that this is town hall?

On Monday morning, I took full advantage of the free breakfast at my hotel (I had been complex/bad carb free for 3 months prior to this trip, but I indulged as it was much needed).  I left my bag behind the counter after check-out and set our around the lake again.  In this day of smart phones and facebook, I find myself documenting every little thing - most especially because I live so far away from my family and many friends.  I'm guilty of living [the good aspects] of my life on Facebook.  So this time I took no photos and just took it all in.  And I loved it.

Speaking of my hotel, I stayed at Pension Mlino.  My room was tiny, definitely not room for more than 2 adults, but it sufficed.  There was hot water in the shower (unlike in Villach) and I had a lake view.  It was what I expected from a 3* on the continent (which is about a 2.5* elsewhere).  I would stay there again if it was just my husband and I.

I returned to my hotel to grab my little carry-on suitcase and set out on the 1.5km walk to the bus station.  I was early, but that's generally how I travel.  I people watched and read my book (Watership Down) until the bus to Ljubljana arrived right on schedule.

Next: 2 nights in Ljubljana.