Ljubljana, Slovenia

09.11.2019 - 09.15.2019 70 °F

Ljubljana

I visited this beautiful city last year and made sure it was on my list of cities to revisit. I didn’t plan on the revisit happening one year later, but I was in the neighborhood, so why not. To be honest, as I was walking to my Airbnb (30 minutes) I was wondering why I added it to my adventure when I had just been here. Maybe it was the walk that had me second guessing my return visit or the location of my Airbnb but as it turned out, both thoughts were premature. My Airbnb was actually only a 10 minute walk to the city center meandering along the river. During that gorgeous walk, it didn’t take long to remind me why I wanted to come back. This city is spectacular in its walkability and its beauty. The food scene is heavenly and the street entertainment is magical. This time I took a walking tour of the city to better understand the history of the city and it was the best tour I have ever taken. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, personable and funny. If you ever take these walking tours, please tip them well, they are giving you a gift of their knowledge and are sharing with you the love of their city. My photos won’t give this stunning city the justice it deserves so if you are in the location, make this a must visit. Give yourself at least 5 days to see everything, you have Lake Bled and Postojna Caves each is a day trip. You can easily get to these places using the local bus, but it will take at least an hour each way maybe more with traffic. Other options are to rent a car or find a local tour group - choose wisely because the city bus may be cheaper but you will be limited on the times that the bus returns to the city.

Slovenia is surrounded by lakes, rivers, caves and castles but it is mostly forest. There is such an incredible amount of history attached to this country so do yourself a favor and read up before you come. This is a great destination for enjoying the beauty of Europe without the prices of cities like Paris.

I have more pictures from my previous trip here
https://joannereyes.travellerspoint.com/44/

Franciscan Church

The Prešeren monument
Ljubljana is probably one of the few cities in the world whose central town square is adorned with a statue of a poet rather than some political or military hero. The statue that stands on a pedestal includes a sculpture of the poet, facing the window where his adored Julija Primic used to live, and a sculpture of a Muse above him sitting on a rock and holding a laurel branch in her hand. The Priest didn’t like the idea of the parishioner leaving the church and seeing the topless Muse so they would periodically put scarfs around her just to have some charlatans remove it as fast as it went up. The Priest then decided to plant trees in front of the church to block the view of the muse - which worked great until winter came when she was once again in full view of the parishioners.