Cute Towns with Mountains and a Lake Competition: Bled, Slovenia

I had read rave reviews about Bled and since we already live in a cute Alpine town with a lake, we had to go research and compare. Sure the lake was bigger, and there was a cute church on an island that you could boat too, plus there was a castle that overlooked the lake. There seemed to be a lot of great possibilities for hiking and at the time, the World Championship for rowing was being held there.

We did not stay the night, but we did grab a bite and walk around the lake.

Piran, Slovenia

On what coast of the Adriatic Slovenia has, lies this gem of a town, Piran.

Desperate for the feeling of summer and the kiss of sea air, we decided to check it out.

With it's narrow labyrinth-like streets and beautiful Piazza, Piran closely resembles Dubrovnik, Croatia, and several of the Italian villages that hug the coast of Italy. Autos are not allowed to drive in the town, so we had to park in a garage outside and carry our suitcases to our bed and breakfast, Miracolo di Mare, a lovely and newly renovated B&B with a charming garden to have breakfast and service with a sense of humor.

We really had nothing on the agenda except to relax, explore the maze of streets, dip our toes in the chilly water and enjoy Slovenian wine with fresh seafood, which we did.



An interesting fact for us Hoosiers, Piran is the sister-city with Indianapolis, Indiana.

I loved, loved, LOVED, Ljubljana!!

Jason and I had to escape the cold, rainy weather of Austria. We headed south for a perfect weekend getaway, a sunnier Slovenia. It was just what we needed!

We spent a day in Ljubljana, just walking around and taking in the mash-up of Germanic, Latin, and Slavic culture.

One of the main attractions is a castle that overlooks the city. We did not tour inside because we were not feeling the need to take any information in this day; we decided to save the history intake for another trip. We did enjoy a nice walk through the park up to and surrounding the castle that surprised us occasionally with glimpses of the city through trees.

There was a very laid-back Bohemian feel to Ljubljana. Most stores close by noon on Saturday, leaving the streets empty in the early afternoon. It reminded me of siesta in Spain; it's like Slovenia closes down in the afternoon for a nap, and by late afternoon and evening, people start filling the cafes and gracing the streets and the pedestrian areas again.

For a capital city, it is not particularly large, I guess with less than 300,000 population. It did not give me a feeling of being overwhelmed, like most large cities do.

The combination of renovated buildings and those wearing history I found very poetic. It is the first city where even the graffiti seemed somehow tastefully placed. The architecture was a combination of Baroque and Art Nouveau, reminded me of Salzburg and Vienna, but also slightly of Slovenia's neighbors Croatia and Italy. The occasional building built during communist times added something, and I appreciated how pieces of communism and history were integrated to create something new and unique.

Another thing I noticed, almost every building in Ljubljana had flag holders. Ljubljana seems to enjoy honoring it's famous people by having Bust Sculptures made and placed on buildings, there were several, some very interesting (Jožef Blaznik is a book publisher from Slovenia, the heads below are from the door of Stolnica svetega Nikolaja).
We did not find Ljubljana to be unreasonably expensive; it was nice not to have to worry about going to a nice-looking place and then being surprised by prices. Jason and I had a very pleasant evening of drinks and dinner for less than 40 Euro and stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast very close to the downtown for less than 100 Euro, breakfast included.

Despite the many choices of cuisine, we decided on some Balkan Ćevapčići. Was the best Ćevapčići I have ever had, and went so well with beer! The restaurant Harambaša (which we learned about from our city guide) was a little off the main road, has a quaint and cosy dining room, complete with old photos, antiques and a Balkan soundtrack.

We only spent about 24 hours in Ljubljana, but you could easily spend a relaxing week! There are several museums and art galleries, not to mention parks to explore and shopping opportunities. I personally just found it to be the most relaxing city, perfect for people watching.

I really cannot say enough wonderful things about Ljubljana! We used the Destination City Guide, published by In Your Pocket and found it to be a perfect guide. We used their suggestions for where to stay and where to eat and could not have been more pleased!