How do you pronounce 'Ljubljana'??
Trip dates: February 25, 2017 - February 28, 2017
We took a train from Vienna to Ljubljana in Slovenia and while we didn't like Vienna too much, the parts of Austria that we passed through on our way to Villach (where we had to switch trains) was some of the most scenic areas we've passed yet! There were lots of mountains and lakes and it looks like a beautiful area for hiking that we'll have to come back and check out sometime soon! We also decided that the Austrian trains are definitely the nicest in the Eurail family, though Germany's DB is a close second.
So how did we end up deciding to go to Slovenia? I don't know about you guys but Eric and I had never heard of Ljubljana prior to arriving here. We were originally thinking of just taking the train from Vienna to Zagreb in Croatia. When looking at the train routes and schedules, I saw that all the trains stopped in this place called Ljubljana for a while so I thought, maybe we should do a quick stopover there. In researching a bit more, it looked like there was enough to see to warrant a day, plus there's the nearby Lake Bled that looked beautiful and perfect as a day trip! So that's how we ended up planning on staying 2 nights in Slovenia.
We arrived in Ljubljana in the early evening and passed through town on our way to our hotel, the nicest Best Western that I've ever seen. Since Eric had gotten sick in Vienna and was still recovering, we decided that we wouldn't really walk around that evening and just stay an extra night instead to get all our sightseeing in.
We had dinner in Ljubljana at a local gostilna that first night, and it turned out to be our favorite meal there! Slovenia cuisine is a bit of a hodgepodge of different cuisines, with influences from nearby Hungary and Italy, as well as having Mediterranean flavors due to the availability of fresh seafood. Therefore, it was a little hard to determine where to eat for local food. Luckily, Slovenia has these places called gostilnas, which are like traditional taverns or inns, which serve local, rustic food. The one we went to the first night (as well as our last meal) was called Rio Momo and apparently, the Slovenian president dines there too!
The next day was a beautiful sunny day and we walked around the town to check it out. There were a lot of other people out as well, enjoying the sun - we think almost all of them were locals though. We didn't really know what to expect of Slovenia so we were really pleasantly surprised by Ljubljana. The city is quite small but it's very clean, nice people and beautiful architecture. There isn't a lot to sightsee here but it's a really pleasant area to just walk around, so it was actually kind of perfect as a light sightseeing day for Eric while in recovery! Oh, and to answer the question in the title of this post, Ljubljana is pronounced lyoobleeyana (we were constantly referring to it as 'jubjubs' until we got here because we didn't know better).
One of the main attractions in Ljubljana is the castle. It's situated at the top of the hill with nice views of the city, so of course we had to walk up there and check it out! (There is also a funicular that you can take up instead, but what's the fun in that?) There's a park area up there as well, so a lot of people walking their dogs there (oh yeah, it seemed like everyone there owns a dog!). The castle itself is open to visitors, with a courtyard and restaurant, but you have to pay the admission fee to go in the museums as well as to go up the tower for the panoramic views. We didn't realize that you could walk around the compound without paying the admission. Since we did, we ended up checking out the museums up there, which we probably wouldn't have otherwise.
We walked through the Exhibit on Slovenian History, which enlightened us somewhat, though we still walked away a bit confused on exactly what happened when Yugoslavia formed and why/how Slovenia broke away afterwards. There was also a presentation of the history of Ljubljana castle itself and its restoration process; it was narrated by a dragon so it was a little tacky but still informative.
The last exhibit that we checked out was the Museum of Puppetry! Totally random, but apparently puppetry plays a huge part in Slovenian culture. The museum was kitschy but also pretty cool, because it was all hands-on. Eric and I were able to try out the different types of puppets and put on some puppet shows of our own! See a video of our puppet show here!
After exploring the castle, we made our way back down to town and headed for the one pharmacy that was open on Sundays to get Eric some decongestants. We crossed the famous dragon bridge on the way and stopped to take lots of photos of the dragons. Legend has it that Jason and the Argonauts stopped in Ljubljana on their journey home and had to slay the dragon that resided here. The other main legend is rooted in the story of St. George slaying the dragon. Either way, the dragon is a central part of the city's coat of arms, hence why the castle video was narrated by a dragon.
Since we stayed in Ljubljana three nights, we ended up having a couple meals here. We didn't love the food, but it was a nice change of pace from all the goulash and schnitzel (though you could get those here too if you wanted!). We had soup to start each meal, and Eric had a lot of meat while I pretty much ordered grilled calamari or grilled octopus every time.
Our second day, we headed to Bled to check out the lake and the scenery. We had a hearty Slovenian breakfast from our hotel to get us started on the day!
We bought a roundtrip bus fare from Ljubljana to Bled for 23 euro for both of us, which was super convenient. We had originally thought about staying in Bled and then taking a train into Ljubljana, but the closest train stations for Bled still required you to take the bus to actually get to the lake area. The bus system in Slovenia was very efficient, with the bus being surprisingly prompt with departure and arrival times.
We arrived in Bled just a few minutes walk from the lake. There's a path that circles all around the lake that you can walk or bike. It actually reminded us a lot of Green Lake in Seattle, but a tad bit bigger. We had originally thought about renting a bike to cycle around the lake but it was a bit chilly out, with the sun coming and going behind the clouds, so we ended up just walking instead. I'm glad we did, because the path got pretty narrow at times and there was also some construction - not fun to go through on a bike!
The lake is pretty decent sized, with a little island in the middle that has a church on it. You can pay for a little boat to take you to the island and visit the church (I think it's about 14 euros for a roundtrip). You can also pay extra to ring the church bell - something I've been wanting to do, but not for 6 euros! What a killing they must make in the summer. The other highlight of the lake is Bled Castle, which sits on a perch overlooking the lake. You have to pay to go to the castle and get the views of the lake. Since we had already visited the much larger Ljubljana castle, we decided to find a different (and free) lookout point instead.
There are actually two viewpoints of Lake Bled: Ojstrica and Osojnica. Both are located on the west side of the lake, by Zaka bay. It seems like there might be a couple paths up to the viewpoints, but the most easily accessible one (which is the one we took) wasn't very clearly marked at the beginning. There's a parking lot by the west side of Lake Bled, with a small grassy area just south of it where the road curves. You basically cross the small wooden barrier on the side of the road there, where you'll see a tiny sign indicating the two viewpoints.
You head onto the path into the forest and just keep heading up up up. The path gets really rocky and steep for a bit, after which you'll come to a sign post directing you to climb up for Ojstrica or keep going for Osojnica.
We climbed up the remaining chunk to Ojstrica, which is a small summit with one bench and some rocks that are great for perching. There weren't very many people up there so we ended up having the bench to ourselves for a while and had lunch up there.
We had originally planned to go to Osojnica as well. But since Eric was still sick, and it seemed like the view was similar but just a little bit higher from pictures, we decided to call it a day and headed back down and around back to the east side of the lake to catch the bus to Ljubljana. There wasn't too much to see in Bled besides the lake, so it was a really easygoing and pleasant day trip - totally recommend it if you're ever in Ljubljana!
Our final day in Ljubljana before heading out, we walked to the Roman wall to see the ruins. It wasn't quite what I expected, as they had taken the stones from the ruins and built a gate with it. Anyways, after that brief detour, we went to Rio Momo for lunch and our last meal in Slovenia before heading on to Croatia, finally (a country that's been on my must-visit list for a while now)!
