Today was a travel day on the bus moving from Opatija, Croatia to Ljublanja which is the capital of Slovenia. The landscape changed as we moved north and began to look more Tyrolean with rolling hills and alpine architecture. Slovenia is a charming mixture of Slavic, German and Italian cultures.
The roads were good and we were in Slovenia after a 3 hour drive. During the ride, Jon gave us a history of Slovenia and a rundown of their famous people including all of their athletes – he knew them all.
Our hotel, The Union Business Hotel, was in a good location for walking and exploring the town of Ljublanja. We didnt’ have a local guide at this stop because this is our our director, Jon’s home town.
The old town, mostly all pedestrian, is lovely. It was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1857. Much of the design of this walkable city was done by one architect – Joze Plecnik. Lots of bridges, cobbled roads, ornate buildings, public art.
Bonnie and I did not make it to many museums or churches on this trip. I really wanted to see some of the Serbian Orthodox churches in this region but we missed them all. Maybe we spent too much time shopping and eating!
We did pop into the Museum of Slovenian History but it was mostly ancient history rather than modern so not my favorite.
Part of the tour included a dinner and folk culture night at a little pub. As expected it was a little hokey- local youth dressed in their traditional costumes dancing for the tourists. But our tour members were good sports – getting out and dancing with the performers, Bonnie included.
Ljublanja is a university town and school was in session. So streets really filled up with young people after 5pm.
