The weather channel got it right. After one more absolute downpour last night from about 9pm to midnight, the storm we have been in for the last 8 days broke and today while it was not bright and sunny was dry.
After two days of being cooped up in François we were ready to get out. The bus ride into town was simple and cheap, and the instructions on how to get off from the campground were easy to follow. Ride the bus until there are no more cars on the road and get off. The old town in Ljubljana is pedestrian only.
We arrived to find a pretty sizable political rally going on in the main square of the town. There were 30 or so Slovene cops standing around watching and looking a bit bored. We decided to check out another part of town and come back to the square when the rally broke up.
We strolled down the Ljubljanica River for about half a mile on both sides. It is lined with cafes and nice buildings that were part of a riverfront renovation in the 1800’s. The work was done mostly by one guy and he did a great job. There are frequent bridges to cross back and forth from one bank to the other. So if you see something interesting on the other side you never have to go more than a couple of hundred yards to find a bridge to cross over. In a continent of great cafe scenes, Ljubjana more than holds its own.
After our initial stroll we decided it was time to try a coffee in one of the cafes. Ton had picked out a small cafe called Čokl. We found it next to the funicular up to the castle. We each asked for an Americano and received a thick aromatic espresso with a tiny thimble of hot water that we could add ourselves. It was delicious. As we were leaving there was a Slovenian couple waiting to grab our table and they confirmed that this was the best coffee in town and a real bargain at €1.60.
Across the street from the coffee shop was the Saturday Market. We enjoyed poking around in the different sections of the market for awhile, though in the end we did not buy anything.
By now the political rally had broken up so we headed back to the main square via the Dragon Bridge which was completed in 1901 despite there being a prominent engraving on the bridge saying 1888. I overheard a guide saying it was the first steel reinforced concrete bridge in the old Austro-Hungarian empire and was built here as an experiment as no one would care if it collapsed in Ljublajana, but it would be a scandal if it collapsed in Vienna.
When we returned to the main square the rally had indeed broken up and the police and crowd had moved on. But we decided the square was kind of a bore without the rally so we moved on also.
By now we had been up and down the river a couple of times so we headed to the restaurant Ton had picked out last night. It is called Druga Violina which translates to Second Violin. They had a simple set price menu where you picked from one of three very reasonably priced multi-course meals. When you sit down there is a sign on your table telling you to please be patient as they employ developmentally disabled people as servers. We really enjoyed our meal and decided it may have been the best value meal we have had in Europe.
After lunch we walked down the main shopping street and out to a park. By then we had a few miles under our belt so we headed back to the campground for the night.
We really enjoyed our day here and I think Ljubljana would be a good place to relax and take a break for a few days as it is easy to get around and has a nice laid back vibe that we both enjoyed.
