Ljubljana, Slovenia

Ljubljana, Slovenia

In the evening of Thursday 9 June, I left Prague’s Hlavní nádraží for Slovenia, via Nuremberg and Munich. I had spent the last nine months teaching English as a foreign language in the Czech capital and wanted to go travelling before returning to the UK to work over the summer months.

I was drawn to the Balkans. This was firstly because of my inescapable desire to visit as many countries as possible, and this fragmented corner of Europe offered a lot of scope to cross frontiers. More importantly, though, the Balkans is a truly fascinating region, noted for its spectacular mountains, pristine coastline, vibrant blend of languages and cultures, and, sadly, its dark recent history marked by political upheaval, conflict, and ethnic cleansing.

In fact, throughout the continent, there can scarcely be a better example of a ‘land of contrasts’ (to use a cliché). At the southern end of the peninsula are found some of the most ancient traces of European civilisation, whilst the core of Romania’s capital Bucharest is, conversely, a partially completed remnant of the ultimate in communist centralisation and urban planning. The azure Adriatic waters and stony beaches of Croatia entice tourists by the millions, whilst many of its neighbours remain comparatively overlooked.

I cannot claim to come close to fully understanding the region and its many complexities, nor will I. Nevertheless, I have a longstanding interest in history and tried to research fairly well the places I chose to visit ahead of my trips. What I write is not intended to get to the bottom of the rich cultures of the region, as I simply have not spent enough time there to do justice in this regard. Likewise, I do not intend to cast assertions on the political and ethnic issues that still tarnish the region. Instead, this is more of a narrative following my recent trips in ‘the Balkans’* in which I hope to inform, entertain and entice others to this enchanting, captivating part of the world.

*In my definition of this term, I have chosen to include Romania, Bulgaria, the seven constituent states of the former Yugoslavia, and Albania. The latter I have not yet visited, nor have I visited Greece or Turkey, which may or may not also be included depending on one’s definition of ‘the Balkans’. There is no universal consensus. https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans

Ljubljana seen from its castle

I visited Slovenia with my family in 2008 and returned as part of a holiday to the Croatian coast the following year. We all completely fell in love with the country and I was full of anticipation to be back. It was initially an unpromising return, with relentless rain leaving me holed up inside Ljubljana’s train station at 0500 contemplating the day and my onward travel. I had four days of solo travelling, during which I intended to cover the Slovenian capital, then Belgrade, Sarajevo and Mostar, before returning north to Zagreb. There I would rendezvous with Andrew, my friend and colleague from Prague, for a more laidback jaunt down the Dalmatian coast and eventually across the Adriatic to Italy. All that lay ahead of me, and here I was on day one, miserable and brooding over a coffee, wondering if the weather would ever subside enough for me to venture out into the world.

Some time later, I emerged from the trancelike state I had entered from too long spent hypnotically watching the cleaner buff the smart stone floor of Ljubljana station. The rain was now minimal and I decided to cut my losses and start exploring. I quickly bought a ticket for an overnight bus to Belgrade and then set off.

There is really no more adequate word to describe Ljubljana, or indeed Slovenia, than ‘lovely’. Perhaps this is fitting given that the city’s name may be etymologically connected with the Slavic ‘ljub’ – to love – and that its country’s name is the only one in English to contain the word ‘love’. (It’s roughly pronounced ‘lyoob-lyaa’nah’, by the way). Three of its four neighbours, Italy, Austria and Hungary, are cultural juggernauts, and yet Slovenia is unreservedly understated. With beautiful beaches, jaw-dropping peaks, pristine rivers, and a network of amazing caves, Slovenia has something of everything, and yet it is somehow less noticed, less significant, than other nations of Europe. The fact that it is overlooked only works in its favour. It combines the quality and luxury of Germany with Slavic hospitality and rustic Central European charm. Not many centres of capital cities feel like medium sized towns, and yet Ljubljana does just that.

Clean streets and attractive architecture in Ljubljana

The market was a cleaner, quieter and overall more pleasant place to wander around than many I have been to. As I was walking through, I noticed a butchers’ stall whose sign had silhouetted images of several traditional meat animals with their names written beneath. One of these was an ursine shape with the word medved underneath. My curiosity got the better of me, and I asked the vendor (who like many Slovenes, spoke excellent English) if it was really bear meat. She confirmed, adding that Slovenia has the capacity for around 400 bears in its mountains, but in reality has 450 of the animals. This means that each year, around 50 bears may be hunted, and the result was right in front of me. She then offered me a slice of bear salami, which tasted rather like any other thickly-cut salami would do. The venison version was also good. My daily quota of unorthodox meat consumption not quite filled, I went off on the trail of a third type of meat.

Despite having lived on and off in Belgium for four years, where I had sometimes seen horse on supermarket shelves, I had never before tried konj, nor had I ever felt compelled to do so. However, with the opportunity lying at a small café on the edge of Ljubljana’s Park Tivoli, I decided to take it. Unlike the artfully cured bear sausage, this was a fast food burger so the quality wasn’t exactly comparable. Nevertheless, the horse meat was tasty and the burger was as big as my face so I was nicely filled up.

Food aside, Ljubljana is a delightful city. It has a neat castle atop a hill that offers good views of the city, its constituent small hills and the much larger mountains beyond. Its river, the Ljubljanica, wends its way unhurriedly through the centre, reminiscent at a push of the Grand Union Canal as it enters London. Its art nouveau style is evident in Prešeren Square (Prešernov trg) and the iconic Triple Bridge (Tromostovje), designed by Ljubljana’s most enduring architect Jože Plečnik. A little further downstream, the Dragon Bridge (Zmajski most) is possibly the city’s most well-known sight, its statues purported to move their tails if ever a virgin walks across the bridge. The dragon, incidentally, is a symbol of the city and the connection is rumoured to go back to ancient times, with a legend telling of Jason (of Argonaut fame) slaying a marsh dragon near the source of the Ljubljanica.

The pink Franciscan Church in Prešeren Square with the balustrades of the Triple Bridge in the foreground

One of the virgin-sensitive statues of the Dragon Bridge

The Dragon Bridge is a reminder of Ljubljana’s status as a lesser cousin of the great Central European capitals such as Prague, Vienna or Budapest. Where Prague has its castle, Vienna the Hofburg and Budapest its domed Parliament building, the Dragon Bridge is about as prominent a landmark as Ljubljana has. Meanwhile, the bridge was erected here as a bit of a gamble. It was intended to be built in the imperial capital Vienna, but because it utilised the new technology of reinforced concrete instead of stone, it was unclear how it would turn out. Not wanting to risk a possible embarrassment, the decision was made to place it in Ljubljana because no one important would notice if the structure failed.

Today, however, Ljubljana is establishing more of an identity than that of a distant backwater of Austria. It is becoming a vibrant city that cares about itself and can offer all the comforts of larger regional cities without the hustle of big city life. It is the European Green Capital for 2016, the first city outside Western and Northern Europe to receive this accolade. Numerous banners over the city’s central pedestrian streets announced various arts festivals that appeared to be going on throughout the summer. In the late afternoon, having walked enough and climbed up to the castle and back, I joined the crowds of locals relaxing and enjoying the late afternoon café culture by the banks of the Ljubljanica.

The castle walls

The River Ljubljanica

Here, I received a welcome message from a friend of a friend (whom I had originally met in Prague just the week before) who was travelling in Croatia and visiting the Slovenian capital today too. We met up for a beer followed by kranjska klobasa (Carniolan sausage), a rather German-esque dish, and then an assortment of potica, a type of sweet nut roll typical of the country. From there, it was on to a bar for more beers and to watch the opening game of this year’s European Championships, between France and Romania. France eventually won 2-1, but the first half was relatively uneventful and ultimately goalless. At half time, I bid farewell to the city, and soon afterwards to Slovenia altogether as I headed southwards and eastwards into unfamiliar territory. I knew that after the beautiful, charming, lovely Ljubljana, there would be highs and lows and many wonderful sources of intrigue in the days to come. Next up was Serbia.

Enjoying the summer sun in Slovenia