Ljubljana, Slovenia

You can't go to Slovenia and not hit up the capital city, Ljubljana!  (Prounounced: Lub-LYANA... now say it real fast all together!  It's only two syllables!) 

We immediately went to the apartment we got on booking.com - and to be honest, I was a bit disappointed.  One of the kids had to sleep in the room with us, there was only a half a roll of toilet paper, the towels they gave us were only hand towels, the frying pan (or any pans for that matter) were missing, and we sat above a restaurant which made the whole apartment smell like Slovenian food.  A message to the owner in the evening requesting toilet paper, actual towels and a frying pan brought two out of three.  Go ahead and guess what they didn't bring.

Grant the Honey Badger don't even care.

Welp.  Let's go get some lunch.

We went to this crazy fun place for lunch called Skriti Kot.  Excellent food, random salad bar in a piano (yes, I said that), doors on the ceiling.  I wonder where the doors lead?

Europe.  You legit have some of the funniest little chalkboard signs outside of your restaurants.

We headed next for Prešeren Square, which is the very heart of the city of Ljubljana. They have a really cool bronze model of the city.  We have found a lot of cities have a bronze model here in Europe.

The square is named so because one of the most famous statues in all of Slovenia is located here.  This statue is the Prešeren Monument, dedicated to Slovenia's most famous poet, France Prešeren and his muse above him.

The city of Ljubljana itself was perfectly quirky and beautiful!  It had the right kind of Griswold quirk to it.  It was a hot day, and the square had sprayers raining down on anyone who wanted to cool down.  Like Natalie.

"The area with Ljubljana's own weather."

The Franciscan Church of the Annunciation in Prešeren Square, originally built in the mid 1600s on the site of a previous church.

One of the most famous landmarks in Ljubljana is the Triple Bridge.  Designed by famous Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik, the center bridge has been around since 1842.  The two side bridges were added in the early 1930s. The original center bridge was not designed by Plečnik, but he renovated it and redesigned it when the additional bridges were added.

A soggy Nat and Grant on the Triple Bridge, with the Ljubljana Castle up on the hill.

Prešeren Square and the Triple Bridge area are always bustling with people, especially on a warm August day.

Another view of the Triple Bridge over the Ljubljanica River.

View from the Town Square of pretty Ljubljana buildings.

Ljubljana Town Hall.  And yes, they call it a town, rather than a city.  There's about a half a million people in the Ljubljana metro area, but a bit less than 300,000 in the city proper.  Kind of bigger than my definition of a town!  This building was originally built in 1484 (!!) but underwent some renovations in the early 1700s.  

As we strolled around the city, we went down a random alley that had this fun work of alley way art.  I did a little research and this is the work of Jackov Brdar, who has quirkly little bronze art all over the city.

Brdar's work "Faces" extends along Ključavničarska (Locksmith) Street and contains 700 little creepy faces!

That's one way to make a necessary gutter interesting!

Glass topped sightseeing boats cruise the Ljubljanica hourly.

Walking along the banks of the Ljubljanica.

As we walked around the city, I kept coming back to these two buildings.  They reminded me so much of New Orleans with their building-length balconies and shuttered windows.

We wanted to spend the afternoon up at Ljubljana Castle, so we swung back past the Town Hall and the Robba Fountain on our way to the funicular that takes you up to the castle.  The original Robba Fountain was built in the mid 1700s and is now at the National Gallery.  This one is a replica.

We also ducked quickly into the very baroque Ljubljana Cathedral (also known as St. Nicholas' Cathedral.)  While there's been a church on this site since the mid 1200s, but this particular one has been around since the very early 1700s. 

Even the frescos are original, which is great considering the city has been hit several times by earthquakes.

The dragon on top of Ljubljana Castle is shown on the manhole covers.  The dragon is one of the main symbols of the city.  Daenerys Targaryan would be thrilled!

Making our way up a quiet Ljubljanan street on our way up to the castle funicular.

It's a pretty steep funicular, but you can buy a family round trip pass for 10 Euros.  As of today, you can also purchase a family castle ticket with the funicular for 26 Euros (not each... that's for everyone).

Ljubljana Castle was first built in the mid 1400s although like many other things, there was a fortress here from about the 11th century. 

There was also a prison that opened in 1815 and was intended to house men and women who had a sentence for various things of up to 10 years. 

Bone buttons, anyone?  Hopefully those are the bones of animals and not humans.

There's some lovely views of Ljubljana from the castle tower.

You can see the Prešeren Square in the center/kind of lower left side of this picture.

Four feet and a castle spiral staircase.

Climb the steps to the top of the castle's Outlook Tower, because it's worth it!  They also provide a nice little video inside about the history of the castle.

You know we love a good panorama view!

A close up of the heart of Ljubljana.  You can see Republic Square on the far left.

Let's head down, shall we? 

Ummm, daddy, you're going to have to duck when you head through this doorway!

Ok kiddos, let's head back down the scary funicular. Eeek!

 Fresh, clean and free drinking water is all over Ljubljana.  This is one of their newer fountains -- of a kangaroo in front of the Puppet Museum.  Not sure how I feel about drinking this kangaroo's spit though!?!

The promenade along the Ljubljanica River in the late afternoon was pretty as we walked to catch the bus back to our apartment.  This picture was taken from the famous Dragon Bridge.

In 1895, there was a pretty decent earthquake that rocked Ljubljana pretty good and the old wooden bridge that HAD been here was damaged.  The Dragon Bridge was built to replace it.  Some say that Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts) killed the dragon that stalked the city when he was on the run from King Aeetes of Colchis. Jason moved on, but some of his Argonauts stayed around and helped build the settlement around 1200 BC (or as legend has it!) 

It's also said that when a virgin walks across the Dragon Bridge, the dragon swishes his tail!

If you're ever in Ljubljana, keep an eye out for all things Dragon.  They put it on everything!

Instagrammed dragon.

There's a good amount of street art around Ljubljana but my husband chooses to close his eyes to it.

This guy was attempting to teach this girl how to ride a skateboard.  Let's just say it wasn't going so well.

None of us were very hungry for dinner since we seemed to snack all day (ice cream up at the castle, anyone?) so we decided to hit up the Mercator for some snackies to eat for dinner.  Of course, I spotted this.  I see this sort of thing in Germany a lot.  It's bread.  You can just call it bread.  Or sandwich bread.  No need to call it anything American. 

I love this funky green building!

Waiting for the bus back to our apartment, we spotted the Nebotičnik "skyscraper." Since it was built in 1931, this was the TALLEST building in Yugoslavia and it was the 9th tallest building in all of Europe at 13 stories high.  For a long time afterward, it continued to be the tallest residential building all of Europe! 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, this is what became of our purchases.  Crackers, meats, cheeses, grapes and mashed avocado!

The key to really enjoying a city is not to cram too many things into any given day.  I promise you, this makes the trip much more enjoyable.  We started the morning with a leisurely boat ride down the Ljubljanica.  It came "free" with our Ljubljana card that we had purchased.  If you have 48 hours or more in Ljubljana, this is well worth the purchase.

Notice Big G didn't want to sit with the rest of us.

The boat sails, without commentary, down to Park Špica before turning around.

At one point, she just moved up to sit next to her dad.  I have to admit, the ability to peer quietly out the open window of the boat was heavenly.

Coffee shop under a bridge, anyone?  In my next life, when I don't have kids, I'm totally coming back here.

I love the greenery along the Ljubljanica.  This little guy could easily be a smaller version of Grant, chasing pigeons. 

Approaching the Triple Bridge and the Franciscan church on our way back.  I want to sip a fruity drink under one of those umbrella chairs on the left!

For the life of me, when I first saw this, I could NOT figure out what was going on.   The Butcher's Bridge has a clear walkway on both sides, and about a million locks.  (Note to visitors:  Do not cross the Butcher's Bridge in a dress or skirt!)

Hello there, Drogon!

The architecture is really pretty in Ljubljana, but this is just terrible floodplain management.  What? You thought I would ignore this!?!

Light colored buildings, tree lined rivers, and canopied tables where people can enjoy a meal or a drink.

Iron dragons on top of the concrete wall that lines the Ljubljanica. 

At what point do they need to trim this?

We stopped into Pop's Place for some burgers for lunch after our little boat cruise.  We had an insane thunderstorm come through while we were eating our lunch, too.  But it was covered, even though we were sitting outside.

Man, he's good.  Of course, if we told you how he did this, we'd have to kill you.

Next up, the Museum of Illusions! YES!  I feel like my family is some kind of gangsta here, and really this should be a slow mo video of them looking all badass, slowly taking off their sunglasses.

I promise you, my teeth are better than this.  You can find a friend in this museum and mash up your faces for a silly looking picture!

Illusions all the way.  But not really, since he'll be taller than her pretty soon.

That's more like it, for now.

Oh my word this is absolutely hilarious!!!!

It's a room of mirrors complete with a disco ball and lots of colored lighting. Dance party!

Red, Blue, Yellow and some dancing kids.

I smell a potential Christmas card photo. I feel like we are the Monkees here or something. Don't judge me for suggesting that.  I know I'm old!

No no no, THIS one needs to be on the Christmas card!  The Museum of Illusions, although small is a MUST for families with kids in Ljubljana!

I love Grant's face here.  The two curved lines appear to be different lengths until you take the curved piece of wood and measure - and they are actually the same length!

Ok that's it.  This is DEFINITELY going to be on our Christmas card.  Anyone want some Bailey's for dinner!?

Nat is all hair here, kind of like Einstein behind her.

Hard to explain this one.  You walk through it, and the cage around you is spinning. But it's dark so it makes your brain think YOU are actually spinning, when you really aren't.  I mean, a few beers and  it's all over for someone.

After our super exciting time in the Museum of Illusions, we decided to head over to the City Museum of Ljubljana, walking by the BEAUTIFUL University of Ljubljana on our way there.

Can you imagine your American university looking this pretty?  It's one of the largest universities in Europe with 63,000 students!  First Lady Melania attended the University of Ljubljana but did not graduate.

The Slovenia Philharmonic building was lovely, too!

And what about this wild architecture!?  This is part of the National and University Library.

Finally we stumbled upon the City Museum of Ljubljana.  We wanted to visit here because a) it came free with our Ljubljana card and b) it houses the world's OLDEST wooden wheel!  WHAT? I'm there!

And guess what.  The world's oldest wooden wheel isn't currently there.  I'm not sure where it was in August, but as of mid June, it was on exhibition in Vrhnika, Slovenia.  The museum is probably really cool, but I was super disappointed in my quest for another superlative.  They do show really interesting displays that tell you a bit about the history of the soil (and therefore the history of Ljubljana).  Soil always tells a story. 

Even though we didn't see the world's oldest wooden wheel, it was discovered in 2002 and it's believed to be approximately 5200 years old. 

We decided next to walk up to a nearby bus stop to try to get a bus up to the Union Brewery for one of their tours, but we just missed the bus so we decided to tool around the old town part of Ljubljana for a while.  Quite frankly, I love this building!  Windows or not!

Take your time, kiddo.

Cobblestones. Todd. Brick. Stone walls, Graffiti. Ivy.

Ljubljana is just plain funky. And you know I love me some funky!

I guarantee I'm the only person in my family that saw a random painting of a yellow balloon on a piling.

They can't be THAT tired.  Todd and I ordered a couple of cappuccinos here!  The promenade is behind them, and the river behind that.  We just enjoyed a few quiet minutes while the kids had some soft serve!

There's plenty of fun statues all over Ljubljana.  This fella is Ivanu Hribarju. He was major of Ljubljana around the turn of the 1800/1900 century.

The Union Brewery tour was the most expensive thing on the Ljubljana Card, so we weren't missing this in order to get our moneys worth.  But who doesn't love a brewery tour?  And who doesn't love a pre-tour dunkle? 

While we waited for the tour to start, Grant was fascinated by the guy pouring beers.

Alright alright, funniest story of the entire trip.  We took this lovely little tour of the brewery, and our English speaking host gave us plenty of wonderful facts and history of the brewery.  Then we came upon some tools that were used in the early years of the brewery and he said, "One of those is a typewriter.  I'll give an extra mug of beer to the person who can tell me what the other object is."  So I looked at it, and I said, "A pencil sharpener?"  And the look on his face was priceless.  He actually jumped!  He said, "No one that I know of has ever actually guessed that correctly!"  (Me taking a bow....)

How beautiful is this cask?

The barrels of beer are painted with a yellow outline to show that they are filled with beer, rather than wine or some other alcohol.

Look! It's a prehistoric refrigerator!  Ok, just kidding.  It's not that old.  But someone who owned one of these would put ice in the top to keep the beer cold.  Then when it melted, the faucet at the bottom could be lifted to release the melted ice/water.

A metal advertisement of Union beer and pretzels.  Wait... am I in Germany?

Up in the hot attic of the Union brewery (no air conditioning!), we got a nice sample of the beer.  The kids got an iced tea!

The last stop on the tour is of the ACTUAL working brewery.  You have to wear these reflective vests.  I'm still not sure why, since we didn't actually go anywhere and our tour guide decided to hold his on his arm, but still.  Safety first.

At some point, the 7-year-old gets a little bored.  And he runs around in circles in his insanely orange vest sporting his love for Bavarian soccer teams.

Union beer isn't bad folks.  Not bad at all.  

THE most insane lightning storm came as we were walking outside of the brewery on the tour.  I might have been a bit more scared here than I was of the fireworks being tossed at us in Dresden on New Year's.  I love how the trucks are lined up here, waiting to fill up.  Llasko (the green truck) is a beer that originated in eastern Slovenia.  They've long been in competition for the best or most loved beer in Slovenia.  However, in recent years, they merged and now they're both owned by the same group, although still brewed separately.

After the tour, we got a "free" (included with the price) beautiful Union beer mug!  We also stopped for dinner in the brewery, and although the service was about as awful as I've ever experienced anywhere, the food was excellent.  Todd and I shared a "plate full of meat!"

Until next time, Ljubljana!  I enjoyed your funky, eclecticness!