LJUBLJANA…Europe’s Green Capital

A little country, Slovenia, with a population smaller than Toronto,  separates Croatia from Italy. It’s capital,  Ljubljana, (pronounced roughly,  ‘Loo blee yana’ ) mixes baroque with the 20th century archetecture of native son, Joze Plečnik. This city is picture perfect, a real treat. And a big reason why: it has gone GREEN.

Left: Plečnik‘s triple bridge (perfect solution to increased need!), right: parks, markets and pink (once red) structures abound). 

The city core is vehicle free and its story has many lessons to tell:

http://citiscope.org/cities/ljubljana

Ljubljana River runs through town; Plečnik-designed market runs along-side.

Dragon bridge, lots of street eating and drinking, (it’s a university town), and a castle up the mountain overlooking the scene. 

Friday nights are food fests at the open market:

This tortellini made right in parmesan cheese wheel was best I’ve ever had.

……..

A day trip from Ljubljana to the very picturesque Lake Bled was a must. Situated in the Julian Alps in the northwest it is a glacial lake fed by hot springs.

Renting bikes there allowed us to enjoy all the sights:

Top left/right: Vintgar Gorge (1.6 km in length) with walkway attached to cliffs.

The Town of Bled includes a church topped islet and a cliff-side medieval castle:

Fresh trout dinner after an invigerating biker ride from Bled up to gorge and around lake:

Oh, and also some local craft beer:

Young scullers competing on lake; cute house. 

And that’s it for Slovenia…

Train with artwork taking us west to Austria.