Lake Bled – Ljubljana – Zagreb
After a short drive, we stopped in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana.
The historical city centre has been turned into a ‘Pedestrians Only’ zone, with the minor exception of a few electric courtesy carts.
The statue in the main square is of France Preseren, Slovenia’s greatest poet.
Connecting the parts of the city are the Triple Bridges. Originally there was only the central bridge, but as traffic increased they added two side bridges for pedestrians and cyclists. When the current mayor made the old city vehicle free, they all became pedestrian bridges.
Across the bridges are the markets, including a permanent colonnade.
Just down from the markets is the Butchers’ Bridge. It has been taken over as a ‘Love Bridge’.
The concept is that two lovers put a padlock on the bridge to show they are locked together, and throw the key into the river to signify their love is unbreakable. I am not too sure of the significance of the plethora of combination locks – maybe ‘Oh well they weren’t much good, I can get rid of them easily’ I’d be in trouble, because I never can remember the combination.
Side door to Cathedral:
Then, after moving to the front of the Cathedral, a couple of distractions occurred.
Time for rest and contemplation at the Pool of Narcissus.
No, not a picture of a cat, a live cat sunning itself in a window.
After leaving Ljubljana, we first stopped at the border into Croatia, and I do mean stopped.
Because Croatia is not part of the European Union free travel agreement, we had to do the whole passport checking thing. First the bus driver and guide, then exit the bus, line up and hand passport to Slovenian office through a little window. She checked it carefully, stamped it and handed it back. Shuffle 1m down path and repeat with the Croat Officer.
New country, new currency. Croatia also is not part of the Euro racket.
On to Zagreb