Ljubljana Part 2

Today was my first full day in the city and I walked around from 9 until about 7:30. I started the day by hiking up to the Ljubljana Castle which sits on a hill right beyond the city center. It was a short climb and I sketched the castle surrounds a bit, and then walked around the perimeter. On the way down from the castle I noticed the lift stations at the back, where the funicular train stops. They were clad in what appeared to be copper and the side that faced the city was all glass.



I headed back down to the city and located the famous dragon bridge, so named because you guessed it there are dragons on the four corners. They are pretty fierce looking too.


Next I ended up making the trek out to the Zale Cemetary which was designed by Plećnik, who is basically the architect of ljubljana. It was a pretty long walk but I got to see some cool parts of the city. I didn´t spend too much time there but I did sketch a bit and then headed back to the city.

On the way back I came across St. Joseph`s cathedral which I went into since I was getting cold. Unfortunately it was no warmer than it was outside. But it gave me a place to sit and draw that was out of the driyyle coming down outside.

When I got back to the river I was excited to go to the christmas stalls, but unfortunately they were more just gifts then christmas stuff which was a little disapointing. I bought some mixed chocolates though, unfortunately 2 of the 5 kinds I got were rather nasty.

Afterwards I popped into a few more churches and then sat and sketched the main Piazza. It was pretty crowded with people and the sun had finally come out which was nice. There are a lot of kiosks out selling hot wine and other beverages and one of them was playing a funnz mix of music from the 90s, I heard New Kids on the Block, The Backstreet Boys and one that I recogniyed but don`t remember the name of.

I was getting hungry so I went to one of the food stands across the three bridges (also designed by Plećnik and got this bean dish, which ended up being pretty good. I was a little surprised I liked it since I don`t tend to like baked beans, it also came with a giant roll.

Tomorrow I plan on going to Bled which is a small slightly touristy town in Slovenia. It has what is suppossed to be a beautiful lake, at the foothills of the Julian Alps. The hostel owner told me I should definately go so I`m going to take a short day trip. It is only an hour bus ride away and must be a pretty popular destination because a bus leaves for the town every hour.