Or what to do in Ljubljana in a heatwave!
During my last trip to Europe I used Ljubljana as a stopover city and discovered that it's a very pretty city and I quite liked it. It became another transit point for me going to Lake Bled, the bus station is a 10 to 15 minute walk from the old town. (The airport buses depart from the bus station and the Railway station is just behind it) I had an hour between buses on the way to Lake Bled so just strolled down to the main square where the three bridges cross the river. Being the summer tourist season it was heaving with people all taking that all important photograph.
The Three Bridges looking very empty during the heatwave!
I thought it would be nice on the way back to spend a few hours in Ljubljana before catching my bus back to Trieste. The bus station has a luggage deposit room, so very convenient, planned to have 4 hours in the Old Town. What I didn't factor into this plan was a record heatwave hitting Europe! It was 37 degrees Celsius (according to the Google converter that's 98.6 degrees F!) Living in Australia definitely does prepare you for heat so off I went. Armed with a hat on my head, slapped on some sunscreen, had a bottle of water (which I NEVER carry!) and plans to have lunch in an air-conditioned cafe I was ready for the heat!
Saying it was a bit warm is something on an understatement! My first stop was lunch, I knew of a pizza restaurant from the last time I was in Ljubljana, it was not on the touristy Ljubljana castle side of the river. I had remembered going there last time and the other customers were all locals, quite a few students so that was a good sign. The restaurant is called Picerija Osmica and it's in a pedestrian street behind the pink coloured church in the main square. Huge pizza arrived when I ordered the small one! Nice cool air-conditioning and there was free wifi as well. The menu had multiple options and student prices for those who were broke students!
I couldn't stay indoors the whole time so I needed to venture out. I crossed over to the Old Town and saw a sign saying City Museum. Perfect, more air-conditioning! It's a nicely done museum showing the history of the city of Ljubljana, it costs 6 euros to enter and there was a Russian Icon exhibition that you could have seen if you paid 8 euros. I was happy just to do the city history part of the museum. It was all well done with explanations in Slovene and English, and I got an education in the history of the city.
The area around the museum was interesting as well, I found an arty street.
I then made my way back to the river and the main square. There were people around but the city looked very empty! My take on being a tourist during the busy summer months, come during a heatwave you'll have the place to yourself!
It's important to find ways to keep cool and that included finding ice-cream, happily for me there's an artisan ice-cream shop just near the Three Bridges!
Vigo, can recommend their mango ice-cream!
Riverside cafes, this area is usually packed with people. Even when I came in the autumn it was very busy.
Something I didn't do as I ran out of time was to do one of the river cruises, I've done one in the past. I image that being on the water would lower the temperature a bit!
Having done Ljubljana in the fog (very atmospheric!) I've now done Ljubljana in a heatwave!
During my last trip to Europe I used Ljubljana as a stopover city and discovered that it's a very pretty city and I quite liked it. It became another transit point for me going to Lake Bled, the bus station is a 10 to 15 minute walk from the old town. (The airport buses depart from the bus station and the Railway station is just behind it) I had an hour between buses on the way to Lake Bled so just strolled down to the main square where the three bridges cross the river. Being the summer tourist season it was heaving with people all taking that all important photograph.
I thought it would be nice on the way back to spend a few hours in Ljubljana before catching my bus back to Trieste. The bus station has a luggage deposit room, so very convenient, planned to have 4 hours in the Old Town. What I didn't factor into this plan was a record heatwave hitting Europe! It was 37 degrees Celsius (according to the Google converter that's 98.6 degrees F!) Living in Australia definitely does prepare you for heat so off I went. Armed with a hat on my head, slapped on some sunscreen, had a bottle of water (which I NEVER carry!) and plans to have lunch in an air-conditioned cafe I was ready for the heat!
Saying it was a bit warm is something on an understatement! My first stop was lunch, I knew of a pizza restaurant from the last time I was in Ljubljana, it was not on the touristy Ljubljana castle side of the river. I had remembered going there last time and the other customers were all locals, quite a few students so that was a good sign. The restaurant is called Picerija Osmica and it's in a pedestrian street behind the pink coloured church in the main square. Huge pizza arrived when I ordered the small one! Nice cool air-conditioning and there was free wifi as well. The menu had multiple options and student prices for those who were broke students!
I couldn't stay indoors the whole time so I needed to venture out. I crossed over to the Old Town and saw a sign saying City Museum. Perfect, more air-conditioning! It's a nicely done museum showing the history of the city of Ljubljana, it costs 6 euros to enter and there was a Russian Icon exhibition that you could have seen if you paid 8 euros. I was happy just to do the city history part of the museum. It was all well done with explanations in Slovene and English, and I got an education in the history of the city.
The area around the museum was interesting as well, I found an arty street.
I then made my way back to the river and the main square. There were people around but the city looked very empty! My take on being a tourist during the busy summer months, come during a heatwave you'll have the place to yourself!
It's important to find ways to keep cool and that included finding ice-cream, happily for me there's an artisan ice-cream shop just near the Three Bridges!
Riverside cafes, this area is usually packed with people. Even when I came in the autumn it was very busy.
Something I didn't do as I ran out of time was to do one of the river cruises, I've done one in the past. I image that being on the water would lower the temperature a bit!
Having done Ljubljana in the fog (very atmospheric!) I've now done Ljubljana in a heatwave!
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