Ljubljana

Arriving off the train from Zagred in Ljubljana we made our way towards a couple of hostels we hoped to find a room in. The first one which was a converted mental prison sounded pretty cool but unfortunately everyone else must've thought the same thing as it was full so our next stop was a student dorm which were happy to let us stay in.

Dropping our bags off in our room we quickly set off to explore the city. The first thing we saw on our way to the old town was one of the two famous bridges there: the dragon bridge. This bridge was fairly normal except that it was guarded by 4 very detailed dragon statues (2 at each end) and was pretty unique to see. Following the river up we quickly came to the second famous bridge, the triple bridge, and the main square. The triple bridge is actually 3 identical bridges set right next to each other and are located in a beautiful area right at the start of the old town in Ljubljana. From here we quickly found a place to grab a quick bite to eat before heading to one of the many museums in Ljubljana. After lunch we spent the majority of the afternoon in the fairly well done city museum of Ljubljana and learning all about the city's history for the past 4000 years. Lianne especially enjoyed the interactive (read children's) exhibits explaining the city's history. From the museum we casually wandered back through the wonderful streets of the old town towards our hostel where we took a short break before heading out for a delicious Mexican dinner.

The next morning we set off nice and early to climb the hill up to the Ljubljana castle. Here we were afforded some nice views over the old city while we were able to wander around the grounds. Unfortunately most of the rooms in the castle were closed so all we could see were some small art exhibits and the great views. Descending back down to the city we then made our way over to the museum of Contemporary History which was again a fairly interesting museum which gave a very in depth description of the different regimes that ruled over Slovenia before it gained its Independence. The displays here were really well done and by the end both Lianne and I were overwhelmed by the amount of information we read. By the time we finally left the museum of Contemporary History it was already the middle of the afternoon so we just enjoyed our lunch and had a rest at our hostel. From our hostel we went back to the main square where we enjoyed an evening drink outside in a beautiful setting with what seemed like all of Ljubljana passing by. This is how we spent the rest of the evening before returning back to our hostel for bed.

The next morning we woke up extremely early to catch a train bound for the Skocjan caves which are a UNESCO world heritage site. The cave network contains the highest cave hall in Europe, a massive gorge, waterfalls and tons of stalagmites and stalactites. We had to get a tour through the caves but it was definitely worth it as we started through the upper "dry cave" which was full of stalagmites and stalactites and very beautiful before entering the lower "wet cave" which had a river running through it. After our thoroughly enjoyable tour through the caves we made a short visit to the cave museum where we hoped to see the human fish; a "fish" that had lungs and gills, skin instead of scales, was blind, could live for 100 years without food, and had no colour to its skin. We were told there was a dead specimen in the museum but all we found was a picture of one unfortunately. After the museum we made our way back to Ljubljana on the train and again spent an early night enjoying dinner and wandering along the beautiful riverfront on the edge of the old town.

The next morning we gathered our bags and made our way to the bus station where we quickly caught a bus bound for Bled, our next destination.









Lianne standing next to one of the dragon statues guarding the dragon bridge.


















A view of the triple bridge with the main square and one of Ljubljana's churches in the background.













A view of the old town in Ljubljana with another church in the background.




















Lianne standing in front of the main church in Ljubljana located at the central square near the triple bridge, I think it's called St Nicholas Cathedral.


















Lianne standing in the enormous entrance to the Skocjan cave. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures in the cave so this is about the only picture of the cave I have.