Castles and Churches

Europe is famous for its castles and cathedrals and those who don't appreciate these structures and their history can find most European tours a drag.  Both Glen and I love history so visiting castles and churches is fun.  You can never have enough pictures of stained-glass windows, right?

Christian had hiked up to Ljubljana Castle the day he arrived and said the views from the top were great but we decided it would be more fun to take the funicular up.  Castle Hill has been settled since 1200 BC and was probably a Roman army stronghold as it has commanding views of the Ljuljanica River valley (see photo below).  First built in the 12th century, the castle has had many renovations over the last 900 years.  Each conquering army has put their stamp on the castle.  First the Bohemians then the Habsburgs ruled the city then in the 18th century, the French occupied the castle.  It was a prison in 1815 then again during World War II after which it fell into disrepair.  The city finally bought the castle in 1905 with the idea of creating a museum.  This never happened so it was used for subsidized housing instead.  A 35 year long renovation began in the 1960s culminating with the funicular which opened in 2006.

Today, the castle does house a museum and a small art gallery.  It has travelling exhibits (we saw one of mediaeval torture) and a restaurant.  The climb to the tower to view the city is worth it.  They have two circular staircases which meant we had no problem descending while a group of school children went up.  The museum tells a very succinct history of Slovenia in multiple languages and all the displays are labelled in Slovenian and English making it great for Glen who loves reading everything.  The torture exhibit was disappointing as we had seen a more extensive exhibit at the Doge's Palace in Venice years ago.  However, the sound effects sent shivers up my spine.

The cost of castle tour included the funicular, museum and special exhibit.  The senior rates begin at age 62 so we saved ourselves 8 euros ($10.00).  If you walk up, you must pay to enter the museum/special exhibits.

By the time we descended the funicular to Krek Square, it was time for lunch.  On our way to the castle, we took the route across Dragon Bridge passing the rear of our hotel.  That's when we noticed it had a terrace restaurant.  So, we returned there for a lovely shrimp salad lunch.  Salads in Slovenja seem to consist mainly of arugula (often referred to as rocket or rucola) and I love it but variety is the spice of life and I began craving other lettuce types.

Jet lag finally caught up with us so we spent the afternoon reading and napping.  We returned to the Zlata Ribica for supper and witnessed a road race up to the castle.  Later, several runners had celebratory drinks at the restaurant's outdoor bar.  Our server was excited when he learned we were Canadian (we've been mistaken for Russians) as Canada had just beat Russia to win the 2015 World Ice Hockey Championship in Prague.  He treated us to a very special Croatian olive oil, Veralda, which we had with their homemade bread.  The oil was light and fruity with a distinct flavour.  Now I'm not an olive oil connoisseur so this is how it's described.  "It's rich and opulent without heaviness, a burst of flavours blending green pepper, green apple, artichoke with a hint of cocoa."

We caught the 10:30 am shuttle to the airport then hopped the 12:30 bus to Bled.  Glen's meeting began at 2:00 pm so while he attended that, I walked along the shore of Lake Bled to the town church.  The Church of St. Martin is a neo-gothic building erected in 1905 on the site of a Gothic, 15th century church.  However, the first chapel on the site is dated to about 1000.  Inside, there are wonderful frescoes painted in the 1930s and lovely stained-glass windows.

I then retraced my steps past our hotel, Hotel Golf, and walked toward the other, more famous church, The Church of Assumption of Virgin Mary or Church of Mary the Queen, depending on the translation (see Weather for Ducks).  This baroque church (built in 1750) replaced a one built there in 1142.  However, it wasn't the first religious building on the island as a temple to the Slavic goddess, Ziva is thought to have stood there.

I didn't go over to the island as I just wanted to photograph it but many pletna boats glided to and from the church.  Their colourful canopies reminded me of the covered wagons of the wild west.

Cave and Castle

As Martin, our Roundabout Travel guide (continues from Meet us in Slovenja) drove us to the caves, he told us much of the history of Slovenja.  Joining us were three young women, one from Latvia who worked in the pharmaceutical industry and two radiologists from Estonia who were training on the MRI machines in a Ljubljana hospital.  With Christian being an engineer and Glen a microbiologist, we were a van full of science types.

Postojna Cave has been a tourist attraction for over 200 years but its caverns have hosted humans for much longer than that.  They have found evidence of prehistoric occupation.  The Pivka River created the cave as it flowed through the limestone that forms the area's landscape (karst topography).  The cave system is the longest in Slovenja with 21 km (13 miles) of passages, galleries, and incredible caverns. You see most of it sitting in a train as it winds its way through the cave.  Lighting enhances the stalactites (formations on the ceiling) and stalagmites (on the floor) created by dissolved limestone drips (flowstone).

The first tourist to visit the cave was the Archduke Ferdinand I in 1819 but many have followed in his footsteps until the first railway was built in 1872.  Two-seater carriages pushed by the cave guides showed the caves lit by torches.  In 1927, the first locomotive was used.  However, the smoke affected the caves so in 1957, the engines became electric.  In 1964, a two track loop was built to handle the crowds and today it runs for 5 km (3 mi) underground.

The Great Mountain is an underground hall where the train stops and lets people explore the caves on foot.  Our special guide, Kevin, told us of the history of the cave and its flowstone creations as he led us through the Spaghetti Hall (aptly named), White Hall of white, sparkling stalactites and the Red Room where iron dyes the flowstone brownish red.   On our way to the Concert Hall, we passed the formation that is the symbol of the caves, a shiny white, 5 m (16 ft) tall stalagmite call the Brilliant (see photo).  At this point, Kevin asked if there were any questions.  There is always one in every crowd and it's usually Glen.  So I wasn't surprised when he asked what happened when the lights go out.  Kevin was not far from a switch so turned the cavern lights off.  It was perfectly black and a little spooky.

Just before we boarded the train, there were aquariums housing a tiny cave dwelling creature called the olm.  Originally, they were thought to be baby dragons but are actually salamanders adapted to the darkness of a cave.  They're blind, lack skin pigmentation, and have external gills (like a mudpuppy).

The entire tour takes 90 minutes and that time flies by, especially if you're like me and take lots of pictures!

Next on the agenda was Prejama Castle.  The tickets purchased at the cave include the castle as it is only 9 km away (a free shuttle runs between the two sites in July and August).  The castle is the largest cave/castle in the world nestled in the middle of a 123 m (400 ft) cliff face with the River Lokva running beneath it.  Of the dozens of castles in Slovenja, only four bear special mention and Prejama is one of these (the others are Bled Castle, Ljubljana Castle and Old Castle in Celje).

First mentioned in 1274, it is most famous for being the seat of the robber baron, Knight Erazem Lueger.  He had a falling out with the Habsburg empire and they lay siege to Prejama Castle.  The inhabitants of the castle bombarded the besiegers with cherries to show that they couldn't be starved out.  Food was brought in via a tunnel and water was collected along grooves in the cave/castle walls.  However, the Habsburgs weren't deterred and bribed a servant to tell them when Lueger used his toilet then destroyed it with the knight inside.

My camera died as we approached the castle (remember all my cave pictures?) so I was forced to use my phone to record our walk through the castle.  It had passed through many hands over the years so most of the artifacts were reproductions but it did give you a sense of how people lived.  The castle was also featured in the 1986 movie, Armour of God, starring Jackie Chan.

Back in Ljubljana, we walked along the river to a restaurant we had seen in the morning to have dinner.  The Zlata Ribica (The Golden Fish) is in one of the older buildings but its tables spill outside into a tiny square and they straddle a cobblestone sidewalk along the river.  We chose to sit next to the river and enjoyed lamb with potatoes (Glen), pork medallions (Christian) and grilled calamari with potatoes and spinach (me).  You don't get many vegetables in Slovenia, except at breakfast, so we also ordered a salad which we shared among the three of us.

We didn't want the day to end so we returned to the hotel for a nightcap before saying goodbye to Christian.  He was leaving early to return to reality in Munich.

Meet us in Slovenja

In 2010, we attended the 3rd International Clostridium difficile conference in Bled, Slovenja (If it's Tuesday, it must be Slovenia).  This year it was the 5th version and we were thrilled to return Slovenja.  The country is beautiful and its people, a delight.  For more information, click here.

Our nephew, Christian, works in Germany so we invited him to join us in Ljubljana as we explored the city.  He'd never visited the country so agreed to meet us at the City Hotel.

There are only two flights/day from Frankfurt on Adria Airlines into Ljubljana airport (we booked via Air Canada and Lufthansa).  One flight leaves at 9:00am, the other at 4:30pm.  We departed Calgary at 3:30pm and landed in Germany at 8:30am so didn't make the first flight.  That meant spending 8 hours in the Frankfurt airport.  We had a second breakfast, lunch, and a nap as well as did lots of reading!

We took a taxi from the airport (it's about a half hour drive) but we learned later there was a shuttle bus to and from the city that is much cheaper (10 euros).  Still, we got to drive in a brand new BMW which was pretty sweet.  As we checked in, Christian arrived from his tour of the city.  We agreed to meet after we'd settled in and have dinner.  I'd seen that there was an English pub near the hotel, however, Christian said he wouldn't eat in a place covered with graffiti.  We agreed.  He'd tasted food at a restaurant on his tour so we made our way there, crossing the Ljubljanica River on the pedestrian Butcher's Bridge.  Originally conceived in the 1930s, it wasn't built until 2010 and has since become a mecca for lovers who clip padlocks to the wire guard rails and toss the key into the river as a declaration of eternal love.

The night was warm so we ate al fresco under the umbrellas of the Sokol Inn which promised us traditional Slovenian food.  Our server brought us menus in English (for Glen and me) and German (Christian).  One bonus of being a tourist in Slovenja (a small country of only 2 million people) is most people with whom you interact, speak English.  Slovenian is not common in Europe and English serves as universal language.  A nearby diner was eating a hearty pork dish which appealed to us so we ordered that.  The delicious pork tenderloin slices were smothered in Pleterje (Slovenia's only monastery) plum brandy and served with cheese rolls (like strudel).  These rolls, made with quark (cheese created from clotted, soured milk--not the neutron thing) spread on a crepe-like dough, were rolled like a pinwheel sandwich and sliced.  Very tasty.  We washed this down with Slovenian beer--there are two kinds, Union and Lasko.  Both are lagers reminiscent of Czech pilsners.  Once they were two different breweries but now are owned by the same company.  Union is found mostly in Ljubljana whereas Lasko is drunk in the rest of the country.

We tumbled into bed after supper and slept 'flat' which was a nice change from the previous night of sleeping sitting up in the airplane.  The next morning, we decided to go to the seaside town of Piran but it being Sunday, no tours were available.  After discussing taking the bus there, we opted to join a tour to some caves and a castle.

That didn't begin until after lunch so we wandered around the city.  There are three major bridges in downtown Ljubljana, other than the Butcher's Bridge.  The Dragon Bridge, Triple Bridge (above photo), and Cobbler's Bridge.  The Triple Bridge is the most famous and appears in all the tourist information.  Of course, I wanted to see the Dragon Bridge because of my love of this creature.  But the guys had to see the sky-bar/restaurant (see photo) so when we reached the Triple Bridge we headed south along the river (The Dragon Bridge lies to the north).  A flea market was doing a booming business and we saw some intriguing artifacts from the 'socialist' period.  We passed the Cobbler's Bridge (named because shoemakers worked on the bridge) and an outdoor photographic art gallery before heading back along Emonska Cesta (street) and Vegova Ulica (street, too) toward Kongresni Square, passing the National Library and the University of Ljubljana.

The sky-bar/restaurant (Dinner in the Sky), promoted by a local winery, Jerjzalem Ormuz, sat 22 people.  Think of a ride at the fair -- this platform with thrill-seekers sitting around its edge is elevated using a huge crane to about 180 feet above ground.  A meal (about $500/person) is served with waiters in special harnesses and diners strapped into their seats.  Christian and I decided we'd rather eat on solid ground as we felt the cable holding the platform didn't look safe.

After seeing the Dragon Bridge and the Central Market, we headed back to the hotel.  Christian treated us to beer and sandwiches for lunch as we waited for our tour guide.