Day 105 - Hello Ljubljana!

We woke up to a brilliant blue sky and mountain ranges in the distance.  Seeing the hotel/gym/fitness centre in daylight was more bizarre than the morning.  Breakfast was basic - either a couple of cereals with yoghurt, or sliced bread, meat, cheese and jams.  No fruit juice, diluted cordial and coffee.  As I said, basic.

Al had arranged that we meet her friend through work, Warren, at midday in the city square.  We booked a taxi to go into town about 9.30am (cost was a quarter of what I paid the night before, a lot cheaper to book a taxi than grab one at the train station), and got dropped off at the furnicular so that we could go up and explore Ljubljana Castle - whole of Europe seems to have a castle!!  It was a refreshing change to have a castle that didn't cost a fortune to enter, was not over decorated with gold, pictures, detail etc, but still had a brilliant view.  Al and I spent awhile looking at the displays to get an idea of the history of Slovenia - like most places in Europe, there is a long history of occupation, conquests, torture and war.

View from Ljubljana Castle tower

Stairs in castle - design is of a dragon which is a significant figure for Ljubljana

Dance of Death

Al and I made our way from the castle down into Ljubljana town and easily found Warren in the square.  He took us on a guided tour of the town including a church and street performance by the US Army band- it isn't small so was easy to walk around.  Despite being a Sunday, it was very quiet and appeared to be mainly locals walking around instead of tourists.

Milk vending machine!

One entrance to Church of St Nicholas

Dragons stand guard at each of the 4 pillars of the 'Dragon Bridge"'

Warren took Al and I out to lunch.  I was blown away how cheap it was compared to places I had previously come from, and the food was really fresh and incredibly tasty.  I had potato tortellini in red wine and with salami for entree, and then veal with vegetables, washed down with a bottle of Slovenian red wine.  We were really impressed by the food.

Warren noted Al and my interest in grafitti so took us to see one particular area of town.  I just went nuts with the photos, but here are a couple to show you the amazing work:

Fabulous sculpture that took my eye

Spoke to this guy and told him he should come to Melb to do his art in the laneways

About 5pm and it was beer oçlock so we stopped in at a bar on the river for a couple of beers, did more wandering, then had a small bite of pizza.  Once again, the cost of the food was really good, and the quality of the ingredients was excellent.

Back at the hotel Al and I started researching options for accommodation for later in the week.  What a first day in Ljubljana - thanks so much Warren for being a great guide.