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Day 12-15. Apart from the bus being a little late arriving in the the bus station and the driver missing the motorway exit to Ljubljana that resulted in a little detour through the countryside to get back on track, the bus from Trieste to Ljubljana was straightforward enough. After a short walk from the bus station we were nicely tucked up in our accommodation for the next 5 days.
With a balcony view over the city directly out to the castle, this promises to be a welcome haven at the end of each day.
As expected, the castle is atop a hill, but thankfully it is adequately serviced by a funicular, a service that was utilised without hesitation for the ascent only as we opted to walk down through the forest back to town.
First impressions of Ljubljana are of a young and vibrant city emerging from a long hiatus. It's former grandeur, again of Austrian influence is slowly being restored to its original beauty. But what does not show any signs of being held back are the wall to wall cafes and outdoor eateries that seem to be continually feeding what appears to be half of Europe! It starts with breakfasts that I would normally associate with an evening meal in the middle of winter in a ski resort, washed down with beer. That morphs into an early lunch without a change of menu, then lunch, same menu, with some signs of easing around 3:00 and it's back on again by 4:00. So what choice did we have but to join them. Fish has been our preferred source of protein, as there is an element of caution when it comes to the red meat stews or sausages as konjsko meso is reportedly quite popular in Slovenian cuisine.
A couple of days wandering the town, looking for anything that resembles an espresso or cappuccino without success, we ventured out today on a day trip to Predjama Castle, 60 or 70kms out of Ljubljana. What was to be a quick train ride turned into a longer bus trip as the train had been cancelled. A bit of hesitancy at the ticket office, the destination on the ticket was not where we were intending to go, and the price far more than expected. After some countless cross checking, we decided that the ticket would have to do and climbed on to the bus to Postojna, about 6 kms from the castle. Following the signs to the tourist centre, we gave up and went in the opposite direction and with a quick stop at a bakery for directions, we're please to learn that our instinct was correct and we found the tourist office in the town square.
After sorting out a taxi to the castle and entrance tickets, we were once again on track. The castle is set high in a limestone cliff face in a huge cave. The ingenuity and determination of these medieval builders is amazing, opting for security over comfort, they certainly found the right place to call home. In a maze of interconnecting spaces, some natural caverns in the rock and some constructed, consisting of three or four levels, a hundred metres above the valley floor, their skill has to be admired. It even had a rear tunnel out through the back of the cave to the other side of the mountain that served as an escape route if necessary. It was more or less occupied continuously since it was built in 1274 with the current structure remaining unchanged since the mid 1500s.
One of the few truly fascinating castle buildings that we have seen in all our travels, and we have seen a few.
Back to the train station and then on the Ljubljana, another stop at a bakery and it's time to call it a day.
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