After our brief foray into Hungary, we headed down into Slovenia, another new country for me! Our first stop was the town of Ptuj (amusingly pronounced pituee). We arrived in the evening and decided to have a wander around and then go back in the morning to see it properly. Usually my preference for exploring is in the evening, as the town (especially old towns) gain all of their charm that is lost during the day from the throngs of tourists. This town was the exception however, as it was dead quiet at night and some of the little alleys were actually blocked off. After coming across some strange cow bone 'art' we called it a night and decided to come back in the morning. Happily I only suffered minimal trauma from Yannick taking close up photos of giant spiders!
During the day the town seemed so much more alive, without being very touristy at all. We past locals lunching in the restaurants and enjoyed the cheerfully painted buildings -something I've noticed is popular in many parts of Eastern Europe.
Our next stop was the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana. I knew nothing about the town, so wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I was wonderfully surprised. A town of wide streets, clean cobbled roads, renaissance style buildings and beautiful bridges. The town not only had a river running through it, but numerous trees growing, giving it the greenery many cities so often lack. I quickly decided that given the choice, this would be my top city to live in next.
Unlike much of Eastern Europe, it was without the air of derelict, feeling instead very clean and spacious, whilst still being steeped in history. This was the road leading up to the castle, but it was so steep we took the cable car instead and were rewarded with a beautiful view of the city as we rode it up.
The castle itself was heavily renovated, and as such proved none too interesting. We decided to stick to the free parts of the courtyard as we saw little point in paying for something which looked so modern. As our laziness only extended so far, we decided to walk down on the way back, taking a forested track which would have turned into a mudslide in the rain (thankfully the weather held). Navigating the backstreets back to the main center, we were soon drawn to the sound of music, where we discovered the celebration of a wedding outside the church steps. The guests, bride and groom were dancing to a single musician who stood in the center of their circle, they passed around a bottle of wine as they danced. Overall, it looked far more fun than any of the church weddings I had passed on my way back home. Clearly this is the way weddings should be held!
The architecture was one of the things in this city which left me constantly amazed and wanting to explore more. I think I saw more cool doors in this city than in any other town I have been to in Europe.
This building reminded me of something from the computer game Broken Sword, but was in fact the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, originally built in the 13th Century by the Order of Teutonic Knights. The church that can be seen here is mainly from the 1700s, however it was still important in its time. Indeed, its interior furnishings were donated by the imperial court of Vienna. The inner courtyard is now used as an outdoor theater- I would have loved to see a play in progress!
Our last stop for the day was at a cafe to charge our various electronics - however this wasn't the only purpose of our visit. Located at the Neboticnik building which is one of Ljubljana's most recognizable landmarks, a cafe is located on the thirteenth floor, with a viewing balcony. From the bottom it resembled nothing more than an office building, but a sign by the lifts indicated there was indeed a cafe at the top. We peered upwards at the never ending stairs, and then took the lift.
Upstairs, the cafe was rather posh, making me feel under-dressed. However the waiters were nice, and we were soon tucking into delicious cake slices (I found a Snickers cake!! Best thing ever). The view from the balcony was phenomenal with the entire town spread out below us. If I get the chance, this is definitely a city I will be returning to.
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