We arrived in Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital, with no expectations. We figured it would just be a solid pit stop before heading south to Croatia. However, after a couple days there we came away really impressed with all it had to offer. Ljubljana has beautiful Eastern European architecture, great parks, big squares, a castle overlooking the city and everything else you could want in an “off the beaten path” destination. Some have referred to Ljubljana as the “next Prague” in the sense that it is still a pretty undiscovered gem of Eastern Europe.
Eastern European buildings
Ljubljana’s famous Triple Bridge
Ljubljana’s famous Dragon Bridge
Ljublj-Anna’s famous Dragon face
Slovenian wine on our B&B’s balcony
Slovenian beer at dinner
The city was a little dead during the day because it was so hot (like Seville hot), but at night Ljubljana is HAPPENING! There is live music around every corner, literally. The place must have the highest level of street performers per capita in all of Europe. And I’m not talking about those creeps who dress up like statues and just stand still all day. These guys had talent…and Anna and I loved stumbling on to one after the other.
And while Slovenia isn’t exactly known for its cuisine, we had a couple really great meals in Ljubljana. One day for lunch we went to Ribca, a seafood restaurant tucked away underneath the Triple Bridge. It’s right next to Ljubljana’s fish market, so everything is super fresh. It’s cheap and simply prepared…usually just grilled with some lemon and olive oil. Anna and I spent a couple hours there enjoying our food and wine, escaping the midday heat and watching the boats pass by on the river. We would have gone back again, but they were closed on Sundays. For dinner on our last night we went to Lunch Café Marley & Me (weird name, I know) for some traditional Slovenian food. We had been dodging all the boiled potatoes and sausages we had seen but figured we had to give them a go on our last night. I got the restaurant’s award winning Karst style sausage and Anna got some potato dumplings with mushrooms. I won’t be going out of my way to find any Slovenian restaurants back home, but it was pretty tasty.
Fish at Ribca
Karst sausage at Lunch Café Marley & Me
And a couple more pics from a places that’s definitely worth checking out for a couple days. Between festive Ljubljana and beautiful Bled, we had an awesome week in Slovenia.
Ljubljana at dusk
Old town Ljubljana
Love padlocks and Ljubljana’s Butchers’ Bridge
Ljubljana Castle at night
Ljubljana’s old town
Triple Bridge at night
Lunch at Ribca
Hangin’ on some steps listening to the sounds of the city
Ciao for Now 