Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia, a tiny little country tucked between Austria and Italy. There are lots of reasons to visit this picturesque place - and it starts at passport control at the airport. There are no fingerprint machines, retinal scans, or luggage x-rays; just a friendly person who glances at your passport and waves you through in less than thirty seconds. The Slovenians seem very relaxed about how relatively unknown Slovenia is. On our way from the airport our taxi driver gave us a commentary on Slovenian highlights - we passed a truck containing soldiers, that was the army. The air force used to have one plane, now it has two. There is a Slovenian joke that goes like this: America declares war on Slovenia, and after a bombing onslaught the American president contacts the president of Slovenia and says - Why haven't you surrendered, we've destroyed your army and air force - and the Slovenian replies - Because you've attacked Slovakia.
There is only one place to start a tour of Ljubljana, and that is by the river.
There is only one place to start a tour of Ljubljana, and that is by the river.
There are lots and lots of places to have a drink, snack or meal, and they are all very cheap, even with the pound plummeting against the euro. A glass of wine cost between 1.5 and 2.5 euros, and two cappuccinos were less than 5 euros. The service was excellent, and the river bank is a great place for people watching.
The river Ljubljanica is spanned by numerous bridges of many different styles. The most iconic is the Triple Bridge, designed by famous Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik, but all the bridges are very attractive.
After some relaxing refreshment it is time to tackle the steep uphill zigzag walk to the castle. There is a funicular, but that would be cheating. The castle has two restaurants, a museum, a penitentiary, ruins, statues and a tower that is climbed via a spiral staircase. The top of the tower gives views across one third of Slovenia. This is impressive until you remember that Slovenia isn't even the size of Wales; in fact it is about the size of East Anglia.
The museum gives a brief history of Slovenia, although the explanatory English text is almost impenetrable. The cake and wine in the café were delicious and cheap.
There are lots of lovely places to eat in Ljubljana, but this isn't one of them:
It started well enough, with a Tirolean feel and the waiters wearing an Alpine type uniform. We had pear brandy as an aperitif and settled back to wait for our meal.
To be honest, Christopher's meal of venison stew was ok, but my mixed grill was truly the most horrible meal I have ever had. The meat was salty and gristly pork sausage, salty tough and gristly pork belly and salty and tasteless black pudding. It was accompanied by bran mash which was bland with the consistency and taste of sawdust, a bread dumpling which appeared to be dry bread partially soaked in water, and some vegetables that were like slimy bean sprouts soaked in vinegar. I ate some so as not to appear rude and of course replied that I had enjoyed the meal when the waiter asked. But it was very cheap.
Slovenia has only been independent since 1991. It has been annexed by numerous countries including Italy, Hungary, Germany and Austria. Most recently it was part of Yugoslavia under Tito. The National Museum of Contemporary History is an excellent place to spend a morning trying to get to grips with the Slovenian historical timeline. It's stairs are especially helpful.
Slovenia has only been independent since 1991. It has been annexed by numerous countries including Italy, Hungary, Germany and Austria. Most recently it was part of Yugoslavia under Tito. The National Museum of Contemporary History is an excellent place to spend a morning trying to get to grips with the Slovenian historical timeline. It's stairs are especially helpful.
The museum is reached by walking through the very pretty Tivoli park, where there are some reminders that Slovenia was once behind the Iron Curtain.
.Two really good things about the museums and art galleries of Ljubljana is that they appear to be practically empty of visitors and they all serve wine. They are also very cheap, housed in amazing buildings, and extremely informative. We had coffee at the National Gallery of Slovenia before it was even open.
The walk to the MSUM - museum of contemporary art - is very interesting. The museum is housed in an enclave that was once a barracks, and has a collection of Eastern European subversive art from the 1960s. Outside the museum graffiti and art merge so you can't really tell the difference.
Even if you don't like galleries and museums, the streets and buildings of Ljubljana are just so pretty that you can spend hours wandering round looking at them. The views of the castle from the city are very impressive, and of course you can always stop for a snack.