Past Blast: Ljubljana

The 'Triple Bridge' in the city center

A journey to Slovenia's national capital requires a bit of a pronunciation lesson: in Ljubljana treat the 'j's as 'y's and you should come up with a tongue-tickling 'L-yub-l-yana' [close to the italian gli pronounciation FYI]. In the city center, you may occasionally feel like you're in Austria; the Austro-Hungarians ran this town for most of the 19th century up until WWI. Post-WWII it was a socialist state of Yugoslavia, but now is independent and after I visited in 2003 it joined the EU.

The 'Dragon Bridge'

Ljubljana is bisected by the Ljubljanica River, weaved with a series of riverwalks and historic bridges. The city is surrounded by 8,000 foot mountains, which make for an adventurous train ride in. And be prepared to learn a little Slovene; there wasn't much English text to be seen. Walking past the American Embassy, I shot a photo and was immediately asked to explain myself. Eventually the guards accepted my Passport, and I'm sure labeled me just another dumb American tourist. Note to Self: you don't need photos of embassies.

Ljubljanski Grad above the city

A great place to get a panoramic view of the city is from Ljubljanski Grad, the medieval castle sitting on the hill in the center of town. In addition to a video explaining Ljubljana's history [people have lived here since 1800 BC], you are welcome to wander the ramparts and hallways, and will come across several winding staircases in the turrets [see the bottom photo].


Ljubljana is another less-touristed city that provides plenty of hiking opportunity, decent food, and urban sightseeing. The weather was a little grey when I visited, but unfortunately you can't have Sicilian weather everywhere you travel.

View from Ljubljanski Grad

Another old personal fave photo: a turret stair