As I sit and write this retrospective entry I am sitting enjoying a Hot Chocolate made with a Hot Chocolate block that we got while we were in Ljubljana, there were lots of chocolate shops and this is helping to bring back memories of our time in Ljubljana and Slovenia.
Not surprisingly we had a late start on New Years Day after a late night seeing in the New Year the evening before. We all met for a slow breakfast at the hotel before making our way into town and our planned visit to the castle or Ljubljanski grad as it is known.
I had purchased tickets for the castle online the previous day, the tickets also included the Funicular Railway. The walk into town was pleasant and was by now becoming familiar, we crossed the Triple Bridge and worked our way through the market which had some stalls open, a stop to look at more hats could not be missed.
We found ourselves at the bottom of the Funicular Railway and joined the short queue, we watched as the railway filled with people; we would board next time. The ride up was smooth and we soon gained height and as we did the view over Ljubljana opened up, we could see for miles. All too quickly the ride was over, and we were disembarking into the Ljubljana Castle.
It had been recently renovated a few years ago, they had done a great job, it was a mix of very old and very new, it looked like the villains’ lair in a James Bond Film!
We started to explore the castle and made our way further upwards and onto the battlements, the views just got better, we could see all the way to the mountains, Ljubljana was laid out below us and we could trace our route back to our hotel.
We continued to explore and discovered that there was a photographic exhibition on and so we made our way to the gallery, again this was a real mix off old and new and all done very well. The Photographic Exhibition was excellent with lots of amazing photographs of different parts of Ljubljana and life in Ljubljana.
We took our time to admire the photography.
By now we were all ready for a hot drink and rest and so we made our way to the Castle Coffee Shop where of course coffee and cake were the order of the day, all of which were excellent.
Suitably refresh we then visited the souvenir shop and picked up a few things for friends back home. The castle has a long-standing guest and indeed the oldest dweller at the castle and he is Frederick the Rat who is apparently very cunning, well it got some money from us 😉
We had a walking tour booked for 3.30 pm and so we made our way back to the Funicular Railway and back down to street level. A short walk found us back at the Main Tourist Information where we were to meet Tasha, our guide for the tour.
Tasha took us over the Triple Bridge and to the front of the pink fronted, 17th Century Franciscan Church called Cerkev Marijinega oznanjenja or Church of the Annunciation of Mary. With the clear blue sky, the pink of the church looked stunning.
Tasha, told us about the history of the church and the surrounding buildings before we went inside the church to marvel at the interior. A nativity scene had been built; I am not sure if it is permanent or not but it was well worth seeing.
Back outside we made our way to Congress Square (Kongresni Trg) where we hoped to find the Sculptured Ice Exhibition, I had seen it advertised when I was doing my research and thought it worth a visit. Tasha said it was smaller that last year but still we went inside.
The temperature inside plummeted as expected to keep the sculptures frozen. We walked around admiring the work, well worth a visit.
By now it was starting to get dark and so we made our way back to the hotel, we all needed a rest and we had to get some packing done or at least started.
Some of our group went to see some street art that was located near the hotel, it looked very good.
That night we had booked dinner in a restaurant called Gujžina – Prekmurska gostilna, it was small and unassuming, and it served local cuisine, I for one was looking forward to it.
We took a couple of taxis over to the restaurant and got dropped off at a taxi rank close to our destination, the short walk helped to prime our appetites.
The restaurant had a very large menu and we made our choices, I went for Ham Hock as a sharing plate which I shared with my mum, others had beef and pasta. The starters and main courses were excellent but the highlight of the meal for me was the pudding which I shared with my niece, it was Plum Dumplings which tasted amazing, I was glad we were sharing the pudding as it was very filling.
After dinner it was time to head back to the hotel, get the packing done and get ready for our journey home in the morning.
Next day we were up early, our flight was at a reasonable time, 1120, but we needed to drive to the airport, hand back cars and so on.
The weather had also changed, it was very grey and misty.
Soon we were at the airport, checked in and sitting in the departure lounge, it is a small lounge but we were able to get coffee and our last piece of Bled Cake, a great way to finish what has been an excellent break to Slovenia.
Would I recommend Slovenia as a holiday destination, yes I would, it far exceeded our expectations. The mix of Lake Bled and Ljubljana was a great choice and allowed us to see different aspects of the country. The food was excellent as was the service we enjoyed and importantly it did not seem expensive, in fact a lot of the food was very good value for many.
Should you go, well yes you should.
An Old Fashioned Travel App 