August 2018

LOVE AND LJUBLJANA

There’s a quirky romance to the capital of Slovenia. I found Ljubljana to have all the amorous charm of Venice and a bit of Amsterdam’s erotic energy. This makes it an ideal place to propose to your loved one next to on a stunning love-locked bridge against a backdrop porn adverts on lampposts. The city even has its own ‘weather zone,’ if you’d like to get down on one in knee in the rain on a sunny day.

My visit to this beautiful city was brief — an afternoon — but my friend and I had a lot of ground to cover if we were going to get to Zagreb that evening. Chris and I had just left Munich for a two-week road trip, and had already made a clandestine pit stop at a yacht club in Prien am Chiemsee.

But don’t skip Ljubljana if you’re in the neighbourhood — there’s so much to discover this city full of legends and modern art. We happened to be there during the annual Ljubljana Festival, one of the two oldest festivals in the former Yugoslavia.

Here’s what we made sure to squeeze in before getting back on the road for Croatia, and eventually, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Day Three: Munich to Zagreb

It was hard to get through Austria without stopping the car for photos. The mountainous green countryside, speckled with red-tiled rooftops and church steeples, made it difficult to stay focussed on getting to Ljubljana by noon. We paid  €7.50 toll for passage through the Karavanke Tunnel, and arrived in the Slovenian capital shortly afterward.

PREŠERNOV TRG SQUARE

Ljubljana’s Old Town is stunning: pastel buildings wind around the Ljubljanica River, cafés stretch out onto cobblestone, and graffiti murals colour the alleyways. With less than 300,000 residents, Ljubljana one of the smallest European capitals, so you can visit almost any time of year without getting lost in massive crowds. I think this line from Visit Ljubljana says a lot about the city’s character:

“Ljubljana is probably one of the few cities in the world whose central town square is adorned with a statue of a poet rather than some political or military hero.”

The early 19th-century’s France Prešeren was one of Europe’s great romantic poets. His statue is at the centre of Prešernov Trg Square facing a statue of his great love, Julija Primic, on the facade of a building on nearby Wolfova ulica street.

In the square, you’ll also find the eye-catching salmon pink Frančiškanska cerkev Marijinega oznanjenja, or Franciscan Church, for short. It was built in the 1600s, rebuilt in the 1800s, and renovated in 1993. Entrance is free if you want to see the exquisite painted ceilings, completed after the earthquake in 1895.

If you’ve found the Franciscan Church, you’ve also likely stepped in the patch of wet cobblestone identified by a kitschy street sign as “the area with Ljubljana’s own weather.” Here, no matter how sunny the skies are, you can stand in the rain under leaking city cables — a very clever and free way to keep passersby cool, and tourists entertained. I think it’s adorable and adds to the quirky romance of the city.

From the square, Chris and I promenaded along the Ljubljanica River.  The capital city is famed for its bridges, each of which has its own tale to tell.

THE BRIDGES 

Directly across from Prešernov Trg Square is the Triple Bridge, which connects the historical old town on one bank of the river to the modern city on the other. Its central bridge has been there since 1842, and the side bridges were later added to prevent a constant pedestrian bottleneck.

Walking east along the Ljubljanica, you’ll find the Butcher’s Bridge, the city’s so-called “love bridge,” built in 2010. Lock bridges are not uncommon, but Ljubljana has put its own twist on the classic: this bridge — on the site of what used to be butcher’s booths, is adorned by deformed little sculptures of creatures that might have been butchered there long ago. Look for the little monsters on the bridge’s parapet, and don’t get distracted by all the locks, like I did.

Not far away is the Dragon Bridge, one of many reasons Ljubljana is called the “city of dragons.” According to legend, the city was founded by the Greek hero Jason, leader of the Argonauts, when he slew a dragon he found near the source of the Ljubjanica River, on the run after steeling the golden fleece. The bridge has two large sheet-copper dragons guarding each end, and sixteen smaller ones decorating its length. It’s said that when a virgin crosses the bridge, the dragons will wag their tails. More quirky romance?

I wish we could have stayed longer to visit the Ljubljana Castle and Central Market, discover some of the city’s hidden gems, and experience the legendary nightlife of Metelkova zone. Ljubljana is a city we left largely unexplored, but Zagreb — and our non-refundable accommodations — were calling.

Click here to continue this road trip itinerary to Croatia.