Moj obisk Ljubljane in Blejskega jezera

Today was my first full day here and I had a walking tour booked to make sure I wasn’t stuck in the hostel all day and I wasn’t at a loose end.

I woke up to a message from the tour guide to say that the minimum number of participants wasn’t met so the tour would be cancelled. I looked for another one and it meant I couldn’t go back to sleep. That’s cool though. I didn’t want to waste the day just lying in bed.

I went out and had a walk around the hostel area and saw a Serbian Orthodox Church. Not far from the church is also the American Embassy. I mean an actual embassy this time and not McDonald’s. It’s one of the coolest embassy buildings I’ve seen.

I went to meet the tour guide and we did the walking tour. It was one of the shortest tours I’ve done (distance-wise). It was only about a mile. I was shocked at how small the capital city is.

The tour guide was really knowledgeable about her city (which is not what you usually find with walking tours despite what they say). She was telling us that she grew up in Ljubljana and was here when it was part of Yugoslavia. It was interesting to hear stories of the communist times and how the state looked after you and gave you everything you needed.

I think this is one of the walking tours where I actually remember stuff. We stopped at Preseren Square where there is a statue of the Slovenian poet. He refused to write in German (they were part of the Austro-Hungarian empire) and Emperor Franz-Josef refused to give the city money for a statue of the poet. It was said it took them well over 50 years to get the money together for a statue.

Preseren was also a person with a secret side and he was a frequenter of ladies of the night. It was said he had a lover called Julia and they were forbidden to be together. There is also a bust of her looking at the statue of him.

Atop the statue, there is a muse that is almost naked and this is right in front of the church there. The church decided to plant trees at the steps and also at the statue so the scantily-clad muse wouldn’t be seen.

We carried on our way and our guide was telling us more about communism and modern-day Ljubljana.

One thing I do remember is that the city is famed for a dragon and it has a bridge with dragons on it. It is said that St George slayed a dragon here.

I kinda lost focus here because I was on the lookout for pictures again.

The guide did point out that they have vending machines here for fresh milk and fresh eggs. It’s so strange.

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The tour itself lasted about 90 minutes. You can see the route we took below

I went and got some food from the embassy and headed back to the hostel to chill for an hour or so before heading back out to the castle. I was going to walk up the stairs but decided I didn’t really have the energy for that so I took the funicular up. The ticket for the funicular return only is €6. If you want to see the castle and go up the viewing tower, it’s an extra €10.

The views from atop the castle were amazing. Mountains all around. I didn’t even know where to start and stop looking. I was up there for about 45 minutes just taking in the views. I can highly recommend doing this if you come to Ljubljana.

I headed back down from the castle and then headed back to the hostel to chill for another hour before I headed out to the arena for the concert. The Andre Rieu concert is the whole reason I came to Ljubljana and the whole reason I did the trip the way I did.

I went to see him in Gdansk (you can read about that here) and when I got back I decided I wanted to see him again but in a city/country I had never been to.

I managed to find the right bus to get to the concert. It was cool that they had a direct bus there.

I got there with about 20 minutes before the doors opened. I went in as soon as the doors opened and found my seat. I was so high up that I think I needed an oxygen tank. It was different to the concert in Gdansk. Thank goodness I have a camera with a good optical zoom level.

The concert itself was really good (for the most part). He had a gospel choir that I wasn’t overly keen on. I thought part of it was tone-deaf. He had the gospel choir and his choir sing a song from Sister Act. It was the song “I Will Follow Him”.

For me, the tone-deaf bit on his part was having his choir sing the main parts of the song instead of having the gospel choir do it. I just felt it was a crappy move on his part. I definitely won’t see another concert of his if he has the gospel choir again.

The concert was done and I headed to the bus stop hoping that there was a bus to get me back to the city. I didn’t feel like walking 2.5 miles back to the hostel. Thankfully the city put on buses to get people from the arena to the city and it didn’t cost anything. I thought that was pretty cool of them to do this.

All in all, today was a great day and I enjoyed 99.9% of it.

Total steps: 13,900

Total miles: 6.60

Below are some pics from today

Today I didn’t really have anything planned. I decided I wanted a day where I could just relax and do not a lot and today was that day.

I got up and left around 10. I decided I would head to a church that the guide from the walking tour talked about. As I was walking there I wasn’t sure whether it was going to be worth the visit or not.

I got there and the walk itself was nice. The church wasn’t as ornate as the guide had said it would be. It was still nice to visit though.

I left here and just let my feet do the walking. I came across a couple of other churches. One was closed and the other was open. The open one had a massive tower. The inside of it was really massive. There wasn’t a lot to the inside and it wasn’t as ornate as I thought it would be. Still, simple is good too.

I carried on my merry way and I was starting to get hungry so I decided I would be hostel bound so I could eat something and just relax for a couple of hours. I did that and then got ready and went back out to do some more walking.

I headed in the opposite direction as I wanted to cross the other side of the river and see what was there. As I was heading that way, I came across an Apple reseller and went in and bought myself some USB-C headphones. They were a few quid cheaper than back home so why not.

I carried on walking and crossed the river and wandered down the streets on that side of the river. It was a nice walk. It was still around 10 degrees but it was nice to not have to wear a coat. I did get weird looks from people because they obviously considered it cold.

I was still on the lookout for a Slovenian flag and went into a few shops and finally found one.

I then headed to St Nicholas’ Church. I don’t usually pay money to religion but I was assured that the €2 was worth it for this one.

I can assure you it was. The organ, the ceiling, the enclaves. They were really cool to see. It was definitely worth the visit and the entrance fee. I stayed here for about an hour and then headed back towards the hostel.

I’m currently sitting here at the hostel as I wanted to avoid the pro-Palestine march that was gathering outside in the main square. I’m not sure how long it will go on for but I’m staying put until it does. I don’t want to be part of it and I don’t want to get caught up in anything. I may still go out later but it’s not 100% I will. I also need to have an early night for an early start tomorrow for Lake Bled.

I didn’t end up going back out. I ended up chatting to a guy here who is from Croatia. We chatted about the wars in the world and also about whether or not he likes the Euro in Croatia and how Yugoslavia’s history was taught in his school.

It was really nice to sit and chat for a couple of hours about stuff and have a rational and adult conversation about the goings on in the world.

Now it’s time for an early night as I have an early start to go to Lake Bled tomorrow. Pray for me that the rain holds off all day.

Total steps: 13,864

Total miles: 6.58

Below are some pics from today

Today was an early start to go head for the bus to go to Lake Bled. I really didn’t want to wake up early as I was super tired. I knew that if I didn’t go I would hate myself for it. This is what spurred me on to get up and leave.

It was a super fun walk to the bus station in the rain. Thankfully I have an umbrella and a waterproof cover for my backpack.

I got to the bus station about 5 minutes before the bus left. I asked at the bus station to make sure the bus was the right one and to also make sure that I didn’t have to stay in Lake Bled until 20:30. They told me I would be able to get whatever bus back that I needed. I was relieved.

The journey to Lake Bled took us up through the mountains and it was a really cool view – despite the rain.

It took about 90 minutes to get there and I was ready to be off the bus (this doesn’t bode well for my super long journey to my next destination tomorrow). The bus costs €5.70 each way. I think it’s a fair price for the journey.

I got off and a lady from Hong Kong tagged along with me as far as the water. I didn’t want to be rude and ask her not to follow me so I am glad she figured this out on her own.

Once I left her, I set on my way around the lake. The signs said it was a 6KM (a little over 3 miles) walk around the lake. As I was walking, I saw a sign that said there was a castle. I decided that I wanted to go and see the castle grounds and see how the views were from up there. I got up there and there was an entry fee just to get into the grounds. I asked if I could go to the gift shop and they said I couldn’t unless I paid a €12 fee to get in. I decided against it and left.

As I was leaving the clouds started to roll in again and the views were so awesome. I took as many pics as I could.

I got back down to lake level and started to walk around it. I came across the church on the island and the view was absolutely stunning. I loved the views. I just stopped and looked around before I carried on walking.

I got to where the rowing club is and I couldn’t find a way around the lake so I decided to look at the map and head towards the train station as the map said it would eventually end up by the lake again.

It was a nice walk up and back down to the lake. The views from here were equally as stunning.

I got back to lake level again and carried on walking. I just didn’t even know where to look because the views are so good. Definitely go if you get the chance or are ever in Ljubljana.

I wanted to go to the church on the island and I saw someone who was doing boats across. It cost €20 per person and then there was a €15 fee to get into the church itself. I decided against it. I couldn’t justify €35 for this – no matter how pretty it was.

I said no thanks to the guy and just carried on walking. I decided that it was time to head back to the city. I was super tired and my feet were hurting. The socks I was wearing were rubbish and kept riding down making the walking that little bit more uncomfortable.

I made my way to the church that was by the centre of Bled and went inside to see what it was like. It is a nice church. I couldn’t help but notice that they had a couple of contactless card readers asking to donate €5. Yeah… like they don’t get enough money anyway.

I went back to the bus stop and only had to wait 10 minutes for the bus back to the city. I was so glad to rest these weary feet of mine.

I am now back at the hostel just relaxing a little bit. I’m trying to decide if I should do anything else or if I should just relax for the rest of the day. I feel like it’s a waste of time but my head and feet are hurting so bad.

I ended up staying in the hostel for a few hours and then decided to go out for about half an hour to get some food and just have a general wander about.

I was out for about 20 minutes and headed back as it started to rain. I just ended up packing – and thankfully it only took about 20 minutes. Now I’m just chilling before I have to leave tomorrow for the final leg of my European tour.

3 countries down so far!

Total steps: 22,026

Total miles: 10.54

Below are some pics from today