Slovenia: Ljubljana
Slovenia’s capital and largest city. We arrived early in the evening and had a short wander around town. We loved the vibe and were so excited to spend a few days exploring. Sadly, our rain luck ran out and we got hit with heavy, non-stop rain. Still managed to explore the city from under our umbrellas darting from one stop to another.
The iconic Dragon Bridge- photo credit to Sydney
Legend has it that Ljubljana was founded by Jason, the hero of Greek mythology who stole the golden fleece from King Aeëtes and then fled aboard the Argo with his comrades, known as the Argonauts, across the Black Sea and up the Danube and the Sava until they reached the Ljubljanica. There they dismantled their ship in order to carry it overland to the Adriatic coast, where they rebuilt the vessel and set sail back to Greece. On their way to the coast, they stopped at a large lake in the marshes near the source of the Ljubljanica, where a dragon was said to dwell, whereupon Jason fought, defeated and killed the monster.
Butcher’s Bridge is Ljubljana’s love bridge. Thousands of lovers have symbolically locked their love and thrown the key into the Ljubljanica river below. Interestingly, this bridge has demonic sculptures at the ends and along the rail. The creepy feature is a curious contrast to the love story. Maybe a reminder that love is not perfect and comes in many forms.
Ljubljana Castle sits watch above the city. We were able to walk up from the Old Town seeing up close the many additions and shifts in materials used over time. The dragon theme continue and we did a challenge game to “free the dragon”. An interesting activity to follow as we explored the castle.
Few fun photos from around town: Milk vending machine! We saw them frequently across Slovenia. A door to a church caught our attention. Interestingly offset by the flower market happening just in front of it. Fun stores and shopping that we didn’t explore much due to the rain.
