2023 Balkans - Day 15 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Today is our last day in the Balkans. Greg made this map to show our progress, and which days we arrived at each new location. We covered a lot of miles.

People have been living in Ljubljana since prehistoric times. The oldest known instrument, made of bone with holes drilled into it, was found here. it was the Roman capital of Emona, which, as the Slovenians freely admit, is a lot easier to spell than Ljubljana. As they say, the Romans love vowels; Slovenians love consonants. There are traces of a Roman road and mosaics in the National Museum. I was planning to go there, but it’s Monday and most museums are closed. 

Ljubljana is one of the smallest capital cities in all of Europe. It’s divided in half by the Ljubljanica River, with the Old City and castle on one side, and most of the current administrative, cultural and educational buildings on the other. Tree-lined terraces run along both sides of the river. 

View from Cobblers Bridge. In the Middle Ages, craftsmen (in this case, over a dozen shoemakers) lived and worked on footbridges to intercept incoming traffic and avoid paying taxes due the town if their businesses were within the city. 

Ljubljana Town Hall was built in the 15th century and largely rebuilt in the early 18th century. Tours in English are available on Saturday, with a reservation. But you can walk around and admire the interior courtyards whenever the building is open. 

Noted Slovenian architect Joseph Plecnik designed many of the buildings and added ornamental touches throughout the city, giving Ljubljana a unique style. The city is charming - just the right size, with lots of shops, cafes, restaurants and markets. It was not, however, extremely commercial. We had to look quite a while to find a Slovenian keychain for our Christmas travel tree. 

Art Nouveau buildings from the early 20th century 

The former Governor’s Palace was built in 1902. After the fall of the Austrian Empire in the First World War, the Slovenian language was finally legalized and the building was transformed into the founding building for the city university. Forty thousand students attend, giving the city a young vibe. 

The philharmonic orchestra is the second oldest in Europe, with only Paris preceding it. Mahler conducted here for a season. 

The Jewish Lane, from the old ghetto. There was never a large Jewish population here, and sadly, as in most of Western Europe, most did not survive the Holocaust. 



As in Berlin and other European cities, there are occasional “stumbling stones” to mark the places from which some of Ljubljana’s Jewish residents disappeared. Conceived by German artist Gunter Demnig in Cologne over 30 years ago, more than 70,000 of the small brass stones have been placed in over 1,200 cities and towns across Europe. This pair, each about 4” across, was just outside the entrance to our hotel. 

The city center is a pedestrian zone. Traffic is allowed until 10 am, to allow businesses to receive inventory or send things out. At 10, retractable bollard posts pop out of the pavement to block the streets. But walkers still have to be on the alert for bikes, which zoom through the pedestrians with skill and confidence. 

Greg went to visit the House of Illusions (museum) and I walked around looking at people and fanciful architecture. There is a bona fire castle here, sitting on a hill 1,200 feet above the city. The fit and adventurous can walk up, but many people take the funicular. Most of the complex dates from the early 16th century after severe damage from - wait for it - an earthquake. I was going to head up, but decided I’d seen enough crowded tourist places here in the Balkans, and wanted to just enjoy the atmosphere. 

There’s a towering building with free access to a cafe terrace. There were fine views of Castle Hill and, in the opposite direction, the Julian Alps.

More street scenes:

A perfusion of locks on a pedestrian bridge

Handicrafts

These free little helper carts can be flagged down by anyone needing a lift. They’ll take you back to your hotel, to your next destination, wherever. 

The main square, named for Slovenian poet France Prešeren, whose statue stands in the middle. 

One span of the famous Triple Bridge. Originally built as a functional crossing in 1842, aforementioned architect Plecnik added a bridge on either side about 90 years later, along with plenty of lamps and stone balustrades. Stairs lead down from the end spans to a riverside terrace. 

So many balustrades!

The National and University Library was also designed by Plecnik. I loved this building, incorporating stones from around the country, but not everyone in our group did. 

The 1901 Dragon Bridge incorporates the symbol of Ljubljana into each corner, with four fierce dragons standing guard. Little dragons are at the base of the intermediate posts. According to local legend, the city’s history goes back beyond the Romans to the Greeks, as Jason and the Argonauts came here while looking for the Golden Fleece. And guess who Jason slayed?

Ljubljana is a lovely, delightful city. Maybe a good place for a base in Europe - as long as one doesn’t have to speak the language.  It has a singular case, a dual case, and more than two case. Each vowel has 27 different endings, depending upon number, tense, gender - too much for this old brain. 

So, early to bed after our farewell dinner. We’ll be up at 3:15 AM for our early airport departure, and hope to be home with 24 hours. We’ve learned a lot bout this fascinating and confusing part of the world, crisscrossing the countries and learning to our guides I hope things continue well for them. 

2023 Balkans - Day 14 Lake Bled, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Today was our final border crossing before heading home. But because both Croatia and Slovenia are part of the Schengen pact, there was no passport control. 

Slovenia is the only country in Europe that has love in its name. It’s a small country, slightly smaller than New Jersey, with only two million people. It’s geographically diverse, with plains, serious mountains (the Julian Alps) and 27 miles of seaside. There’s a Mediterranean climate in the southwest, continental in the middle and continental/mountainous climate in the Alps. In one hour, you can go from skiing to swimming. It’s one of the most forested countries in Europe, and one of most environmentally conscious. 

There are 90,000 beekeepers in Slovenia, almost 1 for every 200 inhabitants. There are lots of vineyards, about one for every 70 people in Slovenia. 

The people here are active. Besides champion basketball players and pro cyclists, there’s a saying that you’re not really a Slovenian unless you’ve climbed Mount Triglav. At 9,000 feet, it’s also the highest peak of the Julian Alps, and was the highest park in Yugoslavia before it split up. It winter, ski jumping (or ski flying) is popular, and in summer they hold the most vertical race in the world when competitors race 1,300 vertical feet up a ski jump hill in the Red Bull 400. 

Slovenia is a Slavic country, and part of the former Yugoslavia. For a period in the 7th century, it was united by a huge tribal alliance into a big country. After the alliance dissolved, the area became part of this country or that for the next thousand years. It was again briefly independent before becoming part of Yugoslavia. It managed to avoid major destructive conflicts by adopting a policy of rapid surrender. When Yugoslavia collapsed, there was only a 10 day period of war before Slovenian independence. Today, it’s the most developed country of ex-Yugoslavia, and the most expensive. 

We made an unscheduled stop at Grad Otecec, the only island castle in Slovenia. It was first mentioned in 1254. The Otecec castle was often accessible only by boat, but in 1958 the present bridge was constructed. The castle is now a luxury hotel, where you can pay 600 Euros per night for the privilege of staying.

We were most enthralled by the swans and cygnets. 

This jaunty crossing of the leg - what’s up with that?

We stopped at a little town for lunch on our way to what was, for me, the most anticipated place on the trip. 

The medieval Bled Castle is perched on a precipice overlooking the most visited tourist stop in Slovenia. We were happy to be here in May, instead of the overcrowded late summer months. 

First mentioned in 1011, Bled Castle is celebrated as the oldest castle in Slovenia. It’s been owned by bishops, Hapsburgs, and entrepreneurs. It’s now maintained by the state. 

It’s a steep but short climb from the parking lot to the castle. It looked like a treacherous walk on a rainy day, but we had the finest weather of our trip thus far. From the castle courtyard, the loveliest spot in the country spread below us: an aquamarine lake with the Julian Alps in the background, a tiny island capped with a picturesque church. 

We had about an hour to walk along Lake Bled. It’s a relatively small lake, about 1.2 miles long by .85 miles wide. We had time to walk as far as Bled Island to have a better look at the Church of the Assumption, but would have needed a bike to circumnavigate the whole lake. Little rowboats and electric boats dot the lake - but no gas motors are allowed. The Slovenian national rowing teams like to practice here. 

Tonight we’re in the capital, Ljubljana. During a short walk to the restaurant, we saw that the city is indeed, as Srdjan had told us, super cute. There will be many more tomorrow, so just one photo here for tonight:

2023 Balkans - Day 13 Zagreb, Croatia

Today we’re in Zagreb, the capital and largest city in Croatia. The city has about 800,000 residents (a million with the near suburbs). About a quarter of Croatia’s population lives in the metropolitan area. 

We are only 40 miles from Gnojnice, the village from which Greg’s grandfather emigrated around 1912. 

Our hotel is a half block from Ban Josip Jelačić Square, the central square and heart of Zagreb. It sits on the divide between the Church Town and the Merchant Town, commonly known now as the Upper Town and the Lower Town. Today, the Upper Town features ornate old churches, narrow streets, and medieval walls, while the Lower Town has art museums, government buildings, cultural centers and a mash-up of 19th century and brutalist architecture. 

Josip Jelačić himself. He was a Count who united the neighboring settlements into a single city in 1850. He’s been moved around the square a few times, facing different directions, and was hidden for several years by Tito. 

Our walking tour took us to a little funicular that is the shortest public transportation route in the world - only 215 feet. It connects the Lower and Upper towns with a 55 second ride. 

(There are also several stair routes connecting the two parts, and steeply sloped cobblestone streets.)

View from the Upper Town over the Lower Town

An old tower marks the location of one of the four city gates. It’s now a tourist information center. A bell atop the tower used to ring to warn people working in the fields below that it was approaching time to close the city gates. It was eventually replaced by a cannon. Today, the cannon (poking out of the top right window) is fired at noon each day in remembrance of the tradition. 

There is excellent signage for tourists - a good thing as the streets in the Upper Town are not so much a grid as a sprawling warren. 

Construction cranes and scaffolding are everywhere. Part is new construction, but the vast majority is renovation following the 2020 earthquake. Only one of the churches we passed this morning was open - we could peek through the back door to see the interior of Saints Cyril and Methodius Greek Catholic (Orthodox) Church. 

St. Mark’s Church is just down the block, capped by an eye-catching, patriotic tiled roof - and draped scaffolding. Also visible are a few of the over 400 gas lanterns in this part of town. Every evening they are lit by a gentleman with a long pole, and extinguished the next morning with a similar snuffer. 

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been badly damaged several times over the centuries. Both the 1880 and 2020 earthquake caused extensive damage. The steeple on the right fell onto the adjoining building in the most recent quake. The one of the left was removed after the earthquake and is sitting on the pavement below. Our guide, who has lived here for 33 years, said she’s never seen the cathedral without scaffolding. 

It’s not as if the city is a collapsing ruin, though. It’s a pretty, charming town with a mix of Viennese, Hungarian and traditional architecture. There are 28 bustling farmers markets scattered throughout 23 neighborhoods. They operate year round, seven days a week, in all weathers. 

A green horseshoe of connected parks flanked by public buildings and parks, including botanical gardens, embraces the lower town. 

National Archives building

Croatian National Theatre

Zagreb has an efficient and inexpensive transportation network, with blue tram cars connecting the city. A ticket good for 35 minutes is only 53 cents. 

Zagreb has a lively outdoor dining scene, with most restaurants spilling onto the sidewalks, or in wider pedestrian areas, the middle of the street. We’ve heard about coffee culture throughout the Balkans. People meet with friends for coffee, which can be a three hour gossip session over a single espresso each. 

We’ve seldom seen any litter throughout our time in the Balkans, but graffiti seems to be a regional art form. 

The Stone Gate, the last remaining of the four medieval city gates around the Upper Town, houses a painting of Mary and Child that is said to have miraculously survived a fire there. People come to pray to the painting. Over the years, hundreds of people have left tiles on the walls, thanking Mary. (The word Hvala or derivatives means “thank you”.)

Greg and I visited the quirky Museum of Broken Relationships. Winner of the Most Creative Museum in Europe award, it houses a collection of momentos and straightforward explanatory notes donated by people from around the world. They range from family relationships to romances. Some are touching, some funny, some heartbreaking, This regretful note is from someone who had to end her love affair with pizza after developing gluten intolerance. 

Fun Fact:

We’ve heard several times during the course of this trip that men have the Croatians to thank for neckties. It didn’t start as a fashion statement, but as scarves that women tied around the necks of their husbands and sons who went off to war. It would remind them someone was waiting for them, and also could serve as an identifier for a body. The French thought they looked rather dashing, and started wearing them, calling them cravats (from Croates). I guess we can just be glad they didn’t similarly adopt the fez. 

I skipped dinner tonight and took a walk around the green horseshoe of city parks. All the food has been good - but so much of it! I needed a little breather