Ljubljana, 2

Another general installment on this beautiful small city...

Every few minutes a river tour boat plies the waters, with maybe half a dozen
visitors aboard

River view with castle in background

Same with foreground fountain

Mahler again; he was conductor/director of the local opera
for six months, 1881-82; and went on to much greater
things...

We always try to support local traditional music

Inside one of the better DIY ice cream shoppes we've seen; note multi-colored
cones

In the city meat market

Among the numerous small, free, electric shuttles; most of the old city streets
are now pedestrianized; this put elders and other residents at a disadvantage,
so the city acquired a fleet of these vehicles; bicycles are another matter, to be
addressed

In the big city daily market, sausages of a variety local beasts (including bear)

Market scene

Market square

Approaching the Dragon Bridge (there are others of note which we'll see in
the post on Josez Plecnick, the favorite son architect)

So-called because...well, the dragon is the city's emblem

Distant view of funicular not taken to castle not visited

With one of the the dragons

More river view, from the bridge; the Two Towers in the distance, on the left
the fish market and the restaurant we ate at the next day; it really is a small city

Reading room in a city park (some in English, too)

Among the sculptures all over the place

One of the nicer doggie parks we have seen

Interesting dormer treatment; glassed-in

Former public bath house, now a day-care center

Under the arches, on the river, the resto we had lunch at, Ribca

View from our table, just down from Plecnik's Triple Bridge, Preseren Square
on the other side

It's a seafood restaurant, adjoining the seafood market...

Seaman's salad

The only non-seafood item on the menu, apart from desserts

A bit of cream in there...sort of like the cream cake we'd see later, only in a jar

Thus

Statue about to be de-headed by the tree

More interesting sculpture/water feature

And dragons everywhere

Ljubljana, 1

Just as Slovenia is a small country, its capital, Ljubljana, is a small city. We were there three days, well, two if you don't count the continuing Balkans monsoon, and really got attached to this place. There is ambiance, complexity, great architecture, history--a small Vienna some say--but not so much you can't get both arms around it all. I took an embarrassing number of pix and have found it difficult to edit them down. The place is lovely. So bear with me. Or skip ahead. Our Balkans campaign has been enlightening at every turn, and Ljubljana was one of the most pleasant of experiences. [Note on pronunciation: just think of the "j" as an "i" and you'll be just fjne.]. Lubliana.

Not that we're that influenced by such things, but the Ljubljana sosta was among
the best--about 2k from the centro storico, electricity, all the amenities, 1.20E
per day, including one free ride on the bus; it's on a very close-in park 'n ride;
more on that later

Big-time socialist realism: a government building in the Tito era, now the Slovenian
parliament

Tito-era office buildings...Isengard and Barad-Dur

More of such; but this isn't what you come to see nor enjoy

The parliament building

Interesting church a block away

Looking to the hill above, Ljubljana Castle; Ljubljana is sometimes compared
with Salzburg, having a river and a castle dominating it all; not so much here;
no Mozart; no Salzburg Festival

Old Main, Ljubljana U

The river, more like the Liffy than the Salzach

Alley scene

Main square church

Statue of Preseren, the national poet, presiding over Preseren
Square; note muse above

Main drag; in a following post, we'll see the amazing art nuvo all around

Preseren square, different view; rain falls incessantly in the center circle (it's
a trick fountain...stay tuned)

Slightly different view of Preseren and his Muse

Extremely helpful bronze model of city #14,439

Another church, Catholic, doors made special for the Pope's
recent visit

Pretty standard

So Austrian looking

Note curvature of street...

Gus Mahler, who did some time here before he was famous

More curvature

We were really into the curvature thing 

So is this Old World or what?

Predjama Castle

Not too far away from Skocjan is the other big cave, Postojna, and near it is yet another sight, Predjama, the castle in the cave. Well, sort of in front of the cave. And it looks more like a monastery than a castle. Be that as it may, it was built by a noted robber baron centuries ago and served as his headquarters until the authorities caught up with him. We arrived in another rainstorm, waited for our chance, saw the castle, and then spent the night in the car-park, in the company of some fellow savage-campeurs from Belgium.

Nice chainsaw sculpture at the nearby trinket shoppes

Interpretive signage about the little church and the tree planted by the robber
baron's lady friend; his name, interestingly, was Erasmus

Oops

Most interesting, however, was the nearby trail signage...

We're still wondering whether the Camino de Santiago really passes this way, and
why one would make the pilgrimage to Santiago when Rome and even Jerusalem
are much nearer; and whether you can really get stoned on the Camino, like in Spain...

As another storm approached