Portals to the Underworld

The secret doors to the unknown.......

The dragon defends the castle and the city and is part of the coat of arms for the City of Ljubljana in Slovenia. It symbolizes strength, courage and might.

The coat of arms of the City of Prague, Czech Republic. Three golden towers inside the fortified walls and an armour clad arm at the open gate.

Not quite a coat of arms but just as eyecatching in Toronto, Ontario, Canada - outside the Ripley's Aquarium.

Dining out in Ljubljana

Roaming the cobbled streets of Ljubljana made us hungry, and we wanted to sample an authentic stick-to-the-ribs Slovenian dinner. A friendly English speaking lady in a jewellery shop recommended a visit to Špajza at Gornji trg 28 for traditional Slovenian food. 

A little red house on a small street in the old town. Menu in English and Slovene.

I have unashamedly stolen a photo of the interior of the restaurant from the Špajza Facebook page. Charmingly rustic. Friendly waiters. Creaky floorboards. Not cheap, but really tasty food.

The appetizer for two, no idea what it was called . A cube of omelette topped with some garlicky cream, and accompanied by fresh warm home made bread. Nice presentation.

I chose Veal medallions with asparagus. It was melt in the mouth good. I'm sure everyday Slovenians don't eat this well every day! Also on the menu was "small horse" prepared a variety of different ways. I didn't try it but I've since heard that it is sweet and tender.... maybe next time, if there is a next time!

My friend V chose baked fish, but I can't remember what kind it was. The green "leaves" are pea puree. She pronounced the meal delicious!

We skipped dessert at the restaurant as we wanted to sample the fancy cakes available at the outdoor cafes along the old streets. We stopped at Cafe Zvezda near Congress Square. It was so hard to decide... chocolate, or nectarine, or strawberry, or......  Yes, it was worth the wait, so yummy.

More pictures to come.
If you have visited Ljubljana, please leave me a comment and tell me about it.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Ljubljana is the largest city in Slovenia, with a population of just over 270,000. We only spent a few hours there, but I'd love to go back. It's a charming old town on the Ljubljanica River, overlooked by Ljubljana Castle (Ljubljanski grad).

The original medieval fortress Ljubljana Castle dates from the 11th century, but was rebuilt in the 15th century with additions in the 16th and 17th centuries. It's been an arsenal, a prison, a residential complex, and now a major tourist attraction and cultural centre. The outdoor stage in Congress Square is for the annual Ljubljana Summer Festival. 

The view from the top of the Outlook Tower over the medieval city. Up until just a few years ago, the treed space on the right was an ugly parking lot. The current mayor has moved the parking underground and created a pleasant central park area.

To get to the top of the Outlook Tower, there are two circular staircases, one up, and one down. Make sure you are going in the right direction, there is no room to pass on the stairs.

Love Locks on the Butcher's Bridge.... pledge your undying love with a padlock and then throw the key into the river. If the relationship fizzles out, do you have to dive into the river to find the key?

Part of the Triple Bridge (Tromostovje), and the statue of Slovenian national poet France Prešeren in the Square of the Republic. That's his muse perched on the column behind him. Poets always have a muse!

We wandered through the old medieval streets and along the river, enjoying the atmosphere and the ambiance. I'd love to visit again, with a bit more time to explore.

More pictures to come.
If you have visited Ljubljana, please leave me a comment and tell me about it.

Bled, Slovenia

The Republic of Slovenia. Do you know where it is? Just north of Italy, south of Austria, a little to the west of Croatia, and occupying tiny stretch of Adriatic coastline. Slovenia split from the former Yugoslavia and became an independent country in 1991. A member of NATO since 2004 and joined the Eurozone in 2007.

Bled is a charming spa town of just over 6000 people in Northwest Slovenia. Bled Castle has stood at the top of this rocky cliff 100 meters above Lake Bled since the 11th century. The crane is a much later addition.

The choir gave a concert in St. Martin's Church (Župnijska cerkev svetega Martina). The Neo-Gothic church was completed in 1905, and contains a number of frescoes painted in 1930, one portraying Lenin as Judas Iscariot at the Last Supper. They weren't too keen on Lenin.

We did some shopping at the local grocery store. Better get that bad apple out of there!

This friendly gentleman was demonstrating his lookalike bookmarks that he was selling in his souvenir shop. He was the proud dad of two daughters, one was a ballet dancer, and the other was the Slovenian mountain biking champion.

A wall of canisters of tea.... every flavour you could imagine. I bought some fragrant herbal tea to take home as gifts.

Above: A topographic map of the area around Bled displayed on the main street.... these mountains are the Julian Alps, a popular winter sports destination. A showery day, but the rain didn't spoil our enjoyment of a lovely town.

More pictures to come.
If you have visited Bled in Slovenia, please leave a comment and tell me about it.

Postcard from Slovenija

My second Postcrossing postcard has arrived and this time my card is sent from the town of  Jesenice in Slovenia. It shows a painting of the old blast furnace and iron works building in Jesenice, painted by Austrian artist Heinrich Wettach (1858-1929).
This postcard took 10 days to get to me and travelled 6,879 km (4,274 miles). Thank you, Jose!