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Published: October 3rd 2011
Ljubljana By Night
The lighting, the river - it's all rather romantic.On arrival, my first impressions of Ljubljana were that it was bigger than I thought. The new town is built up with modern, multi-storey buildings and I actually felt a little uncomfortable with the hustle and bustle, having just come from the relative isolation of Bled and Bohinj.
Our hostel, Fluxus Hostel, was one of those cool boutique hostels that was bright, spacious and more sociable since there are fewer guests.
The pamphlets on offer there managed to plan our next day for us too; a free walking tour during the day, and a pub crawl in the evening. Too easy.
We were pretty buggered that night from our exertions in Bled (lying around in the sun and swimming is hard work aye) so we just did an initial scout of the town to get familiarised with the place and to find somewhere to eat.
The old town is very charming.
The narrow River Ljubljanica runs right through the town and is flanked by cobblestoned streets lined with lively bars and restaurants. Beautiful old bridges and the evening lighting gave the place a lovely Parisian/Venetian feel.
Away from the river are lots of nice baroque and medieval buildings -
Presenov Trg
Ljubljana's main square named after the Slovene poet France Preseren, whose statue stands in the centre of the square. it felt like a mix of
Bratislava,
Vilnius and
Prague.
The temperature was balmy, much warmer than in Bled, and there was a good vibe about the place. I was excited about what would be in stall for us tomorrow.
We eventually settled on a Greek restaurant and enjoyed an alfresco dinner that is just not possible in London, before retiring back to the hostel.
The walking tour the next day was very informative and very impressive, considering it was free. Our guide gave us a lot of historic insights to what we were seeing, which was really interesting.
I learned that Slovenia was the wealthiest region in the former Yugoslavia, contributing the most towards the Yugoslav economy and propping up the rest of the country despite having the smallest population - and that this was one of the main reasons Slovenians were the first to declare their independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
Yugoslavia weren't too happy about this, and mobilised their forces to attack Slovenia, starting the
Ten Day War. The guide admitted that compared to other regions in the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia had got away pretty lightly in terms of armed conflict (especially when you compare the Ten Day
Showmaker's Bridge
Used to be populated with shoe shops back in the day. War to what happened in Bosnia a couple of years later), and we are all thankful for that.
I have to say Slovenia has so far felt a lot different to the other Balkan countries I have visited, a lot more advanced and developed - perhaps you could even say, more 'westernised'.
I won't tell you about everything we saw - I'll let the pictures do that - but I will tell you to take the
The Ljubljana Free Tour if you're ever in Ljubljana. It is free, but they rely completely on donations - and by the end of it, you would require a heart of ice to not feel compelled to make a donation. I don't usually make plugs on my blogs, so take my word about this tour.
After the tour I had my first
cevapi of the trip (where I was again attacked by a swarm of wasps). I miss cevapi.
We then walked up to Ljubljana Castle.
Where Bled Castle very much maintains a medieval feel, Ljubljana Castle does not feel medieval at all. The old tower feels reasonably authentic, and offers views across the city from the top but the rest of the complex is pretty
Inside St. Nicholas Cathedral
Having seen the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica, I'll probably never be impressed by a church's interior again, but St. Nicholas's interior is not too shabby. much just a block of 70s-style buildings.
Included in the tower entrance fee is a free twenty-minute 3D show which charts the history of Ljubljana. Did you know that the first houses in Ljubljana were built on stilts? While informative, the 3D show was pretty average given the 3D technology available these days.
After a rest in the hostel, we had a walk through the local park.
It was apparent to see that Slovenians love their sports. People were jogging, playing football, playing basketball and playing tennis (on awesome proper-clay courts). Cyclists were everywhere.
The country is also small in population size and is rather ‘clean and green’ – it really feels like a European version of New Zealand.
Anyway, the reason why we were walking through the park was because it was where Hot Horse was located, serving up a Slovenian speciality – horse burgers!
Not everyone approves of having er, horses for courses, but I’ve never really let moral dilemmas stop me from trying local delicacies.
It’s difficult to say whether horse is nice, because I was eating a patty which probably has a lot of other things in it, but I thought it was tastier
Robba Fountain
In the town hall square with St. Nicholas's Cathedral in the background. than beef, was quite peppery, similar in texture to veal, and tasted gamey, a bit like mutton. It was a huge burger too. Overall I would say that I enjoyed it.
We then walked back into town to have a drink at a bar that my friend Kelly said we could not miss.
The bar is called P’rskelet, and this dungeon-themed bar was full of bones and cobwebs. The cocktail menu was quite extensive and the waiter was very keen on ensuring we ordered quickly.
The highlight of the place was probably the toilet door which is actually a bookcase! Like a secret entrance you read about in a murder mystery novel. There was no signage either – so if you were really busting to go, you might find yourself in a spot of bother if you weren’t in the know.
We quickly knocked back a bright, light-blue “Skeleton Punch” before making our way to the meeting point of the night’s entertainment.
Say what you like about tourist pub-crawls, but the fact is that they are usually a great night out. It’s a great way to sample the nightlife of a city, and to meet some people to
River Ljubljanica
The river really gives the Ljubljana's centre a sense of character. go out with, all with the same goal of having a good time.
The guys on this particular pub crawl were our German dorm-mates from the hostel – Kevin, Simon, Phillipp and Michael.
Say what you like about Germans, but the fact is that they are usually very cool, very funny and very fun people to hang out with and these guys were no exception.
Our guide was Igor, who looked a lot like Peter Andre. He had just arrived back from a party holiday in Greece and had had something like six hours sleep in the last week – knackered. He didn’t hang around long, and was duly replaced by Dule, who had had a full night’s sleep beforehand and was rather more enthusiastic.
Joining us late were three Brazilian girls, Juliana, Fernanda and Bruna. Let’s just say that if all girls in Brazil look like them, then I cannot wait to get to Brazil. Quite possibly the hottest girls I have ever hung out with. Stunning.
The first place we hit was a bar right on the river, with lots of outdoor seating. It was here that we were introduced to
borovnica, Slovenian blueberry schnapps.
It was
Ljubljana University
This was actually the regional parliament building when Slovenia was under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian empire. also here that we were taught how to say cheers the Slovenian way – by simultaneously, slowly shouting “hopa!”, from low to high pitch as you all raise your glasses before shooting your shot. The berries at the bottom of your shot glass for some reason contains all the alcohol. It was too much actually.
At the same pub I also had a couple of very tasty Human Fish beers, that were locally micro-brewed and reminded me of the Galbraith’s beers brewed in Auckland.
After another shot of borovnica, we made our way to the next bar, a swanky-looking place where we were the only people inside.
We all had a free 'Kamikaze' shot that tasted predominantly like apple, before we all went for the bar's special, the Mojito Diablo, which was basically a Mojito with a few other things added. They were quite strong, but bitter and mostly tasteless. I don't think anyone really liked them.
While the Brazilian girls were in the bathroom, Simon had revealed that one of the girls had a boyfriend, to which I heard the funniest analogy I have heard for a long time, courtesy of Phillipp;
"Just because there is a goalkeeper, doesn't
Global
Sixth-floor club where the night ended up. mean you can't score!"
How very hilarious and very true. Who said that Germans don't have a sense of humour?
We did another Kamikaze before we left.
The next place we went to was quite close to our hostel and we didn't hang around too long - just long enough for the Brazilians to get a feed, and the rest of us to have a 'gold tequila' taken with cinnamon and orange, just like we did in
Bremen, and again in
Athens.
Then it was to the club - which was located literally twenty metres from our hostel! An easy journey home - perfect.
Walking into a club, we had another
Copenhagen moment, just like we also did in
Reykjavik and
Vilnius. Basically, just scores and scores of hot girls and not a lot of guys.
I don't think dragging our jaws along the ground in a nightclub was a good look as none of us scored - whether that was down to a solid and organised Slovenian defence, or the combined New Zealand/German attack lacking a cutting edge is down to debate, but we couldn't stick the ball in the back of the net. There certainly weren't any
Ljubljana Castle By Night
Global's elevation allowed for a great view of the castle. open goals.
The girls seemed shy - though I was admittedly quite drunk at this stage.
The club was a top-floor club that required an elevator ride to reach and was very, very similar to Coast in Auckland, and The Penthouse in London. Even down to the lighting, decor and music, which was predominantly R&B.
I'm not a smoker, but if sufficiently drunk, I am open to a puff.
Having somehow managed to acquire a box of Marlboros, I asked a local for a light, who was willing to oblige.
A friend of this local then came up to him and said something to him, before slapping him in the face several times and having a bit of a play wrestle, only for the playfight to suddenly become
serious and security becoming involved.
Me, I'm a lover not a fighter and admired the view of Ljubljana Castle, while the chaos enveloped around me.
I also thought it was an opportune time to call it a night.
Some final observations on Ljubljana;
The population here is predominantly young and Slovenian - not the most multicultural place I have been especially given I love in London and grew up in
Triple Bridge
When traffic over this bridge became too heavy, Joze Plecnik simply added two more side bridges alongside it, creating the "Triple Bridge". It would be impossible not to mention Plecnik when writing about Ljubljana, as he is Slovenia's most celebrated architect and designed most of the landmarks in the city. Auckland, arguably two of the most multicultural cities in the world. The demographics reminded me a little of Sarajevo.
I also thought that the people weren't the most approachable or forthcoming, a bit insular. Much like the other Balkan countries and other Eastern European countries I have been to.
But in saying that, Slovenia definitely seemed the most forward of the ex-Yugoslav countries in terms of development.
It felt the most European out of all the Balkan countries if that makes any sense, to the point where you wouldn't even know that it was once part of Yugoslavia.
Overall, I really liked Ljubljana - there was a good vibe present and the old town is very pretty. It has a great park too.
Anyway, we have now done the lakes in the countryside, and now the city break - next, we are off the coast for some relaxation, exploring some caves along the way.
Se vidimo kmalu!
Derek
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Tee Surasak
Tee's Travels
Nice
NIce blog, I just came back from Slovenia and I found Ljubljana is charing little city, compact and found everything I supposed to see in this European country. feel free to come visit my blogs and happy travels always!