Ljubljana June 3-6

When I was planning this trip I calculated that “Ljubljana June 3-6” meant three days in Ljubljana,  one to chill and do laundry, two to explore.  Only on the train here did it dawn on me that I was arriving the evening of June 3 and departing the morning of June 6, and that there are only two days between those two dates.  So I spent the first day exploring in the morning and evening, with laundry and rest in between. 

In the morning I went to the castle overlooking the town, and, according to the audio guide, a third of the country on a clear day.  I’m not sure the castle is particularly noteworthy historically or architecturally but it had an excellent museum of Slovenian history.  I went in knowing virtually nothing and came out with a superficial understanding, which I guess is progress.  It is far beyond me to summarize the enormously complicated historical relationship among the states that made up Yugoslavia –  Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzovogina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro – much less the relationship of Yugoslavia to the rest of the Balkans, Europe and Turkey.  As far as Slovenia goes, in 1991 it took the first real opportunity in its history to declare independence; after the Ten Day War it stayed out of the wars that ravaged most of the region, and has prospered since; I could not tell much of a difference economically with what I saw in Austria. 

The castle also had a Museum of Puppetry, with creepy dolls.

The relatively small central section of Ljubljana is neat and pretty and vibrant; lots of pedestrian areas, lots of busy sidewalk cafes.  On my way back from the castle I stopped in the street market for fruit, bread cheese, wine, and a pocketknife.  In the evening, after laundry, I picnicked in one of the less populated squares (the wine camouflaged in a coffee mug because I wasn’t sure of the open container laws).  The experience was marred only by a nearby restaurant speaker blaring mediocre American rock – “Two Tickets to Paradise.”

A still life of my picnic.

The square.

My second day I went by train and bus to Lake Bled, which is routinely described as magical and out of a fairy tale.  At first I was not particularly impressed; the view was pretty but on the first section of the walk around the lake the road is right next to the footpath.  But it grew on me once I entered the park that covers most of the shore, and even more when I made the steep climb to the castle perched on the rock high above the lake.

The walk I routinely go in Kailua,  on Keolu Loop around Enchanted Lake, is 2.9 miles.  The walk around Lake Bled is just under four miles, which seems impossible to me.  Equally unlikely is the fact the tiny island is the only island in all of Slovenia.

I returned to Ljubljana for an excellent dinner of goulash and dumplings.