Ljubljana- The Green Capital of Europe




The city is Vibrant and it is green


The name Ljubljana is not easy to pronounce. It is pronounced as 'lyoo-BLYAH-nah' and once you get used to it then it becomes as easy as navigating this city. The East European cities have their own charm and in many ways they are quite different from west European cities. They once carried a certain mystique but now that the borders have opened up, they welcome us with open arms.

As you drive from lake Bled to the Capital city Ljubljana, you notice the greenery all around. This should not be surprising for those who have followed the environment progress of the city in last few years. Ljubljana offers 542 sq mtr of public green space per capita and has been the recipient of the European green capital award. It has also been awarded as sustainable tourist destination in last couple of years. Till a few years ago the city centre was plagued by problems of  excessive cars, buses and fumes. They invested in public transportation in a big way and now the city centre is only for pedestrians and cyclists !

This was the main street of city centre. Only pedestrians and cycles were allowed. Just 5 minutes walk from here are all the landmarks of Old town. 

It is in this city centre where we spent 2 days. The air was fresh and the river Ljubljanica flowed just next to the narrow pedestrian street below the apartment. Apartment Mescana itself was directly on top of a bustling pub with the view to the river. Yet, once we shut the windows the noise disappeared.
The cab had us dropped a few hundred meters away as they were not allowed to proceed any further and from there we rolled our luggage finding our apartment. When you walk on a pedestrian only street, you feel like a king. The cobbled streets, umpteen cafes, beautiful buildings and hundreds of milling tourists keep you company till you reach your destination. There is no honking and no vehicle whizzes past you. Though at times we do tend to get onto the cycle path and that can be dangerous as these guys really zoom on their bicycles.

Once we reached the apartment, we didn't want to spend too much time indoors and we wanted to be part of this melee as soon as possible. It didn't take us long to figure out that Ljubljana city centre had some great restaurants.Most of the time we spent here, it was spent in deciding where our next meal should be. The person handling the front office at the apartment gave some good advise in this regard. For the shopaholics, some big stores like Zara, H&M, Mango were a stroll away on the other side of the river. On Sundays most of them stay shut or they shut pretty early. We had arrived on a Sunday and the most lively place on that day was the lane below our apartment.

The area near our apartment was always busy. 

Our stay here was uneventful and we didn't need to venture out of the city centre other than buying train tickets to Zagreb from Railway station, which happened to be 15 minutes walk away. Earlier we had thought that we will hire a mini van but then the lady at the apartment convinced us that train was a cheaper and better way to travel. Travelling from one country to another (Almost a 4 hour journey) at Euro 19 per person was as good as it could be.

The Franciscan Church and Presernov trg square at night

Much of the Old town architecture is creation of architect Jose Plecnik including the famous Triple Bridge. Next to it looms the pink facade of Franciscan church. It looks very pretty during the day and stunning at night. As you cross the Triple Bridge you are into the  Central Market which has some amazing fruit shops and open kitchen on some days.The first thing which catches our eye at these fruit shops are the beautiful red cherries. They taste even better than they look. Strawberries, plums and blueberries are the other fruits we try to have as much as possible while anywhere in Europe.

The Central market is the hub of Old town.
As we were staying right there, we crossed the landmarks including the Presernov trg square many times. This is the advantage of staying in the old town. From here one can catch a Funicular to the top of the hill where the castle is located. There is a price to pay for tickets but as castle is one of the main attractions of the city, one can't ignore it.


You have to to go up these never ending spiral stairs to reach the top of castle. From there the views are spectacular. 
The castle was nice but the best thing it offered was the great views of this nice and green city. It also houses an upmarket restaurant which is open for dinner as well. From anywhere in town as you look up, you can't miss the castle. This happens to be the feature of many cities that we visited.

We were still in cruise mode as we left on an early morning train from Ljubljana to Zagreb. We knew we will have another relaxing day at Zagreb and after that we would start shifting to top gears. I had liked the look and feel of Ljubljana and what I enjoyed most here was strolling aimlessly on the cobbled pedestrian only streets and have their craft beer and great food sitting next to the river. There is no specific reason why we visited Slovenia and Ljubljana but I am glad we did. Our main destination for this trip was Crotia and sitting in the train I just hoped that it would be as exciting as I had been anticipating.



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