How do you pronounce Ljubljana?
It’s loo·bee·aa·nuh in case you didn’t know.
That capital of Slovenia was a lovely place to stop for two days. The old part of the city is closed to cars so it’s free from the chaos of traffic and easy to wander around. A river snakes through the center of the city and all the cafes have tables that spill out onto the streets along the banks of the river. Tons of bridges cross the river. Some have unique features, such as the triple bridge, which originally was one bridge but to serve the needs of the growing city they added two identical ones alongside it. They also have this bridge guarded by four dragon statues, which are a symbol of the city.
The triple bridge
I stayed at a hostel, which wasn’t too bad. Everyone was really friendly, but I still feel so awkward meeting other travelers. I did sort of make friends with one of the guys in my hostel, who went with me to the free walking tour. He was Swedish and had biked here from Stockholm. His plan was to bike all the way to Milan by the middle of July where he was meeting a friend. He mostly camped in his tent throughout his trip, but was taking a break in Ljubljana for a few days. While that trip sounds like my literal nightmare (I don’t like biking at all), it’s pretty impressive he was doing it.
After the walking tour, I went to the “skyscraper” which is only 12 stories, but was the tallest building in the Balkans for several years in the 1930s. It has a cute café with views of the city and its castle.
View from the skyscraper café
In the evening, I checked out the Metelkova (full name in Slovene: Avtonomni kulturni center Metelkova mesto, "Metelkova City Autonomous Cultural Centre", referred to by the acronym AKC), an autonomous social and cultural space near the city center. Formerly military barracks for the Yugoslav National Army, it was taken over by squatters after the declaration of Slovenian independence. Now, it’s a space people create art, host concerts and gather. You are asked to provide a donation to go into certain areas, but it’s not mandatory. When I went there was this like metal concert in one of the buildings that wasn’t my thing, but interesting to see. And all through the space buildings are covered in art. If I was living in the city, this is definitely the place I would come to hang out.
A blurry photo of the Metelkova