Walking through the streets of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Pretty little shops lined the streets of the old town

Lubljana is a pleasant city to wander around. Because it is not very big, you can take your own sweet time to explore the place just on foot. The old town is full of pretty small shops, cute cafe and restaurants. When you're tired of walking, just sit by one of the many cafes to have a cup of coffee. There is nothing really so grand about Ljubljana but it is relaxing to hang around. It will never stress you. The cleanliness of the old town makes quite an impression.

                           

A day in Ljubljana, Slovenia

The Ljubljanica River flows in the middle of the city

The  famous Dragon Bridge

It was about half past eleven by the time we arrived at the City Hotel in Ljubljana. Too early for check-in but I was hoping at least some of the rooms were ready and we could put our luggage. The hotel management was very accommodating and gladly, they had all our rooms ready. One thing that I always do before I travel is to send email to the hotels and inform them on my late or early arrival. These days some hotels even write emails asking for your arrival time, which is pretty sweet to make us feel that they do care about their clients. 

As soon as our rooms were sorted, we started exploring Ljubljana (pronounced as yupyana). From the hotel, we walked towards the famous Dragon Bridge and just across the Ljubljanica River is the old part of the town. I love Ljubljana because it is small, cosy, easy to navigate and the people are friendly. You won't get lost in this city! 

What a relief that our day in Ljubljana was relaxing. We strolled around the little old town, browsed through the souvenir shops and visited Ljubljana Castle on the hill. My legs haven't fully recovered from the hike in Plitvice and this is not even half of the journey yet. This is the hazard of harsh travelling - it's like you bashed yourself about 7 to 8 hours of walking in the day and spent a few hours of sleep at night, hoping to recuperate miraculously the next day!

Ljubljana is an interesting town

Modern shopping arcade

The streets are car-free but cyclist can roam freely

The streets in old town

A view from the castle

The fresh fruits and vegetable market

We took the funicular up to the castle

View of Ljubljana City from the Castle Hill

Many bridges across the river

From Zagreb to Ljubljana

The highway from Zagreb to Ljubljana

Originally, the plan was to take a bus from Zagreb to Trieste, and from Trieste take a train to Venice. But, considering the shorter travel time from Ljubljana to Venice, which will only take about 3 hours, we opted for a one night stay in Ljubljana. This would also mean that we got a chance to see a bit of Slovenia.  

The drive through rolling hills and beautiful countryside from Zagreb to Ljubljana took about 2 hours. We crossed the boarder without much problem and as usual, our kind and accommodating driver suggested a detour to Otočec, a place located half way between Ljubljana and Zagreb. The nearest town is Novo Meste but we didn't make a stop there. 

Otočec is famous for its romantic thirteen century castle on a small island in the middle of the Krka River. The area is very serene and calm. It was a great pleasure walking around and the view of the castle from the bridge was pretty amazing. Around the area, there are several hotels; the five star Grad Otočec Hotel, guest houses, tourist farms and car camp. Hence, Otočec is never short of places to stay nor activities to do.


This little place gives us the first impression on what to expect in Slovenia. It is indeed a beautiful country needless to say. I've read about Lake Bled but unfortunately, we don't have the time to go. We walked around the area for a short while but what a shame, we had to leave as we wanted to arrive in Ljubljana as soon as possible. It was a haste, trying to do everything in a day but I don't want to miss Ljubljana either. 

I called everybody to get on the bus and requested Mirano to proceed to Ljubljana. Everytime when I look at the pictures of Otočec again and again, I felt so thankful to Mirano for taking us there. Here are some of the stunning pictures of Otočec.

The Hanging Shoes - Ljubljana, Slovenia

Strings of shoes neatly hanged above the streets

As I walked through the streets of Ljubljana, I noticed strings of shoes hanged on wires spanned high across the streets. No idea, what this ritual is supposed to mean but I presumed it must mean something to the owners of the shoes. It was told that the local authority did remove them but yet to discover more hanging shoes the next day!