Return to Ljubljana

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We had a choice this morning of either going to the neighbouring lake area to view a waterfall or go back early to Ljubljana. We chose the later as the boys were keen to ride abound the city on bikes. To that end we zoomed down the motorway at 130km/hr and were back in town by lunchtime. We returned the car to the ATET office and got a taxi ( a BMW which impressed Dion) to our new hotel called the Adora. This came with rave reviews on the Internet and so we were interested to see if lived up to its hype. It was on the southern side of the river and very near the Ljubljana castle. It was quite small with only a dozen rooms. It was run by a young staff and very friendly. The rooms were small but very stylish and the windows had excellent soundproofing of an outer window and then a double glazed window. This was handy as the hotel was opposite a church with its attendant bell ringing.After settling in Rhonda went to the old town to shop while I took the boys in turn bike riding around the town (there were only two hotel bikes free). That was very enjoyable and a great way to see the city which winds along the river for about five kilometres. The city has red bike lanes either on the street or the footpaths. Most of the traffic lights have separate lights for bikes. As a result there were many bikes around. We rode about the beginning of the evening 'peak hour'. The pedestrians kept the red bike lanes on the pavements clear and it all worked out well. The university is in the centre of town near the Congress and most of the buildings date back to the Austro-Hungarian past. On our return the hotel staff brought the boys and I tea to our room. For dinner we found a little restaurant around the corner called Swagili. It served modern Slovenian food and was delicious. When paying the bill I noticed it is mentioned in 'A Thousand Things to Do Before You Die'. We the walked down to the main square one more time and had ice cream. There were lots of people about enjoying the mild weather. It is certainly a beautiful and very liveable city and a far cry from the noise and pollution of the Italian cities.

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