Zdravo (hello) again!
This time, we are in Ljubljana the capital city of Slovenia.
We reached Ljubljana from Budapest.
There are several ways of travelling between these two places. We chose to travel by bus and used the services of the Flix Bus- having used it many times earlier, we were comfortable doing so. We departed from the Nepliget station in Budapest and arrived at the Ljubljana bus station in about 5 hours. The journey en route was picturesque, to say the least.
Once in Ljubljana, we took a taxi to the apartment we were booked into. A little word here on where to stay and how to choose the location-
You see, Ljubljana is a small Charming city/ town where life pretty much revolves around the river which flows through its centre. Being a university town, it is small and walkable – almost end to end. So, it really does not matter where you choose to stay – you will always be close to the centre. Also, the cost of stay is reasonable.
We stayed at a place called Apartma ( apartment ) 1001 on Igriska street. The owner, Mr Borut was warm and friendly as all Slovenians are (we found out later). To give you little example of that- We had forgotten our adapter plug in Budapest and Mr Borut not only provided us with two brand new ones but even gifted us one that we could carry along with us for the rest of the trip. Thank you, dear Borut!
I had been in touch with him via watsap before we arrived and he had been waiting with the house keys for us.
Once we alighted from the bus, we found taxis lined up along the street. Unlike many European cities, the cabs here are safe and very reliable. They run by the meter and frankly you rarely pay more than 10-11 Euros(so short are the distances!)
Once we met Borut, he handed over the keys to us and briefly oriented us to the place. The apartment was cozy, pretty, well lit and had everything that a traveller would need. He’d even stocked up the fridge with complimentary wine and some (chargeable) essentials. We got to know from him that Slovenia has 13 wine growing regions and produces wine of superb quality- I vouch for that!
A little tip here: We have found the best variety of wines in the supermarkets here at very reasonable prices. The average price that we paid for a bottle of wine was about E 1.40! I just heard some exclamations!
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The pictures above are of the charming apartment that we called ‘Home’ for 4 nights.
We loved it! Right across the street was the ‘Merkator'(super market), a bakery, restaurants,bars and what not. Till wee hours of the morning the city is awake with sounds of music and laughter… The spirit of the city is what hit me the most. The icing of the cake was that we were right next to the Congress Square and the University. Every evening, during summer the Music Dept students put up amazing performances for all to watch… I still re live those moments when the city- life tries to pull me down!
By the way…the meaning of the word Ljubljana is- ‘My beloved’ in Slovenian…how apt!
A performance at Congress Square…
Now for our itinerary:
Well, the first thing that we did (as always) after we reached is set out to familiarise ourselves with the surroundings. The apartment overlooks the castle and Borut had told us to keep walking towards the castle and we’d find everything there. That’s exactly what we did- with the cool summer breeze of the juliana Alps blowing against our faces, we just walked towards the stunning view of the castle towering over all else… And- what met our eyes in just ten minutes was the gorgeous Preseren Square(where stands the statue of their national hero France Preseren who was a romantic poet- a rather unusual choice for a national hero but how befitting), the river, the charming buildings, a flurry of activity- of children skating, people dancing(on the road!!) To lovely music coming from just about EVERYWHERE!!
We crossed the triple bridge and made our way to the ‘Tourist Information Office’. The English speaking lady at the counter had many suggestions for us in terms of day trips that we could undertake to the Slovene country side. The two trips we were particularly interested in and bought tickets for was a combined trip to Lake Bled, Postojna Caves and The Predamja Castle. A tip here:
Both these are very doable on your own using public transport. Buses leave regularly to either of these two and more places from the main bus station/ train station.
However, we chose a guided tour because we wanted to do all these trips as a combined one without having to worry about the how and the where. The combined trip was expensive. We paid about E175 per person…. It is MUCh cheaper if you do it on your own… But as I said, we were okay with this ‘Convenience tax’ that we paid simply because Bled and Postojna are in opposite directions and we wanted to do both on the same day.
With the tickets in our pockets, we set about walking past the town Hall, down the cobbled alleyways and slowly climbed up the hill to the Castle. The view from the castle was breathtaking! We walked around the castle grounds, enjoying the view and reading the little information tablets put up everywhere. It was relaxing. After about an hour there, we made our way down and straight into one of the several Italian food places that is found all over town. Once you visit Slovenia, you will realise the strong Italian and Austrian influences that the country enjoys. Both historically (will tell you in a bit) and geographically, Italy and Austria are very close to this country. Italian, Slovene and English are spoken fluently by all. So, coming back to the food before us- we enjoyed some hand tossed excellent pizza with a citrus drink each. Let me add here that I am no fan of the pizza normally (no offence meant to anyone- food is a personal taste as I said)- however, the pizza we ate in Ljubljana was nothing like what we had tasted before. It had cheese which was neither stringy,nor salty- was delicious and tasted more like flavoured Paneer. The crust was not very crisp but had a flavour too. The topping was deliciously spicy(apparently made extra spicy to suit the Indian palate!) and juicy ,if I may say. The lady at the sales counter was friendly and looked straight out of an old Hollywood movie- I got to know from her how the pizza crust varied from region to region in Italy and with a lot of pride exclaimed that, she had chosen the Roman crust for us because the chef was Roman and that I’d be compelled to visit Rome after tasting the crust! 😊😊
Let me add here that Pizza is quite a staple with the students and you will find them in all prices. The HUGE slices that cost only a Euro each can be compared to the fast food pizza we get at a regular Pizza Hut back home; for pizzas that we ate which I thought were fresh with fresh vegetables and herbs you may expect to pay about Euros 11-12 for a portion that is enough for two people. It is sold by the kilo!
Thank you, Borut for introducing us to this wine. Costs about 5-6 Euros at a local supermarket. We got back several bottles 😋
The delicious ROMAN pizza- sold by the kilo
After that good food in our belly, we strolled along once again towards the river. Enroute, see what we found 👇
A store selling the best schnapps and liquor. For the happy and free spirited (😊) you are allowed to taste any amount and as many before buying or not buying any at all!!
Well, we then sat down with some good coffee at one of the many cafes dotted along the promenade letting the music and laughter flow over us… A day well spent indeed!
Day 2: Next morning after breakfast (beef sausages available at the supermarket is a must try) we headed to the Preseren Square to begin our free walking tour of Ljubljana. Our guide was Peter. He made every statue, bridge and building come alive with his stories from history. It was as if, some chapters from world History were being enacted before us. Again, I will not repeat the stories as I believe a lot is lost in the translation itself- you need to hear it from the man himself. So, Ljubljana free waking tours is a MUST!
We learnt that Ljubljana or Emona as it was called by the Romans, has changed many hands before attaining it’s present day status. First it was the Romans( so the name ,Juliana Alps as Julius Caesar crossed them en route his conquest), the Turks, the Hapsburgs, the French( was Napoleon’s capital), the Germans and Italians(WWII), part of Yogoslavia till 1991 when it declared it’s independence till 2004 when it became a part of the EU. Today it is a city which embodies mainly Austrian and Italian cultures and is the greenest city of the world. May it always stay blessed!
The walk ended at the Cobblers Bridge. After the long and interesting exercise, our next stop would obviously have to be a gastronomic indulgence(a family tradition and rule we follow)So, we headed to the FIGOVO restaurant to taste the PREKMURSKA GIBANICA CAKE.
An article I read worded it rather aptly: “The first dilemma is its name. Is it better to say layered strudel, cake or a pie? Actually, it doesn’t matter so much. It is an interesting combination of cake and pastry, and we can say it is one of the most famous and popular Slovenian desserts.”
We enjoyed this cake with some chilled wine. We did reach heaven for a short while…🌈🎈
A little bit about the BRIDGES of this city. The river here is transversed by multiple bridges- each built at different periods in history. Earlier they’d be built of wood and often would be burnt down by fire… till the concrete ones started being constructed.
Each bridge had a story to tell. I particularly liked the one about the Cobbler’s Bridge- apparently it was named so because, cobblers would display their items for sale on either side of it. In the centre was a pole to which was attached a huge cage. Apparently ,if any baker was found to have cheated on quality or weight of the bread loaves that he sold, he’d be brought here, put into the cage face down and dunked into the river. The idea was never to take one’s life but, to teach the offender a lesson – if found guilty more than twice, licences were cancelled- intriguing, isn’t it?!
The different bridges of Ljubljana that stand to tell their tale…
We ended the day with a hearty bowl of Goulash- which was slightly different from the Hungarian one. It was thicker, sweeter and delicious!
Day 3:
We started this day early as we were picked up from a prior designated spot by 7:30am. There were 4 more people along with us and we left for Lake Bled. The vehicle was comfortable and after the travellers got acquainted with each other (we had an American couple and a couple from Helsinki), the journey seemed even more interesting. It was interesting to note our perspectives on each other’s countries and we were impressed at the American gentleman’s knowledge of India and it’s election process!
We reached Bled in bout 2 hours. At first sight, the shimmering blue lake, the mountains at the back with the church spire standing out in the skyline was mesmerising…it was everything that we had expected and more! We first visited the Bled castle before going down to the lake. The view from the castle was even better, but the castle itself had little to offer. We spent a few hours walking around the lake, taking a Pletna (flat boat) to the island in the centre, ringing the wishing bell there, tasting the delicious Bled creme pastry, before we set out to begin our journey towards Postojna Caves. A tip I’d like to share here: Bled is beautiful and one needs to spend a night there to truly be able to experience it. If you are hard pressed for time, choose the Soca Valley or the Julian Alps over Bled.
👆Cream cake, characterized by delicate puff pastry atop layers of light vanilla cream and custard, is a dish that can be dated back to the height of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries. Almost all the countries under the Hapsburg’s former reign still have a version of the cake: Bosnians enjoy krempita, Polish love kremówka, and Slovakians dine happily on their krémeš. The Slovenian version of cream cake is kremna rezina and, thanks to a recent granting of protected designation of origin status, it only comes from the patisseries at Lake Bled. The sugar is JUST right and the pastry very light. We could not stop eating it for desert every single day that we were there. It costs about 4-5 Euros each. But, be warned that it is large enough to be easily shared among three people if eaten after a meal.
(Source: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/)
After Bled, we set off once again towards the famous Postojna Caves and Predjama Castle. Both of these lie in close proximity to one another and are found in the Karst region of Slovenia. This region being characterised by limestones, has extensive caves found under ground. The Postojna caves(discovered so far) extend over 27Kms. The Karst river has carved out extensive rock formations underground. I have to admit that, they are not only magnificent but also hard to believe at times! We were taken into the cavern in little trains till a certain spot and then had to walk from there. It was awfully cold underground and you are advised to carry a jacket with you. This is one visit which cannot be missed while in Ljubljana. We also sighted the tube like salamander or human fish as it is commonly called in these caves. Photographs do not do justice to the beauty that awaits you,once inside.
From these caves, a short ride away was the Predjama Castle( the J is pronounced as Y in Slovene) which stands hanging out of rock on a cliff edge. This medieval castle is listed as the most haunted castle in Europe (found out later 😊) and no one wants to work here at night – we were told! This castle too is a must visit and has the most well structured water collection system of its time. The views from the castle are sure to blow you away! It is well maintained and as we took a tour, one could imagine how the robber baron of the castle, Predjama must have lived ‘On Edge’ with his army of mercenaries, fleeing the Hapsburgs… From his vantage point, he had a three hundred and sixty degree view of the approaching enemy.
This trip is a Must!
With the tales of the mediaveal Robin hood, Predjama ringing in our ears, our tired feet took us back to our vehicle for the journey back to Ljubljana. The return journey seemed to fly past in a jiffy with our driver/ guide filling us in with stories of the enchanting haunted castle!
👇 One of the several structures you will view inside the cavern
The view of Castle as we approached it
The next day was our last day at Ljubljana. We spent the day getting lost in its meandering alleyways, browsing around in the Farmers market and generally soaking it all in. We tried a drink of chilled milk each, from the many milk machines in the city – have to confess ,it’s merely a touristy thing which can be avoided! We re visited some of the souvenir shops and the liquor shops. For every ailment, we found they had an alcohol remedy! Interestingly, their National Anthem we found, is sung around a table and a toast is raised to every stanza!
Till late that night, we sat on the promenade and tried to take in the positive vibe of this beautiful city. We left the next morning with a promise to definitely return and for a longer time.
A few tips I wish to add for you:
- Ljubljana is very close to Italy. So, you could combine it with your Italian holiday.
- Trieste in Italy is half an hour away. It is a port town and a must visit.
- Piran is a little coastal Slovenian town along the Adriatic sea- must do from Ljubljana.
- If you also wish to do Croatia, make Ljubljana your base as it is much happier and prettier. Also if you have an Indian passport, visiting Croatia will need a multiple entry visa
- Buy all your wines here- very cheaply priced.
- Buy cheese for Italian cooking here. The cheese here is different from the Dutch ones.
- Give Ljubljana 5-6nights at least.
- Expect to pay around 100 – 150 Euros for accommodation per night
- Carry a jacket as early mornings and late nights are cold even in June.
Last but not the least, am leaving you with images that speak of the strong Roman influences visible in the city everywhere.
Reluctantly, I bid adieu to the city where a piece of my heart remains.
Hope to meet you next at the Bavarian Alps…
Keep travelling and stay happy!
Ciao & Dobro zdravje (good health & well being)
Joyful Steps 