Slovenia June 2001

We arrived in Ljubljana by Train from Trieste and as you can see from this picture it is very green and rural. The journey takes about 3  hours and Ryanair flies to Trieste for a pretty good price.	As you can see the town is dominated by a castle on a hill above the  river Ljubljanica, the town suffered so badly from flooding a relief canal behind the hill now prevents this happening these days. I n the  foreground you can see the Filharmonic Orchestra building.
This is the Triple Bridge designed by Josef Plecnik he redesigned many of the bridges and the promenade along the river along with many  other parts of Ljubljana.	This is a promenade on the castle side of the river, there are a lot  of shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants here. As you can see not too  many tourists, their loss!!
As you can see the Castle has been renovated and some amazing views  can be gained from the top of the tower (not for the faint hearted  it's quite a climb).Ljubljana itself is on a plateau and surrounded by mountains.	As you can see the town itself escaped major destruction during the war. This is the cobblers bridge, where shoemakers were able to trade  free of tax, now its often occupied by makeshift bookstalls in the evening.
The Dragon bridge, local legend says the dragons wag their tails if a virgin walks past, unfortunately we were unable to prove this!	The Old Town in Ljubljana is small but beautifully restored.
The market runs from Three Bridges to Dragon Bridge on the Castle side of the river, it's mostly a food market.	On the walk down from the castle there are plenty of vistas across the rooftops.
This is Ljubljana's skyscraper! built in the early 20th Century  following the designs of early US skyscrapers.	There are a few expats in Ljubljana we spotted a few in this genuine Irish pub! But kidding aside it was alrite in there,more suited to cold winters than sunny days as it is subterranean!
Pizzeria Foculus, massive Pizzas cooked in a wood oven and a great  choice also nice draft beer. It rained quite heavily as we left we  were sorely tempted to go back for seconds!

A Panorama looking over the city from the castle.

 Recommended Pubs and Restaurants.

The Cutty Sark - Named after the whisky not the boat, a top place, friendly staff, and tables outside for nice sunny days. In a  little courtyard through an archway off  Wolfova ulica.

Holidays Pub - On Slovenska cesta, the main business  street in Ljubljana, as the Barman helpfully informed us, the first English Pub to be set up in Ljubljana. To be honest the reason we  found it was that it was the only pub open late (until 3.00 am some  days), and like a black hole we found its gravity impossible to escape. Quite small.

Patricks Irish Bar - Well there had to be one didn't there!  And on our never ending quest to experience Irish pubs we stumbled in  here one evening, they seemed to have a pretty good menu of typical western bar grub. But I have to confess we stuck to the beer.  Subterranean and quite dark, best left to cold winter days! Precna Ulica.

True Bar - No lie, it was a bar. Actually it was a bar, had a  couple of beers in the comfy chairs outside, not bad, you could watch  the world go by. Next door to a skate board shop which probably accounted for the Rad dudes and dudettes at the tables !Trubarjeva ulica

Marilyn's -  A nice bar themed around Marilyn Monroe and  that sort of era. Nice enough but they didn't serve brekkie as we had been led to believe and unfortunately the waitresses didn't speak any  english. Managed to order 2 black coffees in order to start our hearts.Miklosiceva cesta.

Pizzeria Foculus - An absolutely top venue, no they aren't paying me to say this. Good service, reasonably prices, and quite  possibly the largest pizzas in christendom. Coupled with cool draft  beer. Also it is very nicely fitted out inside. Gregoriceva ulica 3 .

Ljubljanski Dvor -  There is a restaurant as well as a pizzeria here but we only tried the Pizzeria. Sat outside the Pizza  was ok , but once finished the local sparrows decided to take an interest in my left overs. Also at the time the building next door was under quite severe renovation so it wasn't the nicest of vistas. But quite passable food. Dvorni trg 1.

Rotovz - Relatively expensive compared to the most of the local restaurants, however the food is amazingly good continental  cuisine. It is tight next door to the town hall and features an  expansive local and international wine list and great food to match.  Very recommended. Mestni trg 2.

Casa del Papa - A Hemingway themed restaurant! And whats more  it is really great, whilst sitting amongst Hemingway-themed  memorabilia in a relatively small room, we ate a great meal   drank brandys and generally came to the conclusion it was a super  place. Not cheap though. And the added bonus of a Hemingway beach bar on the 1st floor meant we stayed even later. We were leaving the next day and as we went out the door another of the people in the bar called out to us asking why we were going, I said that I thought the  place closed at 1.00 am. He then said what train are you catching we  said the 7.30am and he said stay, keep drinking, go straight to the  station at 7.00 !. Celovska cesta 54a. Bit of a trek onfoot from the centre!  

Pri Vitezu -  A predominantly Fish restaurant by menu  neither of us had fish instead I think I had duck or rabbit and we  polished of a couple of bottles of Slovenian red! The food was good  and the seats outside afforded a good view of the castle by night.  Not bad at all but surpassed by Mr Hemingway! Breg