MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY
Slovenia and Portugal Trip
Day 2 - May 5 2023
We woke up from a good, long sleep and felt refreshed and ready to get to know our home base for the next week, the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana. (pronounced Lube-Lee-Yah-Na)
As we do with any Eurpoean trip, the first stop for the day is the closest coffee and pastry cafe. Today’s was Stow 2 Go in the Presernov Square, right on the river.
After we briefly wandered the north side of the downtown area (the main downtown area is split in half by the river), we decided to take the hike up to the castle. This was the only day of sunshine predicted for the week, so we knew we had to get the important views in today. You can take the funicular up the hill, but we wanted to hike up to take advantage of lookouts.
The walk was steep but worth the work. The castle itself was small compared to some we have been to before, but the views from the clock tower were amazing. Mike had to take all the pictures while I stood in the middle of the tower, gripping to the center structure. (I really hate heights.)
We took another hilly walk Southeast of the castle to get some views of the castle at a distance. The walk was beautiful, but the castle was hidden behind the trees…
After exploring the castle area, our tummies were rumbling and we were excited to hit the Open Kitchen, a food market that sets up in a square right next to the river. We dived in to asparagus and prosciutto pasta and a roast pig plate with potatoes and coleslaw on the side. Before heading off to wander some more, we grabbed some gelato at the market.
We had some shops marked along the Mestni street, so we walked along the beautiful shopping street and popped in for some handmade jewelry, art, and a board game of course.
While we had the sun, we decided to walk/hike through the Park Tivoli on the Northwest of the city. The section of the park closest to the city is mostly flat for picnics and puppy play areas. Some of the paths start to work their way up the hill and turn into hiking trails. We got to see some beautiful wildlife and lots of well-behaved pups along the way, which was so fun! It was a really gorgeous park and was only a few minute walk from the city.
We worked up an appetite and went back to the Open Kitchen for lunch #2! This time, we opted for a bowl of fries, topped with slow cooked pork, bbq sauce, cheese, and pickle slices. We also got some Slovene dumplings, one sweet with white chocolate and raspberries and the other was filled and topped with cheese.
When we were researching this country, we kept seeing it mentioned how green (sustainable) it is. I first noticed that the airport had compost bins next to the recycle and trash bins. We also saw signs at the Open Kitchen that all utensils, plates, and cups had to be compostable. So cool!
We needed to rest our feet for an hour, so we grabbed a table at one of the patio bars along the river, Lockal, located across from the Lock Bridge. One of the draws for us of this beautiful city was the number of cafes with patios along the river. Because the city closed the main downtown areas to pedestrian-zone only (no cars), the restaurants and bars have 20-50 patio tables into what used to be the street. The Lockal serves mostly drinks and had a lot of non-alcoholic drinks on their menu, so it was a perfect stop for us. We had some flavored lemonades, coffee and juice before leaving to walk some more!
We spent the rest of the day wandering the city, getting to know the area. It truly is a gorgeous city. All the old European charm with modern cafes and small boutiques. Everyone is very nice and immediately switches their language to English when you say Hi. The most unique part of visiting Ljubljana so far is the lack of other tourists. The city is so busy with people walking around, bicycling to work, but we heard Slovene all day. We kept asking ourselves, why do so few people travel here?!
Our feet were sore when we woke up and after 33,000 steps into the day, we called it quits. We grabbed some Asian street food at Babu’s to-go and ate it in the hotel room.
