Ljubljana

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Day 15 (Friday, September 19th, 2008)

We awoke to a sunny but chilly day in Ljubljana, our first glimpse of sunshine in five days! After eating breakfast at our hotel, we left and walked to the nearby tourist office where we purchased tickets for the walking tour. The tour is put on by guides from the tourist information office at a cost of 10 Euros per person. We met our guide in front of the Town Hall around the corner from the Triple Bridge. During the two hour duration of the tour, our guide took us all over the central core of Ljubljana, including a trip up to the castle via a funicular ride. We also saw other landmarks such as the gorgeous interior of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas and several of the numerous bridges and squares that can be found throughout the city. He provided lots of interesting and informational commentary as he walked us through the beautiful streets of the Ljubljana.

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and is a moderately sized city of about 275,000 people, including a large student population of over 50,000 from the many colleges and universities. The city suffered an earthquake in 1895 which destroyed over half the town; as a result, Ljubljana was rebuilt with many stylish forms of colorful architecture, much of which has been lovingly restored. Although the city lacks the plethora of sights that you would find in a large city such as Prague or Budapest, it more than makes up for its shortcomings with the many cafes, narrow cobblestone-lined streets, beautiful views of the Ljubljanica River, and the Italian influenced atmosphere. It is one of the most pleasant and easygoing cities I have ever visited; I cannot see why everyone would not be instantly charmed by Ljubljana.

After the walking tour finished, Mike and I made our way to the sprawling Riverside Market. The market spread over a few city blocks and was filled with dozens of produce stands, craft booths, and a few stalls selling beautiful flowers. For a city of its size, I was shocked to see how large the market was. We browsed our way through the stands, stopping to take lots of photos and make a few purchases ourselves.

From the market, we headed to the National and University Library. The structure was built by the famous architect of Ljubljana, Joze Plecnik in 1941. The facade of the building contains red and gray bricks that symbolize the red soil and gray granite found in the Karst Region in Slovenia, where Plecnik grew up. We walked into the dark interior of the building, which was supposed to represent an Egyptian tomb. We were slightly perplexed by the building and could not quite understand what the big deal was, as the structure was supposed to be quite famous in Slovenia. We just weren't that impressed.

We continued walking through Ljubljana, taking many photos of the different buildings and architecture, including a stop at the US Embassy. The Embassy was housed in cute yellow chalet surrounded by a large metal fence, the only embassy in Ljubljana with such unnecessary protection. I did not realize that people are not allowed to take photos of US Embassies; I did and Mike told me that the guards were intently staring at me from across the road, though none of them ever followed me, so I assume I was okay!

We also paid a short visit to the Serbian Orthodox Church, which had a stunning and colorful interior. The church was built in 1936 after Slovenia formed a political union with the Serbs. Once the relationship was formed between the two countries, Slovenia saw its capital city receive an influx of new people. As a result, the city built the church for the many new Serbians.

After visiting the church, we walked to Tivoli Park, which contains several of the cities museums and lots of green spaces for its residents to relax in. We walked through the park for a bit, eventually stopping in front of a fountain to enjoy the setting. As we were preparing to leave, I set our Rick Steves Eastern Europe book down, and inadvertently knocked it down into the pool of water. I freaked out, knowing that it was not our book, but one borrowed from the library! Luckily, the water level was high enough where Mike was able to bend over and grab it. He pulled out the soggy and wet book and we tried our best to shake it off; it was too late though because the book was already waterlogged. We quickly left for the hotel and I attempted to dry off each individual page by placing pieces of tissue between each one. The book did eventually dry off, although its overall shape and texture was changed. I hope the library isn’t too angry with me! I am usually a saint with books, so to partially ruin one was very upsetting to me!

After the book fiasco, we later walked back through town, mostly just to soak up the atmosphere. For an early dinner, we stopped at a place called Pizzerija Foculus. For being so early in the evening (5 PM) the restaurant was surprisingly filled with lots of locals. We decided to eat inside as it was rather cold outside. The service was slow, and it took about 15 minutes before we received our menus and finally ordered. If you are looking for variety, the menu has over 50 different types of pizzas to select from. I ordered a margarita pizza while Mike chose one called “Country Pizza” which contained sausage, salami, ham, and onions. The pizzas were okay, although we both thought Mike’s pizza tasted better than mine. I had eaten a slice of pizza earlier in the day that we purchased from a take-away place that was three times less expensive and about ten times better tasting.

After dinner, we looked for a nearby grocery store, as I had wanted to purchase snacks for the following day as it would be the first day of our car rental. We read about a grocery store in one of our guidebooks called Maxi-Market that was situated below a department store of the same name. As we rode the escalator down to the grocery section of Maxi-Market, we were both blown away by what we saw. Unlike so many of the other grocery stores we have visited in large cities in Europe, this one appeared to be brand new and sparkling clean (and not to mention HUGE!). The store was quite upscale, and even featured a large organic section. It also contained an on-site bakery, deli, butcher shop, and large wine section. We had so much fun walking around the aisles of the stores, discovering new food items. We purchased a small variety of items, including a delectable pastry called kremna rezina.

Afterward, we walked back to our hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening while munching on some of the goodies we had purchased at the grocery store.

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Photos

Tivoli Park
Contemporary History Museum in the background