Ljubljana

Day 480 (October 20, 2019) – Ljubljana, Slovenia

We struggled pronouncing the name of this place for the longest time, but I think we figured it out while waiting for our train to depart Zagreb. If we pronounced the j’s like i’s it seemed to be close enough. When spelled like Liubliana, it did not look so intimidating of a name to approach. The train ride was relatively short, but beautiful. It passed lakes, mountains, and farmlands at a rapid clip the whole way. We stopped at the border between Croatia and Slovenia to get our documents checked. There was a small army of border agents who got on the train to manage the paperwork. We weren’t stopped for very long. The efficiency of it all seemed to be a reminder that we were leaving the Balkans and returning to the parts of Europe that felt more familiar to us. I still remember the woman who checked our passports. When she saw that we had previously spent time within Europe’s Schengen Area she informed us very politely that we could still stay in Europe for three or four weeks more. It was not said as a warning, but rather as an invitation, like we did not have to depart so soon, we still had four more weeks to enjoy ourselves.

On the train from Zagreb to Ljubljana. 

The view from the train window.

The timing of our arrival into Ljubljana could not have been more perfect. It was full on fall. Forget the beaches and the summer weather of Croatia, Ljubljana was filled with trees changing all sorts of colors, from bright yellows to vibrant reds. It was sunny but cool. As we walked around town, countless leaves fell from the trees and that autumn smell of decaying plant matter was in the air. It was such a change, but a welcome one. Zagreb felt like it had skipped over fall and went straight to winter. 

Fall colors around town.

Ljubljana was a very pretty city. In fact, it was one of my favorites in Europe. The Ljubljanica River flows right through town. It makes a big circle around a prominent hill. Most of downtown runs along the river at the base of the hill. There are frequent bridges so crossing from one side to the other is easily accomplished. Many restaurants have outdoor seating right by the water. Small boats run up and down the river on city tours. On top of the hill is Ljubljana Castle, overlooking all of town. It was just a very nice place to walk around and enjoy. It is the perfect sized town to stroll. The downtown area is not that large and easily walkable, first along one side of the river, and then back along the other side. Outside of the downtown area the riverfront turns into public parks. There were always people sitting at picnic tables or benches to watch the river boats pass by. It was all very enjoyable.

We hiked up to Ljubljana Castle one day too. All of town is visible from the top of the hill. We could even see huge mountains off in the distance. It made me wish that we had spent more time in Slovenia. Our original plan included spending three weeks or so around the country, but we were out of time and had to keep moving on.

The tower of Ljubljana Castle is visible from everywhere in town.

Unfortunately, our trip was only going to get more expensive as we kept going. Serbia and Montenegro were very affordable destinations, but as we moved through Croatia into Slovenia and then to Italy our travel costs were going to keep rising. We knew this from the accommodations we had already booked. We went out for dinner a few nights while in in Ljubljana (and finding time to try burek, a stuffed pastry), but we also had dinner in our Airbnb apartment too. The fall weather gave us a craving for chili and we actually made it one night. I think we were both surprised at how well it turned out, considering how many substitutions I had to make. Having dinner at home also gave us a more affordable opportunity to try some Slovenian wine, which we both agreed was quite good. 

We visited a couple traditional Slovenian restaurants, but this burger place by the river had the cheapest beers in town. 

Although it feels like we didn’t do much in Ljubljana, mostly finding time to work on the blog and going for walks around town, it left a bold impression. It is on our list of most enjoyable cities in Europe. Perhaps we just liked sitting outside in the fall weather, or relaxing by the river, but Ljubljana was very quaint and picturesque and felt very welcoming.