Ljlubljana

We woke up early once again (Mia especially early as you had read). I woke up everyone at 730, thinking that it would take us an hour to get ready based on the previous two weeks as well as the fact that there was one bathroom in that hostel that we could use but we ended up leaving a little after 8. We used the key deposit we got back to buy more bread and a lot of drinks for the train ride and then ended up getting to the train station and hour and a half early. We just made sandwiches and hung out, so it was all good.

The train ride was relatively uneventful and only two people came around for customs and passports this time around. we did go through some very pretty and scenic areas, though. We arrived in Ljubljana around 12 and since the hostel is like five minutes away from the train station, it didnt take us too long to put our stuff down.

The hostel that we are staying at right now is this really hip and trendy hostel, called Hostel Celica. Its also famous because it used to be a prison. We are staying in the dorms, but the private rooms are all cell themed and designed by various artists and architects. Its really nice on the inside and out, though, so its really hard to imagine that this used to be a prison. I actually havent seen the cell rooms though, so I wouldnt know.

Anyway, we couldnt check in until after 3, so we finished off our bread and jelly for lunch, mapped out our day and headed out.

We walked down the street for a while, stopping to look at a church and to get stamps from the post office. Our first big tourist stop was the Dragon Bridge. Dragons are the big symbols of Ljubljana. According to one of our maps it goes back to Jason and the Argonauts and when he slayed some swamp monster, but I dont know too much of the story other than seeing that play in DC, so I wouldnt be able to tell you. Actually, nevermind, I think I do know what they are talking about. We also were looking for something called the House of Experiments because it sounded intriguing. It ended up being closed and some childrens science museum, though, so that might not have been worth it anyway.

We crossed the Dragon Bridge and then found some market that Mia got interested in. It was mostly clothes that did not interest Mia and produce, though, so we left quickly. Our next destination was the Ljubljana Castle. To get to the castle, you have two choices. You can take the Funicular up and pay to sit in a crowded little tube, or you can walk up the hill. We chose to walk up (which was good especially since we had just had ice cream). Except for the fact that it was very hot and we therefore were sweaty messes once we made it to the top, the walk up wasnt back down. The slope was kind of slippery, so it was worse going down, actually.

Anyway, we got up there and sat down to cool off for a little while. Then, we explored the inside of the castle. There is a pretty gorgeous view from the castle wall. You can pay more to go up a tower to see more of the view, but we were fine where we were. We also saw costumes for Slovenian peasant weddings and saw some modern sculptures.

We walked back down, which as I said was a lot more slippery and scary than the trip up. We found a market and got water and soda for very, very cheap. St. Nicholass Cathedral was nearby, so we looked inside of that. The inside was pretty, but it was the weird doors and things they had on the walls outside of the Cathedral that we spent more time looking at.

After that, we ended up in the big main square of town. It was a very pretty area that kind of reminded me of parts of Venice because of all the bridges. In the middle of the square, there is big statue of the poet who penned the national anthem of Slovenia. We sat around in that area for a little while to write and send out postcards. Then, we explored the little kiosks that were in the area. A little more interesting for us than the clothing stores. In doing so, Andrew also made a friend. I hope he blogs about all the friends he has made here in Slovenia later on. Or maybe Gianni will.

We hung around in that area for quite some time. In the middle of everything, there was also a rehearsal for a circus or some weird dance performance going on. It looked very strange.

At around five, we decided to move on and look for the Parliament building. The facade of the building has a lot of statues of naked people. It was kind of weird, but interesting.

We ate at some restaurant nearby. We were too hungry at that point to really find a restaurant with local cuisine. Mia got to try ratatouille though, which I think made her really happy.

After we ate, we went to this park next to the restaurant, where this band was setting up shop to perform. It was probably one of the strangest musical performances I had ever seen. All of the people were using small instruments and doing acrobatics and other silly things. I think it terrified Andrew though, but we got a picture of him with the band afterwards.

We walked around the city for a little longer after that, but eventually made our way back to the hostel so we could officially check in. Our rooms pretty nice. I think I am almost out of time so I am going to log off. Tomorrow is our day trip to Bled.